Merry Christmas!

Christmas has come and gone and so has the move. Yay! Six of Jesse's (very generous) friends and co-workers came to help on the 23rd. They had five trucks and Jesse's flatbed trailer and they unloaded our storage unit in one trip! since then we have made several trips to Mom and Dad's to pick up our odds and ends over there and I'm excited to say we are ALMOST done. Just a few more trips and they should be rid of our stuff (junk, stuff, what's the difference).
We managed to unpack the kitchen and get a lot of things in order by the afternoon of the 24th, so by that evening we were in Christmas mode, relaxing and having much needed family time to prepare for Santa's big visit. I even put up a little tree and our stockings for Chase.

Chase dictated a letter for the big guy and even added a drawing himself to be sure Santa would know who the cookies were from.

Bailey has enjoyed being inside a lot. At Mom and Dad's house she spent all her time outside with their dog. We are now adjusting to her being inside more, which requires letting her outside frequently. Since we don't have grass yet, keeping her from tracking dirt in the house has been a challenge. Jesse thought trying baby socks would help so here she is.  (Sorry about the glowing eyes.)
It worked well until she ran around and the socks came off, which I'm sure was part of her plan. We hear they make dog shoes...maybe that's something to look into. I'll be sure to post a picture of THAT!

Chase is enjoying his new room and was especially excited about his new bed. This bed came from my Grandparent's house and has been used by several generations, but still in excellent condition.  Here he is all smiles.  :)

Mr. Freckles made one final appearance on Christmas day before heading back to the North Pole.  This rooster has a story...it's not just a strange-looking figurine in my house.  We actually call him the "orange chicken" for some reason, but that's beside the point.  He's been in the family for about 20 or so years and every year, an un-suspecting family member receives him for a gift and must hang on to him until the next Christmas.  This year, he was disguised as a "housewarming" gift from my Aunt Sarah.  I should have known, since she received him in the White Elephant gift exchange last year. Thanks Aunt Sarah!  He even has the $20 bill folded into a bow-tie from last year.  Let's see how long the $20 sticks around.    Here he is on our mantle for a short while....until next year's victim.....

We have come a long way in four days but still have a lot to do. At least we have satellite service and internet should be up by Thursday.
Hope you all had a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

We Have Keys!!

The house was finished Tuesday we've been gearing up to move. Happy moving to us and Merry Christmas to you all!

Welcome Charlotte!

My cousin and her husband, Emily and Dan, had their beautiful daughter late Thursday evening.  Charlotte Rose came into this world much to Emily's releif at 10:06 PM weighing 7 lbs 15 oz and is 20-1/2 inches long.  Emily and Charlotte are both doing perfectly.  We couldn't be more excited for them!!  Meet beautiful Charlotte:

On another note the  Hunter houseold is PATIENTLY waiting for our house to be completed.  All inspections have been completed and we had our final walkthrough yesterday.  The punch list should be finished by middle to end of next week.  So it sounds like we'll be moving next weekend as planned.  This weekend will consist of packing up our stuff we have at Mom and Dad's house and getting ready to start moving!  As excited as we are about the move, we are also dreading it as everyone knows...moving is NOT fun. 

Chase has been busy hunting Mr. Freckles these days and discovering all the mischeif he gets into.  Here he is this week after playing with Chase's Army men all night.  When Chase found him, he said in a very concerned voice: "Mr. Freckles made a mess, he is in trouble."  Haha.  Maybe Mr. Freckles can be a permanent resident at our house.

Christmas Magic

Last night, Chase helped my Mom and sister make a Gingerbread house.  Here he is, so proud of it. 

When we woke up this morning, we found our Elf on a Shelf (Mr. Freckles) trying to sneak a bite of a gumdrop!  I'm sure he was starving after his long trip to the North Pole to visit Santa last night.  For those of you who do not have one of these Christmas elves, they come to visit during the holiday season and report back to Santa each night, telling him if the child(ren) he's assigned to were naughty or nice that day.  When he comes home, sometimes we find him in different places.  If you have small children around, I definitely recommend asking the Big Guy to send one to visit you if you don't have one.  :)

I wonder where he will appear next?