The 12 Days of Christmas...

We had so much fun leading up to Christmas. You were very in to the Christmas Curious George movie and the first song talks about "Christmas preparations you can see it all around...I think you'll find that getting there is half the fun." It's so true, especially with you that half the fun of the holidays are all of the exciting things to do. So aside from watching the typical Christmas movies, here are some pictures of the activities we did. 

Decorating Christmas cookies. Or in your case, just eating the frosting for the cookies. I don't think you ate hardly any of the cookies. Then you would proceed to have a sugar crash later. It was totally worth it though. 

Your first baby cousin was born!! Caitlyn Rose was born on December 15th. Here are some pictures of her from the hospital. We went to visit her a few days later at her house and you were pretty jealous. 

I baked holiday plates for our friends and family. You wanted to help and you LOVE chocolate - this was the result of you helping. 

We were in desperate need of a new kitchen table and had people over for Christmas dinner so we bought a new larger table to help accomodate our growing family. This is you helping Dad put it together.

It took a while, but we finally got the tree up. I tried to get a nice picture of you next to it. This was the best I could get. I even bribed you with cookies and this was all I got. Still cute though. 

We also decorated gingerbread men. You did actually decorate yours this time, but then proceeded to eat all of the toppings off of it. 

From left to right: Daddy's, Marcus', and Mom's

Your daycare class had a Christmas book party exchange. Parents were invited so I came. They loaded you up on sugar first which was fun to watch. You all had such a good time. In between the goodies and the book exchange you showed me all of the toys in your classroom. 

One last picture of you running around in your Christmas jammies being a stinker-winker!

Nana's 60th Birthday

Your Nana turned 60 this year and so she wanted to celebrate with all of us. So tonight we went out to Luciano's for dinner and had some fabulous Italian food. You certainly tested our patience and Popper took you on a few walks outside to work off some of your energy. Then after dinner we headed off to the Winter Garden A Glow. You absolutely loved it. Your favorite part which we just so happened to see first was the moving train sets they had set up. It's always so special for me to go to the gardens because that is where your Dad proposed to me and where we got married. This visit was particularly special because it marks 5 years from when your Dad proposed to me at the Winter Garden A Glow. I loved that we got to share it with you and our Harper family. Here are the pictures from the visit. It was cold, but that didn't dampen our spirits!

I bought a new camera for myself to take a bunch of fabulous pictures of you and this was my first time trying it out. It takes brilliant night photos as you will see from the pictures of the lights.

Oh Christmas Tree...

We took our hopefully yearly trip to go pick out our Christmas tree this weekend. In preparation for Grand Jean in January (we are going on a 7 mi snowshoeing trip with you and the Bailly's and Fuller's) we decided to go with the Bailly's and Fuller's in order to test out the bike seat we are going to pull you and Sean in. So, it was quite a troop going up to Idaho City. The more the merrier though!

We actually got our first huge snow fall on Saturday and it was still snowing when we woke up to get ready. So when we got to John and Loren's we bundled you up and let you really experience snow for the first time. You LOVED it. You threw it in the air, you ate it, you fell down in it and giggled. It was the best.

After we were all packed up at the Bailly's we headed out to get our tree. When we got up to the area we decided to look at I took you sledding down the small incline of the road. You thought that was great and we even set Sean on you so you could go together. You didn't like that as much though, as you said 'off' while he was laying on you. Needless to say all of the parents got a kick out of it. You guys did awesome in the bike carrier and even fell asleep on the way back in from getting the tree. Your Dad went all the way up the side of the mountain to pick us out a tree this year and it is beautiful. After our mountain shenanigans we stopped for lunch in Idaho City and even got some huckleberry cheesecake to go. You were one tired boy after the events of the day but somehow didn't sleep on the way back to Boise.

Due to the snow coming this was a very long trip - 7 hours to be exact just to get a tree. It was fabulous though filled with wonderful company.

Apologies to You Marcus and Those Reading This Blog

I'm sorry I have really scaled back on blogging on here. In November I started studying for the CPA exam and it takes up a lot of time. In fact 2 hours a day. When you couple this with full time work, and a toddler it leaves very little time for me to write on here. I will do my best to keep up and catch up.

Thanksgiving

I didn't get any pictures of Thanksgiving unfortunately. I need to get better about holidays, but sometimes I just forget. Plus, this holiday was our normal family so I think that makes me not as inclined to pull the camera out. 

On Thanksgiving day we went over to Uncle Grae's and Janne's for dinner. They hosted our family and Janne's parents. The food was fabulous with turkey, thrice baked potatoes, sweet potato casserole (which you loved and tasted more like pie filling), green bean casserole, rolls, jello salad, and a green salad. Then of course you can't forget dessert - marionberry pie and pumpkin cheesecake from Pastry Perfection. Everything was divine. Although you didn't eat any of the turkey, you did eat all of the sides.

 You played chase around Uncle Grae's house and hockey outside with Popper and Dad. Your Popper loves playing with you so much that he actually brings it with him now for you guys to play. The company was enjoyable and it was definitely a feast to be thankful for. 

A few days later we went over to my parent's house for dinner. Unfortunately Aunt Megan was sick and Uncle Chris was working so it ultimately ended up being just us, your grandparents, great grandma, and Kevin and April. It was still nice nonetheless. Once again you ate everything but the turkey for dinner. 

Seeing as how it is the season...I am going to tell you what I am thankful for this year. First and foremost I am thankful for you! Every day you light me up from the inside and make me smile. Your hugs and kisses melt my heart and make me overflow with love. I'm pretty sure you will get annoyed some day with how much I hug and kiss you and tell you I love you. 

In addition I am so very thankful for our family's health. Not just you, me and Dad, but our extended family. We are so fortunate right now to have a healthy family. I am thankful for my job. With your Dad going to school and staying home with you I know how important my job is. I am thankful that my job allows me to support our family and provide you the next thing I am thankful for; our new home. You love it, the space the location, and the security it brings. I realize all of these things are somewhat cliche' but you will realize one day when you are older that these are the things that truly matter. Happy Thanksgiving!