Hop on!

The day came that we needed to get rid of our tree. It left a lot of needles and Charlie kept getting them stuck in his feet. So he just hopped on to the back of his dump truck wagon.

The loot

...or some of it anyway.

The baby doll came complete with pacifier, three outfits, matching hat and blanket, and two bottles. Thanks, Grandma.

Lots of puzzles, a dump truck wagon...

A Thomas Train utility belt to carry all the trains, that go to the train table and train tracks!! (not shown) You can see some of our Muppet friends in the background, also from Grandma Hadd. Our new playroom will have a Muppet theme.

Christmas was pretty overwhelming but Charlie did get the hang of ripping open every and any package. He's having a birthday in a month and the present opening party will continue.

Lights at the Temple

We made it up to see the Festival of Lights at the D.C. Temple this year. Luckily, it was a night when Jenny Oaks Baker was performing at the Visitor's Center so we got to see that too. It was pretty chilly, and we're bundled up!

The Quest

Our little boy has started the quest of jumping...getting both feet off the ground. Until now, he mostly hops/skips around saying, "Jump, jump, jump," like a little Mexican Jumping Bean. (I used to have some of those, and they really do jump! They are little rocks, I think, with some sort of insect in them.) A couple older friends have been over to our new house and jumped off the stairs, showing Charlie that there is so much more to the world of jumping. Now all of our mornings start out by first, finding the magic boots, and then, jumping off the bottom step.
Watch and see.....

Just a little nibble, please!

Charlie's little friend, Kale, could not keep his hands off Charlie for these pictures! He just wanted a piece of that ear! Don't worry, Kale, I have the same problem all the time.

"Pucker up!"

"Honk"

Can't fool me!

At our ward Christmas party, Santa made an appearance. Charlie was the first to sit on his lap. He wasn't too happy or unhappy about it all. Just went through the motions, I guess. Got his candy cane and came back to our table. A few seconds later, he points to Santa and says, "Rob". Yes, our friend Rob was dressed up as Santa and there was no fooling Charlie.

A new residence

It has been a month since I last posted!!! We've moved. Out of the rental that we took care of as our own (i.e. the house Dave built a deck with his very own hands...for rent credit) and into our first house of our own. Actually, it is a townhouse, about 5 minutes up the street from our old house. We like it so far. The newness of it lacks character, my only real complaint. But it is our own nonetheless. We encountered mice going and coming from our oven!! just a few days after we moved in. Dave took care of that situation swiftly. Charlie enjoys sliding down the many stairs on his belly. The whole downstairs is a playroom! Some friends helped us paint the living room and the two boys rooms. Here we are outside on a gloomy day.

Our kitchen before we moved in. The kitchen is my favorite part.

I just don't have any pictures of the rest of the house yet. We are still in "move-in" mode. You'll just have to come visit and see for yourself.