I made a 24 hour trip to New Orleans/Baton Rouge(much, much thanks to Katie Finley:)) to see my baby brother graduate in civil engineering from LSU! Unbelievable!! Stephen(but I like to call him Poon) has served the Lord throughout college and I can't wait to see what the Lord has for his(and Blythe's) future!

Poon and his gf

Mom, Mikayla, and me cheesing it up
My mom, dad, maw-maw, and paw-paw(Mom, you crack me up...you saw Lyn with the camera)

Stephen being silly...which is not unusual

She Loves Playing Mary and baby Jesus!

Jumpin'

Please pardon the lack of quality of the pics. I took them with my trusty phone and wish I would have had my camera. We went to an indoor jump arena with some of the Lucas' kids(there are 5 total, but only 4 came) and I had a blast. Yes, me(the girls did too, of course). I didn't know the adults could join in the fun but I was worse than a child. Here's a few pics...
Montana on the mega-slide(my fav)
Mo jumpin

Playing

Ouch!

I walked into Montana's room and found this on the floor! I asked her what happened and she said, "Look, I still have lots of hair." So, I now believe the ouching when I brush her hair may not be as painful as she makes it sound!

Back to the Doc...

Doesn't look too sick, huh?
Let me outta here!!!

But, with our Christmas clothes on(jumpers made by Grandma)! Montana started telling us her ears hurt on Saturday evening, poor thing! We found out today that they are both infected...again, and she's back on antibiotics. Here they are waiting on the doc...

Christmas Girls

I'm enjoying the seasonal outfits!
These shirts say "elf in training"...i love it!
Sage is learning the Minnie pose already

The ornaments are soooo fun to play with...

Sage watches sis very close at all times

And decides she will join in!

2nd Advent: PEACE

God is so faithful! Our dear friends, The Finleys, started an advent gathering last year to gather families(with lots of little ones) and celebrate Jesus! It has been such a special time and I know a blessing to each family! We missed last week because we were traveling back home, but the Barki's had a crowd tonight as we sang, read scripture, and shared about God's peace in our lives! We attempted to get a pic of all the kiddos on the couch...
Setting up

Take 1

Take 2

Take 3

A Snowy Morning!

We woke up to a beautiful snow-kissed morning and the last of the snow flurries! What a treat!!

Random shot of the girls in more Christmas attire!
Across the street...isn't it lovely?
A memorable morning

Earrings/Outfits

Blake met me at the pediatrician's office yesterday so we could ensure Sage's ears were okay after a few people told us they thought her ears were bothering her. Her ears were fine so Blake asked Dr. Levin if he would pierce them. So, we walked out with earrings! We thought they may bother her since she's a bit older than Montana was when her's were pierced, but she hasn't played with them once! And they are adorable if I do say so myself!!


And, I have a few Christmas outfits I've bought or made and want to share as they wear them!

The big sis...baby model kept running away!



Earrings:)

What a kid!

This little boy is Brandon. He is 3 and we get together often so he and Montana can play. He also has a 1 year old little sister. But, last night at our family CMMA(Christian Medical Ministry of Alabama) gathering, he sang so sweetly as Blake lead us in song. He has the dearest parents who are teaching him how to love Jesus just like they do. It was just so precious and a moment I won't forget!

Thanksgiving 09

We had a great visit with the Booths and the Putnams who traveled from North Carolina to spend the weekend with us! We ate delicious food, much thanks to Grandma!! We had a new sister-in-law this year too...and that was lots of fun! Blake, Montana, and I also went to the LSU game and won...even in overtime...what a crazy football team!

The lovely table

Breland, about 5 minutes after finishing his plate
Momo is playing cards and looks up to no good;)

Sage and the Thanksgiving tree

We will have a new cousin soon!

Playnight

We had Caden and Micah over earlier this week so their mommy and daddy could go to dinner. Our children are the same ages and they played and played so well together!!!

In the Spirit!

We are going on 2 weeks of having our tree up so this may be old news, but I wanted to post a pic. I love being in the "spirit of Christmas" and getting together with friends and family for THE reason we live! And it gets more exciting to have these little girls to share the love of the season, and reason, with:)...

Our tree and stockings

Blake skillfully watching football and playing ring-around-the-rosey

....and they all fall down...Sage is enjoying this game now that she can walk

We crack ourselves up sometimes!

This is a really funny picture to me but you may not think so. This morning was quite chilly in Bham and our porch/sewing/Tonto(dog)/movie/exercise room is not heated. So, Montana requested to watch a movie(101 Dalmations) and we had to bundle her up to sit in this room. My sister often tells me that I crack myself up and this may be a perfect example!!!

Good Manners:)

We had a playday at church on Thursday and Montana learned about how to have good manners and why! It was such a cute idea put on by our preschool director...although Montana did come home imitating the bad example, which she showed before demonstrating the "good manners". I think she thought Mrs. Brooke was funny when she was having bad manners. Hopefully she didn't think it was impressive;)

Singing a song about manners

Having a mini-Thanksgiving meal and using good manners

We played on the playground afterward. This isn't completely random. Sage LOVES sliding these days.

Look at those good manners...ha!

Where's my penny?

We just got back from the zoo with the Barki's and here's a funny pic of Montana and Brandon trying to get their pennies they watched go into the hole!

And...Sage is WALKING

Well hello...I forgot to mention that Sage is walking!!!! It was official last week, and I took this video but failed to blog accordingly. Since this video she has had 3 bloody lips and now has a nice knot in the middle of her forehead!!!

p.s. please excuse the extreme darkness of the video:)

the bright side:)

Well, last week started off rocky as the second round of antibiotics were started for Montana's double ear infection. She was grumpy to say the least, BUT after a few days on them it was so obvious that she was feeling some relief(praise you, Lord). So, I'm documenting the return of smiles toward the end of last week when I took these pics. And hopefully the ears will be all clear at the follow up appointment!

They were lovin' on each other
silly

so silly
kinda silly
okay, i'll smile and not be silly
love it!
yes???

can't get much cuter!!