A Cookie House

 Eating the "Glue" - He quickly found out that was a fib from Mommy.

Placing most of the candies on the house

Mommy (35 weeks pregnant) and Charlie jacked-up on sugar. It was lots of fun to build a "cookie house" as Charlie called it.  Thanks for the fun craft Mom-mom.

DELUXE

 We took Charlie to see Santa this past weekend. It was a BIG hit!  He ran to Santa and jumped into his lap. Charlie could hardly take his eyes off him - So we have no pictures of him actually looking at us. Charlie asked for a "Deluxe Kitchen" for Christmas. 'Deluxe' is a new word he has picked up from me reading the descriptions of different play kitchens we see in catalogues. He even has gone so far as to ask for "Deluxe Pancakes" for breakfast or to watch a "Deluxe DVD"......Good Grief. :)

Here are a few photos of Charlie theFireman!  He loved playing with the hose at Pipa and Mom-moms house.  His two big loves are thomas the Train and anything fire fighter related!  It's good to be 2(and a half).

Doug's Deer

This year Doug scored a rare hunt up on the border of Utah and Arizona.  This area is known for its large mule deer, and the odds of getting drawn in this unit are 2%.  On day 6 of his hunt Doug took a big buck down.  He was all by himself, but was able to take a few good photos of the joyous event!  We now have our Daddy/husband back home and a full freezer of meat. Success for all!  And yes,  this deer will be gracing the walls of our home soon.  (Yay)

Mom-Mom's Concert

Here is Mom-mom and Charlie at her Orchestra Northern Arizona "Dark Skies" Concert.  It was held at Coconino Center for the Arts and was really great.  Charlie made it through about 3 pieces before having to go, but it was great to see Mom-mom play her violin!

VIVA Las Vegas

This past week Doug an I slipped away to Las Vegas for 3 days.  Doug attended the VIVA (Vascular InterVention Advancement) Conference, while I played at the pool and did some shopping! Not a bad set up!  In the evenings we were able to get away and attend a show, eat at some great restaurants, and just be together. It was heavenly. Thank you to all the Grandparents for taking very good care of our Charlie. XOXO

Visiting Great-grandparents

We have been gone two weekend in a row visiting Charlie's Great-grandparents.  Nana-The-Great lives in Gilbert, and Two-dad is down in Tucson.  Each visit was very special, and we always do our best to take pictures and video so that someday we can show Charlie that he comes from some of the worlds best people. 

Flagstaff Festival of Science

A few weeks ago we took Charlie down to Wheeler Park to see the Flagstaff Festival of Science.  They had some great things for kids. Charlie liked digging for dinosaur bones, looking for worms in a big dirt pile, and a water display filled with rubber ducks.  Curious Charlie really had a good time at the festival!

Wild Animal Park with Pipa and Mom-Mom

Charlie and I recently went to the Out of Africa Wild Animal Park with Pipa and Mom-mom. It was a wonderful day.  Charlie got to feed a giraffe, camel, and a host of other African animals.  It was hilarious to watch him hold out a tiny biscuit and squeal as the giraffes very loooooong blue tongue came to get it. The word of the the day was biscuits! More Biscuits!  Charlie wanted to feed everything in site.

We will be going back for sure!

The Lake for Labor Day

This Labor Day weekend, we spent at Lake Mary with Nana and Papa Helsel. Charlie really enjoyed the boat and did a bit of fishing. He drove the boat a bit and had to dodge many "booties" (aka bouies) in the water. We had a great picnic spread and were home in time for naps for Mommy and Charlie! Oh, I love long weekends.

Wyatt Ladies Come Visit

Charlie's First Camping Trip

Here are a few pictures of Charlie's first camping trip. We took Nana and Papa's pop-up camper out to Ashurst Lake just for a test night. He did great. Slept like a champ. He really enjoyed the dirt, the open space, and the camp fire! We will most likely be going again before it turns cold. I will rough it in the woods anytime to see my little boy light up the way he did while camping. :)

2 Year Old Photos

Charlie is really 28 months old, so I missed the true "2 year" photos by a few months.But, I love how they came out! My good friend Elizabeth Garcia took us deep into the woods for our photo shoot. It was a good time (Elizabeth has a 2 year old...so she gets it). After MANY songs and some sweet dance moves - Liz was able to capture some great keepsakes. My little baby is such a big boy!

