We had a great time in Colorado with friends and family! The trip home was not too eventful, although Korban was not a big fan of being scrunched in a regular aisle of seating. We did a lot of walking on the plane.

It took us about a week to get back on our schedule here in Germany, but that was partly because we didn't use an alarm clock the first few days, and slept really weird hours!

We can't wait to go back again, and see everyone!

Korban sure was excited to get his first bag of "toots" from Great Grandpa. It's a tradition in the Kornelsen family that goes back...well I don't know how far, but I know that it's something we all look forward to every year without fail! (It's a bag of treats, nothing nasty)

We also enjoyed a wonderful fondue meal at Great Grandpa and Great Grandma's house, another tradition that goes back to when Grandma Brian and Great Aunt Mari were little girls! It's always a great time, and will be fun when Korban eventually gets to take part as well!

Korban had a blast playing in the wrapping paper trash after everyone opened their gifts.



Papa Kent and Korban enjoying a nap together!




Here are a couple quick pictures of family with Korban. We don't know how we missed getting pictures with them during all the festivities, but wanted to make sure we documented it just the same! Unfortunately we didn't get a picture of Korban with his Papa Leeper or with his "Uncle" Chas and Ruth. We'll get it on the next trip!

Aunt Holly and Korban

Grandpa Brian and Korban

Korban got great treats in his stocking from Nona and Papa Kent and had to break right into them! It's bedtime and Korban is cuddling with the fuzzy bear Aunt Holly gave him!


Christmas morning, Korban got musical maracas, an activity table and some clothes from mom and dad. He liked the maracas best because he could play with them right away. He had to wait to use his activity table until we got back home. Korban loved spending time at Great Grandpa and Great Grandma's house. I think they liked having him around too!
Here Korban is getting his first piano lessons from Grandma Brian and cousin Grace! Let's make beautiful music together!

Grandma Brian invited Vicki, Ashley and Sean to the brunch, so they all got to meet each other and it was really good to see all of them.

Instead of family pajama's this year, I had family t-shirts made and we wore them on Christmas Eve. Everyone got a good laugh and now we have a fun momento from Christmas 2008!

We went to the Christmas Eve service at church and I got baptized in a special service they did! It was really special to be able to do it with all the family there!

After the service, we headed to Papa and Nona Kent's house to celebrate more Christmas with them and Uncle Paul, Aunt Amanda and Hayden!

Papa Kent wore a funny blinking Rudolph nose and Korban thought it was goofy.



We let the boys both open presents together and after Korban was well in to his package, he decided that he needed to help his cousin Hayden for a minute! Aunt Amanda made some great letters to help decorate his room and he also got books, a dvd and a great puzzle set from Papa and Nona!

After a couple days of galavanting around, Korban was pretty tired. He is sitting in his high chair at Red Robin waiting for Aunt Holly to arrive from Paris, France. We had a family welcome dinner for her and her boyfriend Tyler.

We got to go see our friends Matt and Michelle and their two kids, Sydney and Nathaniel! It was so good to be with them as it had been such a long time and so many things had changed. We got to see how much the kids had grown and they all got to meet Korban. The kids had fun playing together and the adults had fun catching up. Korban got some new cars to play with as his Christmas present, and boy does he love them!

Here is the family. We're all watching a Little Eistein's episode that Sydney wanted to see.

Korban did some exploring and found a basket with Sydney's panties in it. She is still potty training and he discovered them and made a quick mess!

On Christmas Eve, we went to Grandpa and Grandma Brian's house for brunch and Korban got to meet all sorts of people here. He met Uncle Jeremy and got to see Aunt Tara again. Not sure where his cousin Grace is for this picture!

Christmas Vacation!

We wanted to make sure that those that couldn't come to Germany to meet Korban, got the chance to do so, and we were really missing Colorado, so a long Christmas vacation seemed like just the right thing to do! We were nervous about how Korban would do on the flights and with a long layover in Detroit, but he was a trooper! He put himself to sleep just minutes before the plane took off each time, and he even had room to get down and play on the floor instead of having to be in our laps the entire time!

Korban is listening to music. Don't be suprised, it didn't last long, he was more interested in the headphones than what was coming out of them.When we finally arrive in Colorado after delays and all, Great Grandpa and Great Grandma had prepared a wonderful meal, so we ate, and went to bed, and probably never slept so good! Once we were up, they had to give Korban one of his Christmas presents early! This car was super great in helping the final steps of walking, as you can put it upright and it becomes a walker!
We took a day with Great Grandpa and Great Grandma to go hiking around a little bit at Red Rocks Amphitheatre, which is a beautiful spot almost in the backyard of where Jeff and I grew up. It was cold, be we had fun!

Korban got to see Uncle Paul and meet Aunt Amanda and his cousin Hayden for the first time! We had a great time hanging out and watching the boys play together!

Korban took a few of Great Grandma's Christmas decorations and played with them while we were there. He had a great time at their house, taking some of his first steps, working on climbing stairs and he also managed to cut a tooth at their house too!

Winter time with friends

In sort of a last minute plan Mark, Kim, Jeff and I found a babysitter willing to watch all 3 kids over night and we headed down to Garmisch, Germany to stay at the Edelweiss Hotel and do some skiing! We had a blast and really enjoyed some relaxing adult time! We actually skiied the Zugspitz in Austria and got lost trying to find it and ended up entering Italy for a few minutes before we got turned in the right direction!

Korban's exploring so much every day!

It seems that everywhere I go, there's a new "exploration" taking place! It is so fun to watch his little brain work, and the beginnings of a conscience, where he ponders what he's about to do.

Korban thought it would be more fun to eat the cheerios off the floor than out of his bowl.

Korban managed to get the diaper package down and "play" with them while I was making his breakfast!

I'm not sure exactly what prompted this, but we had the pack-n-play set up and Korban decided to try to crawl under it, and he got stuck of course. And me being the horrible mom I am, had to take a picture before I helped him get out!

Korban loves the tupperware cupboard and is usually playing in it if I'm in the kitchen!

What to say about Thanksgiving

Sadly I don't have any pictures of Thanksgiving as I was too busy hosting the event! We had a great time though, with some of our game night friends, Jake and Holly who had just had twin girls, Phoebe and Keira, as well as her mom Tami and of course Mark, Kim, Ashlyn and Ryan were with us too! The meal turned out well and we really just enjoyed each other. Korban actually liked the meal pretty well too!

Korban's Halloween Costume

This is our Peter Pan, and we didn't get any good pictures of it, but his friend Makayla was Tinker Bell!