Not A Lot

This past week hasn’t been exciting, especially compared to the last month and a half (or more).  That isn’t completely accurate, D has had a busy week with something out of the ordinary going on almost every day: taking tickets at basketball games, meetings in Rapid City, a Ranchers’ Workshop, and a surprise Pheasants Forever meeting.  As for the girls and I, we are just trying to get back to a “normal” routine.  It has been a bit difficult because Bentley is starting to skip her morning nap.  Somehow that throws off my day.  Getting my chores done has been nonexistent.  I sure hope to find our new rhythm soon.

Here are some great pictures of the girls from the last week:

Bentley trying on Bria’s old boots.

 

Bentley in her Pajamas from her Birthday.  They are still a bit big, but she is adorable in them.  D insisted on getting them, they say “It’s pasture bedtime.”

Bentley taking care of her baby while snuggling under D’s new MN Vikings blanket that he received for Christmas.

Both girls snuggling under the blankets watching a cartoon one particularly cold morning.

From Sledding to Swimming

After getting home from D’s parents’ and repacking we headed out to the Hills to see our friends who were vacationing there. They rented a nice sized cabin in the mountains with enough room for all of us. We were only able to spend one full day out there because of other obligations back at home, but it was still really nice to see them again. They did come stay with us for a day too so they could do a little antelope hunting.

In the morning, after an early rise (5:15 am local time) and a good breakfast, we went out to a little hill on the property to sled. The weather was a lot warmer than it had been the previous few days at D’s parents. We didn’t need all the layers we had on. Bentley went sledding with D. I tried taking her down once, but we tipped the sled.

Bria went sledding with her friend K. She was so glad to be able to spend time with him again. They were really good friends before we moved, and they still talk about each other regularly.

After a good, grilled lunch we headed into RC to go to the water park. This was Bentley’s first time to go “swimming” in a pool bigger than the baby pool.

There were slides, a lazy river, a water playground, hot tub, and another pool area. The only thing the girls liked was the pool. D and I spent most of our time catching the girls as they jumped in off the side or helping them “swim” around the pool. Bria is figuring out how to move herself around the pool, and she has a lot of confidence with her floaties on. Bentley, after she got comfortable and warm, thought that she didn’t need the security of my arms anymore. It was very difficult to keep her from pushing right out of my arms. She is ready for the same type of floaties that Bria uses. The drive back to the cabin was extremely quiet. Both girls fell asleep in the car. We have never taken them into bed and just put them to sleep. We did have to get Bria in her PJs, at her request, but she still went right back to sleep.

Here are some pictures of the beautiful cabin we stayed in.

The Great Room, the kitchen and dining room are on the right.

Looking from the sitting area into the kitchen and dining room. On the right and up the stairs was a large master bedroom. Down the hall (by the fridge) was a large bathroom and 2 more bedrooms.

This was another living room off of the Great Room. They even had a pinball machine.

After a full day of activity and a good nights’ rest, we headed back home. D went to his meeting at work, the girls and I went to our church's kids club, and then our friends came to our house. The next morning the men went hunting. They were able to get three antelope and butcher them before supper. After a successful day of hunting our friends headed home. We have missed them greatly, and hope to have many more times of reconnecting.

Christmas with the Cousins

Again, I have not had time to update the blog in almost 2 weeks. Here is a late post from our Christmas celebrations.

When we do Christmas with D’s family it is a noisy houseful of kids having a good time. The kids don’t outnumber the adults quite yet.

All the kids tried to sit to get a picture with Grandma.

They were a lot less patient by the time it was Grandpa’s turn.

Bentley received a rocking horse that she loves. Even the oldest cousins thought they should get to ride it too.

Grandpa and Grandma converted one of the bedrooms into the kids’ room. Off to the left is a bunk bed, and on the floor to the right is another mattress. All the kids who are 3 and up got to stay together in the same room. They thought that was great and behaved very well. It helped that they were all exhausted by the time it was bed time. Here, D is reading them one of their bedtime stories. Almost all the parents stayed to hear the story too.

