Louisiana, Christmas, and Family Time - Part 3

A little late on this post, but I still find the events note-worthy.

While we were in Louisiana, Brent and his dad jumped at the chance to help Angie out with a project.  They used a couple power saws to remove the obnoxious cupboards dividing the kitchen from the rest of the house.  They don't look quite as annoying here because the bottom half have already been removed.  Taking them down really opened up the house.

This is how the girls felt about the project and the way it interfered with their show.

For Christmas the girls got sun catchers in their stockings.  Painting them was a perfect afternoon craft activity on one of the following days.

The long-awaited day finally arrived....we were off to ride the horses!  It was all Tylie could talk about when she found out she was going to ride them, and the rain had delayed it longer than planned.  Here they are hanging out with Brennon's dad, Tony, while Angie and Brennon got the horses ready to ride.

These two pictures crack me up...those girls are two peas in a pod!

Chilling with daddy while they wait.

When Tylie first got on the horse, it freaked out because it was too close to the fence.  Luckily, Tylie was completely unaware that the horse was upset.  She was just enjoying the ride.  I think it scared Angie more than Tylie!

A couple of very happy girls.  I'm sure they walked away thinking we need to get them a pony---not going to happen for a very long time!

Brent taking his turn.  The only one in the whole group who didn't get to ride....?  Me!  Apparently pregnancy impedes on more aspects of life than I originally realized.

After dad and Bonnie had gone back to Idaho, there was a quiet day that just Brent, me, and the girls had some time to spend together.  We decided to use it wandering around the state park up the street from us.
One of the first things we saw when we got into the park was this little group of deer, so we sat and enjoyed them for a while.

With all three of my girls...

Tylie and Kaelisse just couldn't bear to save all that popcorn for the ducks we planned to see.  They snacked on it the whole time they watched the squirrels run around.

Checking out the water.

Pouting defiantly like only a trained three-year-old knows how.  I'm sure we asked her to step one inch to the left, or something equally inconvenient...

My FAVORITE face, and I can't believe I caught it on camera!!  Man, this little girl is expressive.  This is the face she puts on when she uses the word "yucky."

Kaelisse was highly entertained by sweet Quigley while we were there, and she played with (tortured?) him constantly.  She also spent a lot of time laying snuggled up with him on his doggy bed.  I really do think he enjoyed the company.  He probably had flashbacks, however, because I think we have an exact replica picture from two summers ago with Tylie in the cage.  

What a fantastic trip!  Hope we get to do it again sometime soon...it's so nice to spend the holidays with family!

Introducing...

Makiyah Josie Duke

Born February 7, 2013

8 lbs. 4 oz. - 19.5 in.

Louisiana, Christmas, and Family Time - Part 2

Our Christmas ended up being a bit nontraditional   Because of work schedules and other variables, we decided not to do the typical "Christmas Morning" excitement. So...here's how it all went down for us:

Christmas Eve the girls got a present with new pajamas in it, and slept in those.  Then, on Christmas morning we let them celebrate a little by opening some of the gifts from family.  The rest of us just sat around and watched, happy to let them enjoy the magic.  After all, Christmas morning is most magical simply because of the little children who look forward to it so much!

The rest of our Christmas festivities would be put on hold until later that evening.  So, we spent the day playing with a few new Christmas toys....

...snuggling up on the couch and watching movies...

...decorating sugar cookies so that Santa wouldn't be disappointed...

...and setting the scene.  When everyone was finally around, and we had finished eating dinner, we put cookies and milk out for Santa Claus.

Then the men in the family took the girls out for a nice evening walk.  While they were gone, and the women blinked for a little too long, Santa must have stopped by!  He took care of stockings...

...and left a lot of surprises under the tree.  Looks like a spoiling!

The girls came home and they were excited to see that Santa had been there (although disappointed that they had missed seeing him).  They looked around for a few minutes, then jumped right in to the fun stuff.

Although it's hard to tell from the pictures, the rest of the family also enjoyed a lot of wonderful new gifts and fun celebration time....I just didn't take many photos of that.  :(

In all honesty, we were all pretty much spoiled rotten (especially Tylie and Kaelisse, who are incredibly loved little girls)!  We're thankful for the fun we had, the gifts we received, and mostly the family that we got to spend it with.  Holidays are so much better when you get to spend them with the ones you love!

Louisiana, Christmas, and Family Time - Part 1

We were very excited to spend this Christmas season with Brent's side of the family in Louisiana.  Brennon and Angie just had a baby, and Christmas was the perfect time and excuse to go see the little guy.  Luckily, Brent and I both had a long chunk of time off of work, and we were able to spend an entire week and a half hanging with everyone.  Here are some highlights from the first part of our trip.

Tylie and Kaelisse enjoyed sitting at the window when the dogs were outside and watching them run around.  I love watching them have these sister moments when nobody else seems to be important and they carry on long conversation and entertain each other.

The highlight of the trip for the girls (sorry family) was the visit to the horse barn.  The girls talked about seeing the horses for a month before, and they are still talking about it.  The first visit to the barn, we only looked and pet...

Climbing on the fences

 Chilling with Uncle Brennon

 Daddy teaching Kae the ropes

 With Daddy and Grandpa (or Grandpy, as we ended up calling him)

 Getting a closer look

I love how much Kae loves her daddy.  She has truly been a daddy's girl for the last few weeks or so, and I love that he's willing to let her drag him around a little bit.

This picture makes me smile so much.  I like the way Tylie is looking up at her Uncle Brennon with so much admiration.  She seriously adores that guy!

 Kaelisse cracking us up while she enjoyed her first corn on the cob.  She seriously dug into it and ate 2-3 cobs of the stuff.

 The huge rocking chairs were Kae's favorite place to sit.  She seemed so proud every time she was able to climb into them herself...which she got pretty good at.

Tylie hanging out with her Aunt Bonnie.  It was so great that Grandpy and Bonnie could make the trip and spend time with all of us.  The girls don't get to see them enough!

We missed having DJ and Karenna in the mix, but they were busy getting ready to bring their own little one into the world.