December Letter

Dear Family & Friends,

Merry Christmas! I LOVE CHRISTMAS! What 3 year old doesn't? I had so much fun all month with Christmas activities. I have spent the last couple months adding to my wish list and every time a commercial for anything remotely cool came on the TV or showed up in an ad I said "I want that set!"

We made a Gingerbread house, decorated sugar cookies and went to Gardner Village to see the elves.

We also had lots of Christmas parties. We had one at Grandma Norberg's house which was super fun. We had a big Christmas Eve party at Grandma Chris' house. She gave us airhogs (remote control helocopters) which were totally awesome!

Then on Christmas morning we were up super early, so excited to open presents. I got a couple remote control dinosaurs as well as some movies and other fun stuff. I have had so much fun this past week playing with all my new toys!

And we definitely had a White Christmas this year! We got so much snow the week of Christmas that we got to play outside a lot. Dad even hooked the sled to the back of the 4-wheeler and took us for rides! Dad Rocks!

Mom & Dad say that I have more personality then any kid they've ever seen. That isn't always a good thing but it does make life more interesting. I have a lot of new sayings, one of which is "That's freakin' me out!" If mom or dad try to sing a Christmas song or something like that I always tell them to stop because "That's freakin me out!" I also don't like to be told no and often threaten to kick people out the of the house if they don't do what I want. "Give me that right now or I kick you out of the house!" Sweet guy huh?

I also love to quote movie lines. This month I watched a ton of Christmas movies and so most of my quotes came from those. One of my favorites is "How the Grinch Stole Christmas". I can often be heard walking around the house saying "You don't have a chance, you're 8 years old and you have a beer(d)" or "The the the Grinch!" Or when I pick up something heavy I hold it over my head and say "I got you Cindy-Lo" I also loved the movie Christmas Story and love to say "Oh Fuuuudgggge!" and "You'll shoot your eye out!"

Mom has been giving my reading lessons every morning. I am on lesson #19 out of 100. I do okay, when I pay attention. Sometimes I am looking around and not at the book and just try to guess the word. But when I focus I can read quite well.

My cousins Miriam, Marcus and Amelia are here spending the last week of the year with us. It is super fun. I get to sleep in Brandon's room with him and Marcus for a slumber party. And we had a great New Year's Eve party with pizza and fireworks! Yeah!

And no, your eyes are not playing tricks on you. I did get a hair cut. Dad took me the day after Christmas and got my hair cut. Mom has been crying about it ever since. Both she and dad say that we are growing it back out again.

I got a Spy Gear. I got a motorcycle. I got a big Bumblebee (Transformer). I like to get presents. And I love the Christmas because Santa came to town. I got a robot dinosaur with a remote control. It was by the tree. And I went to the gym lots of days. (Italics are direct quotes from Eric when asked what he'd like to say.)

Love Eric James Barnhisel

November Letter

Dear Family & Friends,

Happy Thanksgiving! I hope you had a great one! I had two great Thanksgivings. The first one was at Grandma Chris' house and we had quite a fancy feast! Grandma Chris always puts on such a delicious spread. Not that I really eat much besides the vege tray though ... too much playing and fun to be had with my cousins. I had so much fun running around crazy with all my cousins. That was on the Sunday before Thanksgiving.

Then on Tuesday night we travelled to Colorado. We left at about 8:00 in the evening and arrived at Grandpa Pat's house at 4:00 am. Of course the drive seemed really quick for me because I was asleep almost the entire time. Daddy is the driver and he is really nice to drive us out there to see all of mommy's family. This Thanksgiving was really special because all of mommy's brothers and sisters and all of my cousins were there. It was so much fun. No naps and I would just fall asleep on the couch in front of a movie with my cousins every night before dad would move me upstairs to my bed. We had so much fun terrorizing Grandpa's house for 4 days and the best thing about it is that he likes it!

The question of whether or not to cut my hair continues to be an undecided thing for mom and dad. In Colorado I was mistaken by a girl twice and so who knows that to do. Dad said that the problem is that mom keeps thinking that it needs to be trimmed when it gets really long and then it looks too well kept. Mommy has to agree that he is probably right. They are going to wait until the new year and let it grow and then make a decision then.

I continue to pester my brother (and everyone else actually) to no end. I am a pro at knowing how to push Brandon's buttons and love to see him get in trouble. I can often be found with a conniving look on my face because I am trying to bait my brother. I seem to like to do things to get in trouble. I guess that is why they call them the terrible threes! My new thing I say to mom when I get in trouble is "I'm not your Mom anymore!" Mommy wonders if she will survive me.

Daddy says that it's time for me to learn to read. Mommy agrees she just needs to start making the time to teach me. I love to pronounce my words out in seperate syllables and I read off the letters on every word I see. I guess mommy had better get started.

Hope you all are happy and healthy and have a wonderful holiday season!

Love Eric James Barnhisel

October Letter

Dear Family,

Hello everyone! This was a busy month. Dad was gone a lot for business trips, a Moab trip and some hunting. I missed him when he was gone and am glad that he doesn't have to go so much this month. While he was gone hunting I managed to fall on the stairs (since I am always running) and ended up in Primary Children's Hospital because I bit a big chunk off my lip in the fall. I am such a wild child. We will see if I make it to my fourth birthday. Mommy & daddy aren't sure that they are going to survive me. I am an uncontrollable ball of energy and they often times don't know what to do with me. Mommy doesn't agree with whoever said the Two's are the Terrible age. Three's are much worse she says! I love to torment my older brother. I know exactly what to do to push his buttons and really get him riled up.

We had a great Halloween this year. I was a blue ninja and Brandon was a red ninja. I even had ninja hair (a pony tail) which made even more older ladies confuse me for a girl. J We got tons of candy and ran so fast when we were trick-or-treating. Mommy & daddy loved watching us canvas the neighborhood! They had fun reminiscing about their trick-or-treating days!

I like to pretend that I have lost my voice and will pretend to talk with nothing coming out of my mouth. Then I will miraculously regain my speech and say "My voice is back, I didn lost it!" I think I am pretty hilarious. Sometimes mommy wishes that I would actually lose my voice since I have two volumes: loud and ear-splitting!

We went to Uncle Ryan and Aunt Alisa's house. They are so nice, they grow pumpkins for us every year and we get to go to their house and pick pumpkins. Then dad helps us carve them. It was very messy, very crazy … but fun!

The weather is finally starting to turn cool but we had a really nice month in October. We got to play outside a lot and we loved to play dodge ball on the tramp. Me and Brando jump and mom and dad throw balls at us. We pulled off some pretty sweet moves during those games!

Daddy got a shiny red motorcycle and I love to look at it. I am definitely a vehicle guy because every time I go in the garage and see it my eyes light up and I say "Wow! That's a cool bike!" Or "That bike is so awesome!" I guess I am like my dad in that way.

I like going trink or treating and trunk or treat. I like going to lots of houses. Because I want to get treats. I was a ninja for Halloween, they do hi-ya! I like to play with my toys, my robot. My goggles. I like dad's motorcycle. It's cool and red, I like riding it so much. I like getting pumpkins from Aunt Alisa and Uncle Ryan. I have a happy pumpkin. I like playing with my dad. I like to jump on the trampoline and do tricks, do earthquake and dodgeball. (Italics are direct quotes from Eric.)

I hope that you are all happy and healthy. I love you and I miss you. Hope to hear from you soon.

Love Eric James Barnhisel