Brent and I got to go on a great date with Jackson. We went and saw High School Musical 3: Senior Year, and then to Applebees for dinner. It was so fun just being the 3 of us, and Jackson loved the movie so much he was dancing in the aisle!!!


Here's some pics from Halloween... I don't have any of Jackson (he was Batman) but Tate did not like being a bee but he did like his little cousin the caterpillar.

I am a Vegas virgin no more!!!! Brent and I just got back from my very first trip to Las Vegas, Brent had to go for a Corptax training, and I went to have some fun!!! It was so nice to just be by myself, doing what I want, not having to check with anyone or answer to anyone!!! So basically, I relaxed and shopped. Oh yeah, and we went and saw this:


It was fantastic!!! We both loved it. I would recommend it to anyone who likes a good musical, and who grew up listening to Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. (disclaimer: it said that it was not suitable for children under 12, but I would make that 16. After all, these guys were from Jersey!!!!)

I absolutley LOVE Philadelphia!!! Since both Brent and I love history, it was one of our most favorite trips. Standing in Independance Hall, where the Declaration of Independance was signed gave both of us chills (the good kind). Touring Eastern State Penitentiary (the oldest penitentiary in the country) gave us chills as well... the not so good kind. It totally creeped both of us out!!! We didn't spend too much time standing in the cells!!! On Sunday we walked around Philly and ended up at the best park!!! I think it was called Rittenhouse Square? It was so cool, and made me decide that we needed to move to the east coast, stat!!!!

City Hall with the statue of William Penn atop it...


The room where the Declaration of Independance was signed....


The actual chair that George Washington sat in...


Independance Hall...


The oldest residential street in the country, Elfreth's Alley, where people still live (it would get so annoying with all the tourists!!!)

First day in Hawaii, we went to the polynesian cultural center which was fantastic!! I recommend it to anyone who's going to Oahu. After staying the night in one of the dumpiest hotels (the price was cheap and it was right next door to the pcc) we stopped at the temple on our way to the North shore.






We stopped at the Dole Plantation, it was really neat!! Loved the train ride...





our view from the condo... gorgeous!!!!






A couple of waterfalls on Kauai'i.






We took a dinner cruise up the Na Pali coast.. it was amazing!!! It's on the west side of the island where apparently you can only get to by boat, or an 8 hour hike. We decided to take the boat. We got to see dolphins, sea turtles, and some naked hippies!!!! good times.





We spent our last day in Hawaii back on Oahu, where we went to Pearl Harbour and Waikiki Beach. I have to say that Pearl Harbour was probably one of my favorite things we did in Hawaii... they say it is a sacred spot, and I have to agree.. it touches your soul. They need to put an enlisting station outside of it cuz you feel extremely patriotic when you leave.. even for Canadians!!!



The anchor from the USS Arizona.

The USS Missouri, where the treaty signalling the end of WWII was signed...

Jackson's first day of his second year of preschool (there were still some tears, though)


Another fantastic photo shoot by Melissa

Procrastinating

We leave for Hawaii in the morning... at SIX in the morning. which means i have to be up by 4. But I'm waiting for laundry to be done so i can finish packing... which gives me time to blog, right? i don't know why but i'm feeling a little melancholy right now... i think it's because this will be the longest we've ever left the boys. jack's done a couple of days but Tate's only done an overnighter. And we'll be gone for nine days. nine. add on to that the fact that i'm pretty sure tate is cutting some molars cuz he's been running a fever and very clingy all day... (which is why i'm doing the laundry at 11:45) i know that they're in the best hands... Brent's parents are watching them, and they'll be in their own house with their own stuff, it will definitely be harder on me than on them. i told Brent that the first 2 days will be great... but then missing the boys will kick in. oh well, at least i'll be missing them in paradise, right?
so on a brighter note... Jack had his first soccer game of the season last night. He did pretty well... he had a minor meltdown in the middle of the game and sat out for a while, crying that he hated soccer and only loved baseball (i think that brought a tear to Brent's eye) then, with some coercion, he went back in and scored his first goal!!!! after that, he figured it wasn't so bad.

Gordon Family Camp, 2008

This year we were only able to have a weekend for the annual family camp, so we decided to go up to Bear Lake. I hadn't been there in 6 years, and it is beautiful!!
(sorry my camera was being funny and the pictures look filmy)



on the ride up to Bear Lake, Jackson had gone up the day before with my dad, Ashleigh & Nick.





playing at the lake... Tate was more interested with the 4-wheeler, but he did do pretty well going in the water





Tate was pretty insisent on riding the dirt bikes, and he was well-trained: safety first!!



It was another successful family camp, even though my dad left Saturday afternoon to go to Ogden for a DATE!!!! Then came back Sunday morning, we couldn't help giving him a hard time.... see everyone in HAWAII on Friday!!!!