Merry Christmas!

Well, it's the day after Christmas and all through our house there are toys everywhere and we are pet-sitting a mouse. Actually, it is a rat.

We had a great Christmas with Family. We went to Christmas Eve lunch with my parents at "Famous Daves." The food was delicious. Then we headed to the College Church Christmas Eve service. See, here's the thing, I totally understand why they don't have childcare for this service...I mean really...who wants to watch kids on Christmas Eve. This left us with our less than calm 18 month old in the service with us. Awesome! We decided to keep a low profile and sit in the balcony. That lasted about 2 minutes. Caleb saw this as a great opportunity to throw Johnny's cell phone...luckily , it didn't quite make it to the edge of the balcony, but it did make quite a noise and a scene. Sorry, to everyone who was in the balcony that night...hopefully we did not ruin your worship. If we did, next year you should volunteer to do childcare. :) jk. After the service we went home and put Caleb to bed and watched Horton Hears a Who. Cute movie.

We woke up to lots of fresh snow on Christmas morning, it was beautiful to look at! Not so much to drive in...thank you Lord for our jeep.

Caleb slept in on Christmas morning until 8am! I told Johnny this is the last time for 15 years we will be able to sleep in on Christmas, we better enjoy it! We did our family stockings and presents. I didn't realize how much we had gotten for Caleb until he started opening it all...sheesh! He got a new tricycle thank you to Grandma and Boppa Hampton! Then we headed over to Boise to be with the Deakins family. After all, it is an even year. We had a wonderful day! Grandma and Papa spoiled Caleb with a 4-wheeler riding toy and a basketball hoop! He loves both of them! He also got a remote control car from Ava and lots of fun little stocking gifts. We spent the day eating, playing games and playing Guitar hero...which Jana rocks at! We topped the night off by watching Mama Mia! PS I always thought the "Dancing Queen" song had a line in it that said "unless you are a Nazarene". I was proven wrong last night. Whatever.

Caleb is getting to be such a fun little boy...he has ENDLESS energy and is full of wonderment over the littlest things. His new word is "snow". He and Johnny had a great time playing in the snow last week. We feel so blessed to have Caleb in our lives.

We hope you all had a very Merry Christmas! To all our Family who we couldn't be with, we love and missed you all!

Um, I don't think Johnny is going to ever let me update the blog again, apparently I am long-winded. Enjoy all of these pictures!

Love ya,
JJC

He LOVES bananas.

Can't you tell?

Caleb's 5 favorite things: "Mi" (Binki), Geoffry (the giraffe), "Ma" (Milk), "Nack" (Snack cup), and "nana" (Banana).

Chubby Bunnies with mini-pancakes.

"Booh, booh, booh..." All day long.

Fun in the snow!

He loves the santa hats.

Christmas morning at home - first "stocking" experience.

And wouldn't you know it - all we needed to do was buy him oranges for Christmas and he would have been perfectly content.

Notice the fist full of oranges in Caleb's right hand.

Thank you very much Grandma and Boppa Hampton!

What a deal - two stockings in one day!!

Thank you very much Grandma and Papa Deakins!

A vallient attempt at taking a "cousins" picture. By the looks of Caleb's body language, he is saying, "I gotta get out of here!"

8 Years, 17 months, and 3 days till Thanksgiving!

Whew, the last month has been full of "stuff."  We went to Pittsburgh for 5 days leaving Caleb with to be well taken care of by amazing familia.  It was a long time to be away from our little man, but we had a great time and we know Caleb had a great time as well.  Then, we had a normal weekend followed by two weekends where Johnny was gone leading an event for NNU and his annual fall retreat for the youth ministry.  So, needless to say, it is nice to be on this side of that "stuff" and we are really looking forward to a mellow week and a long weekend eating more food than we should.  Mmmm...mm.  Can't wait.

Our family is doing well.  Tomorrow marks 8 years for us!  It is hard to believe that 8 years ago we said, "I do."  It is crazy how fast time goes by.  It has been a beautiful 8 years.

