Yee Haw Cowboy Luke!

The last couple weeks before we left to visit our family in NM, Luke really got in to horses and cows and insisted he needed cowboy boots and a cowboy hat. Parker and I surprised him one of the first nights there with his very own real cowboy hat and boots and from then on he became "Cowboy Luke" (actually, we're in that awkward third person stage right now so it's 'Towboy Wookie'). Each morning he'd get up and put his hat on and his boots on over his jammies and come out from his room ready to start the day.

We drove him by NMSU so he could see the horses and cows one afternoon but he was so upset that he couldn't ride any of them that he cried himself to sleep on the way home. Luckily Cindy and Justin Brown came to the rescue. They offered to let Luke ride horses out at Justin's parents' house. Justin's dad Steve was awesome and saddled up a horse for Luke, put him on a mini donkey, took him on a tractor ride and even gave him his very own cowboy rope. When he first sat on the horse he said "yee haw!" He was so happy! Luke got to play with Sophia too and they practiced lots of rodeo skills together. Thank you so much to the Brown family for making dreams come true that day!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We also went to the "jumpy place" in the mall. I'm not sure if it even has a name but it is pretty cool with several huge slides and bouncy obsticle courses. Luke wasn't the least bit frightened by how giant the slides were and climbed right up with all the other kids. Why wasn't that there when I was growing up?

 

 

 

Zoo Day!

At the very top of our agenda upon arriving in NM was going to the zoo. Luke loooooves animals and talks about them all day so we had promised him that we would see the lions, giraffes, zebras, etc. The El Paso Zoo is surprisingly nice and all the animals were out to greet us, except for the orangutan who was hiding under his burlap sack. We even got to see a little baby monkey who was busy swinging around...so cute! Thanks for going with us Papa!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Christmas 2011

This was the first year since Luke's been born that we weren't in NM for the holidays. For some reason I envisioned us staying home and having a nice, relaxing Christmas and although it was wonderful, there was nothing relaxing about it! I guess that's what happens when you have a lot of different family in one area--lots of celebrating at everyone's house. We had a great time but were exhausted by the end of Christmas day. I don't think Luke even finished opening his gifts until the 27th.

We spent Christmas Eve at our house with Parker's mom and grandma. I served them a traditional Christmas Eve dinner of enchiladas and beans and explained that that's how we roll in NM (even though I was missing tamales from Robertos). Luke got a really cool sleeping bed from Nana (Parker's mom) but like any good 2-year old, was more interested in the box.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We put out milk and cookies for Santa too and on Christmas morning, Luke walked right past the gifts to check on what had been eaten.

 

 

He was pretty excited about his Power Wheel and piano, but the big winner was the slinky he found in his stocking...yes the one from the $1 area at Target...I'm remembering this next year for sure.

 

 

 

 

Luke was also pretty thrilled with his new shoes from Grammy and Grampy...so much so that he had to take his jammies off right there to try them on. He likes shoes as much as his mama does!

 

 

Christmas was great and we are thankful for all the blessings the Lord has given us and are looking forward to all that He has in store for us in 2012. Happy New Year!