Hola.

Our little family is doing well these days.  It is hard to believe that Caleb will be 3 next month!  He's doing well and is a fun, energetic, 100% little boy!  A few highlights of his life right now are saying his abc's as fast as he can, counting to 20, repeating everything we say (and I mean EVERYTHING!!!) and repeating some things we'd like him not to in context - whoops, saying, "No, I love you more," giving sweet kisses on the cheek, nose, ears, and eyebrows, and taking our imaginary order off of imaginary menus.

Joye is doing great!  She is becoming a seasoned veteran in the coupon business - in fact, she is out there right now with her friend Albre working the deals.  It is a fun hobby for her and she is good at it.  The best part is, it saves money AND we have more food in our cupboards - can't beat that!

I'm doing well too!  The weather is warming up and that means Caleb and I get to go fishing!  The only problem is that our weather around here hasn't been favorable yet.  Caleb likes to go out there and play around with the sticks and dirt, but he did help me reel one in a few weeks ago.  I didn't have a camera with me, but next time I will be sure to capture the moment.  It is so fun to do that kind of stuff with him now that he is at an age where he "gets it."  

Here are some pictures for you to enjoy.  Thanks for stopping by our blog and hopefully we'll hear from you soon!

JJC

When I was a kid we built forts in our back yard.  Well, in our suburbia neighborhood, this is about as close to a fort as we'll probably get. :)

We went to the coast a couple months ago with our seniors and Caleb came along.  He had fun doing what boys do best.

Caleb got a total of 4 eggs at our church's Easter egg hunt.  Why?  Because this was the first egg he picked up and started opening.  

We had another hunt at home and he was more successful.:)

Busted.

We went out to Celebration Park and hung out one afternoon.  Caleb loved running back and forth on the bridge.

We "amped" up our gardening efforts quite a bit this year.  Caleb loved wearing those gloves and helping me out.

It was fun for him to plant some VeggieTales seeds too!

Those are cucumbers.  We'll keep you updated on our garden's success (or possible lack there of) - three beds - carrots, lettuce, radish, spinach, onions, bell peppers, jalapeno, tomato, cilantro, zucchini, cucumber, and green beans

Catching Up

Tomorrow is officially Spring and while it has really felt that way around our parts, we know that some of you are still knee deep in the white stuff and even as I type this are being snowed in. Like most of you, we're ready for warmer weather and are excited for what the next season holds, not just weather wise, but also in life!

We've got a lot going on these days, but we're having fun and trying to make the most of all we're a part of. Even with the business of our jobs, we seem to be finding a nice balance between all of that craziness and being a family - doing fun stuff together and making sure we don't miss the way Caleb is changing and growing every day.

There are so many funny things I could tell you about Caleb as he is turning out to have quite the hilarious personality, but I'll just tell you this one thing for now. This morning Joye was getting ready for work and Caleb was standing on an upside down laundry basket next to her checking out all of the "really cool stuff" on the counter. He slipped a little bit almost falling, but when he caught himself I could hear him say, "Woah! That was terrifying!" The next thing I heard was Joye say, "Caleb, where did you learn that word?" It was pretty funny. I guess all that to say we can't put ANYTHING past him now. Let the S-P-E-L-L-I-N-G begin.

Here are a bunch-o-pictures for your enjoyment. Thanks for checking up on the Hampton Bios. For those of you we don't get to see very often, we miss you very much! We are also looking forward to having Gramma and Papa Hampton a little closer (okay, a lot closer, as in 4 miles vs 750 miles) this summer.

Have a great spring and hopefully we'll update this before the next season starts!
Love you all.
JJC

We took Caleb to the fire station a while back and our good friend Dave gave us a personal tour - it was tons of fun.  Caleb had a pretty good time too. :)

He even got to go down the pole!

So much for helping!  If that last batch of cookies had a hair in them...sorry. :)

Another classic moment...

Johnny won a snowmobiling trip a few weeks ago.  This was Joye's first time on the sleds and we both had a blast!

We were 25 miles in the middle of nowhere, yet in the middle of something B-E-A-utiful.

As soon as the weather turned just a little bit warm, Caleb couldn't wait to get out there and start playin'.

The Monkey Face.

The "Say Cheese" face.

The "Joye is becoming a coupon phenom" face.  2 pizzas, 8 juices, $.18.  No, that is not a typo.  Yes, you read that right.  Eighteen Cents!

Caleb received a special package in the mail today from the Oberholtzer's (Doug, Jhona, Leif, Lance, and Grace).  Caleb was thrilled with the gifts - thank you so much!

