LETTER TO SANTA

Although we didn´t get Christmas cards out this year, Charlie did send out his letter to Santa, pictures included. The card read: Dear Santa, I love you. I have been a very good boy. Please bring me these gifts. Charlie.

Charlie really enjoyed cutting out the pictures of the toys he wanted and also the toys that he thought Clark and his cousin Javi would like and then he pasted them on the back of the letter. Leo helped Charlie compose the letter and wrote it out and then Charlie copied the words by himself. This year Santa had a change of address and instead of the north pole, we sent the letter to Colton, Oregon, but don´t tell Charlie that. Charlie really enjoyed Christmas this year and was so amazed by the whole Santa Claus story. Everyday he would want me to show him on a map or globe where the North Pole was and everyday he asked if we could go there.

Charlie proud of his letter to Santa

Charlie excited to mail his letter. We went to a store near our house to drop off the letter in the mailbox AKA the lion´s mouth. Even Clark was amazed by the experience as you can tell in the picture.

Happy 1st Birthday Clark

Clark turned one in early December. It is hard to believe that a year has gone by so fast. It doesn´t seem so long ago that my parents and sister Ashlee were here for the holidays and Clark was a newborn. We feel so blessed to have Clark in our family. He has brought so much joy and laughter into our home especially when he does his trademark flutter of the eyes. He is starting early with the flirting. Although he is sometimes a bit Dr Jeckyl and Mr Hyde, especially at night, we wouldn´t have him any other way, although sleeping 8 hours straight would be nice. On his birthday, Clark would only take a few steps on his own but now he is a walking machine. He also says a few words including the usual, mama and papa but he also says yaya (it is like saying granny in Spanish) and hola and ma (which could mean more or mas in Spanish). We celebrated Clark´s birthday just with family at home. Clark enjoyed eating his cake and his brother Charlie enjoyed helping open his presents.

WHILE MOMMY IS AWAY

What happens when mommy is away, daddy is in charge but very tired and the baby is looking for trouble?

The answer is below.

11 MONTHS AND COUNTING

It is hard to believe but Clark turned 11 months old earlier this month. He gets cuter and cuter by the day but more mischevious as well. He is crawling on his bum (Is it still called crawling if he gets around scooting on his bottom?). He is also pulling himself up on the furniture and walking around. Clark loves to play peekaboo and catch the ball but his favorite activity is helping mommy clean out the cupboards and drawers.

HOORAY FOR HALLOWEEN

Once again halloween was crazy this year. Not because I was busy making home made costumes and decorations but because like the past 4 years I was in charge of the church ward halloween carnival. Although this year was a lot less stressful because we didn´t invite the other two wards which meant less people and less chaos, nonetheless I had my challenges. As I am not the best at delegating, I was in charge of everthing: food, decorations, games, prizes and contests. Luckily Leo was a big help. Making this year even a little more challenging was the fact that we couldn´t set up the room the day before because there was a baptism only 3 hours before the activity and in a small church like ours, the sacrament room is the same as the cultural hall, so we had to wait to decorate until after the baptism. However, to make things easier, Leo and I and the kids went to the church Saturday morning and spent 3 hours blowing up balloons and getting all the games and candy ready. Then we went home and I made cupcakes for the cake walk. Every year I tell Leo that I am not going to be in charge of next year´s activity and every year I end up doing it because I know the kids really look forward to it and it is the activity when more people who are not members of the church come. Watching the families have such a great time makes it all worth it.

Even the Bishop helped run the games.

Charlie aka Spiderman and his good friend Dani.

Clark slept through most of the chaos.

THE MANY FACES OF CHARLIE

This is the result of when a four year old gets ahold of the camara.

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LOOK WHO IS TEN MONTHS OLD

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