Merry Christmas!

What a busy, fun-filled holiday week!

We started off our extended celebration by having Daniel's family over for dinner on Christmas Eve. I had to work that morning, but we had a lot of fun getting everything ready for our Mexican-themed dinner of sour cream enchiladas and all the fixings. Dan and I had quite the assembly line going to make the enchiladas while Uncle Nathan was playing with Miss K. Once everyone arrived and had a full stomach, we had a lot of 'fun and games.' The guys played ping pong and Foosball upstairs while we decorated cookies and 'listened' to the Polar Express playing on the TV. I think we ended up with some pretty cute cookies!

Kenna wanted to be a part of the action in the kitchen so I put her in her high chair and let her watch. Somehow, she eventually ended up with a cookie on the tray. I guess I thought she would just play with it....but, she proved me wrong on that front!

Yummy, Yummy! She actually didn't eat all that much...just a few crumbs!

The Polar Express DVD that Mandy brought over also had a 3D version available. Some of the guys decided they needed to try out the glasses. I love this picture....all the adults with the glasses while the kids are just hanging out.Christmas morning came and there were several presents by the fireplace. Miss K seemed to really like all of her new clothes and toys.I loved the fact that she crawled straight to the red shirt that said Diva in rhinestones :)Her absolute FAVORITE toy of the whole Christmas season is her new learning table. She L-O-V-E-S this table. She gets sooo excited every time that she sees it and wants to lean on it and make noise. She has already started singing along (and dancing) with the music that plays. My next goal is to get a video of her playing....it is hilarious! She is getting better and better about standing next to it and tried to let go and stand on her own a few times today (didn't have the best results with that one).We left soon after to visit my grandmother in Snyder. It was fun to meet up with my family and let the girls hang out together. They are really starting to play together and interact more. Kenna was definitely ready to get out of the car seat and get down and play!She thought the boxes were a lot of fun.
We took the opportunity to take a picture with my grandmother, all of my cousins, and my cousins-in-law.

The day after Christmas we went to Muleshoe to celebrate (some more) with my family. Abbye had gotten a table like Miss K's, so Kenna made herself right at home from the very beginning. She got so excited and played so hard that she was almost sweating! We had to take all of her clothes off so that she could cool down.

Kenna is showing off her new hat/bow. I think it is a nice new look....hat/bow and diaper! :)

We gave both of the girls some iced Christmas cookies for lunch on Saturday. They had a blast licking the icing! And we wondered why Kenna wouldnt take much of a nap....(we only let her play for a few minutes, but apparently that was enough!)

We went to church with my family on Sunday before heading home. Kenna was the quite the entertainer for everyone sitting close enough to see her. Every time we started singing, she would dance and dance - with all four limbs! She was really getting into the music.

She did much better on the way home, which I was very grateful for! She even slept off and on for 3.5 of the 6.5 hour drive....not bad at all!

I am sure there are a lot more pictures from this weekend, but this is a good start! Be on the lookout for a video of Kenna playing....hopefully it will be coming soon.

Teething Blocks and other pics

The doctor I work for recently came to work with some teething blocks for Miss K. I had never heard of such a thing, but they are colorful blocks made out of a material that gives a little when you bite into it but is also hard enough to feel good to Kenna's teething gums. She LOVES them! She will always have one in her hand or her mouth, but will also keep a few around for safe keeping.

Showing off her pile of blocks.


Yummmm, these blocks taste good!

On Tuesday, Miss K and I got to spend the day at home together. We had a lot of fun and were wishing Daddy was home also. Kenna loves to sit in the exersaucer, hold the phone in her hand (I wonder where she gets that from?), and look at the Christmas tree lights.

Playing in the floor...she is getting to be such a big girl!

Tonight, Daniel and I are going to go out on a grown-up date while Kenna spends the night with her grandparents. I think we are all excited about it. We are going to go to the symphony, one of my favorite holiday traditions!

