Jumpin' Jehosaphat!

The MEiBos family reunion was held in Joseph, UT. It is the only town in America where everything is still in black and white.

An abandoned miner's hovel yielded this treasure of fine design and asbestos.

Isobel used very old, very dark magic to make this building collapse (the spell included words like 'Baby Einstein', 'park' and 'shimmering scales of the Dire Naga'. Don't mess, y'all. Christina says "Git the HECK off my land!"

A pensive Isobel stares at the 'big people' with wonder at Cove Fort.

A few Shifflers and a few more Van Wagenens, lookin' sooooo good.

This face is "the look" of the season. Patent Pending.

We tried to sail to Freedom, but alas! At the end of our journey we were still in Utah.

Choot Chooooooot!

More pictures of Isobel at the zoo.

Trips to the zoo and various local parks are pretty much the only exciting thing we do these days. Luckily, Isobel is just a BABY and so these places continue to thrill her. This most recent time at the zoo, she discovered her power animal. Behold:

Honestly, though, she was entranced, and followed every peacock we saw. She also does a pretty good (loud) imitation of one, and has continued to burst out in peacock song whenever the mood strikes her. Here she is pretending to be a baby peacock in an egg:


Trains do NOT fit the peacock theme. They also happen to be TERRIFYING.


Here we are at a park in Manitou Springs, which is Colorado Springs' hippie nemesis city.


And this is at our local park:

Bizzley-Mania!

Howdy pardners. Greetin's from ol' Col'rado Springs. But enough of that. Here is Isobel running around in the back yard in daringly bright shorts.


Robert and Casey visited and we went to the Denver aquarium and saw...THIS!


Isobel went to Nursery for the first time and enjoyed this napkin.


Up the stairs in a pretty green Easter dress.


Royal Gorge.


Isobel got thrown in the slammer for spouting her revolutionary political views around the wrong people. We're gonna bust her out as soon as we get a long fuse connected to a barrel of black powder.


And....we're moving to Greensboro, North Carolina where I will begin yet another Masters Program in School Administration. Here's to looking forward to fried food, hot summers and occasional trips to the Outer Banks!

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!