Jingle Bells, Hey!

Yep, that's my fav Christmas song- I was singing it in the car yesterday on the way home from Aunt Sally's house!

My other Christmas favorites include...

• any and all kinds of Christmas lights on trees, houses, etc- I love to ride in the car at night!
• our Christmas tree- the lights must be on at all times
• Frosty the Snowman
• the Baby Jesus, Joseph, 3 Kings, and donkey in my nativity scene
• Santa- especially the Santa ornaments on our tree
• all the yummy treats!

Just wanted to share with you a few pictures of our fun, family Christmas!

Deac & I "helped" make cookies with Mommy and GranDeb- we were excellant tasters!

Then we went to Keystone for a couple days- while Daddy & Dida skiied, I played games!

Christmas morning- opening presents was fun! I love my new puzzle!

Today I got to try out my present from Nana & Papa- a table and chairs just my size!

Trees, Santa, and Gumby?

So, it's December and Christmas is almost here and boy am I getting excited! I have had so much fun doing all the "christmas-y" things as we get ready for the big day! I know you are probably wondering what Gumby has to do with Christmas, but you'll see...

Here I am decorating the tree with Daddy... I got to put on lots of ornaments on the bottom of the tree!

And, here I am with Mommy- Debby came to help too and brought me a new ornament that's a Snoopy on a choo-choo!

On Saturday night I got to meet Santa and his reindeer- can you believe Santa came to the Young Life party? I gave him a fist pound!

And, finally, last night we had our other Young Life party with all the awesome leaders! It was a costume exchange and I got to hang out with Gumby! So fun!

Workin' Hard...

It was the first weekend in December and instead of getting ready for Christmas, our whole family was workin' hard! Oh, and having TONS of fun at the same time! Check us out!

I got to spend part of the weekend at Debby and Dida's house, and it snowed! They already had a shovel just my size for their deck, so I got to be a helper on the driveway! Don't I look like a pro?

Mommy and Daddy spent the weekend at Crooked Creek for Wyld Life Snow Camp. I can't wait till I'm old enough to go! Here's Daddy with the guys before the "crud war"...

And here's Mommy and Aunt Andrea- they look so silly!

Brother or Sister?

Not sure if you can tell from this picture... but I am holding a pink card and Mommy and Daddy said that means I'm going to have a little sister in April! Can't wait to meet you Baby Sister!

Trick or Treat!

Happy Halloween! This year I really got into Halloween- I dressed up as a puppy! Mom and Dad said it was appropriate because I love my puppy blankie so much and talk about it all the time. So, I had a cute (and warm) puppy costume and had a blast doing all sorts of Halloween things...check me out!

Finally a fun picture of all 3 of us!

Here I am with my buddy Presley... she was Curious George! We went to the Halloween carnival at her church.

Guys picture! This is me and Daddy with Uncle Richard and Baby Brooks! He was a lion.

Trick or Treat! I didn't really know how to say that, but random people gave us candy when we knocked on their door- I made lots of new friends!

And, I got to roast a Marshmallow treat with Daddy... hot but yummy!

I got some candy in my pumpkin, and got to eat a Twix- yummy! I think I like this candy stuff!

snow days!

So, I'm not really in school yet, but yesterday and today are snow days! All the schools are closed and we have over a foot of snow at our house! So pretty! We hung out at home yesterday- I helped Mommy make cookies, we played in my kitchen, and had Aunt Katy and Kiki over for dinner!

Deac and I had fun out in the snow- don't worry, I had a coat and mittens on outside :)

Mommy took these pictures of our yard so you could see just how much snow we have- this one is the diving board for our pool!

And this is our patio table- it has 3 carved pumpkins sitting on it, but now you can't see them!

SNOW!

We were in Keystone again this weekend- but this time there was SNOW! GranDeb got me snow boots, and her friend gave me snow pants, so we got to play in the snow! I had a little trouble walking with all my gear on, but kind of figured it out...

Mom said I should try eating the snow- tastes like my other new favorite thing, ICE!

Once again, I'm smiling for Mommy's camera!

And this is Mommy's favorite- could be coming to you on a Christmas card in a couple months! :)

Smile For Mommy!

This weekend we had lots of fun adventures! It was fall break for Mommy, so we headed up to Keystone! Check it out...

I decided to take off all my clothes and put them in this jar... Mommy thought it was so funny that she got out the camera and kept saying "Xander, smile for Mommy!" So, I did. I love being silly for the camera!

I am getting really excited about snow (did you know it is white? I am also learning my colors), and when we drove over Loveland Pass, we got out to play in the snow! Look at me- I'm up high!

