Imagine Christmas Wishes . . .

It's an Owen Christmas!



What's that? You want to see some Christmas-themed pictures of me, Owen Rimbo? Well, ok, but only because I'm feeling merry.

We set up our Christmas decorations a long time ago. My favorite part about Christmas is the tree. For the past month or so, I've been pointing at it saying "Tr-! Tr-!" My second favorite part? Reindeer antlers!



I opened some of my presents on Christmas Eve, before my Babu and Bibi and Aunt Debbie came to visit. Grandma Larson sent me a keyboard . . .


And Mommy and Daddy got me a guitar . . .


So I'm ready to start my own band. I also got a new bath towel, but Daddy was more interested in it than I was:


And that doesn't make noise, either. One of my favorite presents was a computer of my very own! So on Christmas morning I sat down and checked my email with Daddy.

Here's a video of me updating my Facebook status and busting a move.



On Christmas morning, we were ready for visitors. I was looking gooooood.



Before our guests arrived, I made sure I knew where all of the ornaments were, in case they asked.


But just when we were ready to have friends over, we realized that it had been snowing for three days straight! My Unkie Graham and Aunt Haley had to cancel their travel plans, so they came over to our house instead. Thank you, South Dakota, for closing your roads!

As you can see, we got outside to play in the snow and get our clothes wet. Daddy's cousin Eric came down from his farm to build us a snowman (Aunt Haley helped. It was her first snowman ever)!



It was cold outside, so we bundled up . . .


And Unkie Graham sledded down a hill with me on a shovel!




I was so excited that my family made it here safely from New York. We had a great Christmas, and I'll post some pictures of them once I find some . . .

For now, here's a montage of me trying to say "cheese" when people took pictures of me. It's harder than you think.








Success!! Merry Christmas!

Summer Fun (Belated) and A Few Firsts!

It's been awhile since we updated this blog, so we need to travel back in time....

Think back to sunny August 2009...
Justin went to a conference at our friend Jay's church in Columbus, so Rachel, Owen and I went to visit our friends Jessica and Dan, and their beautiful boys Lucas and Isaiah. At the time, Isaiah was just 5 weeks old! The boys had fun playing together, and us Mommies and Auntie Rachel loved catching up.
Here are a few pictures from our trip:

When we got back, my car needed a tune up, so we brought it up to our dealership in Milaca, MN, which is about an hour from our house. Sounds crazy, I know, but having a mechanic you trust is worth the drive. We went up as a family because the summer was waning, and we wanted to spend some time together. It was beautiful outside, so we played around the swing set. The owner, Mark, walks out of his office, notices we're playing, and says, "Why don't you take the golf cart and drive back to the pond?" It's what all car dealers and mechanics say to their clients, right? Actually, the dealership is on his land and they built this beautiful little pond a ways behind the garage. (I guess you've got to have something to keep you busy if you live in Milaca!) We borrowed their little golf cart to get back there, and went wading with Owen. He loved it!

Babu and Bibi were in town for Churchwide assembly in August, so we went to visit them at their hotel downtown.

When school starts, things get busy around the Rimbo house, and we take fewer and fewer pictures. However, there was a monumentous occasion in September- Owen started walking! If a picture is worth 1000 words, these must be worth 100,000!

Halloween is right around the corner, so I decided it would be memorable to carve Owen's first pumpkin. This didn't involve much forethought, because Justin wasn't around. So, I attempted to keep things neat by putting a garbage bag on the floor and taking Owen's shirt off. First we drew a face on the pumpkin together.

Next, Owen helped me scoop the guts out of the pumpkin. He liked to put the seeds into a tupperware container, then dump them out again. Good times.

Overall, we had lots of fun!

Pictures!

We recently did a photo shoot at the Minneapolis sculpture garden. Our photographer is very talented, and captured the spirit of the day. You can see some of them on her blog/website here.

Travelin' Man

Mommy, Daddy, and I got into our car at the beginning of July. All I know is that the car was full of more stuff than usual, and Mommy brought lots of snacks for me!

When the car finally stopped, we were at Grandpa and Grandma's house in Iowa. Plus, Aunt Christi, Uncle Brandon, and my cousins Jordyn and Kendall were there. They liked playing with me, and I thought they were hilarious!

We colored together, and Uncle Brandon didn't even mind if I ate the markers.

Daddy said it was the Fourth of July, so we went to a parade. We had front row seats!

In the end, I wasn't a big fan of the parade. It was too loud. Mom and I hung out in the car until it was over.

Pretty soon we were in the car again. We drove a long way, until we were at a place in the woods. Daddy said it was called Missouri, and that it was something called a family reunion. All I know is that I was getting antsy, and when we got out, there were LOTS of people. I thought I only had two cousins, but turns out Daddy has lots of cousins- and they're related to me too! Plus, Babu, Bibi, and Aunt Debbie drove all the way from New York, and I was very excited to see them.

My cousin Ella was giving me some pointers on my tennis game.

Then she and I read a book together. Turns out, there are a lot of dragons that are not mine, but I can always tell which one is mine because it has squashy wings.

Then someone found this big red balloon and I played with it. It was AWESOME.

There were water olympics for all of us kids, so Mommy thought it might be fun for me too. Aunt Debbie took me into the pool.

Turns out, I wasn't so keen on the pool. I prefer my water warmer.

Since it was almost my birthday again, Babu and Bibi and Aunt Debbie brought me some presents! I got lots of books and some toys.

I even got a funny book called "Yummy, Yucky" from my cousin Noah. It tells me what things are yummy to eat, and what things are yucky to eat. Here's Noah reading it to Babu and me.

Pretty soon the reunion was over, and we had to get in the car again. We stopped for lunch at one of my new favorite restaurants - Steak n' Shake. Babu and Bibi and Aunt Debbie came too. Steak n' Shake is one of my favorite restaurants, mostly because I look great in their hats.

After lunch, we drove all the way to Aunt Christi and Uncle Brandon's house. We went to Kendall's baseball game. I wore my Tigers hat because I love baseball!

Then we went to the zoo. I loved looking at all the animals, and there was even a bug house. Everyone knows that giant bugs are photo opportunities, so...

On Sunday, it was ACTUALLY my birthday. My Aunt Christi and Uncle Brandon were so excited that they invited Uncle Brandon's family over for a party! I've seen birthday cake a few times before, but I guess you don't REALLY know how to eat it until you really turn one year old. Observe:

Pretty soon it was time to get in the car AGAIN.

We picked up Uncle Graham and Aunt Haley at the airport, and started to drive Southeast.

When we got to North Carolina, we met our friends the Gamelins.

They are pretty great. I'd met Jay before, but I got to meet Tia, Abel, Roman, and JUDE! Jude is my age, and he's my new best friend.

When Jude and I rode in the same car, we would hold hands. My favorite part of being in North Carolina was playing with the Gamelins.

On a sad day at the end of the week, it was time to go home. We got back in the car, and drove to a big city with tall buildings. It was a windy city. Some nice guys let us stay in their apartment by a big lake, and then we were on our way home. By this time, I was starting to get a little antsy in the car, so I decided to keep busy by making some calls on my mom's phone.

It was a great vacation, but we were all glad to be home!