Christmas Morning

We had a great Christmas.  We had a few presents that were mislabeled (I’ll chalk it up to pregnancy/no thyroid/Nielson brain) but I don’t think I accidentally threw any presents away this year (so far).

Dallie’s favorite present was Elsa.

Dallie made gifts for everyone in the family.  Kache was confused by his.

Riggin hasn’t been feeling so great nor getting enough sleep this week, so it took him a while to get excited about opening presents.

Our funniest gift this year was snow gloves from Grandma Nielson.  Maybe it’s a sign that we’ll need them sometime soon.

Everyone got helmets this year to go along with the gifts Santa brought them.  Riggin has had his on most of the day, whether he was riding or not.

The boys were concerned when they unwrapped boxes of diapers and wipes, but were then confused when they got helmets, boots and motorcycle pads. 

Dallie got a bedroom makeover.  Santa brought her a day bed (and doll house) so we got her new bedding, curtains and fun pillows.

The boys in their riding gear.  They thought it must be for their bikes because they opened all their presents and there wasn’t anything under tree from Santa. 

But they all found notes in their stockings from Santa explaining that he left their presents in the garage because they wouldn’t fit under the tree.

Dallie’s doll house and day bed.

The boys both got motorcycles (our garage already smells like a snowmobile shop).

And Riggin got a 4-wheeler that he didn’t want a thing to with until later in the day.

The boys caught on quick and were riding pretty well by the end of the day.  We’re just waiting for the first wreck.

The Triangle Ranch

My parents are on a service mission on the Triangle Ranch in Paducah, Texas.  We are so excited to have family living within driving distance from us.  It took two days to get to the Triangle, but it was worth it!  My dad is grading roads on the ranch and will be grubbing (digging out mesquite one tree at a time) after the grading is finished.  My mom does service at the elementary school, sews and does family history.  We were able to visit them over our Thanksgiving holiday.  We saw the Vivian Cemetery located on the ranch. 

We trespassed in someone’s bone yard. 

We visited an old stone house.

And what we think might have been a corral.

That part of Texas is hard country.  It’s very rocky, every plant has a thorn, every critter is poisonous.  But it is so isolated and so few people.  It was really nice to be there. 

Setting the table for Thanksgiving dinner.  We ate in the office at the huge table.

Grandpa showed us some of the roads he’s been grading.  This hill was super steep and really rough for this prego.

We are glad that Grandma and Grandpa are serving on the Triangle and that we were able to visit them.

Duck Commander

Also along the route to Texas was Monroe, Louisiana where the Duck Dynasty is.  We had to stop in and take a few pictures.  

USS Alabama

On our way to visit Grandma and Grandpa Nielson in Texas, we drove through Mobile, Alabama and were excited to see the USS Alabama docked in the bay.  We wished we would have had half a day to board it and the submarine USS Drum.  They had lots of cool war planes and tanks.

USS Drum.

Kache’s favorite plane, the SR71 Blackbird.  It’s the fastest air-breathing plane in the world (or so Kache tells me). 

Yes, Riggin does have on 2 different shoes.  Somehow we left the house without a matching pair and didn’t realize it until our first rest stop.

The USS Alabama.  It was so cool.

Field Trip to Wild Florida

One of Dallie’s field trips this year was to Wild Florida. 

The air boat we rode on was huge and

I was surprised she would hold it, but I’m glad she did.