Christmas 2013

We hope you had a wonderful Christmas, celebrating with the ones you love most. Christmas was extra special for us this year. Our tiny babbling man has changed our entire world, and Christmas Day is no exception. We’ve spent the last few years as a married couple testing the tradition waters. What traditions will we carry forward from each of our families? What traditions will be our own? Every Christmas we’ve had together has been different, and special in its own way. This year, we were finally able to share our favorite traditions with Jackson, and I know as the years roll on, he will hold these little traditions close to his heart.

The most wonderful time of the year just became so much more magical. Reliving childhood memories and creating new ones with your own child creates a level of happiness that just can’t be measured.

 

 

 

 

 

Brewing beer is a family thing.

 

 

 Baking cookies on Christmas Eve.

 

 

 

 

 

Christmas Eve Mass.

 

 

Reading The Night Before Christmas.

 

Putting together gifts!

 

It's safe to say, Santa made a stop at our place.

 

 

Christmas Day cuddles.

 

 

 

Christmas evening dinner.

 

 

 

 From our family to yours, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

 

The OBF

Melissa used this term recently. The Original Best Friend. It’s true, we go way, way back. It all started in Mrs. Scott’s English class in 6th grade. We were sat next to each other, and it was meant to be. The rest is history.

Together we’ve seen friends and boyfriends come and go. We’ve been roommates and partners in crime on more than one occasion.

Melissa is currently on an adventure of her own, living in Germany and travelling Europe with her main squeeze, Dan. On her way back to Colorado to spend Christmas with friends and family, she popped through Dayton to see Tyler, myself, and (mostly) Jackson.

Follow her adventure here.

Check out what she had to say about Dayton here.

Home For (A) Holiday

We spent Thanksgiving in Colorado again this year. I think I can safely say, a fun time was had by all. Jackson got more lovin than he knew what to do with, and Tyler and I got a bit of a break.

I think my favorite way to document all the awesomeness that happens on our Colorado trips, is to post absurd amounts of pictures.

Sorry if you’re not into that – it’s the best way I can think to cover all the family, friends, and fun things we did that all deserve their own posts! (And we all know, I am struggling to get the bare minimum done… seeing as Thanksgiving was now 4 weeks ago.)

 

My parents hosted a baby gender reveal party for our incredibly close family friends, Dani and Evan.

 

It's a.... BOY!!!

 



So much family, so much love, so little time!

 

Until next time....

Cutting Down A Christmas Tree

This is becoming a tradition, and one I quite like. Growing up, my mom, dad, sister and I ventured deep into the Colorado mountains exactly one time to cut down our very own Christmas tree.

It went something like the scene from Christmas vacation. We were freezing and there was more than enough complaining to go around. My poor dad. And so, that adventure was the one and only quite like it. Since then, the Stowe family has had a fake tree, and it’s worked quite well.

Tyler’s family, on the other hand, always had a real tree. Every year they go to the local tree lot and find their perfect tree. And so, Tyler became what I affectionately refer to as a “tree snob”.

I pick my battles, and this was not one I was willing to fight. We have become a real-tree family.  Happily, here in Ohio, we have found a happy medium between deep-country, snow shoe-required tree cutting, and fake tree. The almighty tree farm!

Young’s Jersey Dairy is our go-to for pumpkins, trees, and all things farm. This year we bundled up our little munchkin, and headed out with the sleds to find the perfect tree. We couldn’t tell what was what, because the trees were covered in snow. We had no idea what we were looking at (but it sure made for a beautiful day)! The tree turned out to be just perfect for the little corner in our family room where it stands.

 

 

Home

The Stubbs Shack is preparing to pick up and move, again.

Such is military life. Tyler’s Master’s program was 18 months, and come March, he’ll be graduating! We knew from the beginning there would be a chance that after these quick 18 months, we’d be on our way to a new home, a new adventure. Recently, we found out that will be just the case.

Our little family is headed to upstate New York. Our assignment is to a tiny town called Rome, NY. It’s about an hour to the east of Syracuse, and an hour and a half to the west of Albany. For the record: this was a total surprise. We did not put this on our “wish list”, but when the government pays for your (very specialized) education, you go wherever they want you, and they want Tyler at Rome Research Labs. He’ll likely be a project manager, but we don’t know much more.

Are we happy with this? At first we were just surprised, and didn’t really know how to feel. We’re looking at the bright side, and taking this adventure head-on. Preparing for a slower pace of life, small town living, and a few visits to the city.

So, just like that, come March, we’ll be packing up our cars with a one-year old and a dog, and making the 8 hour drive east. We’ll bloom where we are planted, even if that means in 4 feet of snow.

Home is where the Air Force sends you, right? 

XOXO

9 Months

Wow. 9 months.

You are BUSY. You go, go, go. You crawl like a champ- you are into everything! You pull yourself up on anything you can get a grip on. You’ve had your first rough falls, the first and most notable being the night before we left for Colorado for Thanksgiving. You fell right into the side of the coffee table and hit your cheek pretty good. The result was a scrape and a bruise under your eye. You cried, my heart broke, and then we both got over it pretty quick. We had some explaining to do to the grandparents, though! We said, “you should see the other guy!”

Boys will be boys, right? I better get used to this whole scrapes and bruises thing.

Your personality is developing more every single day. It’s fun to point out things that are more like me, and things that are more like your daddy. Example; you babble all day long, happily going about your business and telling stories along the way. That is SO your dad. On the other hand, we have noticed that it takes you a little while to warm up to people you don’t know well or haven’t seen in awhile. That’s SO me.

You are more and more fun every day. You love being read to, watching and touching the pictures on the page as they turn. You love digging toys out of your toy basket, just for the sake of moving things. You would much prefer to play with anything besides your toys. Tupperware, remotes, cords, iphones, dog toys, etc. We pretty much follow you around, redirecting your attention, all day J

You still have just your bottom two teeth, and are working in the top two. As a result you drool all.the.time. We can’t keep your shirts dry, as hard as we try! I love that I can say that all you want for Christmas is your two front teeth… as cliché as it is, I think it’s hilarious.

Having a baby brings so much magic and joy to the holiday season. We are enjoying introducing you to family traditions and creating new ones together.

You fill our hearts with so much joy, Jackson.