Golf Tourni in Pinetop

This past weekend was the annual Pinetop Golf Tournament. We went to Pinetop on Friday and stayed into Sunday afternoon. We had a great time seeing family from Tucson and the Valley, enjoyed the rain, and playing with cousin "wiberty" AKA Liberty. :)

Touch a Truck Fest

Today was Flagstaff's annual Touch a Truck Festival! A little boys DREAM day. Charlie got to play on a snow plow, trash truck, limo,Bomb Squad robot, front loader, Army depot trucks, and the favorite....A FIRETRUCK! It was a wonderful way to spend the morning.

Fathers Day in Show Low

We spent our Fathers Day in Show Low, Az with our good friends the Olssons. It was a great time. Lots of little boys running around, and fun times at the lake and park. Happy Fathers Day to all the great Daddies out there!!!

A Pirate and a Fireman

We have been playing dress-up a lot lately. Charlie's two favorite outfits are the Pirate and the Fireman Cam get up. When he is a pirate he says "Yarrrrrr!" And when he is a Fireman he yells "Call Fireman CAAAAAAAAM!"

Mommy, Daddy.....A KITE PARTY!

A few weekends ago we took Charlie to the Flagstaff Kite Festival. As we walked from the parking lot Charlie kept screaming "Mommy, Daddy! A KITE PARTY!" We had a great time. Charlie and Doug flew a kite and we got to watch some really fancy kites fly too.

We also got to play at the neighboring park, and meet up with our friends the Olssons.

Gotta love a Kite Party!

Charlie is 2!

Our baby boy is two years old now! Here is what he is up to....

He can say his ABC's (but never the letter 'E' or 'L')

He counts to 10 in English and Spanish

His vocabulary is growing like crazy. 2-5 new words a day sometimes!

He sings songs like "Old McDonald" and Mommy-Tommy

He has his own opinions about what he would like to be doing, eating, reading, etc.

He is FUNNY! He has a great sense of humor and laughs a lot.

He is in the 90th percentile for height

He is in the 10th percentile for weight.....Just like his Daddy.

Can tell me "poopy" and "tinckle" but had no intrest in sitting on the potty! Uh, Oh......

He is the best little boy on the planet, well, at least Doug and I think so.

Thank you to everyone who joined us for the party, and gave such wonderful gifts to our son. It was the BEST party ever. Thomas the Train stopped by too! Lots of great memories!

Marshall Lake

Spring has finally arrived here in Flagstaff! We recently enjoyed a Saturday at the Lake with our good friends the Olssons. We did a little hike, the dogs got in the water, and we had a few cupcakes for a Aaryns birthday. It was a good day!

Gilbert Trip

The Home Depot

This past Saturday morning Doug took Charlie to The Home Depot Kids Workshop (while I slept in 'till 9am! What a treat). He got an orange apron with his name on it, he built a race car, and raced it down the ramp. I was told it was a great time. I'm almost sad I did not go looking at these cute pictures of my big boy......but just almost. :)

Top-Hat, Dada "Go-Go cat", and Eyes

Lately, Charlie has been making up games that are very silly! One of the favorite games is "GO-GO Cat." I have told Charlie that this is a Dada only game, which could quite possibly be one of the smartest things I have ever done..hehe. Anyway, this game involves Dada putting Charlie on his shoulders and singing "The Cat in The Hat Knows A Lot About That" theme song as he runs around the house (priceless). He also likes to where his Top-Hat....which we think is in reference to Sir. Topp'm Hat in Thomas The Train. On this particularly adorable evening in the Helsel house, Charlie also thought it necessary to complete his outfit by taking Dada's "eyes" (glasses) and wearing them. Yay, for Go-Go Cat!