Happy 2014!

Happy New Year Friends and Family! I hope you all had a wonderful holiday and your new year is starting off just right! We are all doing great! After a short, but much needed trip back to the States, we are settled back into daily life here in Turkey.

It was nice to be back in the USA after being gone for a year. It was nice to drive down the highway, and no other cars, buses, scooters, horse and buggies, or man pulled carts were trying to share the lane with us. There was also very little honking. I had almost forgotten that driving could actually be a peaceful experience. Of course, it was also great making the rounds and getting to hang out with our families.


This was Brennan's first Christmas in Indiana. He had a blast!


He was apparently a very good boy in 2013, because Santa found him at Grandma Brenda's house, and also left him a letter saying there were presents under the tree back in Turkey, too.


Santa was smart and left the lightsabers in Turkey!


Unfortunately, we did have to leave this little beauty back in Indiana with her parents. And who is this darling girl, you ask? Introducing Miss Paisley Elizabeth, our new grand daughter! We are over-the-top excited! She was born back in early December, and I do believe she was everyone's best Christmas present. :)


The happy parents. :)


Four generations.


I know, it's hard to stand the cuteness! Congratulations Shanny and Logan!

And one more today, just because I had to...

Tammy and Jason. This is Jason's cousin, Tammy, who also has the distinction of being one of the blog's biggest fans! We don't get to see her very often (like in over ten years), but our trips to Indiana overlapped this time, and it was great to see her! I warned her that pictures on my camera were fair game for blogging, so I totally had to follow through with that, right!?

Happy 2014!

Fun With Daddy

It's almost Father's Day. (Just FYI, honey - you will love your gift.) And looking through the ton of pictures that I need to edit on my computer, I think it's the perfect time for a Daddy filled post.

Here are some of the things that have been happening these days.

Nerf Battles
This just spontaneously happens in our house.


Brennan thinks he's being sneaky.


But Daddy is pretty fast.


Brennan always thinks the best place to be, is the one Jason just left.



And then before you know it, chairs are sideways on the floor, there are darts stuck everywhere, and the dog has decided the best thing to do would be to hide in the laundry room.

Fun.

Our Camping Trip in the Living Room
Brennan has been wanting to go camping. So instead hauling everything out and trying to find someplace to camp around here, we decided to do a test run in the living Room.


Setting up the tent.


He was only a little excited.


Jason is not a big fan of s'mores (I know, not normal, right?) But he always helps make them with us anyway.


S'mores on the grill. We really need to get a fire pit. :)


Sweet man.


Time for some snuggling.


And book reading. A camping book, of course.


One perk of camping inside - the view from the tent!


He should be sleeping, but he's still too excited.

Eventually, he did fall asleep. We did too, after having to refill the air mattress, and realizing that sleeping on the floor when you have a perfectly fine bed upstairs, is not all that great.


The next morning. (We all survived!) He thought we should keep the tent up all the time. Uh, sorry, no.



The Dirty Dash

A little fun in the mud.


After.


And then after being hosed off.


We be Pirates! (and Princesses!)


We had fun dressing up for a party a few weeks back.


Showin' Some Love


He ♥'s his daddy.


Me too.
xoxo,

And Then He Was Five

Brennan's fifth birthday was last week. Um, I have a five-year-old! Wow, where does the time go?

Of course, he was all kinds of excited. He is very proud of being five. Not that he's not also looking toward the future. Actually, I think he's got his 6th-10th birthdays already planned, haha. He's got goals, you see. This past summer he got to hang out with his cousins while we were in Indiana. He found a buddy in his cousin Matthew. Matthew was 10 at the time, and to Brennan that is his ultimate goal. To be a big kid, and be 10 like Matthew. :) I'm just glad time doesn't fly by quite as fast as he wants it to!

Brennan is still all about Spiderman, so we had a Spiderman filled birthday.



I even hobbled around and made a Spidey cake.


Time to open presents!

These Magformers are awesome. We have played with them every day since he opened them up.







The birthday hat. Ha!


Can't have a birthday without balloons!




The birthday boy with his cake.

Please ignore the black run on the front of the cake. Turkey runs on 220v electricity. We can use our 110v appliances here with step down transformers, BUT the hertz are different, so things like mixers, hair clippers, fans, and digital clocks run too fast. So, no low speed on my mixer makes it hard not to overmix icing. It was still tasty though. :)

Five candles.


Make a wish!








I like how he had to stop and watch the smoke from the first one he blew out.




Still mesmerized.


Alright. Time to get down to business.


Fist clenched in determination!


Another breath.




He did it! But, of course, I don't have a picture of that. :P


Happy Birthday, Little Man! We love you so much!!


XOXO,

Fishing Buddies

A couple weeks back Brennan got to go fishing for the very first time!

First things first, though. Papaw had to give Brennan some lessons on how to cast. Brennan was very dedicated, he practiced almost every day after his first lesson.




DAY ONE
Ready to fish!




This was one of the very few 3 minute spurts that Brennan was still and fishing.


The rest of the time, I got to fish and he more interested in treasure hunting, throwing rocks, playing in the water, or just being goofy.


DAY TWO
No fish yesterday, so we're all ready to try again today.




Back to exploring.


We moved to the other side of the lake.

Brennan was oblivious to the steep bank. I think Nana and I both have a few more gray hairs. Next time I think we might tie him to a chair. Ha ha.


This face: "Mom, this is taking forever. The fish are all on vacation! Can we go now? This is taking forever! I want to go back to the truck."


Checking out Papaw's tackle box.


Finally, a bite!


The catch of the day!


I think the wait was worth it. :)