THE Beard Pictures!!!

So awhile back the husband went on a long trip and so while he was gone he thought he'd take a break from shaving. If I wasn't there complaining about the scruffiness and he already had the wife hooked, why not just see what it looks like?? Right??

So of course for your viewing enjoyment and pleasure I am providing you with the beard progression pictures. Besides Dustin is at work and I finally have a day off, and he told me to do what I wanted!! I love him!!

Here is the beginnings of the beard....

Here he is again, as you can see it is beginning to take a bit of shape now. You can tell what he's going for at least. Ok, so pictures from the same day, but I can't help it, dolphins!! And pretty trees!! So both included also for your viewing pleasure.See what you get from reading our blog?? Awesome beard pictures, AND beautiful scenery!! What else could one ever ask for? And not to mention my hilarious whit. Here he is sporting even more of the scruffiness. Oh my husband where have you gone??

One more picture of the growth before I met him at the airport.

So after walking off the airport and seeing this

man I hardly recognized and even though I love and missed him a lot, the beard didn't last long, at all. It came off that night. But the best part is he let me shave it off in stages.

So now you can all take a vote on what type of beard best suits him and your favorite as you see the progression to the clean shaven man we all know so well.....

The shot right before the creativity began....

My attempt at a curly cue...or a "J" as it turned out....
More fun designs. Can you see how excited he is about all of this?
Ah....much better. I actually think this isn't so bad...if it wasn't so frustrating to kiss though. It hurts!! Or I'm just a wimp.And another shot....
Half way there...My personal favorite, the handlebar. I told Dustin he needed to spice up the pictures a bit more...he is so good at helping me out!
And there is that smile!!
Does he look more intelligent?
And....There he is!! Yeah!! And thanks for putting up with my currently silly mood!! He's so great!!

Family Photo Shoot

So a few weeks ago Jessica wanted to have a family photo shoot and so we had to coordinate for the 30 min that one of us doesn't have church on Sundays, but it all worked out. And you will see the results below in typical Shepherd/Hinton Fashion.

Yes below is the incredibly handsome Hintons. The funny thing was I cut Dustin's hair the next day or the day after we took these pictures. I accidentally slipped and very lovingly called him "Wolf Man"....But man he's cute!

Of course the girls...trying to be all creative and balance on the fence, Sarah didn't like it much.
The "girls" as we always refer to them as. Sometimes that made me wonder what that made me??
And "The boys" in like fashion. Same thing.....what does that make Nate and Matt?? Men?? Nah!!!
They were insistant on taking a picture with the "unwedded children"
Grandma, our photographer jumping in for a few!!
Who then got attacked!
ALL the Girls! Or Ladies??
Mom and the daughters.....
I was trying to smile and be sexy but dad said I looked silly....he should have known that the serious pictures were over by giving that comment.....And yet Sarah doesn't seem to want to join in the fun! So you have to impel her to make a weird face!

All the men!!! We were sort of proud that our wedding provided the tie color for the pictures, until we learned that the green tie from the wedding is the only tie Josh owns, well two of the same kind. He somehow inherited Nate's....

And all together now!!

These pictures make me miss the beautiful fall weather we were so blessed with!! Now it is just cold!!! And not even snowy!!

Chillin in DC

Dustin had Thursday off last week and so we decided to have a bit of fun and get out. So we put our bikes on the back of our car, packed a picnic and headed downtown. We biked around the Mall, the weather couldn't have been more perfect!! Went through the American History Museum and just enjoyed going to the monuments. We seriously recommend that this is the best way to see DC, on bikes. There are tons of paths and sidewalks so you are never lacking in places to ride, and you get to everything super fast and can take it at a leisurely pace and see everything much faster.

