G-ma's 1st Visit to Our House!

G-ma was able to come to our house for a visit this week. It was our Christmas part 2. She brought 2 boxes full of toys and clothes. Something I really wanted to do while she was here was to make her famous cinnamon rolls so she could watch and give pointers. She was there to document every step like a proud mama.

Spreading butter on the rolled out dough after it had been rising for 2 hours:Sugar and Cinnamon:
Rolling it up:
Posing:

Cutting:

Putting rolls on pans:

Shaping the rolls:

Ready to rise:After they sat for 1 1/2 hours and now ready to bake:

Hot out of the oven:

Frosting:

With my taste testers:

Ta-da! Proud of myself, just a bit.

With the Master Baker:

Perfection:

Longtime family friends, Adam and Adrienne Hanselman, came over for dinner that night. The kids had fun playing together. Let's just say AJ may look more like Adrienne, but he is definitely Adam's son! But, no, nothing in the house was broken. :)

AJ shares Dylan's love for Lightning McQueen:

G-ma played and went to the park and Cabela's with Dylan on Saturday so Autrey and I could go to the Dallas Temple and out to dinner (thanks for the gift card, Desiree'). I'm embarrassed to say it's the 1st time we've been to that temple. We've wanted to go, but our schedule and finding a babysitter had prevented us thus far. Actually, I think it was our 1st date for just the 2 of us since we moved to Texas 1 1/2 years ago. It was very nice. When we got home G-ma gave Dylan his 1st haircut! He did very well and didn't cry. He wasn't a fan of the comb and scissors by his head and kept trying to push her hands away, but we were able to distract him with a sucker and his new Bob the Builder DVD.

Before, with his uneven mohawk watching Bob (excuse the greenish/yellowish hue. These are the 1st pictures taken with my new camera and we hadn't/haven't figured out the settings yet):

Resistance is futile, my son:After, mission complete! He looks so grown up now:
Lounging on the stairs Sunday morning. He is almost as long as the width of the stairs:
My little stud with his new haircut in his new suit G-ma brought before church:

A bunch of videos:

G-ma teaching Dylan how to sing/spell his name. He's singing, just very softly:


"Itsy Bitsy Spider" Variations Singing Part 1:

"Itsy Bitsy Spider" Variations Singing Part 2:

Reading "Santa's Noisy Night" with Dylan helping out:

Dylan singing "I am a Child of God" and "I Love to See the Temple":

Dylan singing "Take Me Out to the Ball Game." He did pretty good with all the video G-ma took, considering it was after church, he hadn't had a nap yet, and those jets were quite distracting. But we pushed through because Dylan doesn't perform for the camera when I record him by myself.

So glad you could come, G-ma! Miss you already!

Dylan's John Deere

Dylan liked his new battery powered backhoe loader while we were in New Mexico, but was wary about actually driving it. He still gets scared with some loud noises. But he did warm up to it and started to ride it in short spurts with Mimi and Papa after we drove back from NM and Amarillo.

Here are some clips of Dylan riding it:

Christmas at Nana's

All the Duke crew drove to Ruidoso, New Mexico to be with Nana. We did it because we love Nana. The 10 hour drive also taught me that I love portable DVD players, Bob the Builder, and Between the Lions - for sanity's sake. Thanks, G-ma and G-pa for that well-timed gift!! I do not support kids watching shows and playing video games for hours every day, but it sure was nice to have something to entertain a 2 year old who was trapped in a car seat. Actually, I'm pretty sure it was longer than 10 hours because of all the snow we hit... Anyway, we all made it on Christmas Eve. Here are the kids with Nana, except Gorilla Joe: In their cute pjs that night:Boys kissing Maggie. They ought to have kissed Santa. Santa was VERY good to them, and the rest of us: We definitely had a White Christmas. Needed 4-wheel drive just to get to the rental house. The kids loved the snow. Dylan loved to throw it, roll around in it, and play in it:
Tommy and Dylan both got battery powered John Deere backhoe loaders from Santa. Dylan liked it but wasn't so sure about the noise it made. Tommy, on the other hand, wasn't afraid to run you over. Right, Maggie? Haha:
Autrey pulled the boys down the road:
See my sweet new Tahoe Santa gave me? Never mind that Dylan still calls it Mimi's Truck, because it allegedly used to be hers.
Big boys throwing snowballs at the house. You make Mimi's shades look good, Papa!

All bundled up:

Building Dylan's 1st Snowman:

Video of Dylan playing around in the snow behind the rental house:



1st time sledding at a place in town Jared goes:

The 1st run was hazardous (aka Autrey steered them into a tree):

The next 2 videos are of runs that ended better:






We went to Alomogordo to the Toy Train Depot to ride on the little train:

Then we went to the little zoo next door:
We went to have old-time western pictures with the older kids. Turned out pretty cute:

Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and has a Happy New Year!