Slacker posts again!

I have had so much to post that I haven't posted anything!  How that works, I can't say..I guess it doesn't and that is why I am here posting a gigantic post again!  Nathan had his first birthday, and made out like a bandit!  More toys than he knew what to do with, and a new little suit just in time for Christmas! 

I had to help him get the hang of opening the presents, but he sure enjoyed playing with them once they were out!

His favorite toy was the new popper :)  As soon as he figured out how to make noise with it he as running as fast as he could around the house with it!

The smash cake was a hit- no pun intended - but he had much less interest in eating it than in flinging it around the room!

Oh, and it turns out that Nathan is not a fan of party hats!

When he finished making a mess of the kitchen and himself we wiped him down, but I guess the wipes were a little colder than he was expecting! Sorry little buddy!

The following week my brother Jason and his wife Lauren came into town.  On Sunday they blessed their new little girl, Meadow.  I had the pleasure of taking some pictures of her and her parents that day that came out sooooo cute!  Here are a few of my favorites:

Lauren had made her these giant bows that were really cute!  Isn't she so pretty?

She also made me a couple of baby hammocks for taking pictures of Meadow and others- such a cute idea. 

She did such a good job posing for me!  So precious :)

So pretty in pink...what could be more sweet than a sleeping little angel?

Then, of course, there was Christmas!  We spent Christmas Eve in Brighton with my family and then Christmas day in our own house with the Baldwin bunch.  We arrived in Brighton just in time for Jeremy to join the game of Risk 2210 about to start.  He did pretty well for a newcomer :)

My question is: does she really just want to hug him, or is this a new way of getting to know your enemy?

Tyler ended up winning, but the tension between Jason and Jeremy was tense there for a little while :)

After they had been playing for 4 hours I remembered why I never liked RISK.  Look, even Meadow was bored after a while!

Then there was the friendly game of canasta going on in the kitchen...is grandpa looking at mom's cards? :)

All the while grandma was cooking up a feast for dinner- gotta love having such a yummy grandma!

Sweet Pea was at her feet, hoping for a little piece of the cooking goodness...until Nathan took interest in her.

She didn't care for him much, but Roxy was ready to step in line for some attention.

After the long game of RISK was finally over, dad took his turn with the new grandbaby- she absolutely LOVED to be held.

When the fumes wore off from loosing at his own game, Jason settled down with the baby and a book.  He makes such a cute daddy :0)

And Christmas just wouldn't be complete without some deathly close pictures of bears from the latest Alaskan adventure.  Never a dull moment with those two.

Yes, we eventually had a delicious dinner and then settled down for grandma's attic and presents!

Nathan started to catch on after a while that the noisy packages were for ripping open :)

I will only highlight a few of the most...unique..yes unique presents:

In case you missed it, click on the photo to make it bigger; the hats say "got gas?"

What a great family photo!

These are stuffed voles.  That's right- the very same vermon that grandpa shot in his garden from his kitchen window at the cabin and set out on a box as an example to the other little voles.  Someone actually stuffs these ugly things, and it is only fitting that they be added to the collection of dead things in the Wainscott household.  We got a good laugh out of this!

Just before we left for the night, Nathan and Meadow were both awake and happy so we snapped a few photos of the cousins together.

Look at that ham- living up his photo-op!  I love that little guy.

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Christmas Eve was a big sleepover at out house with all of the Baldwin clan, except Heather and Will, who were in the Springs with his family and would be coming the next day.  When we woke up in the morning Ken made us all breakfast and then it started...

We had to keep Jason busy in the house while Jeremy installed his present from us in Jason's new car.  We got him a remote start- great for apartment living- and Jeremy found that the labor to have it installed was about $600.  Boooo.  So, he decided to do it himself- "I just have to..." RIGHT!

Jeremy and Ken spent ALL day in the garage, freezing, and eventually got it all done.  Jason eventually caught on to the fact they were doing something to his car, and started getting really nervous after the 5th "we're almost done, really!...I think."

Meanwhile, grandma was finishing Nathan's present- as much as Ariel would let her.  She had patched up a first generation Teddy Ruxbin and Grubby...what a flashback it was to see them telling stories!  However, the thread looked like too much fun for the kitty to restrain herself.

Then, there was Heather and Will.  When they got to our house they were soooo tired.  They decided to take a nap, but they looked just a little too cozy, so Jamie fixed it.  Yes, that is a snow ball.  Brrr!!!!

All of the sudden they weren't so tired anymore, and sweet revenge ensued.

Of course they couldn't return a snowball with another snowball, so she got dropped on the snow-filled deck and locked out!  Poor Jamie!

When we finally gave Jason his present we gave him all the spare parts just to scare him :)  It worked! He was pretty worried :)

When the excitement was finally over, and the car did indeed work, Jeremy settled down with his bottle of sparkly to relax and enjoy the now gone holiday :)

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The day after Christmas we spent with my favorite couple in all of San Antonio :) Sharon and Andrew.  They came to visit, so we met up with them for an evening out at the dinner theater.  She was the only one smart enough to bring a camera, and I don't have those pics yet, but it was a blast!

We saw a stellar performance of "Singing in the Rain"- with the rain included!

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A few days later I shot another wedding at the Denver Temple and their luncheon and reception- so fun!

That weekend we had Heather's Bridal shower/luau. A week after that was Heather and Will's wedding which was a great success, and A LOT of work!  All over now, but I have over 3,000 pictures to sort through now, so more on that later!