Honoring A Hero

When the month of November comes to mind... one can't help but think about Thanksgiving and all the yummy goodness that comes with that amazing holiday. But when you name your first born son after a war hero who died in Vietnam and that just so happened to be Dad-Oh's older brother... Veteran's Day is just as special and was rightfully & thoroughly celebrated this year. 

We arrived in old-town that morning just in time to see the really cool fly-over that served as the official start to the Veteran's Day Parade... which Allen loved! 

It was rather crowded with people lining both sides of the street, but we found a good spot to see all the action from.

Allen loved to see the horses go by...

And enjoyed Daddy's favorite part too: the marching band!

He even was in awe of the big fire truck that passed by...

But his favorite part of the parade by far

was all the motorcycles that rumbled passed!

We even got to see a real tank!

The parade was long but definitely fun & entertaining. Afterwards, we walked a few blocks down to the 'Murrieta Field of Honor'.

More than half of the huge grassy field was filled with

American Flags, with each one honoring a dedicated veteran. 

This year, we decided that although Allen wasn't old enough to really understand, he was able to enjoy the experience... so we purchased a flag and dedicated it to one half of his namesake: Army Captain Hampton Allen Etheridge III.

As we got closer to all the flags...

we realized and were amazed at just how many there were!

Allen liked seeing all the flags... but having a few small ones of his own to carry around definitely made him happy.

With perfect weather and all the flags around,

it was almost impossible to take a bad picture.

After getting in some good pictures,

we set out to hunt for Hampton Allen's flag.

Even with a map it was no easy task...

but we finally found it.

Definitely a lump-in-the-throat moment!

I did my best to try and explain to Allen why this particular flag meant so much to us... and I'm sure one day he'll understand, but it certainly wasn't that day!

An incredible fly-over, a fun parade, an amazing arrangement of dedicated American flags, and one special hero who will never be forgotten. A Veteran's Day done right I'd say!

Knock - Knock

It seemed like October flew by...

which of course meant Halloween was upon us before we knew it!

For whatever reasons, our creative juices just weren't flowing leading up to the big night... so we settled on a cute glow-in-the-dark skeleton onesie we bought online, which seemed kind of appropriate given how skinny Allen is.

We assumed Allen had no clue as to the significance of the day... but perhaps we were wrong, cause he knew something was going on and he sure was excited about it!

With Jei's fancy Halloween themed caramel apples in hand, we headed across the street to our neighbor's house for a little pre trick-or-treat get-together / pot-luck.

Besides all the amazing food,

the best part was seeing all the kids dressed up!

By the time we finished stuffing our faces, the sun had finally disappeared and it was time to hit the streets and start filling those bags with candy.

In the beginning, Allen was way more interested in all the cool decorations than he was trying to collect tons of sugary goodness!

Eventually, Daddy had to step in and show him how to Trick-or-Treat. (And NO, I didn't steal all his candy... just the Reese's Cups!)

And just when we thought Allen had it down, he surprised us all... to include the owners of the houses, when he skipped the knocking on the door part and helped himself right in! I guess he figured he'd get his own candy! 

Needless to say, after barging into people's homes,

Daddy had to once again step in and show him how to knock!

Once we got to the one and only haunted house on the block,

Allen showed no fear and insisted on going in!

Two very brave souls.

Allen eventually ditched his lame goofy parents,

to hang with his hommies from the dead.

In the end, the skeleton costume worked out great, the pot-luck get-together was fantastic, and the Trick-or-Treating was super fun! A very happy Halloween indeed!

Silverware

Two jobs, one cat, no kids, Lake Elsinore, and the beaches of Mazatlan, Mexico. What do all those have in common, you ask??? They all had something and everything to do with me and Jeilene's life five years ago. Looking back, five years certainly have gone by pretty fast... but yet living in Elsinore together seems like such a long time ago. Times were different back then for sure... dinner and a movie, comedy & night clubs, weekend getaways to Big Bear, cruises, and double dates with friends were all done not only at a drop of a hat, but with quite regularity. We definitely had our fun, but ultimately we knew what was really going to make us happy, and that was to follow in our parent's footsteps and have one big happy family one day. Of course we took that first big step towards accomplishing that dream five years ago on the beaches of Mazatlan, Mexico, when I said the two most important and meaningful words of my existence... "I do!"

I honestly didn't think our lives would change all that much after getting married, but much to our delight, in just five years, the changes have been plenty - and they have been an absolute blessing. Obviously the biggest and greatest change coming in the form of who we are. Not only are we a son & daughter, and a brother & sister respectively... but we are now a father & mother. With a wild & crazy one already running around, and another on its way... Jei and I could not feel any more blessed and are so thrilled that our little family of two that began five years ago, is now growing into a happy family of four. 

