I'm Back
11 years ago
We had our friends, the Khans and the Shaffers come up one weekend to visit mid-December. We were really looking forward to having Christopher and Nicholas together again, they haven't seen each other since we went to the beach in August and we were all looking forward to seeing John and Lisa and meet their newest addition, Sonora. Burt, Melissa and Nicholas arrived Friday afternoon and the boys immediately hit it off and started chasing each other down the sidewalk on their bikes and playing golf in the front yard. That night we were going to take them to see the Christmas lights at the Botanical Gardens, but changed our minds when we realized they weren't going to stop running around long enough for us to catch them and get them in the car. We had bought each of them a big stuffed animal and so we decided to pull those out and let them tackle those for a while, they went nuts! They spent the rest of the night running and diving onto the big bear and puppy, pausing only to get a quick drink or take a ride on their dad's back. Saturday morning, Melissa and I woke up with the boys and had breakfast while they played and stopped every now and then to see what Pooh and Tigger were doing on tv. Around lunch, John, Lisa and Sonora arrived and somehow got all the kids down for a nap at the same time. That afternoon we played in the backyard and then came inside to start dinner while the boys continued to play some more. On Sunday we tried to get a photo of the three kids together, but it never happened. Christopher was very fascinated with Sonora and every now and then would go sit next to her on the floor and then turn around to find me and say, "Baby!" while pointing at her. It was cute! We played outside some more and then it was time to grab some lunch and everyone had to start packing up to head home. It was a wonderful weekend and we are already trying to figure out when we can do it again.
We have been very busy this month with all sorts of activities. We started off by trying to take our Christmas photo. It actually went better than we thought it would, but was over quickly. Brandon thought it would be fun to do one similar to when we were pregnant with Christopher. Now Christopher likes to get Brandon's stethoscope and try to listen to the baby for fun. Then a few days later Christopher and I had the neighbors over to decorate a gingerbread house and have lunch. It was a lot of fun watching the kids work on the house, but Christopher was more interested in eating the candy. THEN a few days after that we celebrated Brandon's 30th birthday! He was on call the night before so he didn't want to do anything big, just dinner at home with us. So when he got home Christopher and I left so he could get a much needed nap in. Christopher then helped me fix Daddy's favorite, Chinese, for dinner. I was really hoping that he wouldn't want to rush into having birthday cake as soon as we finished dinner because the neighbors were coming over to surprise him. He had no clue anything was going to happen when they all showed up and was very surprised. He said it was the best birthday he'd had in a while. For what happens next, read the above posting! : )
We decided to go ahead and put up our Christmas tree the weekend of Thanksgiving because we weren't sure when we'd get another chance and we hoped it would get Christopher used to it enough that he would be as bored with it as we are by the time Christmas rolls around. I know, you're all thinking, "Yeah right!" Well, he had a blast trying to figure out what we were doing and pretty much just jumped and skipped around the room squealing, which was fine with us, it was cute! We didn't put any ornaments on it yet, thought we'd ease into that over the next few weeks because we know that's going to be the big temptation. He thinks that all the little Christmas lights are stars and he kept trying to pull the beaded garland off too, but he finally got tired of that. His favorite thing is the star on top. Almost every time he walks into the room he runs to the tree and points up saying, "tar! tar!" Again, it's cute! We know he is going to love having Christmas at home as much as we are this year. Later that evening he found the box to his new booster seat and had a blast climbing in and out of it for about 45 minutes. We had to get photos because it was too funny!
This year for Thanksgiving we headed to the lake to be with Brittny's family. Brandon was on call Friday, so he wasn't able to join us making it our first holiday apart. Christopher was a very big boy and didn't fuss one time going or coming and so it made the trip a very pleasant one. Brittny's brother and his family were already there waiting and Hunter was ready to play when we arrived. Drake, the newest cousin, had grown so much since we saw him in the hospital after he was born. The two boys rode the lawn mower (Christopher's obsession more than Hunter's), wrestled and chased each other around the house the whole time. Which we all thought was great! If we couldn't find Christopher at any time, we quickly learned that he was staring out the back door at the lawn mower in awe and just waiting for another ride. Thanksgiving day we had more family arrive in time for lunch and later that afternoon Aunt Jennifer and Uncle Trey showed up after making all of their rounds. That night we all got ready for bed and started a movie, which we didn't see very much of due to the entertainment Hunter and Christopher provided by their dancing to the music. Friday we spent the day relaxing and playing some more and then the boys both took very long naps. We woke up early Saturday morning and couldn't wait to play so after a while Christopher found his way up the stairs and into Hunter's room to wake him up. He still doesn't realize that most people sleep until the sun comes up, but we are working on it. After loading up the car we hit the road. We stopped in Birmingham to visit with Brittny's friend Bryson and grab some lunch and then we got back on the road again. We couldn't wait to get home and see Daddy. It was a great weekend and we are looking forward to having Brandon's family all up here for Christmas!
This year we had a Halloween party on Sunday afternoon with our neighbors and had the kids all dressed up in their costumes. It was so much fun watching them run around playing like they usually do, but in costume! At one point we found them huddled around a toy catalog checking out the construction ride on trucks. Already planning their Christmas list! We had all kinds of food too, from sandwiches to dips to halloween decorated desserts. Towards the end of the party, Maria pulled out a bag of treats that had ribbons hanging from it and the kids all grabbed a ribbon, pulled as hard as they good and tons of goodies came tumbling out. It was a lot of fun! On Halloween we put our costume on after our nap and went to run errands. Everyone loved it! Then after dinner, the neighbors stopped by our house and took Brandon and Christopher with them to go trick or treating. Brittny stayed behind to hand out candy, but caught up with everyone just in time to grab a quick photo of Christopher's first trick or treating experience. I saw him go knock on the door and then turn to run. After that, he was done for the night. We went home and at the first mention of a bath, he darted back to the bathroom happily. He was just about to fall asleep on the couch and so we finally put him to bed. It was a fun halloween!
