Valentine's Day

Just a few pictures from yesterday morning. The kids were excited to open their cards from Grandma & Grandpa and Grammie, Gramps & Uncle Chris.
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Maren saw some pants the other day at Old Navy and just HAD to have them... so we got them for her for Valentine's Day!

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Deacon holds up his new Velociraptor, who earlier had presented him with a Barnes & Noble gift card.

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Opening cards...

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The kids declared, "we're rich!" after finding something extra in their cards.

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Happy Valentine's Day!!

This Day In History: February 14, 2003

Deacon celebrates Valentine's Day, February 14, 2003

Happy Valentine's Day!

Art Showcase: "The Ants Were About To Eat Me" by Maren

We had ants in our snack cupboard a few days ago, and when Maren asked me why the ants were there, I told her they liked to eat sweet things. Later, when telling Daddy about the ants, she said that they liked to eat sweet things, but not before dinner.

Anyway, she drew this picture (on her magnet board) of an ant who apparently was coming to eat some food, but she thought the ant was going to eat her, so her face is "sad" in the picture.

When I asked her for a title, she said, "The Ants Were About To Eat Me." So the AFB proudly presents...

The Ants Were About To Eat Me, by Maren

Catching Up: A Super Day!

We had a fun day last Sunday (February 3) watching the Superbowl!

Here are a couple of pics of Derek and the kids taking a break from the stress of the game to read Dr. Seuss.

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Congratulations to the Giants on a well-deserved win. Next year it'll be San Francisco's turn. GO NINERS!

Catching Up: Deacon's Recital

Having a sister in surgery didn't stop Deacon from participating in his piano recital on January 27th! Thankfully, Grandma and Grandpa were still in town and willing to take him to the recital.
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Derek took a short break from his job as Maren's Favorite Parent During a Crisis to videotape the recital, but being extremely preoccupied and short on sleep, he wasn't able to take very many still pics. So special thanks to Mimi, Zach's mom, for this picture of the boys at their recital. f
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(As you can tell, Deacon is distraught and wracked with worry over his sister.)
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Bobby, Deacon, Zach and Sawyer

Caption Contest Winner!!

THANK YOU everyone for your participation in the first AFB Caption Contest! Every entry was outstanding and worthy of the Grand Prize (our eternal gratitude and the official caption, credited to you, for the picture in the birthday post.)

With so many great entries, I decided to recognize a few runners-up before revealing the winner. So here they are:

3rd Runner Up:
"OK, if we're so 'evolved' how do you explain my friend here?" (Derek)

2nd Runner Up:
"So what you're saying is that fish breathe underwater, is that right?" (Tom)

1st Runner Up:
"You think you're so cool, standing behind that faux rock structure..." (Tom)

***** dd***** dd***** dd***** dd***** dd***** dd*****

AND THE WINNER IS:

"Uh, no, Mr. Alff...I don't know if starfish 'high five' each other with their entire bodies." (Tom)

***** dd***** dd*****dd ***** dd***** dd***** dd*****

ddddddddddCONGRATULATIONS TOM!!!!

And thanks again to everyone!!

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!)