Family Photo Shoot

Over the weekend we went out to try and get a good family portrait.  We took a few pictures of each other and then set up the tripod to get some of all of us.  A little editing on the computer later and I think we got a few good shots.  We will likely use one or more of them as a Christmas Card picture so I am not releasing our favorites yet but here are a few that are in the top 30 or so but aren't going to be used for the card.  For those of you who like to order my pictures from Shutterfly (Mom, Hermine) they won't be on the site until after the holidays but check back then. :)

Wembley is looking at us trying to figure out what we want him to do

As he heard the camera click he spun around.  I love his ears in this picture.

I was playing with the colors in lightroom here taking out all the background color

Emma looking happy

Gary teaching Emma how to look annoyed at the camera.  I love how they have the same expression here.

Happy Emma again

Hurricane Sandy

Well Emma has officially been through her first hurricane.  As it was heading towards NY we made the decision that we would stay with my parents while Gary held down the fort at home.  While we didn't get hit head on in MA we certainly felt the impact of the storm with the winds and rain.  I can only imagine that Gary was feeling it much more but was also sitting at home thankful that he didn't have to go out and walk the dog. :)  Luckily the area where we live was relatively spared by the storm.  Sure there are trees down and you can tell something went on but we never lost power and many of the stores in the area are business as usual just 2 days later.  Unfortunately many parts of NY were not as lucky and are still trying to recover.  The subway has been shut down for several days which led to a long and horrible commute by bus today for Gary now that the stock market has reopened.  We made it home Wednesday (2 days after the storm) and overall it was a relatively easy drive.  I wanted to fill up the tank before getting home since gas might be hard to get and really expensive in the near future for a while.  After stopping at 2 gas stations without power I managed to find one that was open and thankfully had no line.  I filled up and hopefully it will last for a while as we don't drive much as it is and I will drive even less now that there is a gas shortage.  10 miles down the road I started to see gas stations with really long lines and was thankful that my tank was now on full.  The average gas line in our area is taking people 2-3 hours to get gas and they are only allowed 10 gallons at most places.  Here are a few pictures of the storm aftermath in our neighborhood and spending time with Grandpa in our extended stay in MA.

Reaching for Grandpa's Hand

Just Hanging Out

A limb fell on this car just down the street from our house.

This is a street just behind where we live and where we walk everyday with Wembley.  At least their house was ok and most of the damage was to the garage.

Further down the same road

Cut up tree limbs lining the side of the road

Halloween

Emma's first Halloween is fairly uneventful.  We made it home from MA and I dressed Emma in her duck costume and we went to walk Wembley around the neighborhood.  He is lucky that it was a quick turn around or I would have remembered that I wanted to put him in his costume as well.  I guess he was spared this year.  After we dropped Wembley off at home I met up with Mona, Andrew and Roya and we walked down Austin St. with our girls in their costumes and looked at all the other kids running around.  Emma and I then went home and off to bed she went.  Friday we are meeting with our mom's group in costumes so I would expect another post with costumes coming soon.

Costumes are fun

A "Sitting Duck" :)

The Duck and Ladybug head out for a walk

My little duck in her stroller