Introduction to James, Elias, and Cora

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from the Walters! We enjoyed a wonderful Christmas and I think James enjoyed it too. On Christmas Eve James helped me cook in the kitchen. He's our official taste tester! After we had made our dinner preparations the three of us went to the park to play for a bit. James really enjoys running and I enjoyed chasing him down! When I took James to the park earlier this month we stayed away from the big slide. Tobias was along this time - so the only slide James went down was the big slide - and he loved it! While James enjoyed the slide (and the sunshine), he really enjoyed the water fountain! After the park we cleaned up and headed to church. After church we celebrated with our Sunday School teachers and their families. Christmas morning was so much fun. Here's a picture of James with his presents. Our families and friends were so generous. Only three of those presents are from us! James figured out how to open presents pretty quickly! James real...

Christmas is just around the corner and we're just about ready. Our tree is up, presents are under the tree, and stockings are hung. But before I go into Christmas, I should update on what we've been up to for the first part of December. We traveled to KS. James even got his own seat on the airplane. It was a hard trip - we left Friday morning, flew to Denver, and then drove 200 miles to St. Francis, KS. We came home on Sunday. We wouldn't have done such a trip for anyone except Crystal, Tobias' sister. Crystal was an absolutely beautiful bride. Their wedding and reception were a blast and we were so thankful to be included in her special day. Tobias and James were ushers and I was a bridesmaid. James and Tobias escorted Grandma Edie down the isle and were so darn cute! Tobias, Kyle (the groom), and Josh (Tobias' younger brother) at the reception hall. What a handsome group! This is a really funny picture to me. It's Tobias and his youngest two siblings,...

Tobias and I bought a disposable camera soon after James was born with the idea of taking a picture every month to see how he's changed. For the past year, on the 15 th of every month we've taken a picture of James. We wanted to share them with you! November - so little! December - we finally figured out that we could use the bear for some perspective. January - so skinny! February - He looks like himself now. March - such a little man! What a remarkable change in just a month! April - you can see his personality coming through now! May - I guess I caught him by surprise with this picture. June - you can see it was pretty hard to get him lying down and staying still! July - I gave up trying to get him to lay down. Just look at how grown up he is! August - my goodness such a cute kid! September - look at that morning hair! October - just chillin '! November - Such a big boy now! It's so amazing to see him grow and change.

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. I love the food and there is no pressure like there is with Christmas. This Thanksgiving weekend has been wonderful. We started off the celebration by ringing the Salvation Army bell on Tuesday afternoon. James was a big hit! Sorry we didn't get pictures of that. James' school hosted a Thanksgiving luncheon on Wednesday that Tobias and I were able to attend. They had all the kids decked out like little pilgrims. It was super cute! My dad came out on Wednesday evening. He hadn't seen James since May, so they had a lot of catching up to do. Chris, a friend of ours who is a ROTC instructor at Villanova , came down for the day too. Chris and James had a great time together - too bad Chris only stayed for dinner on Thursday before heading back up North. James enjoyed his first piece of pumpkin pie on Thursday too. It was obviously a big hit! My favorite part of Thanksgiving is the Macy's Thanksgiving day parade. We usually don...