Me and GK skiing. I went with him twice and in between he went once with my brother Paul and by our second time together, he was a pro.
Van's first time sledding. We took two pictures. One of us moving down the hill and one of us still and we couldn't tell the difference. I guess you could say we weren't moving very fast.
But it was a pretty big hill and he seemed nervous about it. So I trekked up by myself to show him it wasn't as scary as it looked.
He looked at it and
Thought about it and
Thought some more
It wasn't until later that we realized maybe we just went on too tame a part of the hill. He was mesmerized by this video of extreme skiing. You should see him in his doorway bouncer. He's definitely an extreme jumper.
Maybe someday he'll grow up to be like his cousin Matix who couldn't get enough of the sledding when we went on Christmas day (provided that Eddie would pull him back up the hill). Van slept through that outing.
Pops (GK's dad) was a little reluctant to go with the rest of us sledding (Bubba, Adam, Me, Cherrie, Matix, Pops... and GK taking the picture... not sure where Eddie is in this one). But he was the first one on and the last one on the hill. He was an animal!
We stayed for the first week at the house I grew up in with my parents. The day before we got there, my dad had his entire knee replaced.
So Reggie did his best to make him feel better. I think it worked. Once the snow on the canyon roads was cleared a little,
My dad recovered more quickly than I assured him was wise. But what do I know. Christmas is a time of miracles after all.
Van discovered the blissful independence of a walker. Even though his legs were still a little too short for actual escape, he loved sitting and playing on his own. With an occasional cousin coming over to chew on his toys from the other side.
With Christmas Eve came the reenactment. From left to right we have Isaac- shepherd, Henry- grumpy shepherd(the picture didn't capture the sweet little scowl), Abby-Mary, Paul- cowboy wiseman, Peter-Joseph, and Maren-costume designer and set dresser. And of course Van- baby Jesus in his candycane striped swaddling clothes.
Joseph wasn't quite ready to give up his manger to the new guy, or maybe he was just putting baby Jesus to sleep by lying down by him.
But he really wasn't thrilled when the grumpy shepherd and the cowboy wiseman decided to try it out.
After Christmas, things were back to normal for most of us. Except on top of all Van's fancy pants presents, he also got two teeth almost simultaneously and pretty much demanded to be fed grown up food. You know, your favorite, rice cereal. He has since become enchanted with bananas, and apples (pictures to come).
Through it all, Reggie remained in his royal spot in the house. Right in front of the fireplace - or space heater depending on which one was hotter at the moment.
Van bonded with his Uncle Alex and talked about how easy it is to be green.
GK went snowboarding with the Florence brothers (and later skiing for the first time with moi). We're only missing Paul in this picture and of course my dad who in spite of his rapid recovery is not yet skiing on his new knee.
And I'm not sure how I feel about that.
