A Cousin Tea Party

 

A few weekends ago we had very special visitors in our house. My sister's family stopped through on their way from California to Florida. While the little sisters were sleeping, Bethany and I had a tea party for Ellanora and Ruby Kay. The enjoyed orange juice in their tea cups, and practiced eating daintily with their cookies and fruit. These girls quite enjoy having tea parties and their Mama's enjoy spoiling them!

Making Sticky Rice

A few weeks ago my little helper learned how to make stick rice with me. Ruby Kay loves to help me in the kitchen, and is always ready to stir, pour, and whatever else I need help with. Even though she is young, I can see parts of her personality shining through. She is gentle and kind, and I cannot wait to see the woman she will become one day.

On a side note, Stick Rice is really easy to make. You soak the rice for hours before you add them to a steamer basket. It pairs well with Rotisserie chicken and Som Tam, which is one of my most missed dishes from Thailand.

Snow Day in Stillwater

The day after we came home from Winter Conference, we were greeted by a light snow dusting in the morning. Ruby Kay was so excited to run outside and make a snow angel and throw snow balls at her Daddy. Kennedy was a little less excited, mostly because of all the layers we clothed her in. Our little michelin man toddled around taking a few steps, tripping, and then trying to stand back up. Ruby Kay fared well in the snow despite her lack of real snow clothes. Here in Oklahoma we don't see snow too often, so we haven't invested in good snow clothes yet.

The rest of the day we enjoyed staying warm inside, and a yummy white chicken chili. It has been so nice to recover after our busy time in Texas.

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.

Summer Days

I forever want to remember the shape of her sweet little lips.

As the summer draws to an end, the temperature feels like we are just beginning. The days have jumped from hot to humid to even hotter. With my troop of an adventerous three year old and a still small eight month old, we enjoy frequent trips to the park, splash pad, and the backyard plastic pool. Even in these days where a quick errand takes twenty minutes just to get out the door, we all love to get out of the house and enjoy being outside. These two girls require a lot of care and patience, but boy are they worth every second of it.