A Cajun Thanksgiving

We travelled again for Thanksgiving… this year we were back in Louisiana. We stayed at Mom’s and ate TOO MUCH yummy food.

 

Noah wanted to help Sweetie cook – he knows that yams are part of his heritage! :)

 

 

The weather was SOOOOO nice that we spent most of our time outside. I was excited to smush this little face.

 

 

Aunt Holly had the same idea – and she went for two at once!

 

 

Gracie couldn’t let the boys steal all of the snuggles, so she did her best to make her rounds and entertain us all!

 

 

My little yeti brother was the official turkey fryer. I guess the beard increases his wisdom and skills, because he did an amazing job. That turkey was DEE-LICIOUS!

 

 

Turkey frying must be really hard, too, because he had to take a nap afterwards.

 

 

Michael decided that that was enough rest for one day, so he stole his Daddy’s hat.

 

 

Paw Paw came over to spend the day and sample the goodies.

 

 

He promised to come back the next day to boil us some seafood! YAY!

 

 

And boil he did. YUMMM! I got my fill of shrimp and crabs and I was in heaven!

 

 

Unfortunately, I had to share with this guy.

 

 

While Paw Paw was cooking, the boys played some football.

 

 

Go long!

 

 

Noah decided he was done…

 

 

because Aunt Holly had PIE! It was finger licking good, apparently!

 

 

The kids crashed at the end of the day, except for Noah, who spent some time curating his social media.

 

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I was looking through pictures after we got home and I remembered that another little boy wore the same shirt for Thanksgiving back in 2007.

 

I knew I recognized those cheeks from somewhere!

Happy Thanksgiving, Everyone! Gobble, Gobble!

Christmas Card Photo Shoot

I decided to pass on getting pictures taken of the kids/family at Christmas this year… it would have just been one more thing to try to organize. Instead, I dug through their closets and tried to find somewhat coordinating outfits and that’s what they wore on Thanksgiving Day. Before the day got too crazy, I took them out to Mom’s front porch and snapped a few pictures.

 

They’re not professional photos, but they were a lot less stressful and I think they’ll do for our annual Christmas card!

 

Before I took all three kids out there, I asked Niki to take one of just me and Gracie to show off our matching ruffle shirts. :)

 

 

I love this giggly little girl!

 

 

Then Niki asked if I could get a picture of her and Nicholas. I laughed SOOOO hard at those two nuts. They spent at least two minutes straight trying to decide where to put their arms. They looked like they were wrestling and I couldn’t hold the camera straight because I was cracking up.

 

 

They finally settled on this, thank goodness, because I was about to pee my pants.

 

 

After frick and frack were through, I rounded up my three monkeys. They gave me a few sweet poses. They also gave me quite a few outtakes. I think the outtakes are my favorites!

 

 

Someone or something shifty caught Noah’s attention!

 

 

The smooch was 100% unscripted Gracie! Love it!

 

These cute faces inspire me! I can’t wait to get to work on our Christmas cards!

Keyes, OK

Brian’s grandma, Esther “Becky” Barrick passed away this past week. She was a great lady. She was very smart and generous and she had a deep faith that came from years of walking with the Lord and studying His word. I am most grateful for this legacy that has been passed on to her sons and her grandsons and now her great grandchildren! We are sad that she’s no longer with us, but we know she is right where she wants to be – in heaven with Jesus and her husband, Neil.

 

Grandma Barrick has been living near Wayne & Diane the past few years, but she & Neil farmed and raised their family in Keyes, OK. We traveled to the pan handle for her services this weekend. In spite of the circumstances, it was nice to show the kids where their Granddad grew up. The Arthaud family hosted us for the weekend (they were neighbors of Neil & Becky and they continue to farm their land near the home where Wayne & John lived). Ben & Grace loved touring their farm and climbing up on all of the equipment – especially the big combine!









After Grandma’s services, we had a pot luck lunch at the church with family and many friends from the area. It was nice to see Neil’s brother, Keith, and his family as well as Uncle John & Aunt Mary who came in from Denver. My little social butterflies enjoyed meeting everyone there… Noah even tried to go home with one of the ladies.

 







I was trying to convince Noah to stay in our family instead of running away.

 

This picture of Wayne & Diane & the kids is a new favorite!





On our way out of town, Brian took us by the old house that his Grandma & Grandpa lived in. He said he remembers the red fence and wind mill, but that there used to be a big barn beside the house that has been torn down.



 



 

I really enjoyed meeting Grandma & Grandpa’s friends and seeing where Wayne & John grew up. It was nice to be able to experience this piece of Barrick history first hand. Grandma will be missed, but her testimony is still alive and well and I pray that it will continue to be passed down to many more Barrick generations!

Aggie Play Date

Seth was out of town on a hunting trip, so we invited Melissa & the Sullivan kiddos over to each lunch and watch the Aggie game. The kids played and played and played. At one point Ben was conducting a stretching class for the entire crew (thanks, gymnastics). Since they were all together, I grabbed a quick picture!



 

I have no idea why Noah is wearing orange on game day. Shame on us!

Trick-or-Treat!

Halloween night was a little crazy this year because Brian had to work. :(

 

Thankfully, our sweet Mary & Lauren came over and took the kids for a trip around the block. They said that Noah was the star of the show and everyone thought that they were a precious little coordinated group!





Happy Halloween!

Haven’t you always dreamed of a self-cleaning baby?

 

Me, too. It took us three kids to finally figure it out, but I think we’re on to something.

 

But seriously, this is Noah’s new favorite thing. It cracks him up.

 

It cracks us up, too.

 

 

Princesses & Super Heroes

Noah & Grace had a Princess & Super Hero party at their school today.

 

Gracie had quite the selection of dresses to pick from.

She decided on Snow White.

 

 

Noah doesn’t have any Super Hero clothes (not even a t-shirt). I could have made him a cape, but I was a teeny bit over my sewing machine at the moment because of this.

 

What to do, what to do? Oh, we’ll just put him in Ben’s Spiderman outfit and roll up the sleeves & legs. That’ll do it.

 

 

The muscles crack me up. Go get ‘em, Spidey!

 

 

It looks like he has a crime fighting partner in Snow. Solidarity.