Joyeux Noël

Christmas in Albertville, France

2006
So, here's the story behind our little Christmas tree. First I have to say that I love my little Christmas tree. Last year we didn't have a Christmas tree...we had decided when we moved from Memphis to Montgomery that we would leave behind our dear fake tree in pursuit of a real one when the time came. Well, the time came and went without a tree...we had a newborn and money was tight. I assumed I would spend another Christmas without a tree. I was wrong. My thoughtful husband yanked one out of the ground one afternoon while he was hiking in the mountains. He was quite proud of himself. We put the tree (roots included) into a mop bucket and attempted to secure it with dish towels. Still wobbly. We then tied a birthday ribbon from the trunk to a hook on the wall. This worked wonderfully for about two weeks. Thankfully, we were home when the tree began to "tilt". We have since leaned it more toward the window for extra support. My Mom sent us the snowflakes and we bought the other ornaments and lights here in town. The one random ornament towards the top has to be our favorite...it says "Mon beau sapin, roi des forets" (my beautiful fir tree, king of the forests). Oh, and don't worry...Brett plans to replant the tree before we leave. Long live mon beau sapin!
Santa Claus came to visit Caden while he was taking his morning nap. He enjoyed opening his gifts (ok, so most of these were regifts from his birthday...but he didn't remember). We had to hide each toy after he opened it so he would be willing to open the next one. Little does he know that Santa was able to put lots of Christmas gifts for him on our container...Christmas will come again in January (maybe February) for this family when we're in Togo.

Merry Christmas!

We love you all!

Countless Faces of Caden

Yes...there are more, but these are the most common.

(Not to mention our favorite!)

Soon Enough, Little Man, Soon Enough...

Check Out This Kid's Chompers!

If you place any value at all on actually having fingers, then do not put them anywhere near Caden's 12 teeth.

Don't let the smile fool you; he will leave you with nubs!

An Afternoon At The Emersons

Emerson_Afternoon
Video sent by emersonstogo

We know many of you are wondering what Caden is doing these days. Here's a short video of some of the cute things we are blessed to enjoy almost everyday. We priase God for our happy little boy!

We're Gonna Need a Good Long Distance Plan...

One of Caden's favorite toys is our old cellphone from when we lived in the States. Since he was about 6-7 months old, he has been holding it up to his ear and gabbing away into it. He's now graduated to other phones and other skills like pushing the buttons to dial a number. His cousin Nate is not even 3 years old yet, and he knows his own phone number and can pick up a phone and call it, so maybe it runs in the family or something. Never let a call go to voicemail, because you never know when Caden may be wanting to talk to you... At a hotel we stayed at in Switzerland; we're pretty sure he called the front desk at least 5 times...This is just a toy phone. We like it when he uses this one because there is no chance of incurring huge long-distance charges...
And of course, like all good 21st century missionary kids, Caden loves to Skype!!!

It's A Good Day

December has arrived...and the Christmas clothing has come out as well (Thank you Gamma).

Fun fact for the day:
Today Caden is one year, one month, and one week old.

Random Acts of Messiness

If you know the Emerson Family at all, you would probably think that Caden getting messy at the table would be Brett's fault, not Princess April's. BUT YOU'D BE WRONG!!! April is the one who lets Caden engage in these Random Acts of Messiness. I don't mind them, as long as I don't have to clean them up. If that's the case, Caden's daddy likes it as neat and clean as possible. Wierd, huh???

Seriously, how do you even get a glob of mashed potatoes that huge on your FOREHEAD?!?!?!

This actually seems like fun. Have you ever just put your hands in a squishy food and gotten messy? If not, stop reading and go do it right now...

Call me old-fashioned, but I've gotten quite accustomed to NOT having pasta sauce lathered all over my face. This is a very interesting spoon, however...

Somebody Get This Kid a Jungle Gym!

No place is safe anymore, we've got a walker AND a climber...

Walking Like A Pro

Walking Like A Pro
Video sent by emersonstogo

It's been too long since we posted a video of Caden. We thought everyone should see how his walking was coming. Enjoy!!!

Grêle aux vainqueurs!!! Allez Bleu!!!

Today is the big game! Caden is all decked out (thanks to his Gamma and Papa) and ready to cheer for the maize and blue as they roll all over that other team from that other state close to Michigan!!! We will be watching the game live on the internet here in France. Thank you high-speed internet and ABC/ESPN!!!
Hail to the Victors!!! Go Blue!!! Win this one for Bo!!!

Little Bear

Caden seems to think that Christmas is in November...or at least he did today. We received a package from Nanna & Gran'Pa today (thank you, thank you, thank you) that contained this little bear - it was vaccumed sealed and resembled roadkill before we rescued it and fluffed it back up. Caden immediately grabbed the bear and hugged it with the biggest smile on his face. We thought you would all enjoy seeing a little of his sweet personality in these pictures. Currently, his name is "little bear" because he looks like a little Mattie (our big...ok, huge bear) and we've already begun teaching Caden: big bear and little bear.

