Monday, December 17, 2012

Christmas #2 (and sickness #3)

This last weekend was another fun filled one :)  We traveled to Council Grove to see my dad's side of the family and celebrate Christmas together.  It has been a long time since my dad had been in the states for Christmas, so it was fun to be with him and everyone else!  We spent the weekend eating, playing games, eating some more, and just being together.  It was a lot of fun :)

On a side note, Dawson is sick...again :(  He has a pretty bad cold.  Stuffy nose, cough, no sleep, etc.  Praying he gets over this soon.  However, he was a very good boy this weekend, even though he didn't feel the best!

Opening his gifts :)

I think he was more interested in the paper, than the gift at first :)

"Hey, what's in here?!?"

Grandma sporting her new Christmas pjs :)  We wanted to get a picture of her and Dawson, since their pjs matched...but he was already in bed!

Holden loving on Dawson!!

Game time!!

Playing marbles...probably one of the best games around!

Dawson was having trouble sleeping, since his nose was all clogged, so this is him getting in on games at about midnight.  I guess he didn't want to miss out on the fun!

Goofy Milo :)


Dawson liked the puppy!

Dawson with his Great Grandma :)


I meant to get a picture of ALL of us when we sat down for Christmas lunch, but of course, I forgot.  So here is the after picture...we are missing a few!

Great Grandpa and Grandma...Dawson was tired, so we were having trouble getting a good one.  (Sorry your eyes are closed in this one grandma!)
 We had a really good time with everyone and miss them all already!  This week we will be trying to get Dawson back to good health and celebrating one of my best friends weddings this weekend!  We are really excited for her!  After the wedding, we will be home for a few days!  We are going to be home on Christmas day, which is really fun for us!  We are excited to start our own family traditions!  Christmas afternoon we will head to Kingman and spend Christmas with Brandon's family.  Then we will head to Abilene for Christmas with mine.  I will keep you posted with how that all goes!!  Merry Christmas everyone!  May you be reminded of our wonderful Lord and Savior this time of year and have a fabulous time with friends and family :)

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Christmas Christmas Time is Here!!


Merry Christmas everyone!!  As you can tell, Dawson is super excited about celebrating his first Christmas!  Here are some of the things Dawson has been up to so far during this Christmas season :)

Opening his first Christmas gift of the season from aunt Ky!

Holiday parade!

Dawson was wondering why we had him outside in the cold so late at night!

Helping dad put up the lights!

"I want to climb on that ladder again!"

Just chilling on the roof with mommy :)

We didn't decorate for Christmas last year because I was big and preggo and we didn't feel like going to all the work.  This year however, since we have Dawson to celebrate Christmas with, we figured we better decorate!  Here is a pic of our house from the outside at night!  My hubby (with Dawson's help) did such a good job :)  


Brandon wants to add more light each year, so I am excited to see what it will look like in the coming years :)


Dawson loves looking (and playing with) the tree!

"Please get this hat off of my head..I am NOT santa!"

He loves to pull on the ornaments!

Haha...this one just makes me smile!

He liked the candy cane :)

Where did he go?!?

Dawson getting ready to pull this ornament off and eat it!


Some of our Christmas decor!  I mainly had to post this pic to show Brandon's new tv (I finally caved and let him get one!) and our new tv stand :)  I have to admit, I do like the new set up :)


I saw this idea for a centerpiece on Pinterest...it does look nice on our table :)

Our tree!

Our Christmas stockings hung over our first fire of the season :)
Dawson and daddy staying warm by the fire!
I saw this idea on Pinterest as well.  We took our tomato cage from the garden, turned it upside down and added lights to it!  A cheap outdoor Christmas decoration!  It looks really good from a distance!


I know this isn't Christmas related, but Dawson also got to attend his first ever K-State tailgate a few weeks ago :)  He loves KSU already and liked hanging out with his friend Taytum!

 




Monday, December 10, 2012

Let the Christmas Celebrations Begin!

This last weekend we traveled to Missouri to visit my mom's side of the family :)  It is one of four Christmas's that we will be celebrating this year!  It was a quick trip, but we had a really good time seeing everyone!  I was worried about traveling during the day with Dawson (we normally travel at night while he sleeps!), but he did great!  I think it helped having a car full of people to entertain him! Here are pictures from the trip :)


Playing with grandma's toy kitchen!

-
Hanging out with Aunt Ky and Lucas
-
Dawson can fly :)
Playing with cousins!!
 
Dawson liked the piano!

Present time :)

Dawson and Noah....they will be good buds once Dawson gets a little bigger!


More cousin time :)

Great Grandpa and Grandma :)


Dawson with his Great Aunt Karena & Uncle Nick and second cousins Kaylee and Noah!

Loving on Great Great Grandpa :)

 We waited until the last minute to get pictures with everyone (which is why most people are still in their pjs!), so we are missing photos of Dawson with his Great Uncle Kevin & Aunt Penny and Great Great Uncle Galen & Aunt Marsha.  We will have to be sure to get pictures with them next time!  As always, we wish the visit could have been longer, but we are thankful for the time we had!  Now, on to our next Christmas celebration next weekend! 

Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Pumpkin Bread with Streusel Topping

I found this recipe for pumpkin bread in a really old magazine that I had and decided to try it out yesterday.  I tweaked the recipe a bit and added a streusel topping to it.  Let me tell you, this is now my new go to pumpkin bread recipe :)  Here is the recipe if you want to try it out! (Note: This recipe is also really easy to cut in half and make just one loaf of bread, which is what I did, but it is already almost gone, so I should have made two loafs!)


Pumpkin Bread with Streusel Topping 
(Makes two loaves)

Ingredients:

Bread-
  •  2 cups canned pumpkin
  • 3 cups sugar
  • 1 cup water
  • 1 cup vegetable oil
  • 4 eggs
  • 3 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 2 teaspoons cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
  • 3/4 teaspoon ground cloves
Streusel Topping-
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup chopped nuts (pecans, walnuts,etc.)
  • 2 teaspoons cinnamon
  • 1/4 cup butter, melted
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In a large mixing bowl, combine the pumpkin, sugar, water, vegetable oil, and eggs.  Beat until well mixed.

Measure the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, baking powder, nutmeg, and ground cloves into a separate bowl, then stir until combined.  Slowly add the dry ingredients to the pumpkin mixture, beating until smooth.

Grease two 9x5 inch loaf pans and dust them with flour.  Evenly divide the batter between them.

To make the streusel: In a medium bowl, mix the sugar, flour, and cinnamon together until thoroughly combined. Stir in the nuts. Drizzle the melted butter over the mixture and stir. Do not break up the clumps too much.  Divide the streusel evenly between the pans, sprinkling it over the top of the bread batter to cover it completely.

Bake for 60 to 70 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.  Serve plain, with butter, or with a cream cheese spread :)

Tuesday, December 4, 2012

First step!

Today marks the day that our little man is officially growing up!  Dawson took his first step today over lunch while daddy and mommy were both watching :)  Such a sweet little guy to wait until we were both around to take his first step!  Dawson was pretty proud of himself and took a couple other steps on his own, but it was almost nap time, so he tuckered out fast.  Here are a few pictures of Dawson on this special day!  He even dressed up a little for the occasion :)