This is Halloween! This is Halloween! Halloween, Halloween!

I am hoping you all got the reference to Tim Burton's "Nightmare Before Christmas" in the title. If not, you probably think I am a little out of my mind.

Anyhow, Jack's first Halloween was a success. We dressed him in a costume that was meant for Arctic climates, but he was a trooper. We only "trick or treated" at our neighbors on either side of us so they could see Jack in his costume. We didn't feel right taking a baby whom has 2 teeth door to door asking for candy that his parents would clearly eat. When we got home we took him out of his costume and let him roam around in his diaper. He was ecstatic about that! Guess the costume was a bit warmer than we thought it would be. It didn't help that our lovely Arizona temperatures stayed in the 90s through October!

Our friends, Alicia and Bryan, came over as they do every Halloween. This year Uncle Dan joined us for the festivities as well. :)  It was a great evening filled with wine, beer, candy, and great company. I would call it a successful event.

I'm not Simba. I'm Mufasa! Roooooaaaar!

A happy camper

Last week, during our fall break, we had a great visit from Aunt Betsy and her fiancee, the soon-to-be-uncle, Mick. 
Mid way through the week, we loaded up the cars and headed to Sedona and Oak Creek for a few nights of camping.  To be honest, we weren't sure how Jack would handle the cold temps at night, but he took it in stride.  Actually, he seemed to be the only one completely unaffected by the 40 degree nights, as we all struggled a bit in our sleeping bags.  Angie even moved to the car, but Jack held tight in the tent.
We took Jack to Slide Rock State Park to dip his feet in the cold mountain water.  Mick and I even found some courage to go in ourselves.
The experience was outstanding, and we can't wait for the spring season to get here to try our hand at camping again.

Our friend who showed up at the campsite.  We named him Reggie.

Minnesota Trip #2

Jack and I headed to Minnesota for the first week of fall break. Ben only has one week off in October so we thought we'd try out flying again. It went smooth as can be. Flying doesn't phase him, yet. I'm sure being immobile helped. When he starts walking, I think we'll be in trouble.

We spent the week hanging out with my family. We were only there a really short 5 days, but enjoyed it nonetheless. Here are some pictures my parents took while we were at Minnehaha Park. The colors were so vibrant and the weather was absolutely perfect. All in all in was a very, very wonderful trip.

6 months already?!?

We have been so far behind on the blog posts, and time seems to be flying by.  Jack turned 6 months old today and headed off with mommy for a trip to Minnesota.  I'll miss the time we've been spending together.  Jack is still doing wonderfully.  He's content, happy and laid back.  Most of the time spent at home is devoted to rolling on the rug in the living room and finding various toys to put in his mouth.
He's not crawling yet, but Jack is starting to scoot backward, move slowly forward like an inchworm, and roll to the places he really needs to get to.  It's all pretty comical.
Below are a bunch of new pictures for all of you who are so kind to ask for more.  I'll probably be looking at these a lot myself while Jack is gone this week.

6 months today

at the command center

asleep with his puppy

Out for a walk

Awwwww, mom.

The Michiganders

This post is extremely late in coming, but I thought it was important to include some of the images from the many visits the Michiganders made to see Jack this summer.  In late July, Uncle James and Grandma Reinhardt each came down to spend time with Jack in the summer heat.  We had wonderful visits, and they were here to see some of the little milestones of rolling over, laughing, and the development of Jack's personality that has captivated us for these past few months.
Over Labor Day weekend, Grandpa Paul and Grandma Pat ventured down also to help Jack eat his vegetables, giggle a lot, and practicing sitting up on his own.
Below are pictures of those visits.  We've said it many times on this blog, but seeing how much he has grown just since the last weeks of July is astonishing.

Just had to put this one in because he looks so cute.