Camping out...in the winter!

On New Years Eve day, our little family went for a hike in the woods by Grandpa and Grandma's house - the ones that Daddy grew up in! Tanner got to ride in his sled for about half our journey and then he had to be carried because the trail was too full of trees to fit the sled through! After awhile we came to this lovely gully area and decided to have a little campfire!! Daddy loves this stuff!!! So we gathered some wood and started a little fire. Then we drank some coffee (Tanner just had water!) and had some snacks. It was surprisingly warm because the trees around blocked any wind plus there was the fire to warm by if necessary! We only stayed for an hour or so but we had a great time!

Putting on Tanner's brand new snowsuit - we want him to stay nice and toasty warm!

And it did! We kept checking him and he was very warm! He loved hanging out in the snow!

And trying to eat it!

Daddy built the fire...notice Tanner's cool 'infant boggin' in the background.

What a campfire!

Wheat stood guard in the trees!

He had a great time - certainly didn't act like 15.5 years old!

Tanner thoroughly enjoyed himself!

Daddy captured this cool shot through the fire!

Maybe we'll make this a tradition - every year on New Years Eve...a campfire at the Roots!

Christmas 2007

We had a great Christmas season this year as we were finally able to spend it with our family! The memories we made the last four Christmases in Portland were wonderful and we'll always treasure them, however, it was such a blessing to be with family again! And to top it off we had three celebrations!
Christmas Eve was spent with Nana, Poppa, Auntie Lisa, Uncle Tim, Auntie Kim and Uncle Branden! We first went sledding in Nana and Poppa's backyard (on Mama's old sled!) and that was SO fun! Then we went inside and shared some delicious appetizers and snacks. And the adults talked and talked and talked....and laughed and laughed! What a good time we had!

Here is Tanner sledding down the hill in Nana and Poppa's backyard!

Nana got a little snuggle time with Tanner while she changed him out of his snow clothes!

Here he is opening his very first Christmas gift! A magnetic fridge farm!! Thanks Nana and Poppa!

Then he helped Uncle Branden open his gift!

Look at that BEAUTIFUL toy chest lovingly made by Poppa!! What a gorgeous heirloom for Tanner to have!! Thanks Poppa!

How appropriate - Tanner really is such a gift to us!

Then...on Christmas Day, we started the morning with a special breakfast with Grandpa and Grandma! Egg casserole and Daddy's specialty: eggnog french toast! Yummy!!

Later Christmas Day, Tanner opened his gifts from us!

What could it be???

A super cool percussion kit! Maracas, a tambourine, cowbell and a small hand drum! He's going to take after Daddy and be musical someday!

Here he is trying out the maracas!

...and the drum (you can see he is already working on that 'drum face'!)

...and the tambourine!

He is so excited about his new instruments!

Later that day, Aunt Sheri, Uncle Dennis and Uncle Scott came over for some gifts and a scrumptious dinner made by Grandma! We had a fantastic time!

Some snuggle time with Aunt Sheri and Uncle Dennis.

Tanner thought the gift for Aunt Sheri's kitties was pretty cool!

Then on the Saturday after Christmas - we were able to have a third celebration! This time with Grandpa, Grandma, Aunt Sheri, Uncle Dennis, Uncle Scott, Aunt Alice, Eric and Kyle! They all came out to the house and we had a wonderful dinner, then opened some gifts and then a bunch of us played cards! We had so much fun!

Here is Tanner - "please someone open this...I can't stand the suspense"!

Tanner practicing blowing kisses with Aunt Sheri!

We didn't get photos of all the celebratory experiences but we made great memories!

Growing up

Oh boy...Tanner is growing up so fast it seems! He's doing and saying new things everyday! What a thrill to be a parent and watch your child grow and develop just as God created him too! Tanner has been signing the word "milk" for awhile but he has now added 'eat' and 'more' to his signing vocabulary. He plays peek-a-boo and blows kisses - too cute! He waves and says 'buh-buh' (bye-bye). "Daddy" comes out like 'Da-da-ee'! Tanner also says, 'uh-oh', 'Mama', 'Hi-eee', and most everything new is "WOW". If you ask him how old he is - he'll put up one finger (sometimes on both hands!) and if you ask him what a doggie says - he'll say 'hm-hm-hm-hm'. It's so cute and precious to hear his sweet little voice!