We celebrated Christmas over New Year’s, which was cold and snowy. Despite the weather, the kids and a few of the adults bundled up everyday to take the kids out to burn off some energy and have tractor rides (the highlight at Grandpa and Grandma’s house). The rides were especially fun because they were able to push and blow snow with the tractor. This was the first time Bentley had been out in the snow. She took a couple of sled rides with the cousins. When it was time to come in she let us know that she wasn’t ready. We have a couple of girls that really love to be outside, even in the most miserable cold.

Bria tried to climb up on the rail of the deck to jump into the snow, just like one of the older cousins. With her snowsuit on she couldn’t pull herself up. It was funny to watch her try. She did get some help from an uncle.

One of the highlights for me was getting to try out Grandma’s new snowshoes. I had never been snowshoeing before, but it was a lot of fun. Normally the cold would keep me inside, but once I got all bundled up and the snow stopped blowing I really enjoyed being out there. It helps that in the country they have a lot of places to explore, and if it was too windy I could walk along the trees (which completely blocked the wind).

After a long weekend away, we came back home for about 24 hours then headed out for our next adventure.

Small Christmas at Home

After we arrived home from Christmas with my parents, we gave the girls their gifts from us.  We usually only do one gift to each of them since they get so many gifts from everyone else.

Bentley opening her gift while Bria waits for her turn.

Bria taking her turn.  I think she was just putting on a show for the camera.

Bentley sucking from the straw of her new cup even though it is empty.

Christmas

Our family celebrated Christmas with J’s parents.  Mom’s house always feels Christmasy with all her snowmen throughout the entire house.  We actually sent the girls with my parents the Monday (after our church’s Christmas program) before Christmas so we could have a little time to ourselves.  Because of all the projects we had to work on, we didn’t get much time to relax.

Bentley enjoying one of the sugar cookies aunt D made and Bria helped frost.

Bentley trying to sneak up on one of the cats.  This is the mean cat that only likes my dad and brother.  The cat was ready to strike with Bentley being this close, but Bentley was oblivious.

Bentley among the stacks of presents at my parents’ house on Christmas morning.  It was a bit of a maze that she could have gotten lost in.

Here are all of the presents after they were distributed to everyone they belonged to.  The picture doesn’t come close to doing the piles justice.

Bentley giving grandma a hug.  That girl really loves both of her grandmas.  She didn’t want to let go of grandma.  Grandma loved every minute of it.

We didn’t get as many pictures of Bria this year because she always seemed to be running around.  Both girls really loved their gifts.  Of course, all of Bentley’s gifts also are Bria’s, according to Bria.

From Decorating Until Christmas

Here is a quick synopsis of what went on for the rest of the month of December: several work Christmas parties, bible studies,  bible study Christmas parties, Christmas program practices and the actual program, company visiting, caroling, a church Christmas party, a Men’s football night at our house, Christmas shopping (which ended up being mostly online), and I could go on.  Every day was busy with some type of activity.  There are only three days on our calendar that didn’t have something going on, but I think even a few of those ended up with another event.

It is fun to get together with people during this time of year, but sometimes all of the preparations can be a bit overwhelming.  We felt like the season went way to fast.  It is nice to just be able to sit and enjoy a lit Christmas tree from your couch, but we didn’t get much of that.  The lack of snow made it hard to believe it was actually Christmas.

Here is Bria out in the little bit of snow we did have.

Christmas Decorating

As you may have guessed, we actually decorated for Christmas quite a while back (around Thanksgiving).  By the time I actually had time to sit down and update the blog, our computer crashed.  Now it is time to catch up.

Our stockings, hung down the stairway, since the fireplace is in our bedroom.

Our Christmas tree with all of the ornaments.  We had to move the computer desk to a different part of the room in order to fit the tree.

I always love decorating for Christmas.  It makes the long dark days of winter a lot brighter.