Ice Day

Because of the wintery weather, Kenna and I got to spend a very enjoyable day at home together! Of course just like the two previous times I have been home from work due to weather, Daniel is working. Not too long along, our office decided to follow the McKinney ISD school as far as weather closings. If they are worried about kids getting to and from school, then we probably don't need to be out on the roads either! Of course, I did go into work, change the message on the phone, put a sign on the door, and then pick up Miss K for our trip home. The roads around town were not too bad but out here by us they were VERY slick. I was glad Daniel left me the jeep! Kenna and I have had a lot of fun playing and watching movies. I took the opportunity to introduce her to chick flicks and we watched Made of Honor, cute movie! I have some pictures of her playing today but I need to charge the camera battery before I can get them all off. Maybe I will post those tomorrow.

Tomorrow will most likely be a busy, busy day but I have really loved the time home with my daughter. Too bad her daddy couldn't join us!

State Champs and Santa Claus

Kenna has now officially met Santa Claus!

My parents were in town this weekend for the big football game and we decided to take a little detour on the way to the game and take Miss K to meet Santa. Our "little detour" was actually a long, traffic filled trip to the Gaylord Texan in Grapevine. Traffic was a nightmare and it took almost an hour to get from the beginning of the driveway up to the parking garage. The big ICE! exhibit is there so they have LOTS and LOTS of people coming for the show. After a lot of running through the crowds and sneaking past 'Santa will return signs', Kenna got to see the guy in the big red suit. She thought he was very interesting and just kept staring at him and his beard. She even reached out and pulled on it a few times to see what it felt like. It was too cute and definitely worth all of the trouble!


The decorations inside the hotel are amazing and will definitely put you in the Christmas spirit. There are also a lot of places that would make great photo opportunities. I saw several kids running around in Christmas pjs and taking pics in the sleighs, with the reindeer, etc. I think this would be a great place to go if you could go on a weekday, or if you had the whole day to spend. Maybe next year!! :)

Then, last night, the Muleshoe Mules took on the Kirbyville Wildcats for the right to say they were the 2A State Champs. We took Kenna to her first football game and she absolutely loved it. I wasn't sure what she would think about all of the noise, and it was going to be way past her bedtime when the game was over, but we decided to give it a try. I was very glad the game was in Grand Prairie so that we could actually go.

Kenna started grinning the minute we walked into the stadium. She laughed and laughed at all of the noise and loved watching the guys run up and down the field. She was also excited to see her friend, Lanny, from Muleshoe. Lanny officiated at our wedding ceremony so I guess he had a say in her being around. :) She jumped and jumped in his arms as she watched the game.She didn't want to take her eyes off of the game long enough to take a picture...and you know how she loves the camera! She also got to spend some cuddle time with my Mom (who cannot decide for sure what she wants to be called by the grandkids....is it Mimzi or Mimi?).

It turned into a fairly nice night for a football game, but it was still a windy night in December, so Miss K got to show off her lovely toboggan. Doesn't she look cute with her ears all covered up?

In the end, the game was just a little too long and filled with too much excitement for our little princess. We changed her into her warm pajamas and she cuddled up with Pa for the last half of the fourth quarter. I don't think she ever really went to sleep, but she loved laying her head on his chest and just resting. She crashed in the car on the way home and then went right to sleep when we put her in her own bed.

Final Score - Muleshoe 48, Kirbyville 26....Go Mules!!

The game was pretty close until the beginning of the fourth quarter when Muleshoe just pulled away. It was very exciting and I am very proud of those guys....they did great!

Rise Ye Men...

I am a proud graduate of Muleshoe High School. And, while I loved cheering on the guys who played football, no one can say that they were that great. While I was a varsity cheerleader, our football team went 1-19. What can I say...they were not the biggest boys in the country!

Muleshoe's current coach began his tenure my senior year and was responsible for that one win that we were able to achieve. When my brother was a senior, the boys went all the way to the state semi-finals before losing at Texas Stadium. It was so much fun to watch and yell for a good Muleshoe team!

This weekend we will have the opportunity to do the same when the undefeated Muleshoe Mules take on the Kirbyville Wildcats at the Gopher Bowl in Grand Prairie, TX for the State Championship. I am very excited that the game is close enough that we can take Miss K to her first high school football game to cheer on her mother's home town team. It should be a lot of fun and I am hoping that the Mules will come away with a big win!

