Christmas 08!

Christmas started out with just me and Josh opening some gifts at home- not many pictures of this because it was just the two of us... well, my parents were watching us on the webcam, that was fun!

Then we went over to Danny's dad's house for Christmas afternoon and dinner- that was a great time- but somehow Josh ended up being in charge of taking pictures... the following are what we have of that...

I'm waiting to get copies of Becky's pictures and my friend Kelly's pictures- they'll be MUCH better quality. :) in the mean time, these are kinda fun to look at.

Me, Kelly and Uncle Danny

not quite sure..

Auntie B.

Becky and Kelly King

The kid's table: Grace, Forge and Joshy.
We didn't get home until WAY past Joshy's bedtime, so he wasn't able to play with his present from Santa until today. A Leap Frog computer! He loves it! We stayed in our Jammie's all day today and just enjoyed some down time at home.

We hope Christmas in your house was all you had hoped for! :)

Thanksgiving: I know, a little late..

I just realized I didn't really post anything from Thanksgiving!! I know, I've become a slacker-blogger!

Josh and I headed up to keystone with some family friends. It was awesome, we all stayed in an incredible cabin up there and enjoyed each other's company while playing games, watching the snow fall, lots of shopping, and a fire in the HUGE fireplace every day and night. (Seriously, that fireplace put my little one to shame) We even had an indoor hot tub! Josh thought that was awesome.

Here's a video of Kristi's husband Steve with Josh playing one of his games. It was so fun watching Josh interact with everyone and have so much fun. I don't think he stopped giggling the whole time we were up there! Josh sure loves his Uncle Steve and Aunt Kristi.

Josh and Laura- Josh has a huge crush on her. :)

Kristi and Josh sticking their feet in the hot tub before bed. (Josh wanted to wear his mittens.... I don't really know why... )

Steve, Josh, Debi and Kristi in the background

I also had another Thanksgiving at my house the weekend afterwards, but we were all so frazzled, we didn't get ANY pictures!!! I know. I'm so beyond bummed about it. It was a great time- and came together surprisingly well!

I hosted it at my house- but was informed by my sister at dinner that I didn't actually do anything... after a moment of thought, I realized she was right. LOL That doesn't really explain why I was so busy that day though... But the food was great and the company was even better.

My favorite part was after dinner all the kids were in my living room with Becky's husband, Uncle Danny, playing with balloons. There's nothing better than a roar of uncontrollable giggles.

Here's hoping Christmas is just as great!!

(...and I promise, I'll take pictures and blog all about it directly...)

Singing to Dad before nap time.

Josh was getting settled down on the couch yesterday for a nap and he wanted to sing a couple songs to Daddy. He's been talking a lot about his Daddy lately, just out of the blue he'll have a heavy-sigh and say, "Mom? I miss my Daddy." I've been hearing that at least once a day the last few days.

We are so ready for Daddy to come home.

We're still working on our ABC's. He misses a few, and repeats a couple, but he sure loves the ending of that song.

Finally some pictures!!! Re: Boxes for Bartolla

I just got the mail and there was a package from Tyler. In it, was a camera card with the last few pictures he took before his camera broke. (yeah, huge bummer)
I don't have any pictures of the boxes actually being delivered, but here are some of the boxes Tyler received. He said he lost count at about 200 boxes. AWESOME!!

Because Tyler was so busy with the PSD Unit he's in, he actually had to have another platoon deliver the boxes to Bartolla. He was told that they took pictures and everyone was so excited and grateful, but he has yet to get copies of the pictures. Hopefully we'll get those soon.

Thank you again for all your love and support, this was a great experience!!

Please Read: Update on boxes to bartolla:

Hey everyone- I just got this email from Tyler. I guess he's still getting boxes for the people in Bartolla- Please read this and pass it along to anyone you know that sent any boxes to Tyler.
Thanks! Kelly.

Hey Babe,
I have a concern. I just got 2 boxes in the mail from Spring Creek, Nevada. They were addressed to me and had written on the side "for families in need." Normally, that might be ok, but not now. I finally got the Bartolla packages out to those guys, but I had to have another platoon do the drop. Let everybody know their packages reached the people who were extremely grateful for the help. However, since it was a different platoon I may not get the photos for a long time. It sucks that it didn't go how I wanted, but hey the stuff got where it needed to go. Now here's the new problem. We don't go talk to people anymore. We meet only military contacts and deal very little, if at all, with the community. I think the last time we got hit, the Colonel decided to change his ways a little. So please relay that I can't deliver things anymore. The 2 boxes I got will go to our CA(civilian affairs) group and they will distribute as they see fit. The other thing is that combat patrols will stop eventually, in prep to go home. Once that happens, I won't even see the Iraqi people. I wish I could tell you when that will happen, but I don't know. Sorry this is short, love you.Ty.

I can't stop laughing! *Unwritten Rules*

Video/Telephone Call with Tyler today.

We had a 15 minute slot today at Fort Carson to do a VTC with Tyler. It was so nice to *see* him, but boy! 15 minutes goes by fast!
Josh was so sweet- he kept running up to the screen yelling "HI DAD! DAD! DAD!" he wanted Ty to hold him.
When we left, Josh started freaking out. He was in hysterics by the time we got back to the car- crying and asking for his "daddy-bear". (it's a teddy bear in ACU's that we got at Ty's basic graduation)
Now that we're home, Josh is fine and is as happy as can be. Although he has asked a couple times to talk to Dad again.
Ty said he'll call tonight if he can, I really really hope he can.
Anyway- it was a great visit and he told me to tell everyone "Hello!"

Some pictures:
Josh waiting patiently
When Josh finally saw Daddy

As close to a family picture as it's going to get this Christmas

Thank heavens, it's almost Christmas!

I can't tell you how nice it was to get up this morning and flip the page of my calendar to "December". Christmas is just around the corner and I take full enjoyment in preparing my home for it's arrival.
As some know, none of my Christmas decorations (tree included) survived last year... I took a little bit of built up aggression out on my tree when I was taking it all down- and somehow it all ended up on the curb for the trash man... oops.
Anyway- it was fun going to the store to get a new tree, ornaments, stockings, etc... I got a little tree this year- for a few reasons. 1. space. I have a very small house so a small tree fits a TON better. 2. cost. Sheesh! Tree's are expensive!!
Anyway- here's what I have so far- and of course, a fire in the fireplace makes everything better.

Off to make myself some hot apple cider! :)

Time to blog! Josh and his spider!

Josh is really into spiders lately. He draws them, screams at them, runs from them, squishes them, talks to them, etc... This would be a little more understandable if there were ever actually any spiders around.
Anyway- I think he has a promising future in art. What do you think?