Ho-Ho-Ho...Where did it go?

The Christmas season came and went too quickly! We kicked off the season with going to the Rockettes with Marcy, Wayne, Tiff and Rich. It was a fantastic show. Marcy would have joined in their high kicks if only they would have invited her!
On Christmas Eve, Marcy and Wayne joined us at the Park City Resort to welcome Santa down the mountain. Louie loved the excitement of the skiers with flares and Santa! We were sure to say hello to Santa. He handed Louie a Christmas candy cane. As a bonus, Louie met the skiing Frosty the Snowman and Mrs. Frosty.
It was freezing cold so we went home quickly for hot chocolate and prepared Santa's plate full of cookies. However, Louie thought it was important to test the cookies to make sure they were "good enough" for Santa. Matter of fact, he wanted all of us to test the cookies.
Even though Santa only got milk this year, he did bring Louie a few things from his wish list--legos, cars and trains. Thank you Santa!

On the Road Again...

Truly this is not intentional, but we seem to be on a plane for all of Louie's birthdays. Last year, we were in Aruba. This year, we flew to Houston for Cody's Aramco orientation. Dad and Becky met us there for the weekend. We celebrated Louie's birthday with cupcakes in the hotel room. He was delighted to learn how to blow out a candle. I must have re-lit it 17 times...until he got a little too close. Afterwards, we celebrated at the Houston Aquarium. He loved the octopus, parrot and feeling the slimy sting rays. Outside of the aquarium were carnival rides and games. Louie LOVED riding the carousel - again, again and again. Also, we rode the "choo-choo' through the shark tunnel. So fun to see Grandpa Hunter and Aunt Becky. Thanks for joining us in Houston! Louie was on the plane home to Utah for his second birthday. Happy Birthday Love-Bug!

Louie's First Cruise

One day we got an email advertising a sale on cruises and next thing you know we are packing our bags for a 7 day Carribean cruise! It's the perfect vacation for a 2 year old. We were able to get hot dogs at anytime, swim in the pool, play with the huge chess pieces on the Lido deck and go to formal fancy dinners with linen napkins. If there was ever a time he got fussy, one of us would take him back while the other could continue laying out at the pool. Louie learned quickly where the self-serve ice cream was located and visited there often!
He met some darling little girls in the markets of Ocho Rios, Jamaica. A special little musical instrument was made for him out of a coconut. He plinks on it like a guitar. We lounged on the beach in Grand Caymen and found MORE ice cream at the Hagen Das store; that kid has an eagle eye for ice cream. Overall, it was a great time to relax and spend time together as a family. We loved it! And as fate would have it, Louie was on an airplane for his second birthday as well! I like this trend.

Shhh! Louie has a shoe fetish

Now, Cody would die if he knew... but Louie has a shoe fetish. He loves shoes - his shoes, my shoes or daddy's shoes. Maybe it's his age. However, he wants to pick out his own shoes, wear his shoes to bed and wear my shoes. Now, he's in love with these new snow boots. One night I was trying them on him to make sure I got the right size. They were not about to come off without a robust rebuttal! He had to wear them in his house, driving his car and running around the house. He was delighted at the new addition to his collection. And yes, he did wear them to bed...for a week!

An Ode to Sesame Street...

One day his first full sentence will be about Elmo and Abby Ca-Dabby. He loves eveything about Sesame Street. He giggles and giggles when Super Grover crashes into the lamp post. He sings with the opening song..."Come and play...". As soon as Abby shows up on the screen, his face lights up! I think he is in love.
This is HIS alone time with Sesame Street. He does not like to be bothered - not even for a kiss and a hug. He is totally territorial about it. Muphy will walk in front of the TV just to get his attention. But Louie won't have it! He will scream at Murphy until he moves. I swear that dog does this to push his buttons. Louie truly savors his time with his woobie, his morning eggs and Sesame Street.
Sesame Street has come a long way since I watched it as a kid. I am impressed with all of the academics--especially the science concepts and vocabulary building. Who knew there are celeb spots now? Today was Jason Bateman talking about the word, "comfort." Elmo had to comfort Jason because he was upset that nobody needed comforting.

Happy Birthday Juju and Sal!

Sal and I share our birthdays in the same month. Her birthday is September 6th and mine is September 7th. Usually we are at the beach in North Carolina blowing out candles together. This year, we changed locations. Sal has never been to Jackson Hole, Wyoming -- and we needed to change that fact. Sal and JJ joined the Johnson family for a road trip. It was probably a little different with a 20 month old baby. On our travels, we heard a lot of singing, "Five Little Monkeys, " Itsy Bitsy Spider and some Elmo videos. Louie was unfortunately a little out of sorts with some tummy trouble (as Aunt Amber would call it). However, we all made the best of it and seemed to cover quite a bit of ground in two days. We shopped the town square, ate at non-chain restaurants (Billy's Burgers, The Bunnery and this one off the road in the middle of nowhere yummy place), visited galleries, perused the Saturday market in the town square, took tons of pictures and marveled at the Grand Tetons. Sal and I didn't blow out any candles this year but made up for it by having Hagen Das ice cream twice in two days!

