Sedona, AZ 2009

For the week after Christmas, we went to Sedona, AZ to hang out with my family. The first big experience that we did was supposed to be an "easy hike", but we decided that instead of just walking up to the base of Cathedral Rock (more info here), we went all the way up to the saddle. Jenni and my Mom were about to kill me and my Dad the whole time because "Charlie's life was at risk", but no major injuries occurred and we got to see some good scenery in the process. I don't know if I would recommend taking a 20 month old, but apparently it's doable and I would recommend the hike to anyone without small children.  My Dad did quite a good job carrying the 30 pounder most of the way.  Especially for a soon to be Senior Citizen.

(PWA, Facebook)

The next day was my Mom's birthday and we had planned on going to some Indian Ruins or do another less challenging hike, but a few people weren't feeling well and so we just took it easy and hung out. We checked out some local shops, ate Chinese food, and then sang happy birthday. The highlight of the day for Charlie was taking a bath with Grandpa and throwing bubbles everywhere.

(PWA, Facebook)

The next day we went for a hike on the West Fork Trail (more info here). The description said that we would have to cross a river and I eased Jenni's concerns by saying it was definitely dried up, but that turned out to not be true and we had to "pioneer it" and cross the frozen river. Charlie was unsure about the snow, because he would run into, get stuck, and then ask for help to get out. The one thing that he did love was playing in the water and throwing rocks with Grandpa. We had to literally rip the guy away from it and it was good that we had a package of fruit snacks or the way back would have been full of lots of screaming.
(PWA, Facebook)

So that's the first part of our adventures in Sedona. We've had lots of fun so far and I'm sure the next part will be even more fun.

Christmas 2009

Jenni and I have been married for almost 7 years and this was the first year that we decided to stay home for Christmas. Yesterday, while we were putting the last decorations on the tree, Jenni made the comment that being here made all the decorating and preparation feel a little more worth it, and I would have to agree. We've had lots of fun preparing for the big day and attending all of the fun events leading up to it. So here's the run down of some of the fun things we did (with links to the pictures, if you want to see them).
You could say that the season began right after Thanksgiving. Charlie got all dressed up in his new Winter Church outfit and wasn't happy to see Grandma and Grandpa Johansen leave. But a few days later we got all bundled up and checked out the Lights at the Zoo (it's technically called Zoo Lights, but there wasn't a single animal in sight and so I think "Lights at the Zoo" is a more fitting name). (PWA, Facebook)
Then Jenni talked me into dressing up as Santa when we went over to the Iversons' house. I was still a little nervous about the whole thing and didn't do the best job of being jolly and disguising my voice, and I'm sure I could do a better job next time (I guess that means that Jenni won't have to do as much convincing next time). But everyone had lots of fun taking pictures on Santa's lap. (PWA, Facebook)
Rancho Sahuarita also put on a little Christmas event down by the lake. It had lots of fun things for kids to do, but most of them were still outside of Charlie's interest level. However, they did have a train (which Charlie LOVES to ride on) and a Santa giving out candy (who Charlie likes to give bumps to, but HATES sitting on his lap). (PWA, Facebook)
Then we had a group over on Christmas Eve for dinner, a white elephant gift exchange (in which I "won" a game back that Jenni and I gave away in another gift exchange a year or so ago - I felt a little jipped), and a special appearance by Santa (which this time was played by Brian). All of the kids had lots of fun getting gifts from Santa and shooting the dart guns that Brian and Mindy got everyone. The only hiccup during the event was when Charlie puked all over the floor in the front room. He had kept crawling up on the table and eating hershey's kisses and one time one of them went down a little funny and I guess the rest of them decided that they wanted to join the party and that Charlie's stomach was not the place to be. But in true Charlie fashion, he got a drink of water and started scrounging for more candy. (PWA, Facebook)
And finally, the big event, Christmas Morning. Charlie's old enough to recognize Santa but still not old enough to realize what Christmas is, so we were able to actually get him to sit down and eat before opening his presents. When he first walked in he wasn't sure what to think, but after a bit he made his way over to the car that Grandma Lynn got him and made himself right at home. It took some coaxing to get him to open all his presents (he kept wanting to play with things he had already opened), but we eventually made it through and had lots of fun in the process. I think that everyone would have guessed that the Cozy Coupe was his favorite present, but Jenni and I were both surprised that the box of Charlie Brown band-aids was his next favorite present. Kids, go figure. (PWA, Facebook)
So that's the story of our Christmas season. We have had lots of fun and hope that all of you are having a great Holiday Season and that you are enjoying this wonderful time of year.

Here are some videos from this morning:

Charlie checking out his presents for the first time.

Charlie's still warming up to the idea of Elmo moving on his own.

Being "Productive"

Well, Jenni is at Timeout for Women and I was going to go to the ward campout, but Charlie was having a bit of a melt down, so I decided against trying to get him to sleep in a tent. But if you haven't noticed, I really like pictures and we often post a lot of pictures of Charlie, so I figured that I would do a slight change up and post a picture of Charlie that is a mosaic of a bunch of pictures of Me and Jenni. It's interesting to see all the things that Jenni and I have done together over the past 7 years as tiny images that makeup a larger picture of the 3 of us.

...or maybe I'm just a little too into pictures.

Oh and for anyone interested in doing the same type of thing, I got all of the pictures of me and Jenni using the Picasa name tags and then created the mosaic using AndreaMosaic.

Family Pictures 2008

Brent Jackman - the wonderful and amazing - took some family pictures of us last week. I think they came out really well. Charlie is sure growing up!