Artsy Fartsy

We took Joshua and went with some friends to a local arts center for their Christmas display in the beginning of December. They had cookies there, music playing and lots of Christmas decorations on display. Joshua had a pretty good time for a little boy who wasn't allowed to touch anything.

Here is a shot of Joshua waiting to get a cookie.

This was the result when I told him to "say fuzzy pickles"

He looked like such a big boy that day!

Family picture in front of one of the trees.

Joshua checking out the decorations...each room had a different them.

One last shot....

Hofele Family Thanksgiving

We had a Thanksgiving get-together at Grandpa Joe and Grandma Laurie's house. Joshua is FINALLY warming up to Grandpa and his facial hair! He even let him carry him around!

Here are a couple shots of Joshua and Grandpa Joe.

I don't get many shots of Grandma Laurie...she doesn't like to have her picture taken ;-)

Uncle Bob and Aunt Gertie

Uncle Pat

Joshua and Daddy eating pumpkin pie. The plate in front of Joshua was his plate. The one by Jesse's right arm, was Jesse's. Joshua finished his HUGE piece of pie and then reached over on Daddy's plate, stabbed his piece of pie and took it too. Joshua LOVES pie!

Joshua and Daddy wrestling in the living room floor. Joshua had to show off his "power slam" skills.

Joshua's First Haircut!

Joshua finally got his first haircut! Let's see....he was 2 years and 3 months old! His hair just never grew and when it did, we tried to take him a couple times and he was having none of it. If you will remember, I posted pics of him screaming once. This time, we bribed him. Mom had picked up some new Trackmaster trains and they were in the closet at her house put up for Christmas and we told him that only after he got his hair cut, could he pick one out. He did pretty good. I got mine cut first and the whole time, mom and Sarah were talking about how he was getting his new train when he got his cut too.

...at this point, he still wasn't convinced...

Here he is looking back at Grammy for a little encouragement...

Such a big boy!

He just got a little trim...he had a section of long hair on the top and a section on the back that would get really fuzzy.

All done! We had to leave immediately and run to mom's and get him his new train. Then, we could come back since Mom and Sarah were getting theirs cut too..

Such a big boy! I know that i say it a lot!

Gingerbread Men

We let Joshua decorate Gingerbread men in November...we never ate them and they got hard and I threw them away but he had lots of fun making a mess working on them.

He is getting so big and independent. I wish that he would stay little forever!

Working so hard on his cookies....for those of you who don't know, Joshua is very anal about detail! Everything has to be perfect or it's not good enough for him.


...his finished products...

Pals

Here are a couple pictures of Joshua and a couple of his closest pals. I love that he is to the age now where he recognizes who his friends are and remembers them even when they are not there. He will ask if they can come plan and such now. It's so cute and he is getting so big!

Here are Timmy, Joshua and Noah playing in the dark in the sand one night when we had a bonfire after church.

Of course afterwards, all the boys needed a bath to wash all the sand off. Here is Timmy, Joshua, Luke and Noah.

One morning, Lori and I took the boys to the toy store before Christmas to get an idea of what they would like. We let the boys play for a couple hours in the store. They had a blast....and i think that eventually, we will pick up one of these...maybe for his birthday.

Timmy...

The Zoo with Daddy

In November, Daddy finally got to go to the Zoo with us! Joshua was so excited that Daddy got to go see the animals too! Here are a few shots of them together...

Checking out the Kangaroos...

Daddy posing...

Joshua at the fish tank...looking for Nemo...

This is always Mommy's favorite exibit...the Manatee...

Daddy and Joshua checking out the Manatee.

They are the cutest of pals!

Joshua's favorite exibit is the Reptile house. He loves to check out all the snakes.

The snake was checking them out too...

Trunk & Trick or Treat

Here is Joshua waiting around for Trunk or Treat at church to start. For those of you who don't know, trunk or treat is where we all pull our cars, trucks and vans into a circle in the church parking lot and the kids travel round and round inside the circle collecting candy.

I love this one! You just can't beat that face!

Here are some of the other kids dressed up in their costumes....

Joshua did his trick-or-treating with his cousins Isaac and Audrey again this year. We all met at Dustin and Rachel's for our chili dinner and spiced cider and then took the kids out.

Joshua really wasn't a fan of his mickey ears. I wanted him to dress up as Tigger or Pooh this year but when I asked him which of the two he wanted to be, he said "I want to be Mickey, Mommy". Who could resist his cuteness?

Getting ready to go out...

Still had our Thomas bucket from last year of course...

Joshua and Daddy posing for a shot...

Joshua in front and Isaac going with him...

As I am posing this, it is the 8th of January...we still have MOST of this candy in a bowl in the kitchen!