Hunters stay for a little vacation

After Jordan went into the MTC, Mom, Dad and Becky stayed a little while longer. It was great! We enjoyed relaxing without a schedule. Louie showed Aunt Becky where to find the dandilion puffs in the mountains of Park City. Aunt Becky showed Louie how to blow bubbles in the water. Grandpa Lou showed Louie how to shove pistacio shells through the cracks of the deck. Louie showed Grandpa how to walk with his cane!
We took the Park City Mountain Resort Gondola up the mountain to have dinner prior to Mom and Dad getting on the plane. Louie was amazed by the ride up the mountain...Why does vacation time go so quickly?

"Hollywood" Before and After

My nephew, Jordan, is entering the MTC this week. He received his call to the Australia, Adelaide Mission. When he came to Utah, I didn't recognize him without his whispy hair and hip Hollywood sunglasses. Hence the nickname, "Hollywood." Despite his feeble attempt to scoff at his new nickname, you know he loves it. The pictures above are his before (last summer) and after (this summer) pictures in preparing for his mission.
In spending time with Jordan this week, it has been impressive to see my jokster young nephew morph into a humbled and prepared missionary ready to get on his mission. He is still the same crazy Jordan--joking around, doing wild antics on his snowboard and quoting movies. However, he seems more at ease to talk about his serious reasons for going on a mission and knowing that Australia was chosen for him by the Lord. I've known Jordan all his life. He has that personality trait of connecting with people from all walks of life...combine that with his testimony of Christ and he will do a great work for the Lord.
Jordan with Louie - an hour before putting on his suit to go to the MTC. He and Louie are enjoying some graham crackers together.

Bear Lake 2010

Bear Lake was HOT this summer! Our favorite relief was anything with water - whether it be boating on the water, water in a bucket or watermelon. In the first picture, Louie loved helping Grandpa drive his boat and toot-toot the horn. Occasionally he would look up and give Grandpa this gratuitous, hearty, loud laugh. It was hilarious.

Mudpuddle Mayhem

Mud! He must had motored around in that puddle for over half an hour. I tried to take the woobie away but -- not going to happen! Woobie got it's moment in the mud too.

3 Steps Today!

We celebrated Mother's Day at Aunt Tiffany's house. Uncle Rich grilled some amazing steaks --driving the dogs crazy! For my Mother's Day, Louie took three steps by himself! Our safety kid walked from the couch to the coffee table (taking three steps) over and over due to the repeated applause from his parents, grandparents, cousins, aunt and uncle. I should have video taped the "audience" clapping and cheering for future motivation. He was on a roll today...started drinking from a cup with Grandma Martsey and loved it. Of course, most of it ended up on his shirt. But I think that was the draw.

Baby Animal Birthday Party at Thanksgiving Point

We took Louie to Thanksgiving Point to see all the new baby animals. He can make the cow noise and the dog noise (no surprise, we hear it often enough!). Well today! He showed us that he has more than two tricks up his sleeve. He was smitten with the baby goats! They would hop around each other and "maaa-maaa" to maneuver to get at the feed being offered them. Louie studied them for a few minutes and then blasted with his own response, "MAAAAAAAAAAAA!" He found himself quite humorous.

Louie on a Snowy Day

He LOVES the snow--sledding, kiddie tubing, and going on a snow hike. Recently, I used his sand toys he got for Easter to scoop up snow and bring it inside to play. He stirs and stirs the snow around in his sand bucket. Cody asks him, "Skippy, are you baking a cake?"

Teething - what a pain!

Louie was teething all four molars on this day. Nothing in the world was right for Louie until he discovered the paper towels. I placed him on the floor and told him to "have at it!" He must have played there for an hour...and then Murphy wanted in on the fun!

Learning at Lightning Speed!

Waving bye-bye? No problem. High-five? Easy. Eating by himself? Doing that for months. The learning is happening so fast! One day, he learned how to make the cow noise, "!" Another day, he learned how to "give kisses." Another day, he is walking with his shopping cart without our assistance. I can't keep up with it all happening so quickly. He says "uh-oh", "doggie", "mama", "mum" or "mom" (usually it's "Maaaa!"), "cheese", "apple" and the beloved "NO." He's got that one down really well. Despite Cody's coaching of "daddy", Louie has said it but is very judicious with its use.

"Hey Louie!"

I came up behind him and found him flipping through his books. As a literacy specialist, I couldn't have been more proud! Once he realized I was there, he started to show off... gave me his famous "gap-tooth" grin. Then he grabbed his woobie (ratty-tatty baby blanket) and "gave it a love." What will we do when the woobie is no longer around?