I spent Palm Sunday in Wichita this year. Dada made some nice crosses out of the palms, and I stayed busy making silly faces during the procession at church. Papa held me during the reading of the gospel. Of course, I didn't participate when all the other kids shouted, "Hosanna!"
Every year, on Lazarus Saturday, Bishop Basil has a little party for the church kids at his house. This year was the first time I went. It was a perfect day outside, and I enjoyed all the festivities! Gum & Auntie helped me do the egg hunt, I got to see some little farm animals, jump in a bounce house, decorate cookies and be put inside of a giant bubble! I had a great time!
In February, we had a good amount of snow dropped on us. It was so bitterly cold and windy, we had to wait until it warmed up just to be able to go play in the backyard! So once we finally got out there, some of the snow had melted, but there was still enough for me to help Mama make my first snowman! I loved him. I sat next to him, just looking at him and kissing his head. I also liked digging my mittens into the deep snow, until it started to make my hands ache!
I've been to San Francisco so many times, it's starting to feel like my second home! Back in January, we went out to see Nana and the rest of the family, and to just have a good time. Like always, we had great visits with family and friends and ate lots of yummy food!
As usual, we had a few meals at our family's favorite SF restaurant, the Cliff House. On our way to Nana's, we stopped in the Presidio for some awesome pictures of the Golden Gate Bridge. Sometimes I like to call it the Redden Gate Bridge. I say, "It's red, not gold!"
Nana has such a cool view. We love to hang out on the deck, watching golfers, eating a meal, or having a cocktail or glass of milk. Inside Nana's house is just as fun, though. I had a great time learning to play cards with my cousins Brian & Tyler.
One day during our trip, Mama, Dada and I took the ferry from Larkspur Landing in Marin to San Francisco. It's usually a really pretty ride, but it was so foggy on the water, we couldn't see ten feet in front of the boat! The captain kept honking a very loud foghorn to let other boats know we were there. It was a little spooky! Once we got to the ferry building, we had just enough time to grab a yummy lunch, some gelato, and peek our heads into a few of the gourmet food shops.
While Dada was busy tasting wine at Jacuzzi Vineyards in Sonoma, I lined up a bunch of their orange wine bottle stoppers on a bench. I thought they looked like cones you might see in a construction zone on the road! The nice people at Jacuzzi thought it was so cute, they let me load up a bag of "cones" and take them home for free!
Ho Ho Ho! Merry Christmas! What an awesome Christmas I had! Santa brought me the one thing I wanted more than anything... Alphie the Robot! He also brought me lots of other great treats. Mama, Dada and I had a really nice morning at home. We peeked in our stockings, had a nice breakfast and opened our gifts.
It's always hard when the last gift has been opened, because it feels like Christmas is over! But, it wasn't over yet. We packed up the car and left all of my new toys behind (that was pretty tough!) and headed up to Wichita to Oma & Papa's house.
Oma & Auntie put together a very special treat for me... Bob & Ace's! Once when Auntie was taking a video of me riding my Kawasaki, I said I was going to Bob & Ace's to get apples. It was one of my favorite imaginary things to do, so they decided to make a real Bob & Ace's store for me! I helped Auntie decorate it with apples later.
I was more than happy to have another set of gifts to open. I got some good stuff! Uncle Seany got me a machine gun that kept me busy all night, until Papa broke it! We had a great time. I was having too much fun to take a serious Christmas picture with Mama & Dada, so they decided to be crazy and silly like me! Merry Christmas! I can't wait until next year!
We started out our fun Christmas Eve by making cookies for Santa! I'm so glad I'm old enough to help! I helped Mama make the dough, then rolled each ball of dough in the sugar to make crinkle cookies. Mmmm... they were delicious! I was a great helper!
We set some cookies by the fireplace for Santa and headed over to see my cousins. I love spending time with my family... especially when they have presents for me!
...CHRISTMAS!!! 
I was very excited and finally really understanding what all the hype is about! I had a great time decorating with Mama and Dada. I love Christmas! 
I'm a stinker because I still won't eat a delicious Thanksgiving dinner!! The only food I ate: cranberry sauce. I don't know if I'd call that progress. Anyway, the important thing about my Thanksgiving is that I spent it playing with my cousins! We had a blast! And... also practiced potty training! Woohoo! Hooray for being a big boy!