Then, on Thursday we are going over to some family's house to feast for Thanksgiving.  Coincidentally, Thursday is also when Caleb will be 17 months old.  You know what this means don't you?  Only 7 more months until we can stop counting months!!!!  Seriously though, as each day goes by we become more and more thankful for an amazing son.  He is so fun, so funny, and just continues to amaze us.  I know, I know, we're biased, but that's okay, every parent has that right don't they?  He is just one smart little dude.  He picks up on things so fast.  His vocabulary expands daily now and it is so fun to watch him and help him connect things cognitively and physically.  He keeps us on our toes.  I'd be lying if I said he was the best behaved little boy out there.  He's a handful.  He's super active, into everything, and wants to know what's going on when it's going on where it's going on and why it's going on.  People tell me that's just "boy-ness."  His new words are "apple" (appie), "please" (me - with his hand on his chest), "cow" (cow), "socks" (ocks) and his best new "trick" is that he closes his lips really tight, blows through them making a buzzing noise with his lips, lifts his arm in the air and then drops it.  What is he doing?  He's making the sound an elephant makes!  It's pretty cool.

So, lots of fun these days in our home.  We hope that your home and life is filled with lots of fun and love especially this week!  Thanks for checking in on us and we'll try and do better about updating our blog more often.

Peace,

JJC

Caleb LOVES sour cream.

We went to the pumpkin patch with some friends this year (Davis' represent!).  Caleb had fun!

It got really quiet.  Then, this is what we find - Caleb just hanging out in a drawer.

Mmmm...that looks so good daddy, I just want to eat it now!

Mamma's big helper.

For some reason, he thinks closing himself in the fridge is cool.  (Pun intended.)

Happy Saturday!

Thanks for checking in on us. We had Caleb's 15 month check up on Monday. He got shots. Enough said, right? I definitely would NOT want that job, but it is an important one. Caleb is still growing well. He is 25lbs. 10 oz., 33 1/4 inches tall, and has a 19 3/8 inch noggin. That puts him in the 66th, >95th, and 94th percentiles respectively. So, tall, skinny, and still top heavy. :) As always, we're thankful for a healthy child.

Today we've got a lot going on. Joye's got a baby shower and a "Scentsy" party to go to (separate events just in case you were wondering how that worked), and Johnny's going to play football sometime in between. This evening we're going to the Cheesecake Factory to help a friend celebrate her birthday - I know, sometimes you have to suffer to go out of your way for a friend. :)

Here are some pictures for you. We hope you're all doing well!
Love ya,
JJC

Mmmmm...toast.

"Hi, hi, hi, hi, hi..."

Apparently Lemons are the best thing since sliced bread.

Hey daddy, I have an idea. Why don't I put a basket on my head and walk around bumping into things? Why? Because it's hilarious!

It's been a while...

Yeah! We are finally updating our blog! I know, I know, it is long overdue, but here it is and here are some pictures and a video for you to enjoy. We hope that you are all doing well and are ready for fall, because believe it or not, here we are. :)

Today, Caleb turned 15 months old. Everyday is exciting with new challenges and brand new experiences in the Hampton house. Caleb is a little sponge absorbing everything that goes on. He doesn't seem to miss anything, nor does he want to. The middle of the action is exactly where he wants to be all the time. He is very active and is very fast! He lowers his head and it seems like gravity pulls him forward as he tries to keep up with his head. :) We have recently started using the baby gate less on the stairs. He pretty well manages himself up and down the stairs now with really no concern for him falling. Of course we watch him, but he understands "falling" and knows he needs to be careful.

His vocabulary is expanding and he's even got a little sign-language down! It is becoming clear that he really does understand quite a bit of what we say to him.

Mostly, Caleb is just plain fun. He has so much energy, but he loves to laugh and play. He likes to wrestle around and he'll come up behind us and tickle us looking for a response. He has such a fun spirit about him and he really lights up our lives every day.

Joye and I are doing well too! Life is full as usual, but Joye is still enjoying her job (of course it's still a job though) and the student ministry is always exciting.

Well, we hope you enjoy these pictures and this video. I'll try to give an update sooner next time! We love you all and hope to hear from each of you soon.

Love ya,
JJC

Wii got a new toy. :)

Joye's cousin Sally got married on Monday - that is why we're so pretty.

One toy is not good enough. Sitting on all the toys is better.

He LOVES brushing his teeth (all three of them)!

Yum, yum.

As long as no skill or style is required, this will have to do for now.

Hangin' with the homies. That is Alexander (Joe & Bekah Chapman's new baby)
& Miles (Jeremy & Melissa Mueller)

He loves to be "side" (Outside).