Thinking about going to the game, made me go dig through the pictures of my senior year to find some of me cheering even when we were not having a great outcome! :) Thanks to Mrs. Wrinkle and the senior scrapbook she made everyone create for a test grade every 6 weeks, I had plenty to choose from. I am not the best at the scanning stuff, so I apologize for the poor quality, but I thought they were fun to look at anyway.

Friday afternoon pep rally

Me and my sis after a pep rally or game...who knows which!

Doing stunts...I'm on the bottom middle holding up the girl above my head...
you can only see my right side


Friday Night Lights

Hopefully I will have some fun, victorious, pictures from our adventure on Saturday...I will keep you posted!

Pictures by the tree

In the last post, I promised picture of Abbye and Kenna by the tree last weekend. Since our Christmas party is in a few hours and we are revealing Secret Santa names, I can finally post!

My mom had some Santa overalls made for the girls and they are absolutely adorable! I LOVE them. Of course, Miss K has decided she likes to gnaw on the end of her long sleeves instead of a teether so we will see what happens to the cute red cuffs!

Happy Kenna Happy Abbye

Both girls under the tree...I really need to get some more presents under my tree!

I love this one...Kenna likes to flap her arms like she is flying when she gets excited. I am fairly certain that is what she is doing here...Abbye is just looking at her like she is crazy!

Next time I put Kenna in this outfit, I will have to take pictures of the back...too cute!

Next goal: pictures with Santa!

Thanksgiving Weekend

What a wonderful holiday weekend! Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays....actually, it runs a pretty close race with Christmas.

We started off the holiday weekend by taking a family portrait with all of Daniel's family. The last family picture was before there were any significant others and kids so it was really neat to get to make an updated pic! Chris and Hannah were in from California and Joel, Sarah, and Jackson were down from Arkansas so it was the perfect time to get together. It was a pretty hot, crowded place when you put in 20 adults and 4 babies, but I think it actually turned out pretty well!
We also took the opportunity to take a picture of our little fam...Miss K was giving her new, closed mouth grin!

I absolutely love the two pictures we took of Kenna by herself...the problem is that I can't decide which one I like better!

Some of you will probably see these pictures again soon... :)

Thanksgiving day, we spent the day with the Boyds. It was wonderful to get to celebrate the holiday in their new home! The boys played football (real, tackle football, but without any pads) while all of the womenfolk were in the kitchen putting the finishing touches on the meal. I love how we put all the table together so that everyone can sit together. It is a wonderful way to fellowship. Someday in the future we will have to have a kids table, though.

The kids had a great time playing together. Luke, JD, and Kenna were having a blast together. It won't be long before Jackson will be joining in.

Mercy and Grandpa helping to entertain the babies.

Kenna especially enjoyed the hardwood floors. We would make her a spot on the rug or on a blanket and she would immediately move over to the floor. She figured out how to slide along the floor with minimal effort. She could get to wherever she wanted to go pretty quickly. My favorite was when she decided to use her belly as a pivot and started turning herself in circles. It was too funny!

Friday, the whole gang came over to watch the Arkansas/LSU game, which was quite exciting.

My sister and her family and my parents got into town on Friday night. The ladies left the babies with the guys on Saturday and went to do some Christmas shopping in Canton. We had a blast! It was crowded because of being a holiday weekend before Christmas, but we were there from open to close (well, 30 minutes before close) and would have stayed a lot longer if they would have let us! I knocked out a lot of my Christmas shopping this weekend! I think the guys had fun just hanging out at home, playing with the babies. For some reason, they really weren't excited about joining us in Canton. :)

We took some great pictures of Abbye and Kenna together in front of the tree. They were all decked out in their Christmas overalls, but I just realized that all of my secret santa presents for work are wrapped under the tree! It would be really easy for everyone else to figure out who has who if they were to see the pics. I will post them next week after we have our office Christmas party....

Hope everyone else had a wonderful Thanksgiving Holiday! Now the countdown to Christmas is officially on!