And don't worry, mom didn't forget us...we got spiced tea mix to make our holiday season seem a little more like home this year. ;)

Caden's Two Sisters

No, we're not having twin girls. The couple across the hall has two little girls, Sophie and Naomi, who have fallen in love with our little boy. Sophie likes him so much that she asked her mom if she could trade her little sister for him! He enjoys the attention, and it's been a good insight into what his life will be like in 15 years when he has legions of teenage girls chasing after him. The 3 of them are very sweet together, and we will all miss them alot when we leave Albertville in January. Here are some pics of them watching movies and playing together. We think a little girl would be nice for the next little Emerson...

Time to Bundle Up!!!

Who doesn't love the winter? Any good Emerson knows that fall and winter offer the best weather of all the seasons...We should have been missionaries to Norway. It's nice there...Anyways, here's Caden all bundled up before a walk around town. This kid is just beautiful! He gets it from his mother...Winter and mountains go well together...In this pic below you can get a great view of Cade's teeth. He has 4 molars now for a total of ten pearly whites!

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Caden Darrel Emerson

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When this little boy came into our lives on October 25th, 2005, our hearts grew. Today, our hearts are even bigger as our love for Caden grows every day.

Caden, you have been the biggest blessing to our family and we praise God for giving us the opportunity to be your parents. We love you, little guy!

* Chronological pictures of Caden with Mattie will now appear only one to two times a year.

Caden's "First" Halloween

Caden's real first Halloween was spent sleeping while mommy and daddy posed him for pictures. We didn't have a costume for him because we didn't think he would be here until November. Lucky for him, Gamma whipped up a cute bib for him to wear in place of a costume.

One year later, we have the cutest dragon you've ever seen. ;) Caden enjoyed trick-or-treating with all the kids here at the Centre and mommy and daddy continue to enjoy the treats from the evening.

Caden Experiences "La Dolce Vita"

We have been huge fans of Italy since our HUF and HUG days way back when, and Caden has now fallen in love with belle Italia as well. Brett's parents came to visit us in France, and we took 5 of their 12 days here to enjoy Florence and Rome.

Caden's first birthday was this past Wednesday, October 25th, and what better place to spend the big day than Florence?!?! Brett carted Caden all the way up Giotto's bell tower so the little guy could get a better view of Brunelleschi's dome. He stared at the architectural masterpiece for quite awhile, although he may have just been excited to be up so high in the sky :) As if the buildings, churches, and museums of Florence weren't enough, Caden also had his first taste of gelato! Like millions of others before him, he is hooked. He would have eaten all of the fragola in Florence if we had let him! For our trip into Florence, we drove our car into Scandicci and parked it for the day. We took bus 27 to the Santa Maria Novella stazione, and this was Caden's first bus ride ever. He enjoyed watching the traffic, holding onto the bright red bars, and flirting with all of the cute little old Italian ladies who were constantly tossing "Ciao, bambino bello!" in his direction... Rome was a little overwhleming for Caden; just too much to see and do! He really enjoyed riding in the open air double-decker your bus, and he even sat in his own seat (buckled in of course) like a big 1 year old boy. Rome is mostly old rocks, and Caden had a good time seeing a few!

Curious Caden's Birthday Party

We're leaving for Rome today with Brett's parents, but we knew everyone would want to see pictures from Caden's 1st birthday party. His actual birthday is Wednesday (25th) but we celebrated yesterday. We'll write more when we return. For now, enjoy!

Caden in the Nursery

We're beginning to think that Caden likes playing in the nursery more than playing with his own toys. But who can blame him with all the "cool" toys they have and all the great friends he has to play with.

He's learning lots of new things. He is learning to take turns...

...and how to slide down the slide (although he taught himself how to turn around to go feet first rather than head first).

Caden enjoys playing hide-n-seek with his friends. Notice in this picture that the other kids are looking on one side of the house for Caden while Caden has crawled through to the other side looking for them!
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Thank you to Corinne and Christiane for taking these pictures for us!

A Few of Caden's Favorites

We thought everyone would enjoy seeing what Caden enjoys doing at home...

1. Trying on new shoes

Caden enjoys trying on other people's shoes, but not on his feet, on his hands. So if you come to visit, keep a close eye on your shoes, because when you get ready to leave they might not be in the same place you left them.2. Making his own obstacle courses

O.K., so he doesn't really make them...he just seems to find them already made for him by the people who made the wooden chairs in our apartment. Caden could spend most of the day climbing through each chair.

3. Talking to his friends and family on Skype

Caden has seen his Mommy and Daddy talking to people with this headset and he was trying very hard to put it on himself. Mommy helped him figure it out and he just jabbered away. So he's ready if anyone wants to talk, just give us a call.