MUMC Pumpkin Patch 2009

It's that time of year again, time to head over to the MUMC Pumpkin Patch. It was just me and the girls this afternoon, Sarah was busy working with her mother at the annual MUMC Craft Fair (in the church annex buildings behind the pumpkin patch). Unlike last year, the weather was great. It was actually cool outside and felt like Fall. Still warm enough for shorts... ;)

The girls picked out some great pumpkins and I will have my work cut out for me next weekend when it comes time to carve them all out.

You can can view the pictures from the MUMC Pumpkin Patch by clicking on the picture below or by clicking here.

(Laura & Caitlyn at the MUMC Pumpkin Patch)

HEAL First Coast Zoo Walk for Autism

This past Sunday we went to the Jacksonville Zoo to participate in the HEAL First Coast Zoo Walk for Autism. If you weren't not aware, April is Autism Awareness month. We met up with the group from Caitlyn's school "Little Star Walkers" and spent the morning supporting a great cause. The HEAL! Foundation (Healing Every Autistic Life!) is a local foundation serving the Greater Jacksonville Area and is also a supporter of Little Star Center of Jacksonville. It was an early start to a Sunday morning, but the weather was great and everyone had a great time walking the zoo.

You can view pictures from Sarah's Birthday Bash by clicking on the picture below or by clicking here.

(The "Little Star Walkers")

If you are interested in more information about HEAL!, follow the link below:

Alan Pickert chosen for Florida Super Lawyers & Florida Legal Elite

Alan Pickert of Terrell Hogan has been chosen for the 3rd year in a row as one of "Florida's Super Lawyers" for 2009 and has also been chosen for the 4th year in a row as one of "Florida's Legal Elite" for 2009. This places Alan among the top 2% of all attorneys in the state of Florida.

Alan is known for his outstanding work in Asbestos, Auto and Vaccine Injury. If you recall, Alan Pickert won Caitlyn's case in Vaccine Court back in 2007.

Alan,You remain a blessing and we appreciate everything you continue to do for our family. Congratulations once again on these 2 awards Alan, you definitely deserve them.

-The Hoiberg Family

(from left to right: Linda, Alan, Sarah, & Chris)

Related Stories:

• Local Family Warns about Dangers of Childhood Vaccines - Video (First Coast News NBC 12 / ABC 25)
• Judge Says Vaccine Hurt Local Girl - Video (CBS 47 / FOX 30)
• Vaccine award brings parents slight solace - Video (The Florida Times-Union)

Glenn Beck: Last Line of Defense

Glenn Beck: Last Line of Defense
March 19, 2009 - 22:01 ET

"The Fed announced it will pump a $1 trillion into the system by buying debt from our treasury."

http://www.glennbeck.com/content/articles/article/198/22954/

Sarah's Birthday Bash '09

We celebrated another wonderful year of my lovely wife & mother of my beautiful children. Every year I am more and more amazed with how blessed I am to have Sarah by my side.

To celebrate the occassion, we had friends over for a cookout while we all relaxed and enjoyed the time together. A great time was had by all and we a thankful for all who attended.

Happy Birthday Sarah!

You can view pictures from Sarah's Birthday Bash by clicking on the picture below or by clicking.

(Sarah having her cake and getting to eat it...)

Walt Disney World - 03/02/08

Back in March we packed up the family and headed south to Orlando for a Disney weekend with the family. This turned out to be an interesting trip to say the least. We ended up making the best of the situation and enjoyed 2 nice days at the parks.

You can view pictures from the Magic Kingdom by clicking on the picture below or by clicking.

(Caitlyn with Sleeping Beauty, Princess Aurora, at Walt Disney World)

You can view pictures from Hollywood Studios by clicking on the picture below or by clicking.

(The High School Musical show at Hollywood Studios)

Chris' Birthday Dinner

Recently I celebrated yet another Birthday and the sad realization I am getting older. To celebrate the occasion we invited the group "The Gang" out to one of our favorite places, Maggiano's Little Italy, for a nice family style dinner. We had a great time and ate way too much food.

I look back over this past year of my life and I am amazed at what has taken place and the progression of everything. I can look back and smile, I am grateful for my family and my friends. Thank you all for a great year.

You can view all the pictures from Chris' Birthday Dinner by clicking on the picture below or by clicking here.

("The Gang" at Maggiano's Little Italy)

Autism & Vaccines in the News

On Friday Leslie Weed & Sarah Hoiberg were asked by First Coast News to discuss the recent court ruling regarding the link between Autism & Vaccines and to talk about the need for safer vaccines.

Parents of Autistic Children Dealt Legal Setback

U.S. Special Court: MMR \ Thimerosal Omnibus Decision

U.S. Special Court: Measles Vaccine Not to Blame for Autism
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Associated Press

U.S. Special Court: Measles Vaccine Not to Blame for Autism, A special U.S. court has ruled against parents with autistic children, saying that vaccines are not to blame for their children's neurological disorder.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,491526,00.html

http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/02/12/autism.vaccines/index.html

This is not good news... This is a very sad day for these families. Our heart & prayers go out to them...

New York City 2009 Visit

This past January Laura & I traveled up to New Jersey for my Dad's Birthday and to visit with family. We had a great time and it was a nice to spend some one on one time together.

On Saturday we made a trip into the City. My Dad, Laura, & I grabbed the train in New Brunswick and made our way to New York Penn Station. We arrived in the City and made our way up through Times Square and then over to the FOX News Studio.

