the mercantile

Over our Christmas Break, we took a mini-road trip to Pawkuska, OK to visit the Pioneer Woman's Mercantile store. We had a great time together as a family, and enjoyed the great shopping and food. There were a lot of people at the store, and so our original plan to eat at the restaurant changed to eating in the upstairs bakery. 

We did have to wait in lines a few times during the day. This girl was a champ, and we let her play some games on our last line to get food at the bakery. Here she is with the phone on her shoes. She is such a funny girl.

On our way back to the car, we saw this sign and had to take a picture. I posted this picture on my instagram with this caption,

kennedy is now a little over a year old, and at my favorite baby age. she is walking everywhere, giving slobbery kisses when requested, babbling new words here and there, and her little personality is really starting to shine through. life is so much fun with her in it!"

Sisters and Best Friends.

An Afternoon at the Park

For Christmas this year I finally got the camera lense that has been on my wishlist for years. It's a 35mm portrait lense, and I am so thankful for it. One warmer afternoon this week, Ben and I took the girls to the park and brought my camera. It has been fun learning how to shoot manually, but I still could use a lot of help and practice.

Our Christmas

For Christmas this year we enjoyed our first holiday in our home as a family of four. When plans changed with my family's christmas get together, we decided to stay home in Stillwater. Our little family really enjoyed celebrating together, and especially starting new tradition. Ruby Kay at age really understood Christmas, and it was special for Ben and I to blend our childhood traditions to begin ones for our family. Highlights of this year were our Church's Christmas Eve service, reading the Christmas story in pajamas by the fire, leaving homemade cookies, milk, and carrots for Santa and his reindeer, stockings and presents in the morning, and making a big Christmas Meal for dinner.

Ft. Worth Stockyards

For our Thanksgiving break this year we visited Ben's brother, Daniel in Texas. We spent the day in Fort Worth Stockyards, where their family had visited on a past vacation. We enjoyed a good Barbeque lunch and afterwards we explored the downtown area besides the stockyards.

It's always a treat to enjoy Dublin Dr. Pepper when in Texas.

Family Pictures

 

 

Our family lucked out when one of our students agreed to take our pictures this year for the Holidays. Megan Mitchell is a Sophomore at OSU enjoys taking pictures while being a full-time student. She did a great job with our pictures, and it was so hard to choose a favorite. I know we will look back on this time with so much fondness for our sweet, tiny girls.