The Cowboy

Watch out ladies......there is a new sheriff in town!

Or maybe a new village person, one of the two!

He definitely got his sweet moves from his dad

Trick or Treating

This is the morning of Halloween. Hannah and Benny both popped out of bed and immediately dressed in their costumes.

Will, not quite grasping the concept of Halloween, came running out of his room sans diaper. (or maybe he totally gets the concept and he just wanted to dress as a flasher)

What I love best about Benny's red power ranger costume is the bow in the back. It just brought a smile to my face every time I saw it.



Here is a picture of Will when he realized that people were handing out free candy!

What a fun Halloween it was!

My Puerto Rican Grandma

The other night I had just gotten home and needed to grab something really quick from our house to take to someone. When I went back outside there was a black cat sitting on the hood of our car so I went back inside. I plopped on the couch next to Ray. Here is our conversation:

Ray: What happened? Didn't you need to go somewhere?

Me: Ya, but when I got out to the car, there was a black cat on the hood. Isn't that a bad omen on the eve of Halloween? I don't think I should go out tonight.

Ray: Who are you??

Since then I have been laughing at myself and thinking about where do my superstitions come from? I didn't have to think to long about that. You see, I am a quarter Puerto Rican. Which my brother Brad would say we are quartaricans.

We grew up living only a few blocks from my Grandma. And I guess her superstitions found their way into the back of my head.

For example:

- whenever my kids are opening umbrellas in the house I cringe and tell them they need to stop.

-I make sure to side step any ladders in my path

-And whenever I get my hair cut at a salon, I am too chicken to ask for my hair that has been cut so that I can dispose of it properly like my Grandma always taught me. Why you might ask? So they don't make a voodoo doll with it of course!

The Disney Cruise

We just got back from the Disney cruise. I have to say, it was pretty fun!

Will trying to play it cool with Cindy and Snow

Hannah and Chloe sporting the Benton Cruise gear

The view of the ship from Castaway Cay in the Bahamas.

Hannah and Chloe morphed into teenagers on the trip.

Avril getting her share of the sun on the beach.

What a handsome guy!

The dolphins were a little scared of ray. They wouldn't get too close to him.

All cleaned up for formal night

Ray doing what he does best. Entertaining the kids!

Pirate night with Captain Jack Sparrow

What a memorable vacation it was! Thank you Grandma and Grandpa!

The Drill Accident

Ray was working late Saturday night on the house installing our shower door. All of the sudden I heard him kind of moaning, "ow ooh ooh ooh aw!" I walked in and saw blood all over the floor leading to where Ray was washing his hand. Basically what happened was while Ray was drilling a hole through the door, the drill bit broke causing the drill to jump and drill right through Ray's middle finger. He said it was pretty crazy seeing the drill through the other side. He had to actually reverse the drill to get it out of his finger! But he is fine. Luckily, the drill missed the bone and any nerves or soft tissue.

The thing I love about Ray is how easily he sees the good in things. As he was walking out the door to the emergency room he said, " I am so blessed. This could have been so much worse".

Then, when he got home from the hospital at 1:00 a.m. he actually finished the shower door!

I just love that guy!