Happy New Year

It's hard to believe that another year has passed, and what a year it has been. Leo was born almost a year ago, and he has grown so much! He is the joy of our lives. Jack finished up his year of school in Alabama, and we moved to the DC/Northern Virginia area. We spent several months on home improvement projects on our new house, and have been making new friends and exploring all there is to see in Washington DC. We are sure that 2011 will be another great year, and we look forward to all the adventures ahead...

We flew to California last week and spent Christmas with Mandi's family. We had a huge French dinner on Christmas Eve, with about 35 members of the family. And of course, the evening finished off with a fun white elephant game and several viewings of "A Christmas Story." (our very favorite movie--it's hilarious!) All the little girl cousins loved toting Leo around like their little mascot. We think he really liked having so many playmates.

My sister Jen and her family were there all week, also. Leo had a great time playing with his cousin Bridger, who is just 2 months older than Leo. But no matter how many toys were around, they always wanted to play with the same toy, at the same time.

Leo is getting better and better at walking. He walks behind his little airplane like a real pro. His balance has really improved, and so has his confidence. I'm sure that he will be walking on his own any day now... yikes.

We made a visit to Mandi's grandma Lucy, her dad's mom.
And here is the picture, of 4 generations!

Our last night in California we stayed in LA, so we could make it to our early flight the next day. We drove over to the beach, and made it just in time to see the sunset, and for Leo to play in the sand for a bit. He loved crawling around and getting really sandy. That kid sure loves the beach!

After that we walked around on the Santa Monica pier, and took Leo on the Ferris wheel. Even though it was already dark, the views from up there were pretty amazing. All the lights of LA on one side, and the foamy white waves of the ocean on the other side. Leo loved the flashing lights of the rides, and having all those people to look at. (People watching is one of his very favorite activities.)

The next day we flew home. Luckily, there were no weather issues so we made it home without any delays. Leo is such a good traveler. He did great on the plane, and even took a nice long nap, curled up on the seat with his favorite giraffe blanket. What a cutie!