You can view all the pictures from of our afternoon in New York City by clicking on the pictures below or by clicking here.

(Laura & Chris in Times Square)

Next stop was Rockefeller Center to see the Christmas Tree. The Tree was beauiful, this one actually came from Hamilton New Jersey.

(Laura & Chris at Rockefeller Center, Laura is feeling the chill of being in the shade)

Afterwards we made our way further uptown to the World of Disney Store. Shortly upon arriving, we found out Cinderella was going to be visiting. We quickly made our way upstairs and Laura was able to say hello and take some pictures.

(Laura with Cinderella at the World of Disney)

At this point we were ready for some food before heading back downtown. The next stop was the M&M World store in Times Square where Laura picked out various crazy colors of M&M's (pink, purple, lavender, & turquiose).

(Laura in the M&M World store)

We proceeded to make our way back to Penn Station, grabbing a pretzel for Laura along the way, and hopped the train back to Jersey.

On Sunday we made a trip out to see my sister's & brother-in-law's and Laura's cousins for some ice skating and dinner. The kids had a great time and it was nice having a chance to catch up with my sister's.

You can view pictures of Laura Ice Skating by clicking on the picture below or by clicking here.

(Laura showing off her ice skating skills)

New Years Eve 2008

Better late than never, right?

Happy New Years everyone!!!

With everything that was going on over the holidays and getting this year off to a start, we have been pretty busy and it seems like there is never enough time to do what would be the simplest of things, like post a Blog entry...

We celebrated New Years Eve with some of our closest friends once again at P.F. Chang's. It's starting to become a staple for us. This was the second year in a row at one of our favorite places to eat.

You can view pictures from of our evening at P.F. Chang's by clicking on the picture below or by clicking here.

(Stacey, Bonnie, Andrew, Shippee, Jessie, Sarah, Chris, & Barry at P.F. Chang's in St. Johns Town Center on New Years Eve.)

Walt Disney World - Hollywood Studios 11/23/08

On Sunday Sarah & I loaded up the kids and took them to Disney's Hollywood Studios. We spent the entire day in the park taking the kids around to all the rides and the shows. Both Caitlyn and Laura had a blast. We were able to see Playhouse Disney as well as a couple characters. We ended up staying longer than we planned, but we were having such a good time walking the park and enjoying the evening.

You can view pictures from of our afternoon in the Animal Kingdom by clicking on the picture below or by clicking here.

(Laura, Caitlyn, & Sarah in front of the Christmas Tree at Hollywood Studios)

(The HSM 3 Show at Hollywood Studios)

(Mickey's hat in Hollywood Studios)

Walt Disney World - Animal Kingdom 11/22/08

On Saturday we decided to take the kids w/ Grandma & Grandpa T, and Uncle Timmy to Disney's Animal Kingdom. We had a great time enjoying the park and the weather was great once again. We spent much of the afternoon in Africa as many of the animals were located there on the Sahara. We eventually made our way around the park and managed to ride Everest. Amazing, that's all I have... At the end of the day, we managed to get front seats for the Christmas Jungle Parade.

You can view pictures from of our afternoon in the Animal Kingdom by clicking on the picture below or by clicking here.

(Sarah, Caitlyn, Laura, & Chris w/ Everest in the background)

After the Animal Kingdom Park closed, Sarah & I took the kids back to the Magic Kingdom to see the parade and the fireworks. This was the first time we were able to see the fireworks and it was well worth it.

You can view pictures from of our evening in the Magic Kingdom by clicking on the picture below or by clicking here.

(Laura possing in front of Cinderella's castle in the Magic Kingdom)

Walt Disney World - Magic Kingdom 11/21/08

A couple weeks ago we took the kids along with the Grandparents & Uncle Timmy down to Orlando for a weekend vacation. We arrived late Thursday night and made our way to the magic Kingdom just before noon on Friday. We spent most of the day taking the kids on the rides and enjoying the beautiful weather in Orlando. All the parks were decorated for Christmas which was a great treat for the kids and helped to get us all in the Christmas spirit.

You can view pictures from of our afternoon in the Magic Kingdom by clicking on the picture below or by clicking here.

(Chris, Sarah, Caitlyn, & Laura on Main Street USA)

After the Magic Kingdom closed the gates for the day, we made our way over to Epcot for a short visit to try and find a place to eat. Apparently we weren't the only ones with that idea. We made a quick walk around The World Showcase, stopped in Italy and then made our way out of the park. Dinner was another disaster I'd rather not bring up...

You can view pictures from of our evening in Epcot by clicking on the picture below or by clicking here.

(Chris, Sarah, Caitlyn, Laura, Grandma, & Grandpa T in Epcot)

New addition to the Hoiberg Family ...Caitlyn's new puppy Molly.

We have a new addition to the family, her name is Molly and she is a Shih Tzu. We picked her up a couple weeks ago. She is already 4 months old and is doing very well getting house broken. As you can expect, Caitlyn & Laura are very excited about having a puppy. Caitlyn is doing very well with Molly and Laura is helping out daily responsibilities. Molly follows Caitlyn throughout the house and is getting attached to both girls. She's still needs some work with the chewing, she has a thing for running into Caitlyn's room and grabbing her toys.

You can view pictures from of Molly by clicking on the picture below or by clicking here.

(Caitlyn & her new puppy Molly)