 I never did imagine that I would fall in love

and marry the woman of my dreams!

And never would I have imagined that after five years, I would still be just in madly in love as I was that day on the beach... and that we would have an amazing son (one and a half sons?!) together that I would love just as much!

Just out of curiosity, as I was trying to come up with a title to this post, I tried to see if there was some silly name commonly used for 5 year wedding anniversaries. I landed on one of my favorite websites, Wikipedia... and I was suddenly enlightened. As it turns out, there is no formal name for the 5 year anniversary, however, there is a very traditional gift associated with this particular anniversary in the form of some sort of wood. Not exactly sure what that means exactly, but I'm pretty sure if I gave Jei a wooden spatula, a wood carving of an eagle, or just some plain ole firewood, she wouldn't be all that thrilled with me or the gift! But that's neither here nor there... because apparently, there also exists a more modern gift for the 5 year anniversary, in the form of silverware. Now if you already knew this, then you've been married for more than five years and/or you're a lot smarter than I am. I of course did not know this... but I realized just how extraordinarily ironic this little anecdote had become!

Due to budget restraints and of course a new baby on the way, I decided that it would probably be in our best interest as a family to forego the high-end 5 year anniversary gift of the new Mercedes, the diamond earrings, or the vacation cruise to the Caribbean. We saved our money instead and celebrated our anniversary with a simple and casual dinner out at the Olive Garden. Point being that given it was kind of a big deal... celebrating 5 years of marriage together, we chose not to do anything special or give each other fancy shmancy gifts. So there I was on this Wikipedia page about wedding anniversaries and reading about how I'm supposed to gift my spouse diamonds, china, platinum, gold, watches, crystal, etc... etc... for all these specific years of being married. Admittedly, I was a little disappointed that I hadn't gotten anything nice for Jei or at least done something special for the occasion, but then it suddenly dawned on me that I had in fact bought Jei exactly what I was supposed to after all!

It was mid September... a little less than a month away from our anniversary, when I reached into our silverware drawer at home to take out a spoon to eat some cereal with. At the time, we had exactly 4 spoons from a set that were old and super cheap. As I reached in to grab a spoon, I realized that there weren't any spoons there to grab. I then looked over to the kitchen sink and saw all four spoons piled together within several other dirty silverware, plates, and dishes all waiting to be cleaned by the magic dishwashing fairy. Without trying to exaggerate, this may have been the 160th time that a simple spoon was not immediately clean and available for me to use. For all 159 times that it happened prior, I simply mumbled a few expletives underneath my breath, grabbed a dirty spoon, cleaned it, and then went on my merry way. But this particular time, the spoon broke the camel's back and I went completely nuts! If my ridiculous reaction wasn't clear enough... I certainly made it clear in the days to follow that we seriously needed to expand our collection of silverware. It took about a week or so of online shopping and going to Macy's and Bed Bath & Beyond before we finally decided on purchasing a brand new set of silverware that included place settings for 12. Needless to say, I haven't been left spoon-less ever since!

So as it turns out, according to Wikipedia, I was supposed to give my lovely wife some silverware this year to celebrate our 5 year wedding anniversary. And although it may have been complete and utter dumb-luck... I did exactly that, and certainly don't feel half as bad now. I may have unknowingly salvaged our "silverware" anniversary this year, but I can't imagine doing the same five years from now for our "diamond" anniversary! 

"Das!"

Even before Allen knew how to point, he has always been obsessed with flying objects in the sky. We would clearly point them out overhead and say, "plane" or "copter" depending on whether it was an airplane or a helicopter, but Allen made it quite obvious that he had his own word for what he saw so high in the sky. Fortunately for Allen, we have a ton of airplane and helicopter traffic crossing the skies right above our house, and just as airports have radar, we have Allen pointing out and shouting, "Das" making sure we are all aware that something is flying in clouds above us. And make no mistake about it, Allen is just as good as radar is too... for there's plenty of times where he'll spot and point out planes that we can't even see!  

So given Allen's apparent love for all IFO's (Identified Flying Objects)... Auntie Joanne came up with a brilliant idea. Being a plane lover herself, she thought Allen would love to join her & Wela one Saturday afternoon to go "plane spotting!" And what better place in L.A. to go plane spotting than right next door to LAX. Just outside of the airport's property lies a rather small grassy public area perfect for spotting planes on their approach for landing. It also happens to be conveniently located right across the street from the oh-so-delicious In-N-Out Burger, so it's perfect for an afternoon burgers and planes picnic.

We left Daddy at home sleeping, while Allen & I drove up to L.A. and picked up Auntie Joanne & Wela. When we first arrived, Allen was just as happy as could be running around with his Wela and enjoying the nice cool weather... but being that it was LAX, it didn't take long before the first plane roared over our heads which quickly got his attention!

