Picture update

So, once again, it's time for a photo update. I haven't been very good about keeping up w/ my blog. So here goes:

Nelly & Deniss came in August & started joining our weekly poker nights until Deniss headed back to Latvia. They tried to teach us some Latvian & Russian, but we (I) did not do so well! Jess's NY roommate Megan was also visiting for the weekend.I finally won Der Meister (sometime in September)! After about 4-5 months of weekly poker nights, I came out a winner. Twice, in a row. Haven't won again since then! Nelly's 19th birthday was in September & we had a party at the river - roasted hot dogs, made smores, & had some homemade cake from Nelly. A rousing game of movie charades ensued.
Nick, Katie, Lindsay, Meghan, Jess, Nelly, & Deniss.September also brought the Pufferbilly Days parade - I haven't gone since high school. It was a fun day with family. Kelli & Marcus brought Miya & Isaiah and they were really fun to watch.Isaiah had fun & took off a little down the street to check out the marching band. He kept us all on our toes!For Mom's birthday in September, we took her to see Wicked in Des Moines. We made an evening of it & went to dinner at Centro before the show.We also entertained ourselves with Mom's camera while we waited for the doors to open.

And this one is totally random - but I got a high score on my electronic Yahtzee - notice I had a total of 4 Yahtzee's!! (My previous high score was 535!)For Halloween I made my own costume this year. I like to call it "Shark Attack". I found an actual costume online, but it was $50 so I made my own out of a sleeping bag, some cardboard, styrofoam & paint.The rest of the Halloween party crew (minus Cloudy w/ a chance of rain, a cowgirl & Facebook -Trisha, Emily & Janelle)

Back row: Harry Carey, Sarah & Todd Palin, a cowboy, zombies, & static cling (Sean, Katie, Richard, Tim, John, Brooke & Meghan)

Front row: a pair of blue jeans, shark attack, Rocky, & Troy Polamalu (Nick, Katie, Lindsay, Baldus, & Chiggins)Jess & I took a 2 day trip to Omaha in November to see the Season 5 SYTYCD tour. It was A-MAZING!! (Sadly, no pictures) but we spent the day at the Omaha Zoo before the show. This little guy was too cute. The woman had fur around her shoulders like the skin of a momma gorilla. We watched her change his diaper & feed him. And the best part of the zoo.....they had elephants! We tried to see them a couple years ago, but it was March & they weren't there. It made my day. (Then the tour made my night!!)We were literally standing about 5 feet back from this little embankment & we were straight in front of the elephant as he started walking right toward us. I began to hyperventilate a little & quickly moved away from him. The picture wasn't taken in time, but he extended his trunk to grab some leaves next to that bush. I had no idea how close he could really get to us, but I didn't want to stay there to find out!!I love elephants!!