Here we are on the banks of the Potomac eating our dinner, then we played "Rook" which I kept trying to beat Dustin, but kept getting trashed. And Dustin always brags about me always winning.....this trip totally disproves that hypothesis!!
We also brought the football and threw it around for a bit, just enjoying the great weather!
Here we are biking down the middle of the Mall. I also took this shot for Melanie for her Humanities Architecture lecture. Don't worry Melanie, I got more, and have began collecting tons for you!
This was an old 1950s Chicago CTA railcar that was in the American History Museum.
And Dustin made a friend. He is so good that way. :)
The more Dustin and I spend time together the more we realize just how much we are meant for each other. We even like to see Museums the same way.....attack with precision. We can only handle about 1-2 hours at a museum, so see what you want to see and get out.

Pumpkin Patch

A few Saturdays ago Dustin and I went to a pumpkin patch with our friends Shawn and Jana. We had a fun time, especially with the company. The weather was BEAUTIFUL. It just reminds why we love Virginia at this time of year.

Here is Dustin contemplating what we should do first......

Us on the teeter-tatter, I tried to get a good picture but this was the best I could do!! I just want you all to notice how hard I am trying to take pictures now!! I must admit that I'm very proud of myself. Just need to keep it up!
Here is Dustin trying to feed the chickens.....with his finger. I think he learned his lesson...
Here are some of the animals that were there. Of course the baby goats were super cute!!
But they didn't get too much food when trying to compete with this fellow!! He was a bit excited
Dustin ran around chasing some of the chickens....this was the best picture I could get since he was too fast!!
Dustin and I were playing tether ball and couldn't find Shawn and Jana for awhile, but we found them speaking with the chickens in the woods....yes I mean speaking.
So we started our own tether ball tournament and of course it ended up between Dustin and Shawn.
Dustin tried really hard....
look at the form!
But alas Shawn won in the end....good fight babe!
On the Hayride. Yes we decided as part of our contract once we got married that we wouldn't take any more "normal" pictures after all of our wedding photos. This is us just being us :)
Very excited about our free pumpkins we found in the patch. Dustin picked his because it was pointy on top and doubled as his secret weapon, the dead corn stalks didn't have a chance. But everyone waited for me to find the "perfect" pumpkin. And I'm pretty sure I did!!
Case and point with the negatory on "normal" photos. Dustin very excited about going through the bamboo maze. Man I love him!
If there was a fort to climb on or something to play on or see Dustin was there with Shawn not far behind him. Here is their "secret" hideout.
There were also a whole bunch of cool slides that we went down a few times. Here is Dustin ready to take the plunge.
On his way down...seriously these were pretty cool.
And he made it!!
And then there was photo shoot time. See Shawn and Jana can take "normal" photos. I have to say Jana looks awesome for being 5 months preggo. And thanks for her being such a sport and walking all over the place with us!!
So Dustin and I had to get some pictures too.....
Here is some of my awesome picture/photographyness, yes we are in the middle of sliding down one of the slides together!! All in all a great time and we're glad we went!!

We love life!

Halloween (Early)

So we didn't get to dress up for Halloween since we just had our ward Halloween party and I got a bit carried away making the dessert (cinnamon rolls with orange cream cheese frosting that won first place in the wards contest!) that it took too long and there wasn't time. But here is a post to make up for us not dressing up on Halloween.

Dustin grew his hair out after going to Phoenix and so we decided it was time we did something with it. Here is a few pictures of what we do for fun......

Next time I think I'll dress as Storm to match my awesome Wolverine....

Pumpkin Carvin'

Nicki and I decided to do some serious pumpkin carving on this last Wednesday.  We didn't mess around.  Nicki deftly demonstrated her fantastic artistic abilities with this amazing werewolf.  Man, my wife is talented!

Classic Nicki funness

I wanted to do a throw back to my childhood--enter Transformers.  I was stoked to find a stencil for this online.  Let me introduce you to Optimus Prime!

Our powers combined, we are... awesome!

Nicki's sisters decided to join us after we had started.  They brought Prince of Persia and joined in the fun.  We sadly didn't get any pictures of Sarah--we will have to fix that next time.

That's some sweet designs she's got there.

Fun was had by all.