Thanksgiving in Mississippi

We flew down to Mississippi and spent Thanksgiving with Tj's family. Let me start by saying I married into THE best family. They are so loving and welcoming. We brought my little brother Bretton with us and they treated him like he was part of the family! Raelinn grew up sooooo much in those 9 days we spent there, which breaks my heart, but I am so glad we were there for Tj's family to witness all of her many firsts! 

 Raelinn ate her first graham cracker on the way to Vegas!! I really just started feeding her food a few days before we left so she had a lot of firsts with food, and loved all of it!! 





Vegas airport! We ALWAYS get lost there....both times we have flown to Mississippi we have parked on the opposite side we are flying out of, so we have to catch a bus that will take us to our right terminal. It's so frustrating! But, we made it and caught out flight. 

Rae's first time on a plane, and she did AMAZING!

 Bretton has flown before, but he was little and doesn't really remember so he enjoyed the flights!

 We had a layover in Denver, CO. Neither Tj or Bretton (and obviously Raelinn) had been to Colorado before! There's a first for everything!

We had some nice guys sitting next to us at the airport take this picture. While we were talking with them they told us they were the Commodores! Flying to New Orleans for a gig that weekend. Look them up, then you'll know exactly who they are! Pretty cool, and of course we didn't snap a picture with them.

It was such a relief finally being in Mississippi. Raelinn was in Heaven, she just loved PawPaw and MawMaw. I'm so glad she is not super clingy to Tj and I just for his family's sake. She did not need a second to warm up to any of them. I was so grateful considering this was the first time she's ever met the majority of them.



Tj's dad made Bretton show everybody his armpit farting talent!

Raelinn and Aunt Merl

This man......honestly I have the most handsome husband!!

This boy....haha

I love this picture of my Father-in-law. It captures his personality. He is always laughing and telling jokes. :) A trait he passed on to my husband!

I seriously love southern food. You can find the silliest things to eat down South! 

Chicken on a stick. Looooooove these

Raelinn loves her Uncle Ronnie

 

 

Big Bertha!! (Ronnie's African Bull Frog)

We went out to a hibachi grill with Ronnie and Tab, and met up Jason and Brittany and the girls!

I have found a new love for sushi...yum! I made Bretton eat it too haha he ate it....but he wasn't too fond of it!

Raelinn meeting her cousins Jadyn and Jacie and Aunt Brittany for the first time.

Raelinn meeting Kenny Ray

 

We left the baby with MawMaw and PawPaw and went to New Orleans!!

 

Bretton on Bourbon street

I love all of the old buildings in New Orleans

Bretton loved taking Tommy's shotgun out to the woods! He saw a few cool animals and got a couple birds!! Unfortunately it was cold and rainy the whole time we were there so the hunting wasn't too good. :(

Rae's first time really holding her bottle!! (On the trip my milk starting drying up...so I started supplementing her with organic cows milk. Thank goodness she took to it well!)

Jason took Tj and Bretton out on his oyster boat one day! They had to leave really early in the morning, and it was a cold/rainy day! Poor Bretton passed out in the living room when they got home! We fried up the oysters that afternoon! Fresh oysters....yum!!

 

Tj broke them all open out in the yard. One was even starting a pearl!

 

 They say pictures are worth a thousand words.......

 

Maw Maw's girls

 Every morning, Paw Paw would come and grab Raelinn when she would wake up. They would go out and sit in his chair. It was such a sweet sight. She sure loves him!

 Rae sure loved Uncle Bubba!!

 Her first time meeting Nanny Shirley. She lives up the road from Tommy and Trisha. She made a pretty blanket for Rae!

Thanksgiving Day was wonderful!! A lot of family came over and we had soooo much yummy food to eat!

The last couple days there were so nice visiting family. Tj and I went out and watched his friend sing at a bar the last night. It was so nice leaving the baby with my in-laws and spending time together.

Bretton spent the last two nights with Ronnie and Tab! Him and Ronnie went out and did a ton of hunting (of course he loved that!!). We went and looked at their new house and were absolutely in love. The south is so pretty...I could seriously live there!

The day we flew home, Rae turned 8 months old!!!

 Coming home was so exhausting. Raelinn was fussy on the flight...Tj was grumpy...I was grumpy.

 This was us...lost in the Houston airport.

I love visiting down south! But, I am always grateful to see the lights of Las Vegas. As Dorothy would say, "There's no place like home!" :)

This and that

Yes she is nursing here...7 1/2 months and still going strong! She started playing with her hair while she nurses....or trying to play with mine. It is seriously so sweet. 

