Happy Birthday Zane!

Just wanted to share some photos from Mr. Zane's first foray into the big world of SWEETS! yesterday! If he's anything like his dear ol' dad, though, it won't become an obsession. ;)

Cousins . . .

This photo makes me smile and warms my heart. Here's to many more family gatherings where these 5 girls laugh and love this much!



Matching Dresses & Hats, Courtesy of Deb. ;) Thanks! :)

Christmas in Oklahoma

We had a late Christmas with our Oklahoma family this year, but it was still lots of fun! I made Pioneer Woman's Drip Beef (OH.SO.GOOD.) for the gathering at my mom's, and Josh & Carolyn made a yummy spiral ham for a gathering at their house. YUMM.

Here are some photos from both days:

Christmas in Ohio

See, what'd I tell ya? Another Christmas post! Although I think this will be the last one for tonight . . . stay tuned for one more tomorrow!

We were seriously nervous about a 14+hour drive with Mollie after our last drive with her. However, she's a LOT older now, plane tickets are REALLY expensive, and Decemeber weather in Ohio is VERY unpredictable, so we decided to press our luck. We planned to drive halfway the first day, spend the night at a hotel, let the girls run around and swim, then drive the rest of the way the next day. Well, thanks to the weather, we had to leave early and decided to do it all in one day. Great decision! No, seriously, I'm not kidding! Mollie was almost as good a traveler as Natalie! It went so well and we made such good time that we decided to do the same thing on the way back - and it was even better!

We had a fun time visiting family in Ohio. The girls have SO much fun together now, it's ridiculous. They spent a lot of time playing pretend, and it was adorable. At one point, Aubrey was Santa and all the other girls were taking turns sitting on her knee and telling her what they wanted for Christmas. :) For the most part, they love Mollie and think everything she does is cute . . . but then there are times when they don't want her messing up their stuff and she gets yelled at. It's par for the course. I'd say for 5 little girls, they get along amazingly well! They just better look out for Caleb! That little cutie is going to give them a run for their money, I'm sure. And then another boy (Levi?) is on the way, due in March!! Exciting stuff!

Lisa hosted the Rank Christmas party this year. I have to say a good time was had by all! :)

The cousins, minus Kara & Elizabeth who had to leave early for another party.








Christmas morning at Mammy & Pappy's. Love the kiddos in their matching PJs! :)




This CRACKS me up. Mollie's "EEEEEEZE!" face:

The One Where We Host Our First Thanksgiving

There are more photos here than just Thanksgiving, specifically a couple from the day before and a couple from the day after (and then a few from a few days later), but I'm behind in my blogging (as usual), so I'll just put them all here. :)

We had a wonnnnnnderful Thanksgiving, and it was SO awesome to host in our new home that we are in love with! Brad did his first turkey, and it was a great success!

Here are some photos that I was able to snap here and there in between making and then eating the yummy food! :)

Pre-turkey pic :) My Loves!


Our fancy table! ;) :)


Well, what can I say about this photo? ;) It's Kim. :) Love you!


Brad's first turkey! YUM!


The kiddos playing with Oma in the new playroom


Mollie was obsessed with graham crackers!


LOOOOOOVE these of Gram and Zane!






Josh & Mr. Gavin


MMMMMMmmmmm.....


More MMMMMMmmmm.....


The FAM!


The FAM from the other direction :)


Sweet Zane


Day after Thanksgiving . . . attempting to decorate the tree (of course, we had lots of issues with burned-out lights that thwarted our plans)


Too cute! She is not sleeping, she's "reading" to herself. ;)


So, Monday I planned on taking pictures of the girls all day long and doing a big post . . . here's Nat right after she woke up.


Then helping me make breakfast while Mollie snoozes


Mollie wakes up . . . not too happy :(


And they stop there because Mollie was insanely fussy, we ended up going to the doctor, finding out she has a persistent double ear infection - #7 - (meaning she never got rid of the one she had 10 days ago), so we now have an appointment to see the ENT for her, and most probably she'll be getting tubes SOON. *Sigh* Hoping it's a GOOD thing!