Carter Can't Wait for Christmas

Carter is so excited for Christmas, he cannot wait to open presents. The worst part is that this is not even his present. He gets so excited that he eats the paper too.

Whenever Carter drops his toys, we ask Seth to help him get a toy. Carter had just woken up from a nap and was crying a little. Before we found him, Seth had gotten him a toy.

Red Sheets? Not in Your Dreams!

Have you ever woken up and you were in the middle of doing something? May be a bad dream caused you to punch the air or kick your leg. I had a bad dream the other night. I dreamed that Jennifer had put red sheets on the bed and I was not happy about it. It felt horrible lying between those red sheets. I got out of bed, still asleep or mostly asleep. The first thing I remember was grabbing the blankets at the foot of the bed on my side and whipping them off the bed towards Jennifer’s side. All the blankets and the flat sheet lay on the floor in a heap. My brain was still in dream mode. I must have been thinking, “That will teach Jennifer to put red sheets on my bed.” As I climbed back in bed, I thought, “It’s kind of cold. May be I should go get another blanket from the other room.” Before I had to chance to move, I was back asleep. The next thing I remember was Jennifer pulling the blankets back up on me. My dreaming mind thought, “Not those dumb red sheets again.” I quickly came out of the dream and pulled the blankets up tight. I was back asleep in an instant.

The next morning as I got up to get ready for work, I realized what I had done during the night. I laughed to myself and wondered what Jennifer had thought when it happened. After I got out of the shower, Jennifer was up making my lunch. I asked her if the blankets had fallen off the bed during the night. She said the blankets felt like they were heavy on one side and just slipped right off the bed. She said that she must have been pulling on them. I then told her the whole story of what happened and how I had thrown the blankets on the floor. We laughed and Jennifer had a hard time breathing with the laughter caught in her throat.

I thought about it a few times during the next day and almost laughed out loud. It is still hard to believe I did it and that Jennifer thought that she really was the one to blame. Hopefully this will not be a reoccurring dream, or Jennifer might need to get her own blankets.

Have you ever done anything just as your were waking up that you laughed about later??

Christmas Tree

It has always been a tradition in my family to get the Christmas tree the day after Thanksgiving. We like to buy a tree permit from the BLM and cut down our own. In Price, it is much easier to find a tree. On BLM land there are a lot of natural gas wells and dirt roads going all over the place. The gas company keeps the roads plowed. It is easy to find a tree and not get stuck in the snow, even with a two wheel drive truck.

Here in Cedar City, I have always gone up the mountain on Hwy 14. It is a two lane highway with no shoulder at all. A few years ago we got stuck and it took me about an hour to dig the truck out. Luckily I grabbed Skip's shovel, not even thinking that I would need it. NowI try to plan where I pull off the road a little more carefully.

I planned to take Seth with me to get a tree this year. After I got him already, he did not want to go. It was a good that I did not take him. The snow on top of the mountain was pretty deep. Seth would have gotten lost. I pulled my truck into a parking lot by SUU's cabin. It was on a hill and I was able to roll back towards the asphalt road, and I did not get stuck. I walked up a dirt road that looked like it had been plowed once, and spotted the perfect tree. As I walked off the road, I sunk to my chest in snow. Good thing I had a shovel in my hands. I had to dig through the snow to get to the tree. I dug around the base of the tree to make room to cut it down. It was pretty easy to drag, on top of a tarp to save the needles, through the snow back to the truck.

Jennifer was happy I made it home and did not get stuck in the snow. She was prepared to come find me, if I did not return. She asked me afterwards, "How long should I have waited to come find you?"

Carter is growing and getting stronger. He can now sit up with a little help, but still sometimes falls over. He is rolling from back to belly and belly to back. He got up on his hands and knees the other day, but did not know what to do after that. He does push ups all the time. He is preparing for the day that Seth leaves the iPod on the floor and then he will make his move.

Indoor Activities

Seth always wants to go outside and play. He wants to throw a football on the grass out back, or ride his bike, or kick a soccer ball. It is way too cold and there is no grass, it is all covered with snow. I have to come up with games inside, so that I can stay warm. Here is what we have come up with.

We often go bowling. We would like to thank our sponsors, VO5 and Suave.

Seth was doing well rolling the ball and kicking it too. He gets a strike most times.

Carter likes to sit in his Bumbo chair and chew on some toy. This one is his favorite. This little guy spends most of the day with his head in Carter's mouth. He is the Thing from the Fantastic Four. We call him Cosa (that means "thing" in Spanish.) It is funny to hear Seth say the word Cosa.

Of course we play iPod. Seth is good enough to let Carter watch. Carter can't wait for his turn to get his hands on it. For now Carter would probably just put it in his mouth.

Seth loves his remote control car. He loves to drive it in the kitchen and run it into his Mom's feet. He also likes to tip over the garbage cans with it.

Sometimes we have too much fun and the little ones just get worn out. Please ignore the DI price tags on bottom of Carter's shoes. He would be so embarrassed if anyone knew that they were used and only cost $1.