Being the LAX plane spotting aficionado that she is, Auntie Joanne made sure to point out where the planes would suddenly appear... and where exactly they would land!

Joanne also knew that there would be a total of three A380 Airbus' that afternoon, landing all within 90 minutes of each other, so it was especially exciting to wait and see the big boys come in as Allen nor I had ever seen one up close before... or one flying a hundred feet or so above our heads for that matter!

         

Just to give you an idea of how big those A380's are... the plane in the photo above on the left is what we usually fly when we go see Mojo and Dado in Florida, a Southwest Airlines Boeing 737. And the one on the right is a Singapore Airlines A380 Airbus. If you can't tell just how big it is in the picture... actually being there and seeing it fly over will surely convince you.   

After a yummy lunch, a couple dozen airplanes flying over our heads, and playing with Wela, Allen sure was one very happy boy!

What a great idea on a an absolute perfect day! Allen loved seeing all the planes, and I loved seeing Allen so incredibly happy. What a fun afternoon. 

Random Cuteness (part 19)

With fall now coming to an end and much cooler temperatures setting in for the winter, I figured it would be nice to look back on some cute pics from this summer... and wish for that warm weather to come back much sooner than later! 

No helmet and naked... as if there was any other way

to ride your bike around the living room?! 

Allen was lost for a while... but then he eventually got caught up and now loves watching Grey's Anatomy on the laptop with his Momma!  

When one finger just isn't good enough.

Nothing makes us smile more...

than a 'Bubba' sandwich in the morning!

Such a big boy now...

coming down the stairs like a pro!

Homemade caramel apples to snack on???

Yes please!

Never can tell when Allen's filling his diaper,

or just happy & smiling?!

"There's no time to explain Dad...

just get in already!"

Allen finally got introduced to earbuds...

and was amazed at how well he could hear his cartoons!

"Das!"

'Eagle Eye' loves pointing out planes & helicopters. 

We told him his fingers would do just fine...

but Allen insisted on eating his popcorn with a spoon!

"Oh pool-boy...

don't forget to scrub the waterfall when you're done!"

Poolside with Crocs on and a popsicle in hand...

not sure it gets any more summer than that! 

Allen & Mommy enjoying the pool with their floatation devices.

"...So then my Dad puts this hideous dress on me, and then I was like, 'Yo Pops, I can deal with the dress... but you gotta do something with my hair!"

Rico Suave!

Jei really had to twist Allen's arm

to get him to help clean off her spatula!

Happy as can be...

when you wake up from a nap next to a Ming!

When Allen says no more dinner...

he means no more dinner!

Never too early for a Mardi Gras celebration!

We were very grateful and happy to have J.R., Sebastian and Anabella stop by the house for a weekend to hangout with us and play in the pool with Allen.

The rule is simple... we buy Allen his favorite fruit snacks,

but only if he helps Mommy at checkout. 

Half-naked sitting on your bike...

is there a better way to watch TV!?!?

For a while... Allen became fascinated with wearing other people's sunglasses. We tried to find a pair of his own, but we just couldn't find any that fit his style.

Allen, in his usual summer attire, pauses from playing

in the backyard to watch a helicopter pass by. 

Cinnamon rolls, donuts, muffins, and rice krispies...

Allen definitely knows when Daddy goes shopping!

Of course after eating all that sugary goodness,

Momma demands a good brushing.

 

At a friend's birthday party,

Allen enjoys a fun ride on a borrowed scooter.

"Screen time" with dinner...

unfortunately a great way to get that little Turd to eat!

No better way to cool off at night...

than with a dip in the pool!

Mmmm... popcorn!

Definitely one of our favorite nighttime snacks.

Gettin' projects done in the yard sure are a lot easier

and get done a lot faster when you have help!

No matter how productive (or unproductive) he was, Allen loved being outside helping out his Daddy! On second thought... maybe he just likes digging in the dirt!?

He may not have super powers...

but he's got his cape and his bike, and can melt you with cuteness! 

"How hard could it be?" she asks...

as Allen sits patiently while all his hair gets buzzed off!

Only on the rarest of occasions will Allen be so tired...

that he falls asleep all on his own, wherever he may lie.

With Mommy & Daddy having one heck of a sweet-tooth,

we've always been curious if our kid would have one too.

Yeah... I'd say he's definitely inherited that gene!

So much fun to watch him...

as he plays in his own little world.

Not sure what the seating capacity of that chair is...

but I think it's at its max!

Allen's finally figuring out that crayons work

much better when you're not eating them!

Our not-so-vigilant neighborhood watch duo.

According to Jei, it was Allen's idea to get up on top of the fridge and scare me as I walked by. That little Turd got me good!