(We would like to thank Cosby and Elizabeth Stone for the awesome, and official, Barcelona soccer uniform they gave Christopher which he wore for his costume. Don't worry, it will be worn many more times!)
Here are a few photos from our trip. We had two different cameras and once we get a copy from the ones on Lisa's camera I'll add some more pics. There were just so many it was hard to decide which ones to put on here!
1- Brandon in front of the Golden Gate Bridge.
2- Christopher and Brittny on beach in San Fran waiting to watch the Blue Angels. The birds and boats were great entertainment between shows.
3- Christopher with a big bear we found at Muir Woods.
4- Christopher and Papa John waiting for the boat at Alcatraz.
5- Christopher and Mimi ringing the bell on the firetruck we rode across the Golden Gate Bridge.
Christopher and I just returned from 10 days in California visiting Brandon. He will return on Friday from a month long rotation at Travis AFB (near San Francisco). We had a wonderful time and absolutely loved it! Brandon's mom flew out with us and his dad joined us for the second half of the trip and they were a tremendous help. The camera is still with Brandon so you'll have to wait until he returns and I can go through the 1000 photos that we took before seeing them, but I thought I'd at least go ahead and tell you what we did. We arrived around lunch on Friday and Brandon was able to leave work early to pick us up at the airport. We drove around town for a while and stopped to see Lombard Street, took photos and then drove on down the curviest street in the world. Then we went straight to see the Golden Gate bridge, which was so cool to actually drive across! We went and grabbed dinner in Sausalito, which if you have lots and lots of money, would be a great place to live. (Let us know if you do, we'll come visit!) It was Fleet Week that weekend and so Saturday we headed into the city and walked around, grabbed lunch and found a perfect spot to watch the air show over the bay. Christopher loved watching the planes do all their fancy tricks. Sunday we decided to avoid the crowd and head to Muir Woods to see some of the famous redwoods. It was so peaceful and beautiful! The bigger ones are, I think, south of S.F., but they weren't on our way out of town. Afterwards we headed to Travis to check in and relax. On Monday we hopped in the car and drove up to Napa Valley, which was very beautiful. There were so many vineyards along the road to see and we had fun stopping at some of them to learn how they made their wine and so Brandon and his mom could sample a few. One of them even had a white grape juice box for the kids (which I ended up drinking since Christopher doesn't like juice). We had lunch at Taylor's Refresher, which we'd heard about on the Food Network as being rated one of the top burger places in the country. It was a lot of fun! You just walked up to the window, ordered your food and then watch the kids run around until your order was called, typically with a funny message. On Tuesday, Brandon had to head back to work, so Lisa and I headed to a nearby outlet to do a little shopping. We had to practically drag Christopher out of the Ghiradelli shop we went in. He loves his chocolate! (Not sure where he gets that from.) On Wednesday, Papa John arrived, so we just stayed on base until it was time to pick him up. Thursday we went back up to Napa Valley and found our favorite winery yet. They had the cutest little store with all kinds of cheeses, breads, meats and just about every kind of dips, sauces, mixes, etc. you could think of! We spent forever in there and bought a few things before leaving. On Friday, I told John and Lisa to take the day to do whatever they wanted since their anniversary was that weekend and Christopher and I just relaxed and napped at the hotel while it rained. It was just what we needed to get ready for the weekend ahead. We woke up early Saturday to head back into the city for our tour of Alcatraz. It was so amazing to see and hear what happened there. Definitely a must see if you ever go and visit. We went to Pier 39 to grab lunch and walked around at the shops there before we sent the grandparents off for an anniversary dinner. The three of us drove down to Oakland to meet our friend's parents for dinner and it was so peaceful and calm, not what we expected, but a wonderful end to a busy day. Our last day was Sunday and we headed back into the city again for our fire engine tour over the Golden Gate Bridge and to a few other places. I think it was probably mine and Christopher's favorite thing we did all week! We all got to wear firemen jackets (including the little guy) and sit in the back of an old fire engine as we bounced around the city. I don't think I've had that much fun in a long time! It is something that everyone MUST do if they have kids or not. After grabbing lunch at Fisherman's Wharf we headed over to the Ghiradelli Shop and then went to ride on a trolley. Christopher crashed by this point and we headed on home to start packing up our bags. We had an amazing time and Brandon and I have already decided that we want to go back again in about 5 years to do it all over again, just the two of us. So, if you ever head out west, we definitely suggest going to San Francisco! We loved it, but there's definitely no place like home.
Meet Drake Welker Armstrong! Kyle (Brittny's brother), Caroline and big brother Hunter finally got to meet the newest member of their family Friday evening. He weighed 9 lbs., 2 oz. and was 20 1/2 inches long. We went up to see him on Saturday and he is precious! Christopher has really become very interested in babies lately, so he loved it. He was very sweet and would run over to check on Drake every now and then and gently pat him on the head. It has been fun watching Christopher and Hunter play together, so one more boy is just going to make it that much more fun! Wonder if we are going to continue the tradition or be the first to have a girl? Hmmm....
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