The giraffe was one of Payton's favorite animals at the Lazy 5 Ranch!!
We had a group of 30 friends and family with us! Everyone, including the adults, had a blast!
This place is CRAZY! You can drive through, and the animals barge into your car for food!
We decided on the wagon ride, which spared all our cars dings, dents, and scratches!
Obviously everyone had a great time, especially Payton!
Here Stonie is showing Payton how to feed the buffalo...Payton liked sticking her entire arm into the animal's mouths...YUCK!
Wally made a new friend...
Payton's favorite animal was the zebra. She still talks about the zebra all the time.
A true Tarheel in the making...making friends with the Rams!
Feeding a bigger giraffe with Daddy
The camel loved us....our food, anyway.
Julie and me
Missy, Baby Wes, Julie, and me
Missy and Me at Grandfather Winery...beautiful fall day in the mountains!
On the mountaintop of Sugar Mountain
My favorite past time...drinking wine
Handsome boys! Griffin (3 months) and Sam (2)
(3 months) and Wes (2 months) hanging out in the winery
The Topham and Kugler Gang on the Top of the World!
Payton playing outside at the winery
My little Tarheel!
She loves her dogs!
Look at all that attitude! Such a cutie!
Notice someone is missing? Let's just say Payton didn't "care" for Santa this year!!
So, we all joined in!
Payton helped me make peanut butter pie...I don't think she was having a bit of fun ;)
Payton LOVES her brother, and he LOVES his sissy...they like to make each other laugh!
Payton's Turkey "Tot Trot"...26.2 yard dash. She mostly walked and looked at all the people.
She was SO proud of her medal
Thanksgiving Day 2011
She still plays with her medal almost every day...hangs it on her baby doll's neck
Little G is getting SO big so fast...
Our cute little elephant, all clean and snuggly
Payton entertaining Griffin
Griffin and his Uncle JP
Griffin playing with his toys
I might be a little biased, but G is SO handsome!!
Griffin's first Christmas tree
Payton and Mommy on the train at the Piedmont Row Christmas Tree lighting
Auntie Cheryl, "Rae-Rae," and Payton on the train
Payton showing Raegan her snowman balloon
Daddy with Payton on the train
Griffin and Camryn
Watching the tree light up
The girls could NOT get enough of the train rides! Over, and over, and....over again!
And then Griffin wanted to go! ;)
Griffin (almost 4 months), Will (11 months), and Payton (20 months)
Griffin and baby Cameron (a neighbor's 4 week old son)...look at the difference in size!
Madi, Payton, and Cali...sweet girls!
The BEST present under the tree! Nothing else could top the birth of Griffin this year!!
Again...he's contorting his body to be able to see "his game." Oh Lord we're in trouble!
(Somehow the pictures got all out of order, so I apologize!!!)Again, it's been so busy around our household, and it's been hard for me to find time to get this blog updated! We've been to the mountains with the Tophams, visited Grandfather Winery and had a picnic with the kids; took the kids to Southpark Mall to sit on Santa's lap; Payton helped me make peanut butter pie for our Thanksgiving Feast; both Mommy and Daddy had a day home with the kids; on Thanksgiving morning I ran the 8K Turkey Trot and Payton ran her first race: the 26.2 yard tot trot; we had a wonderful Thanksgiving meal with the Tophams, Garmans, Tisdales, and McNeills, and all the kids had a great time playing; visited the Lazy 5 Animal Ranch with 30 of our closest friends, which Payton ABSOLUTELY loved; we picked out our Christmas tree, and Payton and I decorated it; then we met the Boughmans for the Piedmont Row Tree-Lighting Festival; Britt and Dan Collins cooked me an awesome seafood birthday dinner, and the next night they had a bunch of friends over for a Christmas feast; and I did a little photoshoot with each baby! Whew. That's it in a nutshell.
We're looking forward to the upcoming Christmas events and celebrations, and I'll try to get more organized with the next blog post...HA! The kids are both growing up so quickly. We've all managed to escape getting sick...thus far. Knock on wood! Griffin is so strong. He's rolling over, and is able to sit up, with a little support, and still sleeping through the night like a champ, with the occasional early morning wake-up for a bottle, then back to sleep...although he's not as good of a napper as Payton is. He's reaching for, and holding toys and rattles, and everything is going into his mouth. Payton had 2 teeth break through by his age, so we're wondering when his will pop through. His soaks his shirts with drool on most days. He's different than Payton in that he likes to get your attention...you have to talk to him, smile at him, and entertain. Payton was independent and could entertain herself. He really likes you in his face, and then he's just full of smiles! Payton is saying more and more, and forming her words into sentences. She has recently been impressing us with her knowledge of the alphabet. She can pick out, in random order, "d, l, m, o, p, q, s, x, and z" and maybe some others. She'll bring me the refrigerator magnets of the letters. She'll give me an "M" and say "momma." Then "D" and say "da-da." "Z" zebra. "P" Payton, and so forth. It's so neat to see what she actually knows. And she's starting to master texting on my iPhone. Now when I say "master" I mean she can get to the "abc's" in my text messages and type away...it's interesting to see what autocorrect does to her words. She sent a text to Uncle JP and Brit just yesterday, and I had no idea! She still LOVES to be the center of attention, and she's learning more and more expressions and her personality just keeps pouring out. Her biggest highlight has been trying to find her "Elf on the Shelf, " better known as "Elfie," each morning. She then tells him she's been a good girl before bed each night. She's obsessed with her friends Madi Collins, Sam Topham and Raegan Boughman, and talks about them all the time. She even wanted to name Elfie "Sam!"
As usual, enjoy all the many, many pictures :) and Merry Christmas to you all!
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