A Worthy Cause

This is the season for giving, and I know someone who could really use the help. A former co-worker of mine, John Larsala, suffered a terrible loss yesterday. His home caught fire and he lost everything. John is a refugee from Liberia. He fled his war torn country with just the clothes on his back, his wife, and children. Now that he has lost his home he must start again, just as he did when he came here from Africa. If you are able, please donate any items you can. They need clothing, hygiene products, food, ect. A Wells Fargo account has also been set up for monetary donations. Their phone number is 602-375-5591, and the account #2706102544. Thanks!

Covenant of Grace
Christian Fellowship
906 W. Peoria Ave.
Phoenix, AZ 85029
(602) 678-0999

1st Haircut

I cut Afton's hair for the first time so that Nippon's mom could take some to India with her (of course I kept some too). There is a temple called TaraTarini in Orissa that takes hair as offerings during the months of March & April. We asked that the priest take his curls there.

I didn't cut much. Mostly just the long wispy hairs that stuck out. Luckily he still has curls left over. This also made it easy to cut because if I made a mistake you can't tell.

The final product.
I didn't take a before picture, but you can't tell much of a difference.
He does look a little older though, at least to me.

Gramma Blake

I feel blessed that Nippon, Afton, and I were able to visit Grandma this weekend.

I was her only granddaughter, and she spoiled me rotten.

Now she can finally rest without pain, without fear.

I love you Gramma.

You will be missed. Greatly.

Halloweenie & More

Afton was able to experience his first Halloween this year. Last year we were in India, and he wasn't old enough to enjoy it anyway. He dressed up as the cutest, I mean coolest, Wolverine ever. He had fake muscles and all. We bought it at the Spirit Halloween store which is NOT a place Afton enjoyed. He wouldn't let us put him down and would start shaking if he was too close to any of the scary animitronic whatnots. Luckily there were no tears so I didn't feel so bad giggling about his fright.

Afton was scared of this skeleton Nippon bought but after he saw it a few times he thought is was "silly." His words.

Evil eyed Banyan completes the shot.

We didn't go trick or treating door to door since he really doesn't care about that part yet, but we did go to the Kiwanis Park Carnival. It was a fun place to people watch and chow down on some Navajo tacos. YUM!

They had a face painting booth where I asked the guy to paint some chops (aka sideburns) onto my cute Wolverine. I'm not sure exactly what the guy was thinking, and Afton hated every second of the ordeal. Don't ask me what's on my face either. Apparently I was kissed by a weird lipped creature.

Earlier that week we went to Mother Nature's Farm with my cousin Carianne and her daughter Kate. The kids had lots of fun running through the maze, going on a hay ride (where Afton lost his hat, but we got it back), decorating pumpkins, and jumping in the bounce house.

I love this picture of Carianne and Kate (peaking over the top).

San Diego Part 3: Jaime & the Beaches

Ok. Let's finish this up!
So the day after we went to Sea World we met up with my bestie Jaime (we've been friends since we were five) to visit Coronado Island. We played in the sand and Jaime took Afton into the waves to cool down. It was pretty hot that day, which was surprising since I thought we were leaving the heat in AZ. Apparently San Diego (and California in general) was experiencing a heat wave. At least it was still slightly cooler than Phoenix. Afton loved the beach. I'm sure he would have been happy to stay there all day. This was the second time he has been to the ocean. The first time (in India) he couldn't walk and was kind of scared of the waves. This time he was all for it, even when he was knocked over by a wave. After playing on the beach we headed over to the beautiful Hotel del Coronado. They filmed one of my all time favorite films here, Some Like It Hot. In the main entrance there is a gorgeous chandelier designed by Theodor Geisel (aka Dr. Seuss). You'd think it would be all whimsical but it's pretty traditional. We hung out with Jaime the whole day, which was fabulous because we haven't done that in a long time. She's so much fun and I miss her a lot.

We stopped at Gossip Grill for some drinks and food.

On our last day in San Diego we met up with Nippon's old boss for lunch. They talked business and Nippon learned that he has several possible job options in the area if we choose to relocate. It's definitely a possibility! After lunch we had to stop off at the beach for one last time. La Jolla Shores was packed with surfers and sun bathers. Of course Afton loved getting wet and sandy. We buried his feet and dug some holes, then headed home. We had a fabulous trip to San Diego and hope to be back soon!