Friday afternoon we went for a walk- I got the best deal of anyone!

And, when we got home, Aunt Andrea taught me how to rake leaves... so much fun! I was working hard trying to help Mommy and Daddy with the yard!

I made Mommy's Day!

Just a quick blog (because Mommy was so excited) to share that yesterday I picked her these pretty flowers at Grandeb's house and brought them home for her. When she came home from coaching 2 volleyball games, I ran in to give them to her! She said I made her day! Yay! I love my mommy! Here I am with the flowers... trying to smell them but my nose is stuffy, and then not quite sure I want to give them back to her :)

Good for a rainy day...

I know, I know, it's been over a month since I've blogged... everyone keeps commenting on "what a busy boy" I am, so you can understand why I've been absent from the blogosphere. Finally, it's a cold, rainy day here- perfect to catch up! While Mom wants to put up a million pictures of all we've been up to, I told her I wanted to just pick my favs and leave everyone wanting more. :) So, check out what I've been doin' the last month or so...

FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL!

This fall I started going to "school" on Monday each week and it's so fun! I get a little sad each time Mommy or Daddy drops me off, but I have a blast! I love to paint, go on the slide, play with the other kids, and learn my colors. They have so many fun toys there too! And, I'm trying out eating lunch on my own and taking a nap on my mat at school..

FIRST TRIP TO THE ZOO!

On Labor Day weekend Mommy, me, Andrea, Brooks, and GranDeb all went to the zoo! Here's me with the elephants (they're HUGE!) and my favorite animal was the polor bear. I thought it was funny watching him swim in his pool. The other picture is all of us with the camels- those things are CRAZY!

KIAWAH- I LOVE THE BEACH!

Last week we got to go to Kiawah Island with my family and Mommy's friend Laura and her family too. Even all the grandparents came! We all stayed at the Luttrell's house and had so much fun! My highlights were:

• taking my "sho-sho" (shovel) to the beach
• letting the waves get my toes
• getting sand everywhere
• playing with my new buddy Sam
• playing basketball on the back porch
• running around on the pretty grass at The Ocean Course
• playing with the wagon on the beach

Here's Sam & me with the wagon- I think he was showing me the birds or maybe the waves...

And this is the whole gang on our last day- thank you Luttrells for such a fun vacation!!!

I love camp!

I just got back from spending 2 whole weeks at Frontier Ranch! Mommy was in charge of the college kids who came to volunteer, and I got to go with Daddy for the 2nd week and Grandeb for the 3rd week! It was the best! Here are some highlights and pictures...

*lots of hikes over "b's" (that's my secret code for "bridges") with Dad and Grandeb

*going to a petting zoo at Trail West (another YL camp) and sitting on a horse

*meeting my new friend "DuDu" (his name was Daniel Duni and everyone called him Duni... I decided DuDu was better!)

*going down the HUGE water slide with Mommy

*playing with my new friends Jack & Charlie at the playground

*eating dessert with EVERY meal

*meeting all sorts of different high schoolers who came to camp each week- they were awesome!

Here I am in the pool with Mommy and my new buddy Jack (and his mommy, Chrissy)

We went up to the horse corale and I loved petting the horsies!


On Western Night I had fun in the teepee!


Mommy & Me in our Western Wear!

Sadly, we had to take a break from camp and go to Yuma, CO because my Great Grandpa Poppie went to be with Jesus... He was a great man and daddy says he lived an amazing life! It was my first time in Yuma so I sat at the little red table (I guess all the kids have to sit there at some point) ... and I also rode the big wheel that my daddy used to ride!

Sprechen Sie German?

Yep, that's right, I'm now semi-bilingual! That means "Do you speak German?" This weekend our really good friends the Kleagers came for a visit all the way from Germany where they are missionaries with the military. It was super fun to see my buddies Jacob and Owen! They even brought me a soccer ball from the German team (and some yummy German chocolate!)

We had a big pool party to celebrate their visit, and ALL our friends came! It was so much fun! Here we all are- it's a baby explosion!

This was after my bedtime, but Mommy was having fun with her friends Aimee and Kelly (plus Piper and Owen stayin' up late!)
Here's Aimee & Owen Kleager in our pool...
And Brian & Aimee meeting all the new babies that have arrived since they left!

We love you Kleagers!!! Miss you lots!

Pool Time!

Yay Summer! I LOVE it! I am having so much fun swimming and hangin' with my family and friends! Last week, Mommy and I went swimming at HEB... check me out!

Mommy and me... I don't like to stand still for long- I've got things to do!

Playing with Grandpa Sam and my new toys!