Happy Thanksgiving

Samantha Rose on her first Thanksgiving in the US! We have a lot to be thankful for!

Catalina Island

We recently went over to Catalina Island for a quick getaway. Santa Catalina Island, often called Catalina Island, or just Catalina, is a rocky island off the coast of California. The island is 22 miles (35 km) long and 8 miles (13 km) across at its greatest width. The island is located about 22 miles (35 km) south-southwest of Los Angeles, California. The highest point on the island is 2,097 feet (639 m) Mt. Orizaba, at 33°22′29.7″N 118°25′11.6″W.

One of the Channel Islands of California archipelago, Catalina lies within Los Angeles County. Most of the island is administered by the Catalina Island Conservancy.

The total population as of the 2000 census was 3,696 persons, almost 85 percent of whom live in the island's only incorporated city, Avalon (pop. 3,127, with another 195 south of town, outside of the city limits). The second center of population is the unincorporated village of Two Harbors, in the north, with a population of 298. Development occurs also at the smaller settlements of Rancho Escondido and Middle Ranch. The remaining population is scattered over the island between the two population centers. The island has an overall population density of 49.29/mi² (19.03/km²).

Town of Avalon

We went on the Yellow Submarine on an underwater tour

The brightly colored orange fish is the Garibaldi or Garibaldi damselfish (Hypsypops rubicundus) of the damselfish family that is native to the North-Eastern subtropical parts of the Pacific Ocean, ranging from Monterey Bay, California, to Guadalupe Island, Baja California. The common name is a reference to the Italian military and political figure Giuseppe Garibaldi who wore a trademark red shirt. This is the official marine state fish of California and is protected in California coastal waters.

Having fun on the ferry ride home

More photos taken at the pumpkin patch

Halloween 2011

This Halloween was Samantha's first Halloween in the US,

which also meant that it was the first time trick-or-treating!

She dressed up as Abby Cadabby:

Posing next to her pumpkin

J&B also carved pumpkins.

Can you guess who carved the pirate and who carved the cat?

Abby Cadabby waving her magic wand and turning things into pumpkins

before heading out for trick-or-treating

We trick-or-treated in our neighborhood and there were TONS of kids! The neighborhood really got into the Halloween spirit and it was lots of fun.

The first few houses were a little intimidating for Samantha, but after that she got right into the groove. Then after a few more houses, she told us that she wanted to go up to the door by herself.

I guess at 2 1/2, her parents are already cramping her style! (Geeeez)

The Loot!

(Wow! She got a full-sized Snickers!?)

Samy got to pick out ONE piece of candy to enjoy before bedtime,

and she chose the blue lollipop

She also really liked having trick or treaters come to her house and

passed out some candy as well.

Happy Halloween!

Where is Sam?

This is how Jessica found her last night as she went to check on her:

School Pictures

Samantha had her first school pictures taken this year!

They were taken during the 3rd week of school.

Here's what we got:

Pumpkin Patch

We headed to the pumkpin patch near our house with our neighbor friend Finley, who just turned 3 last week.

There was a small petting zoo and the girls got to pet the goats and sheep.

The animals were very friendly and very tolerant of children

The best part about the pumpkins was sitting on them!

Recent trip to San Jose

We recently went to San Jose to attend Kathy&Bassam's wedding at the beautiful Silver Creek Valley Country Club.

Her wedding day was also J&B's 6-year anniversary.

On Sunday, we had a fun-filled family day with the entire McIntire clan

(sans the Koskoffs)

Great-Auntie Terri brought a big bubble maker and we made 'alligator mouth bubbles'

Yummy Lunch!

We celebrated Papa's (Sam's great-grandfather's) Birthday and

Samy couldn't wait to dig into the cake

We all played in the pool and Sam was practicing blowing bubbles

and 'going under' by herself.

We also went to Happy Hollow and met Danny the Dragon

Here Kitty Kitty

On a recent trip to Disneyland (with Eliza), SamRo got her face painted like a cat. Jessica tried to convince her to choose another design but Sam insisted on the cat.

This was the most still Samantha has ever sat since she became ambulatory almost 2 years ago...