Half a Year

We have a special day tomorrow: Silas's six month birthday! How the time has flown. And how this boy has grown! He is already 19lbs 6oz and 26 1/4 in long. He is so smart and happy and strong. Here are a few of the highlights from the past few weeks.

First tooth came in, so drooling is in full gear

Started solids

Carrots are yummy

So far, we've had various veggies, fruits and cereals... and some  candy cane (courtesy of uncle Daniel) 

Can dress himself...at least he thinks he can

He loves sitting up on his own

Second tooth came in, so bitting is in full gear.

He grabs everything in reach now too and loves it!

Merry Christmas 2012

Merry Christmas to all! Silas had a very happy 1st Christmas. We were able to make it to Grandma Marty and Papa Mike's house for the Holiday. Grandparents and Santa showered this cutie with gifts.

Our Jumbo Stockings, and Mini Tree

"He Came!"

Silas loved the bows almost as much as the gifts inside the paper.

Si is at the age where he grabs everything in reach, so it was fun helping him unwrap his gifts.

First Snow

Snow angel

Sledding- Si stayed sitting up most of the way down the hill. 

General consensus: snow is fun. Maybe next time we can build the traditional Garner snow cave.

Rangers Lead the Way!

After 100 days apart, I was too excited to see Chet again to take many pictures. Here he is, first time I saw him, coming out of Camp Rogers.

 Reuniting with his baby boy.

On the morning of Ranger graduation, the instructors put on a demonstration that was really fun to watch. They showed some of the more interesting skills that the ranger regiment guys have, like:

super fast repelling

 super fast cliff climbing

 and repelling face down to stop midway and shoot bad guys.

 They can repel out of helicopters, 

then get picked up by the chopper by their packs.

They also jumped out of choppers into the water.

This is one of the graded tasks that the ranger school guys had to pass- 

comando/monkey crawl out to the tab, 

ask for permission to drop, 

have to do a pull-up,

then drop into the water when permission is granted. 

 At the end of the demonstration, they buzzed past in the chopper and the boat, 

then there was this huge explosion under water that rattled your insides, and left a gorgeous rainbow. It was all very exciting!

All the graduates were lined up. Chet is in the second row on the end.

 This was the best part: pinning the tab on my ranger's shoulder! Yay!

 A few of the guys and families got together for a dinner party that night. Congratulations guys!

On our way back home we stopped by our friends' house. The Payne's were so generous, and we love them. This is the only pic I got there though (I'm terrible at remembering to pull out the camera when we're having fun). Lyndsey and Silas were quick friends. We can't wait to meet her little one coming this spring!

What a fun/stressful/rewarding adventure we have been on. Now we're ready for the next big thing coming our way!