Belated Thanksgiving Photos

I know, I know... we're late getting these up, but wanted to share them with you. We spent Thanksgiving in Amery this year at the Fretwells. Jeff was home from D.C. We haven't seen him since his college graduation in May. It was wonderful to spend time with family, Julie's grandmother was able to come over for Thanksgiving dinner. We even got to spend some time with some friends. The only "Black Friday" shopping was D.J., Sandy, and Jeff going to Sears.

We had a WONDERFUL Thanksgiving dinner with all the trimmings, including sweet potatoes, lefsa, pumpkin & pecan pies. Alex showed his true Swedish roots and revealed his love for lefsa. Alex also got in a little play time with GG while we sat around the table after dinner.

Julie's high school friend came over to visit with her husband and their little boy, Brendan. Alex and Brendan bonded instantly. The boys had a great time playing together and the big kids got a chance to visit.

Alex got plenty of quality time with his Uncle Jeff over the long weekend. He even got a little drum lesson from Jeff after getting into his drum sticks.
As usual Alex was a little ham, entertaining everyone all weekend long. Below are some of the ones we got the opportunity to catch on camera. He is a very big fan of Mr. Potato ead, but decides to use the accessories on himself instead of Mr. Potato Head. I think he's channeling Charlie Chaplin in this one.
One of the most exciting things we did over the weekend was visit a dairy farm that is owned by friends of Joanne and Sandy. Alex got the chance to see a calf that was one day old and let the little calves lick his hand.

Below are some of our favorite picture from this fall. This fall was filled with all sorts of fun adventures including trips to LaCrosse to play with the cousins, going to the pumpkin farm and petting zoo, and of course Halloween.

Alex has learned where his fascial feature are including his eyes, ears, teeth, tongue, and - as he's showing you in this picture - his nose. He even knows where it is while wearing a garment bag.
Here Alex and his cousin Jon are the morning of one of our trips to La Crosse.


Alex and Jon had so much fun playing in the leaves.




Here we are at the petting zoo - Alex got to pet bunnies, donkeys, chickens and ducks, and llamas.

Alex is amazingly gentle with animals. He even managed to pick up a chicken all on his own - we were a little scared he'd squeeze too tight, but the chicken didn't seem to mind.

We let Alex pick out a pumpkin that was just his size - it's the little one right in front of him. He would carry it all thoughout the house, and even pretended that his pumpkin was taking a nap by wrapping him up and laying him in his makeshift "crib", (which is the floor space underneath our kitchen stools).

This was a hail storm that we had one evening - D.J. was actually driving home and there were a few cars that ended up in the ditch because of it.Alex had a lot of fun this Halloween, carving pumpkins and seeing all the kids come trick-or-treating at the door. He wasn't quite sure what to think about the pumpkin guts, but enjoyed helping Daddy and was so excited when the pumpkin had eyes, a nose and mouth.Alex loves phones, but it's especially cute when he sits in his chair and has pretend conversations with GG, Papa, or his friend Jonah.

Alex loves to color and will sit and color while Mama is making dinner - and sometimes we join in too.

More Pictures

Hi everyone, I've been bugging Mommy and Daddy to put new pictures on here for a long time. They have been so busy that I finally taught myself how to use the computer and put them up on the blog. If I waited for them, I will have graduated by the time that they get them up here. We have been super busy as usual. We have been doing lots of projects and planting around the house lately. Now that the schools have started he has been busy covering lots of games. And it seems that all three of us have had some type of illness in the last couple of weeks. All in all we're doing very well and couldn't be happier.

While Mommy and Daddy have been doing projects I've been learning all kinds of things. I'm learning new things all the time. I like watching the school bus go by every morning and point it out to Mommy. Whenever I hear the train go by I say "choo choo" to Mommy and Daddy so they know. I've been coloring a lot too, the refrigerator is becoming my art gallery.

Mommy and Daddy spent a week playing with friends. They played golf, went out on the lake, grilled out, and caught up with friends. I wasn't able to make it because I was playing with Grandma and Papa. We got to see Aunt Jen after she got engaged to Nick... now I can finally call him "Uncle Nick". Below is the sunset on the end of Mommy and Daddy's day of playing. I turned 18 months old in August, it was the same day as the Olympic opening ceremony. We celebrated by having cupcakes.

I was very lucky when Mommy and Daddy built this bench for me. It has pegs that I can pull out and put in holes. The bench has been updated since this picture was taken. The pegs are painted different colors and it now has doors on the side that I can open and close. Mommy and Daddy said that they will paint it all kinds of bright colors soon. I will keep you posted.

Grandma and Papa Kearney came to visit Labor Day. I wanted to show them my favorite park. Luckily it was a beautiful day and we had lots of fun. I took a really good nap that afternoon.
You can't tell in this picture, but I'm chasing the ducks at the park.

Daddy tells me that I need to drink lots of water and stay hydrated like his athletes. So I drink lots of water. In fact whenever I pass a water fountain I have to take a drink. Aren't we a cute family?

In case you haven't heard... I like flags. If you give me a flag to play with I will be the happiest boy in the world. I like all kinds of flags, but the American flag is the most exciting. It's all the different colors. Plus it has stripes and stars on it. It's so cool!Mommy and Daddy say that I am the only child that would rather sleep with a flag than a stuffed animal.
It may be a little early, but I've decided to learn how to drive. So I saved up and bought a beauty of a car. Mommy and Daddy say I'll need my license before I can go on the road, but until then I can pedal all over the house and the driveway. And no drive is complete without the shades.
I have to give Mommy and Daddy a kiss goodbye before I leave in my car.
Mommy and Daddy have been working hard planting around the house this summer. They are showing off the fruits of their labor here.I love my Daddy!
In September we went to visit Grandma and Grandpa Fretwell. This was also the same weekend of Amery's Fall Festival. Mommy always talks about how much fun it was to go to the parade and ride all the rides when she was a kid. The part that I liked the most was the parade. There were lots of fire trucks and police cars with their lights and sirens going. Plus there were marching bands and horses and lots of people to wave and say "Hi" to. I surprised Mommy and Daddy when I sat through the whole 2 hours.
I liked sitting with Grandma and Grandpa

"Mommy look at all the flags!"
I wanted to be part of the parade, and march with the band.
Towards the end of the parade Mommy was blowing bubbles. I thought it was hilarious when the other little kids chased and popped the bubbles. I was laughing so hard my cheeks turned red.
Well that's what we've been up to. I hope to see all of you soon. I'll try and make Mommy and Daddy update this more often. If not I'll just have to do it again.

Love, Alex