Thursday, September 20, 2007

Halloween Invite


Please RSVP by commenting to this post, I will contact you with further information.

Here are some costume ideas and more information about the time period.

Costume Ideas: mountain man, cowboy/girl, rancher, saloon barman or dealer, stage coach driver, railroad worker, gold rusher, bank robber, outlaw, quick-draw gunman/woman, Indian chief, warrior, squaw

Wild West Time Line: 1830 - 1900
1831: James Bowie invents the Bowie knife.
1833: Samuel Colt invents and begins producing the revolver.
1836: The Alamo is attacked by Mexican forces and all of its more than 180 defenders are slain, including William Travis, Jim Bowie, and Davy Crockett.
1841: The first covered wagons to travel the Oregon
1849: 80,000 fourty-niners make their way to California in search of gold.
1850: Levi Strauss begins manufacturing heavyweight trousers for gold miners.
1851: John L. Soule, in an editorial in the Terre Haute Express, advises: "Go West, young man, go West."
1861: The Civil War begins when Confederates fire on Fort Sumter.
1865: Lee surrenders at Apomattox, effectively ending the Civil War.
1866: Jesse and Frank James launch their criminal career with a bank robbery in Liberty, Missouri
1867: The first cattle drive from Texas up the Chisholm Trail arrives at the rail yards of Abilene, Kansas.
1869: The Central Pacific and Union Pacific join at Promontory Point, Utah, creating the first transcontinental railroad.
1869: Wild Bill Hickok is Marshall in Hays City, Kansas.
1872: Buffalo Bill Cody awarded Congressional Medal of Honor for valor in action during the Indian Wars.
1873: The James Gang pulls its first train robbery at Adair, Iowa.
1875: Wyatt Earp begins his career as a law officer in Wichita, Kansas.
1880: Hide hunters have shot the buffalo to near extinction.
1882: Annie Oakley makes her first public appearance at a sharp shooting show.
1889: Fifty thousand homesteaders swarm into Oklahoma on the first day of the land rush.
1896: Butch Cassidy formed the “Wild Bunch” which consisted of 15 men and 4 women. Link to

information site - http://www.legendsofamerica.com/WE-TimeLine.html

Saturday, September 15, 2007

Fall, Fall, Fall!

In celebration of chilly weather, leaves turning, autumn foods and the lighting of warm fires, I have redesigned my blog page. Enjoy! - Jana

Friday, September 14, 2007

Halloween Will Soon Be Here!!!

We are starting to plan our annual Halloween party, so I thought I would post some pictures from last year to get everybody in the mood. The theme for last year was Egypt: Cleopatra, slaves, roman soldiers, mummies, pyramids (yes, we had a pyramid attend the party last year).

We are still in the process of planning for this year, but the theme will be the Wild West and as in years past it is not required that you dress up according to the theme, but it is fun to see what everybody comes up with.

The party this year will likely be on the Saturday before Halloween, Oct. 27th. Again, these are not final plans, and I will be posting some more info in a week or so.


Jana as an Egyptian Queen and Nate as an Egyptian farmer/peasant


Standing with our Hieroglyphic man


Dad, Olivia as a ladybug and Nate


Mom and Dad


Gina and Westin as a mummy


Denny and Debbie bring the Renaissance to Ancient Egypt


Romans and Belly Dancers - Stephanie as Cleopatra holding mummified Westin


Pumpkin Carving


Pumpkin carving is a serious art!


Cute little pumpkins!


Dad, Olivia, Emma (she was a lion/leopard), Ardi, Autumn, Alec (as a Power Ranger), Nate


The finished and lite lanterns


More Jack-O-Lanterns



All lite up!