Amundsons

Daddy was in LA this weekend for graduate school so Charlie and I got to spend some girl time together. We went to the mall because we had a gift certificate from Grammy for Build a Bear. Charlie got to make her own doll. Here she is "styling" her hair. She ended up naming her "Jerry". Now I don't have a problem with the name Jerry, in fact it is a fine name... I just don't get it. To my knowledge she doesn't even know a Jerry, or really even heard the name. But she was insistent, and its her doll so... Jerry it is. Then since we were at the mall without Dad we went down to the food court and got sushi. Charlie and I LOVE sushi. Not that Jacob doesn't, he just refuses to eat mall sushi in a land-locked region that doesn't have an ocean within a 1,000 miles. Charlie and I aren't that picky... we take it whenever we can get it. Please note the interesting use of the chop sticks. What do you think of this technique Aunt Becky? It g...

On the way home from school today Charlie was really quite. Usually she is a chatterbox about her day. Lisa: "Charlie, are you ok?" Charlie: "Yeah Mama, I just really tired, I had super busy day." Guess sometimes even the playdough can get overwhelming.

So I saw this on some other blogs and thought it was adorable. I picked a favorite picture from each month of 2008 that I had not posted yet. January February March April May June July August September October November December

Happy New Year from the Ladies who went out.... and the lady who stayed in...

We spent Christmas with Jacob's family in Wisconsin. This is Charlotte in her Christmas dress by their tree. There was a list of at least 5 other things that she wanted to do besides stand and take her picture (Can you tell?) Christmas eve was on the Cranberry marsh with lots of cousins. This was the party table (a.k.a. kid table) Precious! Jacob's family reads Luke 2 every year and with this many kids it becomes tradition to act out the Christmas story. This was Charlies first year to participate, and she got to be the Christmas Cow. I was a little nervous when the angels came out with their pretty wings, or the wise men with their colorful scarfs that she would get jealous... But she stayed committed to her important role.... and knelt down before the baby Jesus as only a cow can. Jacob's cousin made t-shirts for all the little girls that said "I Love My Papa". It was a really fun idea with a lot of truth behind it. Christmas morning we were back at Grammy...

Over Thanksgiving break, Charlie got to spend some good quality time with Nana and Papi. Not being one to take that important bond lightly, we decided to get away and let them have their time together. Yeah baby, we ditched Charlie with the old people (I'm including Adam, Leah, Scott, and Jen in this category since they had just as much opportunity as we did) and took off to hit the slopes courtesy of some wicked lake effect snow in Western NY. Lisa is a great skier but had never been snowboarding before. She did an awesome job and we had a great day sans-badger.

Here are some of the indoor pictures that we spent in NY with my family. We will be in Wisconsin for Christmas so we combined the holidays and got in twice the fun... My mother really really wanted everyone in the same pajamas. I thought it was adorable (guess I am her daughter) my brothers... not so much, but they have learned to play along. Charlie in some of her dress up clothes. And Auntie Jenn getting her ready for the previous video... Charlie got her dollhouse from Nana... My brother Adam and his girlfriend Leah... see this wouldn't have been as cute if they weren't dressed alike. Another round of pie. This was by far Charlotte's favorite activities of the week. Feeding the baby cousin. She was so proud of herself. Decorating the tree. A. ready for Thanksgiving dinner before anyone else was. Playing around. My mom wanted this counter in her kitchen years ago so that she could "feed her grand kids breakfast". Guess I see now what she was talking about. ...