Bells in Texas

Henry had a very exciting first Christmas! We never would have imagined that he would see snow on his first Christmas since we were spending it in Dallas, but amazingly we had a BLIZZARD on Christmas eve and woke up to at least 2 inches of snow on the ground Christmas morning. Our neighbors told us that it had not snowed on Christmas in Dallas since 1967.


Henry's Grandma and Grandpa Carlson and Uncle Phil came down to visit us for Christmas this year. We had a great time! Henry received many very nice gifts including lots of toys, books and clothes from Grandma and Grandpa. Our favorite gift he received was a recordable story book, where Grandma and Grandpa had recorded a story to read to him at bedtime. They have been able to "read to him" several times, even though they are far away. :-)
Here are a few pictures:

Henry's first visit to see Santa, a couple of days before Christmas:

Christmas Eve...Stockings hung by the fire...


















Taking a nap before all of the excitement























Lounging by the fire


















The best Christmas present Mama could have asked for :-)


















Outside with Daddy and Mama as it started to snow.


































Our Christmas Tree























Christmas morning. I wish I had more pictures, but we video-taped everything so didn't think to take many.

































We woke up to a white Christmas!!


















Some pictures we took the day after Christmas--the day Henry turned 6 months old!
















































LOVE this picture of Henry and Daddy in their "paddy caps"


















Merry Christmas to all...and to all a good night.

We hired a professional photographer to take pictures for our Christmas card, as well as Henry's 6 month pictures (ok, he was only 5 1/2 months when they were taken, but we had to get Christmas cards out on time!). It was a blustery 38 degrees in Dallas the morning we had them taken, so we brought a blanket to keep Henry warm. It ended up being used for most of the pictures. We were so happy with how they turned out! Here are a few of our favorites:

Henry had a very exciting Thanksgiving. Not only did he get to see all of his grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins--he also turned 5 months old that day! We had a 6am flight into Minneapolis on Thanksgiving morning...not sure what we were thinking, but Henry was a GREAT traveler! He did so well on the plane and was giving the flight attendants big smiles :-) After stopping briefly at Grandma and Grandpa Carlson's place, we all drove for 3 hours to Pelican Rapids. We enjoyed a great Thanksgiving dinner prepared by Grandpa Jim--what a fantastic cook! Henry did not get to sample any of the food, but he'll be ready next year. We started him on rice cereal the week before Thanksgiving, and he has been eating very well.


Here are some pictures of Thanksgiving, and Henry at 5 months!

Our little jet-setter on the plane with Daddy


All bundled up at the MSP airport before heading out into the cold


With cousin Joei at the Bells



With Grandma Bell


With Grandpa Bell


Our 5-month old!!






In Daddy's blaze orange hat



With Uncle James

With mommy before heading to church


After the service



Godparents James and Tina Bell, and cousins Troy and Joei


The cake Grandma Carlson made for Henry


The Bells


The Carlsons

Happy Halloween from our little Monkey! Henry participated in the halloween parade at my office organized by the daycare. He enjoyed taking in all of the excitement...until he conked out in my arms. Instead of trick-or-treating, we took Henry to see our neighbors on Halloween and brought them Pumpkin Cream Cheese muffins that I had baked. Overall, I think Henry had a GREAT first halloween! :-)

Before heading to daycare the day before halloween:


lining up for the parade:





One tired monkey!









Wide awake again!






The gift bags with muffins in them that we brought to our neighbors: