Let's begin with Thanksgiving:
Russell, Charles, and I didn't make it to the traditional game night in Hesston on Friday night. Russell had a big test on Monday and Charles didn't have any naps. From the pictures we missed out on a lot of fun, but we did get to join most of the crowd at the bowling alley earlier in the day. Charles even got to bowl for the first time with shoes and everything!
Not much else to report from Thanksgiving. I hope we'll all be able to be together again next year. It's a long way for those in Indiana and Virgina Beach to travel, but we love seeing the Schultzs. Maybe next year those in Denver will join us too.
Christmas:
Christmas was uneventful. I was sick in December and didn't have the energy to put up a tree or any decorations. It didn't help that they were all stored in the attic and Russell was busy with finals. By the time he was able to lend a helping had the decorations would be up a week and it would be time to take them down again. So...we passed them up this year.
Christmas is much more fun with Charles around. He got lots of great gifts from his extended family. I think his favorite is his Little People Noah's Ark. He likes to dump all the animals out of the ark and then walk around the house chewing on one animal or another. Usually it's one the elephant's ears that's in his mouth.
I found the perfect gift for Charles at the local consignment store. A Wonder Horse! It was relatively inexpensive (compared to a new one) and brought lots of childhood memories back for Russell and me. Russ and his siblings had one that looked just like the one we got Charles. The horse came with a name, Cheyenne.
No tree and no box big enough to wrap it in, so the horse just had a bow.
Russell trying out the horse after re-assembling it on Christmas Eve.
A ride with Mom.
A solo ride, he looks like he's getting tired.
My family isn't much for Santa...we always talked about Baby Jesus instead of Santa Claus. But, we did take Charles to see Santa at the Cessna Employees Club's Christmas party for the kids. It was not a good experience for any of us! Charles did like running around in the gym and was even able to get into some of the inflatables.
They gave us a Polaroid and I scanned it in just so you could see the look on Charles' face.
He was a little too little for this inflatable. We had to keep an eye on him since the other kids didn't seem to care who they pushed or knocked over. 
New Years:
On New Year's Eve the three of us flew to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Russ' great aunt and uncle (Freda and Mickey) live about an hour north of Puerto Vallarta so we decided to pay them a visit. Russell's mom, dad, brother, sister (Kim), and brother-in-law (Elisha) joined us. It was a short trip but almost perfect in every way. Mickey & Freda's house is on the beach so most of our gang played in the water, kayaking or body surfing. While Charles was napping, Russell and I enjoyed sitting on the patio reading magazines and relaxing after a busy December.
The view from the back patio.
Another shot of the ocean view. 
Aunt Freda has a banana tree. They weren't ripe enough to pick!
Charles loved the water, even if Russell thought it was cold!
A family picture before heading home.
I've got more photos posted on Facebook. I couldn't get a link to work so let me know and I can send you the pictures. OR, invite me to be your friend and you'll be able to see them.
School:
Russell finished his insane semester. He took a graduate load of 10 hours. It wasn't as horrible as we thought it would be, but was still very stressful. Russell got his first B, so now can't claim a perfect 4.0. He was just so relieved that the semester was over that one B wasn't anything to get upset over. He managed to survive 3 classes and come out with two As and one B--VERY impressive.
This spring Russell is taking one class and has a 1 hour independent study. It will feel like a breeze after last semester. He still has to be at work at 6am to put in his time which means early mornings and early bed times. Hopefully he will be able to use a project or paper from his class as a basis for his independent study, something like expanding on the paper or project and turning it in for credit for the independent study. His supervising professor seems to be very willing to work with him and make the 1 hour of credit do-able with out a lot of extra, unnecessary work.
This is Russell's last semester. In May, Russell will graduate with a Master's Degree in Electrical Engineering. We can hardly wait.
Russell's Job:
In December, just before Christmas break, Russell moved from Avionics to another group...I can't remember now what it's called. They actually design parts of the plane (I'm not sure which parts) and he's very excited to be designing rather than writing reports. So far his new boss has been willing to work with him and his school schedule which is great.
Our Family:
And the news you've all been waiting for! The week after Thanksgiving we found out that we will be adding a member to our family. It's the reason I was sick in December. I was feeling good and then all of a sudden I got hit like a ton of bricks. I gave in and called the doctor for some medicine. The first one worked for a few days but then quickly faded. A second prescription did the trick. Thank goodness for chemotherapy drugs! I'm feeling much better now and have been able to go without the medicine.
I had my first doctor appointment last week and everything is A-OK, so we feel like now we can officially announce the pregnancy. I'm due on July 30th, which will make Charles just a few weeks shy of two when the new baby arrives.
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