Monster Trucks

Oren and I went to see monster trucks with his Dad and Grandpa--my Dad came along too
but just to take some pictures of us.

They are super loud, big, and run over things.
(My Dad should clean the lens on his camera, huh?)

We all wore ear plugs...Oren had the kind you wear on the firing range.
Loud always means fun!

Opened!

My playground finally opened with a sign saying it is for kids older than me.
(Last year you might remember me asking what "temporarily" means.)

What fun!

So nice to be back.

The bouncy swing.

A lot of the playground equipment has been removed--
like the fast slides...
still it is nice to have the rest of it back.

Christmas

Christmas day started with a big breakfast and
Daddy reading about the first Christmas from the bible...
Daddy and I were a little tired.

Here was the first present I grabbed from under the tree.
I always feel such a sense of triumph when I get a new train.

These ornaments from the Cars movie are just fun!

Very funny Uncle Matthew and Aunt Betsy!
(I bleed purple and already can spot the enemy.
Actually except for the cover it is a pretty cool book.)

Grandma Lynn I really love the gift but was a little tired of the posing with presents.

A little drummer boy!

All the presents opened!
Surprisingly enough I picked out this outfit all by myself,
except for the hat--my Mommy added that.

Here is a group shot of festivities over at my Aunt and Uncle's house
later in the day...
Hope everyone had a great Christmas!

Final Anna Pictures

Anna got to come to my library story time.

We even helped out a little.

We enjoyed some TV together.

We held hands during the exciting parts.

Uncle Matthew tried to get some hugging shots.

Well at least Anna's smile looks real.

Sledding

We decided we wanted to go sledding...so we started by looking at sleds.

We had to drive into the mountains to find some snow...
(Having read the paper I was aware that icy conditions were causing
chaos--but maybe we should have headed into the mountains
earlier in the day.)

Here we are at the really cool sledding spot.
(not as cool as Crater but cool.)

There was a terrific view from our sledding spot--but the fog kept rolling in....

Finally we were ready to head down.
Cousin Anna waited for Uncle Matthew to read all the warnings on their sled.

Despite reading all the warnings Uncle Matthew and Anna headed down the mountain.

Once we were all down the mountain we had to climb back up.

Heading back up the mountain was not as fun as going down.

Anna demonstrated the fine art of snow angel making...

Some Tree Trimming

Anna helped me put ornaments on our Christmas tree.

We played with them a little before they made it to the tree.

Anna is good at smiling at the camera.

Uncle Matthew was a big help.

My Daddy fixed some of the ornaments we broke when we were playing with them.

I decided I needed to be a little higher.

Anna and I had a great time.
The tree looked wonderful with her help.

Lithia with Anna

I took Anna to eat at one of my favorite resturants.

She seemed to enjoy it and was able to look happy--while I seemed to have some difficulty in
mustering a genuine smile.

Later we went to play at a very pretty park.

Even Uncle Matthew played on the equipment.

We had a lot of fun on the big spider web.

Uncle Matthew and Anna tried to convince me that I should love swinging.

Then we spent some time watching the ducks...

I guess we were looking at a different camera.

Chasing ducks.

Walking on some fall leaves.

Balancing on the wall.

Enjoying the view of the icy creek that flows through the park.