We had a fun trip to Bartlesville, yesterday. It was nice for Mark to spend some time with his Auntie Karin and Uncle Matt. We took Mark to Woolaroc. He enjoyed playing in the children's playground and looking at the animals. In the evening, we had a belated Christmas celebration.

We hope everyone is having a very Merry Christmas!

We had lots of fun opening stockings and gifts this morning. Mike's first gift was the "Are You Smarter then a 5th Grader" game. The game is in a container that looks like a lunchbox. Mark picked it up by the handle, walked to the door, and stood by the door saying "bye-bye" several times. It took awhile to convince him to come back to the tree to open more presents. We did eventually convince him and he enjoyed playing with his new toys. After all the present opening, we took Mark outside to play.

Bundled up and having fun! Mark went outside today all bundled up in the sweater, hat, and mittens that Grandma Mary made him. He looked so cute that I had to take a picture.

Mark is enjoying our Christmas tree. He likes looking at the lights, but he also likes taking the ornaments off of the tree. He will pull an ornament off of the tree and hand it to one of us with a big smile on his face.

Oops!



Our Bradford Pear tree didn't fare too well in the ice storm. Most of the others in the neighborhood were damaged, too, so we're not alone. We don't know if the whole tree will have to go; there are still some good branches left.

And a second oops...



Someone backed into our brick mailbox then took off. We don't know who did it, but they broke out one of their tail lights in the process. I built this mailbox myself, so I know I could rebuild it, but who wants to do that in freezing rain conditions? We don't know yet whether we'll hire someone to fix it, or whether I'll just fix it myself eventually -- when it gets a little warmer outside.

The Ice Storm of 2007
We lost power on Dec. 10th from noon until 10:30pm. Mark seemed to think it was a great adventure. We had a fire lit in the fireplace and we ate by candlelight. Mark ran around the house in the dark with a flashlight or light stick. He seemed to think that it was great fun. We were one of the lucky ones that have regained power and kept it. We have friends and family that are still without power and some have been staying with relatives or using a generator. Lots of the nearby businesses are operating off of back up power and many of the traffic signals are inopperative. There are tree limbs down all over the place. The tree in our front yard has received significant damage. Overall we are doing well. I think Mark and I have a bit of cabin fever. Mark won't have school this week so I am going to try to come up with some creative activities for him today.

The latest about Mark
Mark is using about 10 words frequently but it seems like new ones are coming all the time. Mark is also using about 15 signs which helps us to understand him when his words aren't too clear. Mark has started dancing. He stomps his feet a few times and then turns around in a circle, it is very cute to watch. Mark has also started climbing. He has figured out how to pull himself up on the dining room chairs in the kitchen and the coffee table in the living room. Mark is a very good toddler and for the most part he listens well. He likes going to the church preschool and nursery, but he also likes hanging around the house and chasing the cats.