Saturday, December 28, 2013

Christmas Day 2013









 We opened our stockings and a few gifts in the morning, then we headed off to church.
 We spent the rest of the day at Bob's house with Bob, Steve, Stephanie, Ethan, Garret, Stephen, and a family friend, Caytie.  It was a lovely and relaxing day!  Oh!  And Micah walked for the first time!  He took up to five solo steps with the whole Gorham family as an audience.  Way to go, Micah!


Earlier in December

Making gingerbread houses with Aunt Stephanie, Ethan, Garret, and Grandpa Gorham


Decorating the tree


Tried to get a cute Christmas PJ picture.  This was the best I could get.

Levi loves to "play" the instrument ornaments on Great Grannie's tree.





Micah's current favorite instrument: the guiro



There's my crawler!

Yum!

Snow day!

What is this white stuff in my hand?

Snowballs are fun!

Thursday, December 12, 2013

Eleven Months Old

Micah is eleven months old now.  I can hardly believe it!  The last couple of days have been busy.  He has been getting faster and faster at cruising around the house, holding onto furniture.  He is also speedy at walking when he holds onto my hands.  He's even gaining confidence and only holding one hand.  We think he'll be walking soon!  Our big surprise happened on Tuesday when . . . he began crawling!  Micah has always hated being on his tummy or all fours, so we thought for sure that he would skip crawling altogether--like his older brother.  But I guess he couldn't wait to get moving on his own!  Yay, Micah!  And today I was almost as excited because he had his first three-hour nap ever.  Apparently all that learning and growing tired him out.
Micah didn't appreciate having to sit in this chair, so I couldn't get a smile out of him.

Fun in the music room!

Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Some Family Pictures

 This past weekend, we went with my parents to pre-select our Christmas trees.  It was a nice day to wander around the tree farm.

The lucky boys got to sit on the big, orange tractor!



Ten Months Old

 Micah is ten months old now!  I can hardly believe it!  His personality is blossoming.  He's still really cuddly, but now he is more vocal about what he likes and dislikes.  It's fun to listen to him babble!

Tuesday, November 5, 2013

Halloween 2013

 We had so much fun on Halloween Day!  Since it was Thursday, we went to Bob's house for lunch and play time with the cousins.  After Stephanie, Ethan, and Garret decorated a ghoulish gingerbread house, the boys all put on their costumes for a photo shoot.  Here is Ethan as the young Harry Potter and Garret as Anakin Skywalker in Star Wars Episode 3.  Levi was a fireman, and Micah was a tiger.

So cuddly!


Levi is ready for the 2014 calendar

Fire Chief Levi says, "Lampshades must stay on lamps."
Next we changed back into our play clothes and headed back outside.  Although it had been raining lately, Bob had gathered up a huge pile of leaves and covered it with a tarp to keep it dry.  So much fun!!!

Ethan looks so innocent and so menacing at the same time!

Time to relax

Micah LOVED playing in the leaves!
Next we came back inside and carved pumpkins before heading home.

In the evening we went down to Jill and Randy's house.  Levi went through the motions of trick-or-treating, but I guess I hadn't explained that after he says "trick-or-treat" he should stand on the porch and wait for the treat.  Instead he kept walking through the door, tripping over his extra large boots and falling into the house.  He didn't look quite as smooth as he did when he posed for photos at Bob's.  :)  We had a great little visit with the gang.  The little guys sat nicely for a photo: Micah, Avery as Berrykin, Maddie as Strawberry Shortcake, and Levi.
We finished the day at my parents' house for dinner.  It was so great!

Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Pumpkin Time





We had a big weekend of festivities!  On Saturday Bob joined us as we went to a Fall Carnival at Our Savior Lutheran.  We had heard that a contractor was bringing his excavators to the church, securely parking them, and letting kids run them.  How cool is that!?!  Levi only ended up watching the diggers, but we still enjoyed it.
 We went inside to participate in some games.  I wanted a picture of the three of us in this cute little fall scene.  Just prior to this shot, Levi actually threw himself on the ground, crying, because he didn't want to sit on the hay.  I think the crowds were a bit too much for him, although my own stubbornness probably wasn't helping.
 
 Next, since it was still light out, we went to Picha's Pumpkin Patch.  Levi was absolutely fascinated by this particular tractor.  (In fact, he basically refused to look at anything else on the farm.)


 We tried to get Levi to pose for a picture with Grandpa, but it ended up just being a solo.

Then on Sunday morning, we stayed after church to participate in Reformation Day, an annual celebration where we learn about great reformers of the church.  This year was all about C.H. Spurgeon.  There were several booths with activities and crafts and candy prizes for the kids.  Most of the activities were a bit too advanced for Levi, but he loved "fighting the dragon."  He could have swung that foam sword for hours!


Then Sunday afternoon, just after the boys' naps, we rushed down to my parents' church for the end of their fall festival.  Levi felt much more comfortable this time.  His favorite activity was cookie decorating--and, of course, eating--but my favorite was this pumpkin decorating station.  It was great to just peel off the stickers and let Levi place them wherever he wanted.  It was quick and clean, and even toddlers could be successful.