Start of December...

December started out rough for our house. Andrew got a pretty bad case of the flu and was on the couch (and I mean didn't move) for about 3 days straight. Unfortunately, this was our one and only shopping weekend before Christmas, so I headed to the mall for a few hours with Tyler by myself, and then decorated the house. Tyler was a great little boy and did his best to 'help' daddy feel better.

The boys watching tv and chillin...
Apparently the show was funny!

If Dad needs crackers, then so do I!

I can help Mom with dishes....

Thanksgiving, Football, and Basketball

This year we were blessed that everyone made the trip to Des Moines for Thanksgiving. Thursday Andrew's immediate family came to enjoy a day of great food, some football, and lots of looking at the shopping ads! I then got to experience Black Friday shopping with a one-year-old (it lasted one store and I went home to stay warm!), then we went to get our Christmas tree. Saturday we went to the ISU basketball game in Des Moines, which was a nail biter but a win none the less. Sunday, the Peterson clan made their way to Des Moines for another great feast and some fun game playing. We really enjoyed having all of our family here for the holidays.

Here's a picture of the wonderful spread we ate and the 'big people' table.
And here is the 'cool people' table (this is where I sat, of course!). And for all of you wondering, no, I did not let my nephew drink alcoholic wine.

Tyler's big thing right now is "Touchdown"...when he sees football on table, he automatically goes into the stance! We believe he gets this from watching the older daycare boys play playstation or something.

However - we also do the same thing at ISU Basketball games! We're trying to convert it to "Three Pointer!" instead of touchdown.

"Look what I did Mom!" This is what I caught Tyler doing Sunday morning before the family showed up.

"I can help cook, Mom!"

Birthday Party Time!

We celebrated Tyler's birthday with the whole family in late November. Thank you to Grandma Denise for helping us with the cake and hosting, and to everyone else for coming and bring great food!

We had to show everyone our Halloween costume. :)

We had the coolest chair to sit in while opening presents. Thanks Perkins!

Checking out the See 'N' Say from Grandma and Grandpa Hallquist. I had to laugh at his bare feet swinging away throughout gift opening!

Grandma and Grandpa Newman gave him this cool fire truck - he loves to push the buttons to make it sing, and every time he gets the biggest grin and dances!

This was the famous Monkey cake! Mom & Dad had a lot of fun making it.

We had a great party and a wonderful first birthday! Many, Many more to come!!!

Happy 1st Birthday!!

Tyler celebrated his 1st birthday on November 3rd with Mom, Dad, & Uncle Kyle. We had pancakes for supper, then opened his presents, and ate cupcakes!

Halloween!

Tyler seemed to have fun for his first Halloween. We had a halloween shirt and cool socks (sorry Inky, not sure where they went for the picture, but we wore them!!!), and were a monkey for trick-or-treating. We went around to a few houses with the neighbor girl, Ashton.

Farming & Fishing!

When it's harvest time, Grandpa's don't have a lot of time to visit Des Moines.....so we decided to visit Stanton! The three of us took a weekday trip to Stanton and got to visit the guys in the field and ride in the combine with Papa Knute! Tyler thought it was pretty cool, especially all the buttons he could push. Then we talked to the guys from the senior center that came out to the fields for the morning. That afternoon Andrew and John helped my dad get fish from the DNR to stack the pond. Throw in a few visits with Grandma's and Great Grandma's, and it was a busy 24 hours...but worth it all!

I may get in trouble for this one, but I couldn't help it! :) Andrew said to blame him!

Pumpkins & Picnics

In early October we met up with the Perkins and Grandma & Grandpa Newman to celebrate Mason's birthday at a park and Pumpkin patch. The boys had a lot of fun throwing the football and chasing squirrls. The rest of us enjoyed just relaxing! Then we picked pumpkins and did a corn maze. It was great weather for a fun day!