Caption Contest

Presenting the first ever AFB Caption Contest!!



Please think of an appropriate caption for this picture, and submit via Comments, below. The winning entry will be announced soon, and your caption will appear in the birthday post, below.

Thanks for helping out!

UPDATE: Contest will be closed at 12:00 a.m. Thursday, February 7th

Deacon's Birthday Party

We now return to our regularly scheduled Blog...

Here are some pictures from Deacon's birthday party on Saturday, January 26th, at the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach!



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A warm welcome from the Aquarium!

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Watching the presentation...

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A Marine Biologist, Angelique, shows the kids a "blubber glove."

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Touching anemones, starfish, and other critters!

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Meanwhile, Grammie enjoys meeting David!

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"Uh, no, Mr. Alff...I don't know if starfish 'high five' each other with their entire bodies."
Special thanks to Tom, Caption Contest Winner!
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It wouldn't be a party without silly hats.

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No hat for me... it might mess up my new hair!!

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Opening presents!

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Touching rays and sharks!

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Surprisingly, the aquarium encourages visitors to feed the animals french fries! :)

She's HOME!!

Well... Maren had a complete turnaround on Monday morning, when she suddenly felt like walking, talking, and drinking juice. In fact, she walked her empty juice cup out to the nurse and declared that she was ready to go home! The doctor wisely agreed with Maren's assessment and gave the discharge orders.
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Some pictures of the whole adventure...

Miserable at St. Joseph's in the wee hours of Sunday morning
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After being transported from St. Joe's in Burbank to Valley Presbyterian in Van Nuys, Maren meets Dr. Ng, who diagnoses appendicitis.

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Surgery?!?

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Maren rests with Baby Fi-Fi after surgery. The Recovery nurses put a surgical hat on Fi-Fi, who got to stay with Maren until she was anesthetized. Baby Fi-Fi may have had an adventure of her own; the surgeon, Dr. Shaul, told us very seriously that, like Maren, Fi-Fi came through the surgery just fine.

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Abdominal surgery isn't any fun at all!!

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Monday morning, Derek arrived to take over for me while I went home to change and get a few toys for Maren. When I left, she was still miserable and lethargic. After I had been home for an hour, Derek called to tell me she was up, walking, talking, drinking juice and acting like her old self!

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Dressed and ready to go home!

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The wheelchair ride was FUN!!

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Thank you so much for your prayers, everyone. We are so blessed!

We Interrupt This Blog...

As many of you know, Maren suddenly came down with appendicitis on Saturday night. She had surgery yesterday and we're not sure when she'll be able to leave the hospital, but as soon as things get back to normal we'll be back with pictures of Deacon's birthday party and recital this weekend.

We thank you for your thoughts and prayers and look forward to getting Maren home and back to being the Queen of America!

This Day In History: January 25, 2003

Deacon at his 1st birthday party, Part II, in Sacramento... January 25, 2003

Birthday Fun... At School!

Deacon had a great time celebrating at school today.









"Haaaappy Birthday To You..."

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Fortunately, Deacon was so distracted by the cake-topper dinosaurs (they even made noise!) that he didn't eat much cake.

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Maren took Baby Fi-Fi along to the party... Mommy wanted to make a little party hat for Fi-Fi, but ran out of time.

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The kids were SO patient while they waited for their cake!

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A prayer to end the day...

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And finally, a visit from the principal! Mr. Koeppel has a birthday surprise for Deacon (a certificate and a birthday pencil!)

Party On!

We got home from school and celebrated again!
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Presents...

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An Aquaman glass... circa 1978! What would we do without eBay??

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Cashews! Nuts for a nut.

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A gigantic box of Cheez-Its!

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What could it be...

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Red Vines!

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Say Cheez-It!

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Saved the best for last! Cards from Grammie, Gramps and Uncle Chris!

This Day In History: January 22, 2005

Maren, from January 22, 2005

Early Riser

A "night-vision" shot of Deacon this morning at 5:45 a.m., ready to celebrate his birthday...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEACON!

Here's Deacon on January 22, 2002 (21 minutes old)