Christmas and the New Year

2010 is already here and I haven't even told you how my 2009 wrapped up. This year we spent Christmas in Colorado with Grandma Brenneman's family. We had an early celebration with Nana and Papaw and Uncle E and Aunt B. It was so good to see them and have Nana and Papaw stay the night with me. We opened presents in honor of Jesus' birthday, and I have to say that I made out like a bandit! I loved carrying around all of my new loot. Here is my new phone. Mom is glad that I have my own now. I also got a new dump truck that I push around the house. I fill it up with my new blocks! We left a few days later for a week in Colorado. Here I am at the airport making a few calls before we board the plane. I, once again, was a good boy on my flights. We flew into Denver where we got to spend time with my Great Uncle John and Great Aunt Emma. Aunt Emma and I became very fast friends. Great Aunt Betty and Great Uncle Dave and cousins Jeremy, Nathan, and Nathan's lady Leisel were all staying with Uncle John and Aunt Em. I loved meeting all of my family! Aunt Betty gave me my very first hair cut, so that I didn't look so shaggy for Christmas day. We spent lots of time sitting and chatting, and I even managed to have some fun with (their dog) Niah's toys. Of course, I'm easy to please, and was content to carry Aunt Betty's water bottle around. After a couple of days in Denver, it was time to head to Estes Park to a giant cabin with all of our extended family. The cabin holds 40 people, but we filled it with 53! There were so many bigger kids running around. I was only intimidated for a few minutes before I started mixing and mingling. Before long I saw some faces that were familiar: Grandma, Aunt Genessa, Uncle Tyler, Cadence, Kyrie, Brayson, and Brannen were there. I also got to see Great Aunt Carol again. I met lots of Great Aunts and Uncles, cousins, and second cousins. I cozied up with Great Aunt Mary Ann, who let me use her phone to make some calls. Uncle John and I discussed football as we watched the early bowl games. They had lots of snow in Colorado, so we put to use this snow tube that Grandma brought. It was pretty cold, so I only went down twice, but boy was it fun!

We snapped some family pictures, took in the beautiful surroundings, and closed out our time in Estes Park with a reading of the Christmas story from Luke and had a family sing along of favorite Christmas carols. What a great way to celebrate Christ's birth!

After we returned, Mom and I got sick, again. I got another ear ache and she had a cough and cold so we spent the last days of 2009 cuddling on the couch and resting. (Though she wished I wasn't sick, Mommy absolutely loved the opportunity to spend a few days snuggled up with her boy.) Luckily we both felt well enough to ring in 2010 with our small group family. Emerson and I had fun hanging out in our comfy pjs. It was no surprise to Mommy and Daddy that I made it all the way til midnight. I watched the ball drop from Mimi's couch, nestled between Mom and Dad. I got a smooch from both of them to start 2010. It was the perfect ending to a pretty amazing year.