He loves to get a 'ride' in the laundry basket!





When I saw this photo - I thought it made him look older and it hit me that Tanner is no longer a baby - he's a little boy.

Thanksgiving Day!

This Thanksgiving was Tanner's first that he could eat with us (last year he slept in his car seat while we had our dinner at the Czuk's!). So this year was exciting for us to share our meal with him! He loved it! He had a bit of everything!! Turkey, mashed potatoes with gravy, stuffing, sweet potatoes, squash, applesauce, jello and a roll! I think he was plenty satisfied! Unfortunately, we don't have any photos of him eating....but we do have some of him while we were at Uncle Dennis and Aunt Sheri's house!

Here is a photo of him hanging out with Uncle Scott before we ate:

And here is Aunt Sheri reading to him!

Tanner LOVES books!

Tanner being silly - trying on cousin Kyle's glasses!

Luke is Here!

Tanner's BFF (best friend forever :) has arrived!!! Luke was born at 3:30am on November 1, 2007! He is just so adorable and precious! We are so happy you are here Luke!

Sleepy boy

I got to hold him!

Big Pile of Leaves!

Tanner went to Poppa and Nana's house on Wednesday and got to play in a big pile of leaves at their house! He loved it!

Funny Face!

One evening, Daddy was on the patio grilling our dinner and Tanner was inside. However, Tanner wanted to be outside with Daddy so he was trying to get as close as he could.......

Kalamazoo Nature Center

Nana and Poppa came down to Kalamazoo recently and we went to visit the Kalamazoo Nature Center! It was our very first time and it was really fun! They have an indoor area to walk around that has lots of Michigan exhibits (animals, reptiles, fish, plants, birds, etc - some alive and some stuffed) plus a bug exhibit and a indoor tropical rainforest area too! Plus they have multiple hiking trails. So we walked around inside a bit and then went for a hike outdoors - it was an absolutely gorgeous fall day - sunny and mild. We hiked to the Kalamazoo River and then back. The ground was just blanketed by yellow leaves - it was so pretty!

Here are some photos from our visit!

Tanner and Poppa:

Tanner and Nana:

Tanner loved riding on Poppa's shoulders!

Beautiful fall day!

The four of us with a golden forest in the background!

Michigan Lakeshore

One thing we really love about Michigan is all the lakes and the miles and miles of shoreline! Last Saturday, we went to Lake Michigan to see the lake again for the first time in about 5 years! It was great - and if we used our imaginations, we could pretend we were standing at the Pacific Ocean again! :) The day was perfect - sunny and mild. It was pretty windy though so we had sweaters and jackets on while we were by the water. We went to South Haven and walked the pier and then went back into town and ate lunch and walked around a bit. It was a great day!

Little Explorer

Tanner is quite the little explorer! He loves to crawl around and get into things - lots of things! Some that are good and others that aren't. Well - our little explorer discovered something exciting the other day and I caught him on camera!!

The funniest thing about it was that the whole time he was unrolling the toilet paper - he was saying 'nah no nah no'!! Like he just knew it was something he wasn't supposed to do! :)

"Look what I found!"

"It just keeps coming and coming!"

"Let me just get this last little bit here..."

Tanner is One!!

Tanner turned one on October 13 and we had a big bash to celebrate! It's hard to believe that a year has already gone by but it's been a wonderful year! Tanner had lots of fun at his party! He didn't 'get' the unwrapping of gifts part but we figure it will be the last year that he doesn't get into that! Daddy made a super cool birthday hat but Tanner didn't like it much (probably had more to do with the straps under his chin than the actual hat). He did like his cake though. I put a whole piece on his tray and he picked it up and put the whole thing in his mouth and just sucked on it! :) Was pretty funny to see!

Here are some photos of the big day!

Mama showing Tanner how to rip open that package!

Tanner got a little help from Ella (20 months - on the left) and Elise (2 1/2 - on the right)

Drum cake and maracas!

Tanner eating his cake!