1st Birthday

We can hardly believe that our little man is one! The kids thought that we needed to celebrate Eli's birthday by going to Chuck E. Cheeses or McDonald's Playland--man were they disappointed to find out that it was going to be a quiet, just-us-at-home birthday for our 1-year-old! And he loved it! I mean, we all had a great time watching him try to figure out what was going on! Doesn't it look like he is completely getting it?!

He LOVED the cake, candle, lights out while singing to him--he just grinned and stared at all of us! Maybe he just thought we were all crazy?*@!


I thought that I would attempt a new cake recipe--carrot cake (minus any kind of nuts). It just felt a bit more healthy and my family had never tried it before. So why not. It was a fabulous cake and I must say that it looked pretty good,too. (I have tried the double layer cakes before and have failed miserably.) However, this was about the extent of his cake exploration.

At little poke and taste.

This was it!! Not even enough of a mess for a bath! Maybe it was the carrot cake or maybe he will just be a neat and tidy person--who knows! But we had a blast just watching him.

But we think he had a great day! What do you think?
(who could resist that smile!)
Happy 1st Birthday Eli! We love you tons!

it's official

We officially have another walker in the house!  Does this qualify him for the label of "toddler"?  Sadly, infancy is slipping away.  (Sad in some ways, and not so much in others!)  Actually, Eli has been taking steps for months (he started at about 9 months old)....but now he is 99% upright....and fast!  He is a very cheerful busy body!  We enjoy him SO much!

He loves the pots and pans cupboard.  The louder the noise the better, right?  Just a few days ago, he was into another favorite hot spot--the lazy susan.  He found the jug of canola oil and, yep...somehow spilled about 1/3 of the jug on the floor, rug, on himself and under the stove! And it was dinner time, of course!  

"Hmmmm....how do I get up there?"  

Unfortunately, it will not take him long!  We so love our little busy body!

when fun isn't fun anymore!

Last Monday, Davis had a couple of hours before basketball practice when a friend called to invite him to go sledding at a neighborhood park. Dennis went to pick them up just as Davis was on his last run. Watching him take a quite a tumble, Dennis hurried to him. He was upset and hurting...something was not right. So, off to the Urgent Care for family night! Sure enough--a broken left collarbone. Like we haven't had enough experience in the broken bone department in the last couple of years! But, man, he has been a trooper!


Apparently this is all they do for broken collarbones. This brace keeps his shoulders back so the bone heals properly. We just have to make sure that it is tightened for the next 1-2 weeks. Hopefully, he won't have to miss too much more basketball!

Christmas 2008

This year our family celebrated the Christmas holiday in a less conventional way than most years.  Our original plan was to celebrate Christmas Eve/Morning as usual before heading out for a 10-12 hour journey south to be with family and friends.  However, because of a snow storm heading our way, we decided that it would be best to get ahead of the storm.  Not wanting to pack all of the Christmas goodies, we "bumped up" Christmas morning to Christmas Eve afternoon--a bit anti-climactic, but we were together and everyone enjoyed gift giving and receiving!  So we began our trip mid-afternoon after notifying Santa of our change of plans and where he could find us!  

We spent Christmas Eve in a lovely hotel in Kanab, Utah (they even gave us a great Christmas discount--2 rooms for the price of 1).  Instead of the traditional opening of the Christmas PJs, each were simply handed their new pjs and told to go straight to bed.  It was late and I was a bit cranky. But Santa came through! On Christmas morning, the front desk called to tell us that we had a delivery during the night--our stockings were filled with Santa's goodies.  What a guy! We enjoyed a full breakfast of pancakes, eggs, sausage, juice, toast, etc. made to order--much like a bed and breakfast.  Then we were off!  Shoveling 6-8 inches of snow off of our car, we began our journey again.   We arrived in Arizona late afternoon and went directly to the family Christmas dinner with good food and great company! And even a huge blow-up slide!  A BIG hit with the kids!  

We spent the next week attending high school basketball games (great tournament!), visiting with family and friends, shopping, relaxing, jumping on the trampoline, persuading Aunt Becky to make American Girl doll clothes (not a hard sell!), enjoying 70 degrees and sunny, shopping, more and more basketball games, eating out, eating in, just eating, many crafts (thanks Aunt Becky!), our "vinyl party" (thanks Aunt Marie!), New Year's Eve with family and friends (SO fun to catch up with dear friends!), staying up late (still recovering), eating, a sleepover with cousins, Bounce-U, movies...it went by way too fast!   

Although our Christmas Eve/Christmas morning was a bit different, the time we spent together traveling, which went surprisingly well, and the time we spent in AZ could not have been better!  I could have taken more pictures, but our memories will have to do! 

From our family to yours--we hope that the Christmas season was merry and bright!  And wish you all the happiness and joy this coming new year of 2009!