Oregon in November

Okay Linda, this is the post you’ve been waiting for!  Pictures from Oregon.  I hope you enjoy them.

Julie and I had the pleasure of a long weekend, a leisurely drive to Oregon, and the chance to visit Team Henderson2 last weekend.

I am pleased to report that TH2 is doing fabulously well.  First off, Ryan is amazing.  He is growing up so fast.  We immediately noticed that he is very aware of and engaged with the world all around him.  It’s wild to watch him focusing on different objects and people that interest him and attempt to reach out, roll towards and capture them.  He seems to be very happy and healthy and content in his surroundings. Of course, that’s because of mom and dad who he adores.

We made a pact with TH2 before we arrived.  They’d hang out with us while we did some Christmas shopping in an attempt to deprive California of their sales tithe – and we’d make sure they were well fed.  I’d say both sides fully lived up to the deal.  It’s clear that Ryan is fascinated with all the yummy food he saw us eating, though.  I almost felt bad torturing him as he sat at the tables and watched us dig in at La Perla Tapatia, California Pizza Kitchen and all the other places we enjoyed.  And, it’s fair to say that people will be getting Christmas presents this year ;)

Okay.. I admit that we gotta quit with the black background.  But, It was fun to capture this moment in time in the life of TH2.  I hope you enjoy the pictures as much as we enjoyed the visit.

Fallapalooza

Fallapalooza is a community event our church hosts at Halloween time to connect with the kids and families in our community.  In past years I've helped cook hotdogs (hundreds!) and do setup/teardown.  This year I got a chance to serve in the photo booth.  Our Creative Arts director (Kristi) made a futuristic, fanciful backdrop and my job was to get pictures of the kids and families.  We then print out the pictures and mail them to the families (they fill out a mailing label at our booth) as a thanks for coming and a reminder of their time at Fallapalooza. 

One thing Eileen (who was helping me in the booth!) and I noticed was that kids today have so many pictures taken of them that they seem to have a built-in 'photo smile'.  You know that canned 'go-to' smile.  So, I would usually start out by getting a picture of them doing that smile.  Then, I'd ask if they would be willing to do something more wild.  Most times that was a winner.

You won't know all these people and families.. especially you folks out East.. but just thought I would throw up a few of my favorite shots.  I've still got a lot to learn with my camera.  These pictures were taken at night, outside.  So, there were some challenges.  But, all in all I was pleased with the results.

This is Steve Joh.  Love the jacket.  Love the face.  Love the pose.

Could Daniel have picked a better costume to go with the backdrop?  Almost hurts to look at it!

OMG!!  This one made me sooooo think of Ryan!  How cute!!  and the next reminded me of Joel.  He soooo could have worn this as a kid.

This kid was hilarious! Check out the perfect hand position to squirt web from his wrists.  Hahaha!

Some more random pics...

Here's the Hammers (Jason, Tran, Evan (green) and Natalie) decked out for their first Halloween (oops.. Fallapalooza).  How cute!  Dzung (Tram's sister) seems hungry.

The Camps

The Rexford girls???  Joanne seems scared!

Eric.. this one's for you ;)  Use it wisely.

Extended family:

 This is Kristi (the organizer and creative mind behind Fallapalooza) and her husband.  Hold on Damian!!

The Band (of course we have live music at Fallapalooza!):

And the winner is.... 

I just LOVED this family!  Check out mom's eyes.  Those are prescription contact lens in green and yellow made just for this kind of thing!  I have no idea where you would buy the teeth.  It was actually difficult to get this cute little girl to pull her mom's hair and look manacing.  But, we finally got this photo!