O Christmas Tree

(December 5) We picked out a Christmas tree & put it up over the course of a few days while Noah slept. He went crazy when he came downtairs to find it full of lights and ornaments! His favorite: the wienie dog ornament (he pants at it). And Noah helped Dave put the star on top!

Cousins

(December 3) Sometimes, Dave watches Noah's cousin Olivia. Noah has such a wonderful time playing with her! They are so cute together.

Shear Joy

We're giving Noah a sheep for Christmas.

(Last year we gave him a flock of ducks.)

Okay, so we're not actually giving him a sheep - we're giving one to an impoverished family on his behalf, through Heifer International. And in return for receiving that sheep, the family will give one of its offspring to another needy family in their community. That family also agrees to give away one of their sheep's offspring - and before you know it, the whole village has soft, warm wool & the hope of self-sufficiency!

Advancing the cause against hunger & poverty - a sweet Christmas present!

Gifties!

Santa visited our house early this year & left behind some lovely gifts! I have a shiny new Professional Series Kitchenaid mixer on my counter, and Noah has "Ike", our ROOMBA vacuum, to play with! (We almost called it "Mr. Belvedere", since it not only cleans the house, but babysits, too!) He loves following it around & letting it bump into him. Every morning, he goes into the office & points at it so we'll turn it on. Clean floors with the push of a button - that's my kind of housework!


A few days ago, Dave & I made a batch of cookies to give the mixer a whirl. I slipped & turned it on a bit too high...flour everywhere!

These Boots Were Made For Walkin'

Noah Jones is on the move & in the groove!

We officially have a toddler living with us now. Noah took his first steps (2) on October 13, then determined that crawling was much faster & completely forgot about walking for over a week. He would take a few more steps & get disinterested, until mid-November - when he walked across Grandpa Jones' huge front room & then across the kitchen at our house.

And it's been all downhill from there - since November 21, he's been walking almost exclusively (he still has to crawl to push his favorite tractor!) And his new favorite: walking while drinking milk, or playing with toys, or carrying food to tease Marley...

And he loves his new little leather-soled shoes. He brings them to us so we'll put them on him each day!

Welcome, Christmas!

This year, we returned to Boise the day after Thanksgiving (after getting up really early to do a bit of shopping, of course!) To properly ring in the holiday season, we went to the Boise Holiday Parade on Saturday morning. It was our first time, and it was so much fun! (Well, until it got really rainy & cold & I wimped out.) We're going to make this a tradition!

Give Thanks!

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving, celebrating with both the Jones & Redman families (and eating two turkey dinners in one day)! But don't feel bad for us, because they were both delicious. Noah really enjoyed both meals & had a great time playing with the turkey leg bone, too!

Thank you God, for one more day together.

My little kitchen helper

Hangin' with the Joneses

(November 15) Noah also had a great time hangin' at his Papa Chet & Grandma's house! He loves the new tractor they bought him & he had lots of fun playing with cousin Olivia & watching Lawrence Welk.

At Grandpa's

(November 14) After Grandpa's service, the family had an open house at Grandpa's house. I think the whole town of Castleford showed up! There must have been at least 250 people in & out that afternoon. It was an incredible show of love and support from a small, tight-knit community.
Noah had a great time messing around at Grandpa's that weekend - he especially enjoyed loving on Jigs (Grandpa's cat) & taking wagon rides with his cousins!