Love silly moments with my husband.....

Tj took Rae and I put to eat Mexican food one night. He is such a caring husband. 

Tj and I had our first night out without the baby. The Mizpah had a 106 year birthday so we left the baby with Auntie Jessica and had a few hours out! Although I missed the baby, I am totally a firm believer of going on dates, just the two of us, and spending quality time together as a couple. Here is uncle Dean and I dancing the night away! :) 

Simple blessings

I lay here in bed listening to my husband breathe, the baby sucking her fingers in her crib. I feel the warmth of our dogs at the foot of the bed. I am so grateful for these simple, yet great blessings. Things I normally take for granted I am feeling extremely grateful for right now. I am so glad I am blessed with the knowledge of eternal families. So blessed that Tj and I have participated in those sacred ordinances to seal our family and bind us together forever. We are getting ready to leave for Mississippi for 9 days to visit Tj's family for thanksgiving. As always, prepping for a vacation is utter chaos. These last two weeks.....trying to fit clients in, get/keep the house clean.....I feel as if I have let life get away from me, and I hate that feeling! I am so far from an organized, "on top of it" type person, but I never let my days run together, or my simple blessings in life go unrecognized like I have these past few weeks. My husband means the world to me. Without him I would not be the person I am today. I had never felt this peace, security, and love, at least to this degree, until I met him. He completes me and will be my companion throughout the eternities. I am so grateful for this perfect life my Heavenly Father has blessed me with. Being a mother to the most perfect baby, and wife to the best husband has truly fulfilled everything I've wanted to do in life. Here's to these wonderful blessings! And the simple ones that come along with them. Even as simple as listening to them breathe.....which contrary is the greatest blessing of all! 

Halloween!!

Raelinn and I woke up early to do AshLynne's makeup for school! She was a gypsy :) Then we went and had breakfast with my parents, uncle Danny and aunt Carrie, and Lane! I had to work a little bit that morning, and my parents went out wood cutting. I went and picked the boys up from school. We ate pizza, carved pumpkins and listened to Halloween music. Tj got home from work and he turned Bretton into a zombie. The baby fell asleep so I just put her in her car seat rather than waking her up and putting her costume on. We drove around and got the kids lots of candy. Raelinn slept peacefully in her car seat the whole time. We dropped the kids off to mom and dad and came home and watched scary movies and roasted pumpkin seeds. (They turned out delicious! It was such a fabulous day. I'm sad it's over :( but now the count down begins for Thanksgiving in Mississippi!!!

We have a scooter....

It is November 10th. Raelinn is 7 months and 10 days old, and just scooted across  our living room floor. I know she has been getting around for about the past month, but this is the first time she went from one end to the other to get a toy and didn't stop to roll around and play. I am so heart broken...and proud. Very proud. We are SO blessed to have this beautiful baby in our home. She has such a sweet spirit and her personality is shining through more and more every day!! 

 

Halloween candy galore

With Halloween here we let Raelinn "eat" (really taste) candy! Hahaha she made such a mess with the sucker, and she only had it for about 40 seconds! She LOVED the tootsie rolls! We would just let her suck on one for a minute, but it was so cute!! I just love her so much :)

 

Our 1st annual church Halloween party

Raelinn trying on Tj's Fred Flinstone wig! We had to facetime with Trisha and Tommy so they could see how funny she looked!!! It was hilarious! She was just staring at us like we were crazy....but we were laughing so so so hard. :)

About two months ago I was called to be the 2nd counselor in the primary presidency at church. I really love my calling. The 3 of us girls planned an awesome Halloween party and invited the community. We had everybody bring a pot of chili and cupcakes for the cupcake walk. Jess and I had planned to dress up and decided to order Flinstone costumes for all of us!! :) Tj was not too pleased about it, but further into the night I think he started to like his costume! (Ha! I wish!) I made the baby a pebbles tutu and had Aunt Carrie make a bone to make into a headband. She looked so darn cute!! In only a couple days my baby will be 7 months old :( it breaks my heart. But I must say, these past 7 months have been amazing. She has brought Tj and I closer than I ever thought we could be, and has made our hearts grow 10 times bigger!! Halloween is only a couple days away! I can't wait to dress her up and take her to a few houses. (Family members...I think it would be weird to take her trick-or-treating when she can't even eat candy!) :)