Day at the park

"What's so special about this leaf?" Well let me tell you...

It's a beautiful day at the park with our friends Michelle and Alexis. We stop to play in the soft green grass and take some pictures.

Notice the leaves in the grass? I didn't. Not until we get home, Calvin eats a snack, takes a two-hour nap, and I'm changing his diaper and notice him chewing on something. I fish it out of his mouth, and what do you think it is, oh wise blog readers? That's right. Next time I will know to check Calvin's mouth for leaves and other debris before naptime!

Calvin and Alexis on the swings

He loved this so much!

Calvin's first Christmas

We really want Calvin to understand that Christmas is not about the presents...

Just kidding - the above picture is from our annual Christmas party, and the vast majority of those presents were not for Calvin! We started doing this gift exchange with our friends Larry & Annette and Alonso & Stephanie several years ago, and each year the quantity of gifts increases! I'm happy to say that we stayed under our $50 total budget - just goes to show that the best presents are not necessarily found in stores (they may be found around your own home, or at the previous year's Christmas party!) Here are the jolly party-goers:

Calvin prefers kitchen utensils to real presents

Christmas morning!

Stocking time

After Christmas morning at home, we were off to Nana's house

More from Denver

I realized I didn't have many pictures of my brother Matt from our Denver trip. Apparently I only got the camera out when he was at the hospital! This video is probably better than a picture anyway - you get the full Matt effect.

Two months later...

Here are some pictures (finally) from our time in Denver with Matt, Heather and our little nephew Matthew!

Little pumpkin

Aunt Heather is the best!

One afternoon Matt and Heather drove us around a beautiful neighborhood that had deer everywhere!

Red Rocks

Matt and Heather's backyard after the first snow

My Aunt Beth was also in town at the beginning of our trip to see her daughter Anna sing in The Messiah at the Air Force Academy. We were so thankful that we were able to go! Anna is a very talented vocalist and it was fun to get to see a little bit of the campus, even though it was at night - with a wind chill that must have been below zero!