Christmas 2011

Merry Christmas, one & all! 

We spent our first ever Christmas at our own home in Carson City.  Family was missed, for sure, but we were very blessed to spend Christmas with good friends.  On Christmas Eve, church was so packed full of people that they locked one of the doors to turn people away.  So we spend mass standing in the back foray, which was better for Jax.  Following mass we had a relatively full house for dinner with the Hogans (Kelly, Ashley, & Everett), the Lobsingers (Mark, Sarah, & Logan) and Lester.  The table was full of great food and laughter.  The kids played and opened gifts and it was a really nice time.  Before long it was time for Christmas jammies and bed. 

Christmas morning, I got up to make the traditional sticky buns and Justin made breakfast.  It certainly didn't take long for Jax to get in the swing of ripping the wrapping paper and we were in full gift-opening mode.  This lasted until Jax couldn't go any longer and we all went down for naps still in our Christmas jammies.  By the time we woke up, we were late to a dinner date.  We rushed out to door to spend a wonderful evening with the Niswongers (Rich, Sarah, Emily, & Johnny), of which I have no pictures....my bad. 

The day after Christmas was spent soaking up a little sun (since it was 55 degrees!), organizing, cleaning & making room to store all our new goodies.  Thank you everyone that sent packages, cards and greetings.  We really appreciate all the love this Christmas that was spent away from family. 

And now we work a few days and get ready to travel down to Houston, TX to spend New Years with my brother, his family and my parents. 

Monkey

I know most children have some kind of blanket or stuffed animal that is their most favorite.  Personally, I had a blanket, called my "snuffle".  Justin had a stuffed bunny rabbit, called "bun bun".  Jax has his monkey.  (We'll have to wait and see what he decides to call it!)  This monkey is a blend between a blanket and stuffed animal having the head and arms of a monkey and the body of a blanket.  At bedtime he grabs his monkey and squeezes him tight to his chest and nuzzles his face on him.  More often than not, he'll be sleeping like this with his monkey tucked safely under his arm.  I've purchased a few other monkeys to make sure we're never without...and although he likes the monkeys with arms the best....when in need, any monkey will do.  So far.

Let's go Steelers!

Jax and I were sporting our Steelers pride on Monday for the game, which didn't seem to help Big Ben out very much.  Even though they are not airing the Steelers game here on Saturday (I could order it for $45, but I don't think so), we hope they play better than they did on Monday!

Huntington Grad Weekend

It was great having Justin's parents and grandfather in town over graduation weekend.  Jax got to show off his walking progress and spend time with his grandparents.  We also had a Thai graduation dinner where Justin's niece, Kelcie & boyfriend, Jason, came in for. 

A good time was had by all!

Dr. Daddy Graduation

It's official.  Justin finished his pursuit of higher education and got his PhD.  I believe he said that he was enrolled in some school every semester for the last 33 or 34 years....all the way back to preschool!  Right after we got back from our trip to San Francisco we rolled into graduation weekend.  Justin's parents and grandfather, Papa Jack, flew up for the big event.  It was a really happy and proud day to be a part of the Huntington Family.

It was fitting that this letter came in the mail on graduation day too....

San Francisco 2011

Again this year we took a roadtrip to San Francisco to attend the huge American Physical Union (AGU) annual conference.  It's a long trip for Jax, but he did amazingly well for being out of his element and off his daily schedule. 

As far as the conference itself goes...we were able to do/see much less of it this year b/c Jax just would not tolerate it, so this turned out to be more of a vacation for us than a business trip.  I did present a poster on defining freshwater and saline groundwater flowsystems in Dixie Valley, NV and that went quite well. 

While not at the conference we took a cable car ride to Fisherman's Wharf, visited the Hyde Street Pier National Park, saw Santa and a holiday show under the dome at the big mall, took a bus to Haight Street to do some shopping and then walked through parts of Golden Gate Park including the children's park and the Japanese tea garden, visited Ocean Beach, ate many meals all over downtown, and explored every square inch of our hotel room. 

Jax's Growth Chair @ 14 months

Huntington boys

I forgot to post this with the Valley of Fire pictures, but it really does deserve it's own post.  Too cute!

Valley of Fire

I'm finally getting to my last post from our Las Vegas Thanksgiving trip.  Justin rented a Harley while down there so he could go riding with his Dad.  The day after Thanksgiving Jax stayed with Mammie Sharon for a few hours and I got to go on a ride too--to a place I'd never been.  We headed east within Las Vegas Valley and skirted the western shore of Lake Mead for a while.  Then we entered the Valley of Fire.  Prior to visiting this park, I didn't know why they named it as it is....if you didn't know either, after looking at these pictures you will.

Leah

In loving memory of Leah--Justin's beautiful cousin, who passed away just recently.

I didn't know Leah, really at all, we only met a few times.  But we were the same age and both young mothers. I would have loved to become friends.

Intro to Santa 101

Jax's first experience with Santa....he wasn't so thrilled.

Rolling

Jax gets his first taste of real "riding"...