Michael went to the city's Halloween Carnival tonight. He makes a very handsome knight, and brave. He escorted his dad through the haunted house! It was Michael's first haunted house ever. He had a great time!

Mr. Gorbachev, TEAR DOWN THIS WALL!

Michael is a turkey. No, really, just ask him.

Michael and his Mini-Me. Look at their eyes.

Jim found a pumpkin as big as he is.

We went to Covington today and visited with Uncle Doug. Jim liked Uncle Doug and was too busy looking at him to look at the camera.

While we were in Covington, we stopped by Mom's old house where she and Weyman were working. Here, Mom is pointing out her beautiful old holly trees.

After visiting with everyone in Covington, we headed out to Tabernacle Cemetery, where Dad's buried. The cemetery needs lots of work. I'm going to plan a work day and send letters to my relatives requesting help.

Minding my own business. . .

Oh, look, Gremlin dropped his bone.

I'll take that.

Oh! I'm sorry, was this yours?

Here you go.

What? You don't want it? I promise I won't pull your ears.

Ok, OR grab your tail.

Ok, then, that's fine. Means there's more for me.

(Not Pictured: Mommy rushing over, taking the bone and throwing it out of the room. Gremlin running and getting the bone when Mommy isn't looking and bringing it back to the baby. Repeat entire process.)

Michael, Jim and I visited Frannie and Jai today. Jai's about 12 weeks old, and just precious. ("Jai" is pronounced like "sky.")

Jim was fascinated with little Jai, but he didn't much like for Mom to hold his new cousin.

Yes, that is our seven year old sitting next to Frannie. He's nearly as tall as she is nowadays.

Jim leaned in and rested his head against Jai's in this picture.

Michael and Jeff went camping with Uncle Andres and Lukas over the weekend for Lukas' birthday. Here, Michael is eating toast his dad made for him Sunday morning.

They spent one night at Carter's Lake, about an hour north of us. The kids had a great time.

They had intended to camp at Red Top Mountain, but because it is October, all of the campsites were booked. Jeff is glad that we have found a new place to camp, though. Carter's Lake was beautiful.

It was also cold. They had a huge pile of blankets in the tent, and as you can see, everyone was bundled up.

Sunday morning, they went fishing, but the fish weren't biting. The boys enjoyed it, anyway.

The birthday boy and his dad fished for an hour.

Michael, however, became bored with fishing. He was polite enough to move 100 feet down the shoreline before he started throwing rocks into the water.

Jeff and Michael have another camping trip planned for November, this time with the Cub Scouts.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Meanwhile. . .

Jim has worked out how to crawl forward, and he will take steps if we hold his hands.

Jim pulled up yesterday for the first time. He was sitting in his play pen one minute, then the next time I looked he was standing there holding onto the side. As usual, as soon as he figured it out, he did it a couple more times in rapid succession.

Here's a picture of Jim standing holding onto one of his toys, also from yesterday.

Our dog, Gremlin, is in big trouble. His sedentary life will soon be over. Jim thinks he's the coolest thing ever, and as soon as Jim is 100% mobile, we may have to cage Grem for his own safety. He's ok for now; Jim can still only crawl in reverse.