Santa Baby

Our little Charlie posing in front of the Christmas tree...

Nathan's birthday

Nathan turns 3 on Christmas Day so Tricia had a little birthday party for him this past weekend to celebrate the milestone. Nathan was so excited for his party - he loves Toy Story so it was a Woody and Buzz themed party.

Tricia, Mike, and Nathan

James was really excited about the cupcakes!

Zoo Lights

The Denver Zoo puts on "Zoo Lights" every Christmas season so we decided to go this year with Cory, Jamie, and Kaylynn. Kaylynn and James had fun riding in the wagon, staying warm under lots of blankets. It was a really neat display and the kids loved the lights.

Charlie and I stayed nice and warm too!

Must Be Santa

Our attempt to see Santa yesterday was wildly unsuccessful and hilarious all at the same time! Charlie had doned his "Baby's 1st Christmas" onsie for the occasion which he completely soiled shortly after getting to the mall. Luckily, the matching hat and socks were not harmed in the explosion. Then he fell asleep in the line to see Santa. Sophie and James were very excited to see the jolly old man - even waving at him from the sidelines. However, that all changed when it was our turn to get near him. Both kids did not want anything to do with Santa. James melted down and clung to me for dear life. Since my 2-year-old would not even think about being in the picture I had paid for, I woke up Charlie and sat him on Santa's lap. The resulting photograph is actually pretty cute. We got a print so I am not able to post it here, but these are the pictures of us waiting to see Santa. Hopefully next year it goes better!!

Light Parade

We also spent a night with our friends Janna and Rod in Rapid City on our way home. It was GREAT to see them and their adorable kids - Taylor and Molly. While we were in Rapid City, we went to the Light Parade downtown. It was good way to get in the holiday spirit and the kids really enjoyed it. Here is our little family all bundled up for the parade.

Janna, Molly, Taylor, and Rod

All eight of us!

The kids eating a cookie after the parade...

Thanksgiving in South Dakota

We spent Thanksgiving weekend in South Dakota this year with Doug's family. The boys were all dressed up for the holiday.

Charlie bonded with Papa, Uncle Toby, and cousin Lane. He also was a big fan of Grandma - I just didn't get any pictures of the 2 of them.

Nathan and Lane helped Aunt Sondra put up Christmas lights on the house.

We also celebrated Christmas with Sondra and Keith since we won't see them at Christmas. Nathan and James were very excited about the early Christmas presents.

And last...our beautiful nieces - Bethany and Kelsie!

Charlie smiles!

Charlie has been giving us smiles for awhile now but I hadn't been successful in catching any on camera until this weekend!

And 2 cute shots of James and Kaylynn from this weekend too.

Great Grandma and Grandpa

We visited my grandparents while we were in Montana. We had a great time with them and Charlie enjoyed getting held by his great-grandparents.

Grandma Tookie still had some great vintage toys including a Mr. Potato Head and some cool bath toys!

Happy Halloween!

James wore his pumpkin shirt for Halloween and Charlie looked festive in his "Baby's First Halloween" pajamas. We had fun trick or treating last night with Grandma!

Bless Charlie

Charlie was baptized this past Saturday at our church. We had lots of family and friends with us to help us celebrate his big day. My mom, Cory, Jamie, Kaylynn, Pete, Paula, Whitney, Doug's parents, Tricia, Mike, Nathan, and Jeanene were all with us. It was a very special day!

Charlie's godparents are Pete and Jeanene.

James had fun during the baptism playing with his cousins.

The obligatory baptismal cake.