I am such a lucky boy! I had lots of fun birthday celebrations this year. Mama let me choose what kind of cupcakes I wanted, so she made white cupcakes with "sparklies" to share with my friends at school. On the morning of my birthday, I opened gifts from Mama & Dada and played with my nice new cars all day! I chose Sean Cummings Irish Pub for dinner with the family, and the next night Dada made homemade fish sticks (my request). The family all came over for dinner and cake. I wanted another OU cake, of course, so Mama made it look like Owen field, complete with football candles. I asked why there weren't any players on the field! I got lots of puzzles and fun games for my birthday. More than a little boy could ever wish for! Being 3 is great so far. Sometimes Mama asks me, "How did you get so big!?" and I say, "because I got 3!" I love to show people "how many" I am with my fingers. I had an awesome birthday, and I'm sure I'll have a great year!
I'm a happy, healthy 3-year-old boy!! Let me update you a little bit and tell you what I'm like... First of all, I'm very sweet. I'm almost always friendly and kind. I love to snuggle with my parents and with my bear. I'm a goofball! I'm just like my dada. I like to speak jibberish sometimes, just to be silly! I love playing with cars and doing puzzles. I am crazy about sports, especially football. If you ask me what I want to be when I grow up, I'll tell you "the number 5 OU kicker!" I'm a little obsessed with OU and would wear OU clothing at all times, if I was allowed. I love to run around with a football yelling, "Touchdown Sooners! Go OU!" Sometimes I imitate Coach Stoops by taking off my OU hat and throwing it on the ground. I say lots of funny things. Sometimes Mama worries my mouth will get me into trouble... like the time there was a big biker dude with a ponytail standing in front of us, and I said, "Mama, is that a girl, or a really big boy?" I'm inquisitive and curious. I'm smart, and I learn quickly. I'm shy and quiet around some people, but loud and obnoxious at times, too! I'm the pickiest eater on the planet, but unlike any other kid, I love eating Fiber One for "brefkist". If you ask me why I did something, I'll tell you, "because I did!" I hate when Mama wears her hair down. I won't look at her, talk to her or let her hold me. As soon as she puts her hair in a ponytail, I say, "I love your hair like that, Mama!" and shower her with kisses! I love to sing and am pretty good at it. I'm extremely stubborn and cannot be bribed. I love my family more than anything. Spending time with all my family is my favorite thing to do!
I'm getting to be old enough now to do some fun holiday projects. Mama and I made skeleton cookies to help get us excited for Halloween! I helped by dumping ingredients into the bowl and mixing them together. I really enjoy watching Mama & Dada in the kitchen. I'm glad I can finally participate!
The cookies looked great before they went into the oven, but they spread a lot and lost their shape. Only a few still looked like skeleton faces, but at least they tasted yummy!
Here I am at the pumpkin patch in October! There were huge pumpkins (like the one I'm sitting on) and baby pumpkins, lumpy ones and smooth ones... all kinds of pumpkins! I enjoyed checking them out and was ready to take them all home!
We fed the farm animals and almost got lost in the corn maze! We would have spent the night there if Dada hadn't been there! He's great with directions. The pumpkin patch didn't have many pumpkins out in the field, but we found a few small ones to bring home.
Now I'm ready for Halloween!!
I went on a very fun trip with my parents back in September. We spent a weekend in Cleveland for our friends Khalil & Mariah's wedding. We got to see the Blue Angels in an airshow there, too! From Cleveland, we drove to Washington DC via Pittsburgh. We saw lots of old church friends in Cleveland, stopped by to say hello to our Navy friends in Pittsburgh, and spent time with Navy AND church friends in the DC area! Auntie Ney, Mama's BFF, took us on a really cool capitol tour. Since she works for a US senator, we got a very special tour, including a ride on a private underground trolley between capitol buildings! We even got special access to this amazing balcony where many of our presidents have been inaugurated! Unfortunately, the traffic in DC was horrendous, and that was the extent of our sightseeing. But, we'd rather spend time with our friends, anyway!
We were lucky to be able to stay with our friends from Sicily - the Whippens and the Jacobs. Dawson and I had a bit of a rocky time getting along, but I had a lot of fun with Henry, and I was very gentle and sweet with baby Gracie. I hope we can continue to visit all our friends every now and then. We had a great time!
Back in August, we had a little neighborhood party at the clubhouse, and some nice firefighters and policemen came to let the kids check out their vehicles. It was really cool to sit in the firetruck and police car. My cousins even put on full firefighter gear. They said it was really heavy!
One of the firefighters let us try out the hose. The water comes out with such force that it is actually hot! While I was checking out the cop car, the policeman noticed that I was leaning over toward the passenger seat. He wanted to make sure I wasn't touching something I wasn't supposed to (like his computer). I was actually drinking from his McDonald's cup in the console. The look on my face was priceless when Mama and Dada yelled at me and embarrassed me!
