"Airplane!" aka.... Wii

Well, Santa was very generous this year for Christmas. Our very wonderful friends, Kathy & Randy, were very worried about us being holed up in the house this winter because of all the snow we get in the UP. The last thing they wanted was for us to become "couch potatoes", so they gave us the wonderful gift of a Wii. Growing up with my brother, I have played many Nintendo games for hours. Pete's upbringing was a little different though... he's never been a video game player. We have had a blast playing Wii in Tahoe with my family when we lived in California, so it'll be fun to continue the tradition with our family in Michigan. We definitely got the Wii set up that evening, and everyone took a turn playing it (we were even asked to bring it to Drew's birthday party next weekend!). We only had one controller at that time, so we all took turns, and of course I took a ton of pictures! Charlie's favorite game is an airplane game where you fly the plane and try to get points by going through rings and shooting balloons. His tactic includes flying as high as he can in the sky, forcing the game to tell him he's "getting too far from the island" and to "turn back". I did include a few videos for you to see some of the family in action.

Again, a big thank you to Kathy and Randy. We missed you terribly this holiday season, and we'll definitely be missing you on New Year's Eve. We can't wait to see you in February!

Pete helped Drew play his first video game. He's looks real excited, huh?

I can't remember what game Mark was playing, but here he is!

Kelly cheering after she knocked out her opponent.

Pete showing his bowling skills... and yes... for those that have seen him bowl in real life... he throws it just as hard on the game!

Pete's dad learning how to bowl.

Charlie, before taking his solo flight. Dad had to teach him the ropes first.

Pete's mom boxing her heart out!

My attempt at cycling... my guy kept running out of gas and having to drink water.

Charlie's solo flight.

Our combination of me looking like and idiot, and an attempt at a thank you for Uncle Randy & Auntie Cake. Sorry it's sideways... if anyone knows how to fix this, please let me know!

Pete's mom was a champ at boxing!

Christmas with the Hrodeys

We made a quick trip down to Traverse City to celebrate Christmas Day with Pete's family. Since Charlie got up so early Christmas morning, we were able to get an early start on our drive. When we got to TC, we started with a late lunch. After lunch, we did some present opening, and then headed outside for some sledding. There was also some Wii playing, but I have enough pictures of that to make an entire new post. Charlie and Drew just starting having a ton of fun together right before Mark and Kelly headed home, so that was no fun. I remember having it that way with my cousins when we were little though . . . we hated when our parents came to the basement door to tell us it was time to go home. The day after Christmas, Charlie made blueberry muffins with Grandpa. Whenever Grandpa comes to Marquette, he takes Charlie on a special trip to the bakery to get a blueberry muffin together. The ladies woke up early and tackled some after Christmas shopping, and then the boys ventured out to look at ice fishing supplies. Charlie napped that afternoon, we ate some leftovers for dinner, then we hopped in the car to head home. We were very fortunate that the roads were clear for both of our drives. It was a quick trip, but a good one!

Making muffins with Grandpa.

A new family pic.

Grandma, Grandpa, and Charlie

Dad helping Charlie look in his stocking. If you are wondering what the "R" is for, it's from the Christmas before Charlie was born. Pete's mom made him a stocking and put his initial of what we called him, Rocky, on it. Drew also has one with an "S" for Spud on it!

Opening presents with Dad.

Charlie pretty much opened all of Grandpa's presents for him.

If he loves sledding this much, he is definitely going to love skiing!

Sledding with Grandpa and Dad.

Auntie Kelly, Dad, and Charlie strike a pose.

Our one big meltdown of the day.... neither of them wanted to stand by the other one to take a picture.

I just love this picture of Pete and his mom.

Charlie is a HUGE fan of Uncle Mark. Here they are nuzzling heads.

Our attempt at a family pic...worked pretty well for the timer.

In between takes, Drew and Charlie climbed up on the toy chest to take a picture!

Goofing around with Uncle Mark....again!

Bath time! Drew was in there, but he was not having any of it... he had to bail early. Charlie had a blast splashing and kicking though! He usually takes showers, so he loves when it's bath time!

Our last attempt at a shot of the boys. Charlie, with Rocky, and Drew, with Lemon, in there matching jammies.

Christmas Morning

This was our first Christmas morning at our own house. Charlie has been in the habit of waking up at 6am, so it seemed like he knew Santa was coming! This year was really neat to see Charlie open presents... he loves it! He ripped the paper off like a champ, and then just sat there saying, "Open, please!" the whole time. It was a perfect little morning with snow on the ground, and we enjoyed every minute of it!

Our tree with all the presents under it.

We let Charlie open one present on Christmas Eve. He got the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse characters!

I asked Charlie to smile next to his presents.

Opening his Thomas the Train piece.

Cool truck puzzles.

Chuck the Truck parking garage and fire station to go with all of his cars!

Christmas Cookies

We decorated some sugar cookies the weekend before Christmas. I thought Charlie would be all about it, but he really could care less. He watched as Pete rolled out the dough, helped push one of the cookie cutters in, then he was all done. He also had a few bites of the cookie, but could take it or leave it. I guess he's not a huge sweets fan!

O, Christmas Tree!

I just realized I forgot to put the pictures of us decorating our Christmas tree up! This year was quite the interesting year for picking out a tree. I looked everywhere to find a cut-your-own tree lot, but there was not a single one in Marquette county. We didn't have time to drive a long way to get one, so we ended up getting one from the drug store down the street. The night we got it was the beginning of a snow storm, so we left Charlie in the warm car as Pete and I searched (quickly, I might add) for a tree. The snow was blasting us in the face, it was freezing, and we really just wanted to find a tree that wasn't too mangled. We ended up getting a pretty good one! Charlie really liked putting the decorations on with us, and it was fun to show him all of our childhood ornaments. Last year I started the tradition of buying Charlie an ornament every Christmas, so when he moves out on his own (tear) he will have a stash of ornaments to take with him. Last year he got a silver bell with a blue ribbon on it, and this year it was an Elmo ornament. I am going to try and put the year on each one so we can trace them all back.

This will probably be my last post until after Christmas, so we hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday season. Enjoy your families this Christmas, and we wish you peace, love and happiness in the year to come! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Our tree before the decorations.

Charlie liked the low branches best!

It was a little hard to get the ornament on by himself, so Daddy stepped in to help.

Mommy helped him reach some higher branches.

Not the best family pic (bad outfits, Payton isn't looking, not centered), but it's still a family pic in front of the tree!

The Littlest Things That Make You Laugh

My absolute favorite sound in the world right now is Charlie's laugh. He has this belly laugh that is so infectious! I was sitting on the couch the other day, and he climbed up into my lap. He sat there for a minute, then lifted up my shirt to see my belly. It made him crack up! Every time he did it, he laughed. I have no idea why it was so funny, but I had to video tape it to share!

Fun in the Snow!

When the wind finally died down and the temperature went up again, we decided to venture outside for some fun time in the snow. My plan was to make our first snowman, but the snow wasn't right, so that didn't happen. Charlie hated getting ready to go outside, but once we were out he loved it! Payton was in heaven too.... he got to chase and retrieve his big, red ball his Aunt Kelly and Uncle Mark got him a long time ago. We stayed out until Dad came home from work, played a bit more, then came inside to warm our bones. Maybe tomorrow we'll try taking our new sled out for its first run! A special thanks to Uncle Randy and Auntie Cake for sending Charlie his very warm, bright orange coat! We definitely didn't lose him in the snow, and he was the beacon you wanted him to be!