Good-bye Summer!

Hello everyone! We hope you're all doing well and enjoying whatever time is left of the summer - we can't believe it is nearly over. This summer was full of adventure for us and while it was a fun summer, we welcome its ending because that means life will be a little more normal for a while - whatever normal is.

Since our last post, we went to Alaska and spend about 10 days with family on the Azarel Fish Site. We fished for one day and the rest of the time we just hung out, read books, watched movies, played games, fished on the river, ate food, and watched "jumpers" make there way by our fish site. The fishing wasn't great this year, but for us it was a good time to get away from the usual grind and do something different. We enjoyed being with family and getting Caleb acquainted with some of his relatives who live in the land of the midnight sun. The trip went well and while we were in Alaska Caleb started walking full time. Running away from all those female cousins of his helped him develop his walking skills a bit. :)

When we got back from Alaska we were hoping to spend a day or so with Grandma and "Boppa" Hampton up at Silver Creek Plunge, but it just didn't work out. We were disappointed that we couldn't go, but they will be back in a few weeks and we'll get to spend some time with them then. However, we did get to at least say "Hi!"

We went away last weekend for our annual "Destination Unknown" with the youth group. We took 74 students and adults to Seattle for a great weekend. We watched a Mariner's game, went to one of the largest indoor malls on the West Coast, went to the Experience Music Project, watched an improv comedy group (kind of like the show "Who's Line is it Anyway?"), and spent time just hanging out with the students. It was a fun weekend. Our weekend also included one of our trailers being rear-ended on the freeway on our way to Seattle. It was a scary moment for sure, but God protected us and the driver who hit our trailer. No one was hurt and we were able to continue on our trip in no time. God is good!

Caleb is a little sick at the moment. He started to get a cough when we left for Seattle - a huge thank you to Joye's cousin and sister for being willing to watch a sick baby over the weekend! However, being a little sick definitely does not slow this little boy down. He is everywhere at all times - it's amazing. He is like a little ninja. Now that he's walking everywhere, it is harder to tell where he has gone or is going. I was in the laundry room and Caleb was in the living room on the other side of the house. I was just minding my own business doing a little laundry when I turned around to leave and - "GASP!" - there he was, just standing there looking up at me confused as to why I got so scared. He's a sneaky little sucker.

Well, that's all for now. Here are a few pictures from Alaska. Thanks for stopping by.

Love you all.

Peace,
JJC

Watching some fishing on the Kenai River.

B-E-A-utiful!

I wonder if he'll figure out he's too big to sleep that way.

TWO TEETH!!

Hey all! I don't know about you, but I can't believe it is the middle of July! We got to spend our fourth of July weekend at our church's family camp this year. This was the first time we were able to attend this with our church since we've been here and there is no doubt we'll try our best to make this a yearly trip. It was so much fun. I loved it mostly because I got to spend a weekend with my family at an event that I didn't plan or have responsibility at. We enjoyed ourselves hanging out with friends, eating really good food, playing Frisbee golf, making a family camp - family flag (as you can kind of see in the picture), playing games, and just relaxing. Caleb had fun (we think) playing with the other kids there and receiving much attention from people who think "he's just sooooo cute!"

The day we got back from family camp we discovered that Caleb finally had some teeth. They have been coming in for a while now with two little bumps, but they finally cut through and he now has two little teeth on the bottom row. They came in together.

He's walking most places now - what I'm learning is that when he crawls, it's usually to a wall or a couch to pull himself up so he can walk to where ever he is going. It is fun to watch him become more and more confident with his walking skills.

He has expanded his vocabulary by one word. He can now say "light" only it sounds like "ite." He loves to play with the light switch and say "Ooo" when the light goes on and off.

On Monday we had his one year check up and everything looks good. Here are his specs: he weighs 23.5 pounds (61%); his head is 19 inches round (90%); he is 31 inches tall (85%). So, since our last check up at 9 months this is what we know: he's gained a little weight, he's still tall, but slowed down a bit on the chart, and his head is still huge. :) We are so blessed to have a healthy boy.

Well, thanks for stopping by to catch up on us. We're excited for the next few weeks to see many of our family we don't get to see very often!

Peace,
JJC

We had some balloons left over from his birthday party and he LOVED them.

A tired little boy at family camp.