The Zoo and Pennsylvania, or: I wish that I knew what I know now, when I was younger.

The Shiffler family proudly strode around the zoo this last weekend, much to the delight of our youngest member, Whatsherface. Here I am, sniffing the air with my tongue. I found the scent/taste of poo poo to be offing.


Below you will see Helga Swegenfaaaasbordismansdooooter who adopted our gypsy baby "Stanka," meaning glorious government. In English, Stanka means "she who has few teeth and will not go more than an hour without suckling her binky".


Owen Mains had his very first wild shindig of a birthday party, and tiny tiny midget people from all over town came to celebrate in the hairy-footed festivities. One of them did a jig on the table, but alas, this photo was taken before the pixie sticks were passed out.


Isobel: One written word is worth a thousand pieces of gold.
Caroline: Books are fun. The Wiggles are fun. Johanna steals my toys and Grandma and Papa said I can have a big piece of chocolate!
Johanna: 1-2-3 fishy apple.
Isobel: Ba! Meow! ya ya ya. hasof?


Valkyrie Isobel the Vanquisher spreads terror and woe amongst the humble townsfolk of Harrisburg International Airport.


Next we have Uncle Brian at the airport with Caroline. If their smiles were energy, they would power the entire island nation of Nauru.


Larry, Krista, and Ava visited from Utah while we were visiting Pennsylvania. We had a nice lunch and talked about grownup things for nearly an hour. Here we see Ava and Isobel who, looking skyward at the exact same moment, said in unison: "A UFO! Finally a sign that there is intelligent life in the universe besides you and me and the chimpanzees!"
But, wouldn't you know it, those tricky E.T.s were gone in a puff of smoke as soon as we grown-ups turned around.

*photo by Larry Furr

Picture Tag THIS!

Here are the rules:

1. Go to my documents/pictures.
2. Go to the 6th file folder.
3. Go to the 6th picture.
4. Blog about it.
5. Tag 6 people to do the same.

I am fortunate enough to be using a mac, so I did iphoto - 6th event - 6th photo.



This is a picture of the lovely Nicole Shiffler, circa Christmas 2004. It appears to have been taken in Brooke's paternal grandfather's kitchen. We weren't married yet, so I wasn't there, but I believe this was around the time that Bobby and Nicole announced that they were expecting their first baby. Everyone (including me, from afar) was SO excited and happy for them. Now they're expecting TWINS, babies 3 and 4. My, my, how time flies! Nicole is even more beautiful now than she was then, though I suppose my opinion might be skewed by the fact that I know her so much better now. I love you, sister!

I hereby tag the following lucky ducks:
Benielle
JonnIsaFé
The Wags
The Swifts
Da Furrs
and of course, NicoBob

Alas and Alack

Mom and Dad Shiffler visited a lil' while back and we gave them the royal treatment. By that I mean we drove them to a remote park outside the city in single digit weather and told them to smile for pictures. Isobel is seen here yodeling in the cold.

Papa Fanucci smiles at his good fortune.

That my friends, is a marble with rings around it; not unlike a miniature version of Saturn without all the metallic hydrogen and rocky debris and dust.

Oh the shame. Christina got a speedin' ticket and had to go to court to defend her honor. It was a very Judge Judy like moment for us all. In the end though, we paid alot of money. I hate the rule of law.

Our little Martain baby sits in a forward-facing car seat now!

I don't think these next two pictures need any explanation.

Jolly ol' Saint Brooke and his Wee Imp, Christina

Boy, was 2008 awful! Let's sum it up in two words: Crash (and) Burn. Ah well, how can we complain when we've got friends and family so willing to fill the air with good cheer? Gad, here are some now!

My wife, good Christina, loves latkes. Imps love latkes. It was cold at the Denver Christmas Market that night. Christina was cold that night. Therefore we can infer that Christina is a latke-loving imp who was cold at the Christmas Market...but those aren't latkes, THEY'RE BBRRRRRAAAAAAAIIIIIIINNNSSS!!!

Isobel has some mad Foosball and acrobatic skills and is in the process of scoring her 4th goal in a row. A split second after this picture was snapped she let out a gurgle and flipped over the table and landed in a split that Mary Lou Retton would envy.

I named this sheep "Filthy" for obvious reasons. Isobel called him "ooohhh tadatsch!"

Christmas day came and went but luckily this outfit stayed, compliments of Robert and Casey. Isobel will name you both to Minister Plenipotentiary posts in her Cabinet in the years to come.

Our little clapping, squinting, elf baby.

Happy Holidays, everyone!

Twiiiiiiiilight!!!!!

I used to be sorta in the closet about my love of Twilight, but since the release of the movie I've decided to just go ahead and embrace it. Jenny has been a catalyst, since she has read the books 4 times and is still an interesting and intelligent person. We decided to go all out and have Twilight Day last Thursday. We made Twilight-inspired food: Vampire Cupcakes and Irritable Grizzly.

And Coagulated Blood to drink.

We looked like vampires, too. Well, we tried. I ended up looking more like Stephenie Meyer. Isobel should totally be cast as Renesmee.

Jenny's eyes are red because she's not hungry.

And here's Isobel moving superfast-

That night we went to see the premiere at 12:01am. We were excited, but tried to retain our vampiric cool.

We met some friends there. Here are Maren and Marelyse looking like Jenny's movietime snacks:

YAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYY!!!!!!

Bizzilla, lady of the pumpkin patch.

Welcome back. I wouldn't recommend checking your brokerage account. It's probably in the toilet and you are thinking: it can't get much worse. OMG!!!! PUmpKiNS!!! We think Isobel looks like Ava here.


Behold, the next photo's uncanny resemblance to...
Horror.


This is Isobel striking a casual, "I don't care 'bout your rules because I'm a hipster"-type pose that belongs in one of those teen magazines that has boys dressed like punks and girls like librarians. Feel the angst.


From this angle she is as tall as the second story window. I call her Bizzilla!

Isobel's First Birthday (fo all you haters who said it wouldn't happen)

It's another lush summer day in central Pennsylvania; at least it still feels like summer. The weather lately has been akin to an enormous dog incessantly panting on everyone from above.
Here are two nature girlz who have decided to be friends in spite of the recent downturn in the economy. (Props to Bobby for taking the first two photos.)

Bizzley salute!

The gang is all here, except for Isobel who is hiding.

Duck. Duck. Moose.

Christina created this photo garland to commemorate Isobel's first year in pictures. She is a talented woman and she is proud of her skills.

To get in the "Suzie Homemaker" mood, she got all gussied up.

Once her hair was just right, Christina made a Pumpkin Apple Harvest Cake. Isobel enjoyed her first cake, as you can see. I think she looks like she just heard a really corny joke.

"mY firST tAsTe of suGaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaR!"

Caroline was more excited for the presents than Isobel.

As for us, we are probably moving to Colorado and entering a new stage of desperation. Antidepressants are appreciated, but Benjamins are appreciated even more.