First Christmas!

We started the season with our traditional Christmas tree hunt. We packed up Ethan, Cody, and Murphy and ventured into the mountains to select and cut down our Christmas tree. This year I FINALLY was able to talk Heath into picking a tree near the car. Usually, we hike four or five miles before finding the perfect tree. Again, we were unsuccessful in persuading the dogs to pull the tree back to the car. We'll try again next year. It was a bit cold that day, but we bundled Ethan up and he seemed content to enjoy the outdoors. It was his first contact with the forest he kept craning his next to take it all in. We enjoyed our own family Christmas at home before packing up the car and heading back to Wisconsin. The Hendricks clan (yes, now we are a clan!) ended 2006 in balmy Wisconsin. It took two full days of driving to get there and we must have passed over 100 cars, trucks, and even semis in the ditch. We arrived safely on 12/23 and went straight over to Heath's granparents house. There, Ethan met more of his extended family. Although it was way past his bed time, he handled all of the noise and attention like a true rock star. Lola and Lolo (Grandma and Grandpa in Filipino) and Grandma H. and Grandpa H. couldn't get enough of little Ethan. We brought him by Lolo's office and Grandma's family's restaurant to show him off. Even though we knew he is a sweet tempered baby, he really showed his good manners. Ethan just stared at everyone with wide eyes and broke into happy smiles. His cousins Cassie and Alex (Heath's sister's kids) and Eva, Sabrina, and Jack (Marcelle's sister's kids) loved meeting their new cousin. They often fought over who got to feed, change, or hold him. Eva and Sabrina treated him like a living doll, while three-year-old Jack didn't show too much interest yet since Ethan is too young to play. Christmas was a happy affair. We celebrated on Christmas Eve at Marcelle's folks with our traditional Christmas chinese stir fry and lobster dinner. Again, on Christmas Day with the extended Hendricks troop and then a few days later at Heath's parents. Ethan loaded up on the clothes and toys, while Mom and Dad tried to figure out how to keep this kid from becoming spoiled. Oh well. I was able to catch up with some old friends -- Sarah and daughter Noah as well as Sherry and son Brett, which meant a lot. Holidays are about spending time with loved ones afterall. We were also able to take advantage of local babysitters (aka grandparents!) and took a couple of much needed dinners out. The highlight of our trip took place on our last night in WI. We visited Chet(Marcelle's brother) and Jenny in Milwaukee and got to see their beautifully styled new house and visit some of the restaurants and clubs that Chet's firm designs. It was wonderful to see Chet and Jenny in their natural habitat. For pics of Chet's design's check out: http://www.thinkflux.com/ The next day we packed up and began the trek home. The weather was great during the entire drive. We felt some trepidation because of newscasts about Denver receiving more snow in our absence. When we finally pulled into our neighborhood and saw all of the fresh snow, we wondered if we would have to immediately shovel out the driveway. I thought, "How are we going to unpack the car for chrissake?" However, we saw that our charitable neighbors came to our rescue and had already shoveled for us. They knew that we were coming home and thought to help us out. Thanks Nancy, Craig, Emily, and Sara! That's it for now. More news will follow so stay tuned.