Lovin' the new trains.

Caleb got to ride in a "big tractor" today.  A gentleman in our church is helping us with some beginning stages of a project we're doing this summer.  We stopped by to see how it was going and he gave Caleb a ride - he loved it!

A Moment...

Here's a fun little video we captured tonight. I guess the new rule in our house is that the only time you get to sit on the kitchen table is when you look cute and sing Jesus Loves Me...

Time keeps on ticking, tic toc ticking away...

Well, here it is - a really, really overdue post. After over 2 months of blogger invisibility, we figured it might be time to at least put something on here. So let's see, since November 7th, 2009 (wow that seems like a long time ago) what has happened?

We celebrated our 9th anniversary! It's hard to believe that, but it's true. Yes, we got married young, but we were SO much more mature than those 20 year olds that get married today. Ha! We'll just keep telling ourselves that. :)

It was a pretty busy two months with both of our jobs - Joye has been keeping busy at work, still loves it (there are days though!), and continues to excel at here position. Johnny has been busy as well, but did enjoy some "down" time in December. The ministry with College Church continues to be challenging, yet fulfilling as God is working in some pretty amazing ways.

Caleb...oh Caleb. A bundle of energy, anticipation, awe, goodness, and wonder. We love this guy so much. He is so fun, so funny, so smart, and we can't believe that this year he will be turning 3! The thing people tell us the most about parenthood is that it goes by so fast - I'm a believer! It is becoming more and more like just having a third independent, capable, communicative person in the house. This also makes for an interesting balance to find as we discern how much independence to give him at this stage in the game. He is little Mr. Independent and what we are discovering about him is that he likes to lead. We hear this is a natural part of being 2 - wanting to do everything by yourself and boss other people around - but Caleb seems to take it to a whole different level at times. He is a ring leader. We've seen this happen at this daycare too. It is as if all people around him are his little pawns and he wants to manage them to do whatever his little mind has conjured up. Most of the time it is quite entertaining and harmless, but there are times when it can get ugly - like when someone decides they don't want to do what he wants them to do. He hasn't quite figured out how to handle his emotions on that one. So, as we continue to learn about Caleb, how he is wired and what makes him tic, we are just trying to do our best to discern how to guide him, instruct him, and let him become who he should be - who God has created him to be - a daunting yet invigorating blessing. So, that's our little parent-to-the-hood update.

We got to travel to Cheyenne for Christmas for quite possibly the last time since Johnny's parents are moving here this summer. It was a nice trip. The drive wasn't as bad as we expected with a 2 and a half year old. We had a great time with our family. We got to spend time with Johnny's sister and family - something that doesn't get to happen very often - so that was very nice. We wished more of his siblings and families could have been there this time, but it was a good time over all. On the way home, we took two days and stayed the night in Salt Lake for one reason and one reason only - IKEA!!! We actually maintained pretty good discipline and left that place with very little damage to our bank account, but that place is quite amazing really.

New Years was quite for us. We just had a couple of friends over, played some games, and hung out until twenty-ten rolled around.

So that's a quick update. The first picture below is a Christmas/New Year card that we had made, if you didn't get one - it's not personal. We actually have a stack of them we never got out. Has anyone else ever done that - spent all that time making a card and then...it sits on your counter for a month? Whoops. Oh well, enjoy it now!

We hope to hear from you soon.

Love,

JJC

We did have a little snow this winter, so we improvised and went sledding in front of our house.

Gramma Sue reading to Caleb.

These two pictures are classic Caleb as he sleeps.

Don't make fun of the tree - it's a recession! Craigslist and $20 later we have a winner!

These are the many faces of Caleb - he's learning how to make silly faces. Not sure what this one is called.

We got to have Christmas with Joye's family before we left for Cheyenne. Caleb loved the trucks he got...

...but he especially loves the GeoTrax - he can't get enough of this.

We know...you wish you could have spent 12 hours on this road too. You should be jealous.

Fortunately, Caleb was AWESOME on the road. This was a moment of peace.

C wasn't quite sure about Santa, but he did say "Peace out Santa."

Making sugar cookies and frosting them is a classic tradition and held in our family. Caleb went a little overboard with the sprinkles - his favorite part...

...seeing what the sprinkles felt like on his nose.

We went to a candle light service on Christmas eve - there were bagpipes and candles - needless to say, Caleb was highly entertained. No burns were reported.

Johnny needed a little help reading the Christmas story. Caleb volunteered and brought his favorite stuffed animal along.

A picture perfect view of Caleb's life right now. :)