We spent Thanksgiving in Central Oregon again this year with Beka's dad, and had a great time relaxing, watching football, and eating lots of good food.
We also visited Sun River to see the gingerbread houses on display for a competition they hold every year. It was fun to see Sun River again this year as they do a great job decorating for Christmas. When we used to stay in Sun River, it was often the first real taste of the coming holiday season, which is always a welcome sight... this is easily my favorite time of year.
Dean really enjoyed spending time with his Grandpa Ron. He calls him "umpa" which is very entertaining to hear.
We also visited the High Desert Museum. They have an area that's made to look like a pioneer settlement, complete with saw mill, people in costume, and animals. As many of you know, Dean loves to tell people what various animals say, including chickens. When he saw his first real, live chicken, he was enthralled! He got especially excited when he heard them "talking," so he spent the rest of the time making chicken noises. What fun!
I thought this was a pretty good photograph... a profile of three generations.
Dean also loves reading books, even more than he likes to play with toys, if you can believe that. He likes to read them by himself, but if your lap is empty, he prefers someone else to read to him. Who wouldn't?!
A week or so after we got back from Thanksgiving break, the three of us went to get our Christmas tree. It was a great day for it with no rain at all (which we were afraid we would have to contend with). We picked the shortest tree we've had for the past four years, and it looks really nice in the house. The front room doesn't look as cramped as years past, and it was A LOT easier to put up.
Dean loves the Christmas tree! Whenever he sees it with the lights on, he says, "WOW!" We wonder if he thinks Christmas trees are called "wows" since he says it for every Christmas tree he sees now. He's such a cute little boy.
We hope your Christmas season is happy and filled with the love God showed us when He sent His son on that very first Christmas night!
From the Hardy family, Merry Christmas!
From earlier today when it was snowing hard.
Preparing for a trek in the snow...
Beka let Dean eat some snow, but he wasn't quite sure about it.
Afterward, he gave mommy a nice, cold kiss.
Playing in the snow is a family affair!
After we came inside, I let Dean wear my gloves to keep his hands warm. What huge hands!
We also visited Sun River to see the gingerbread houses on display for a competition they hold every year. It was fun to see Sun River again this year as they do a great job decorating for Christmas. When we used to stay in Sun River, it was often the first real taste of the coming holiday season, which is always a welcome sight... this is easily my favorite time of year.
Dean really enjoyed spending time with his Grandpa Ron. He calls him "umpa" which is very entertaining to hear.
We also visited the High Desert Museum. They have an area that's made to look like a pioneer settlement, complete with saw mill, people in costume, and animals. As many of you know, Dean loves to tell people what various animals say, including chickens. When he saw his first real, live chicken, he was enthralled! He got especially excited when he heard them "talking," so he spent the rest of the time making chicken noises. What fun!
I thought this was a pretty good photograph... a profile of three generations.
Dean also loves reading books, even more than he likes to play with toys, if you can believe that. He likes to read them by himself, but if your lap is empty, he prefers someone else to read to him. Who wouldn't?!
A week or so after we got back from Thanksgiving break, the three of us went to get our Christmas tree. It was a great day for it with no rain at all (which we were afraid we would have to contend with). We picked the shortest tree we've had for the past four years, and it looks really nice in the house. The front room doesn't look as cramped as years past, and it was A LOT easier to put up.
Dean loves the Christmas tree! Whenever he sees it with the lights on, he says, "WOW!" We wonder if he thinks Christmas trees are called "wows" since he says it for every Christmas tree he sees now. He's such a cute little boy.
Dean was fascinated by all of the pumpkins, so we followed him as he wandered through the patch in wide-eyed amazement.
At one point, he sat down right in the middle of four large pumpkins and had a hard time getting out. With his orange shirt on, he looked like he fit right in!
Once we found the right pumpkins, we loaded them into a wheelbarrow, along with Dean, and looked around the place. Liepold Farms does a great job with their harvest-time festivities.
Dean really enjoyed riding around with the pumpkins in the wheelbarrow...
...and he really enjoyed his own miniature pumpkin, too.
Maybe we'll get the Yoda costume next year.
On the morning of Dean's birthday, we let him open up a present from Dr. Kutz and Laurie as a practice run. They gave him a copy of his favorite book, The Very Hungry Caterpillar. He did a pretty good job ripping through the paper.
Once we arrived at Connie's house, Dean showed off by sitting in Grandma's little rocking chair (which he refused to do on previous occasions). He even got the rocking motion down pretty well.
When it was time for presents, Dean was a little more reserved than the practice run we'd had with him that morning. Fortunately, he had help and managed to unearth all of his gifts from their wrappings. Everyone was very generous! Dean enjoys his new toys, books, and clothes.
When it was time for cake, we stripped him down into just a white onesie, figuring any nice clothes would get ruined pretty quickly.
Because he loves food so much, we figured he'd tear right into the cupcake, but he was pretty hesitant to even touch it with his hands. He started at it for a bit, and even tried to bend over and eat it with just his mouth (which wasn't very successful).
Finally,Grandpa Ron come over and helped him get started.
Once he got the idea, he had no problem enjoying chocolate for the first time.
Once he was about done, he was very thirsty. Grandpa gave him a drink, which he accepted enthusiastically.
