Christmas at the Ranch

Our Christmas cuties on Christmas eve before heading to church.

the boys on the ranch!

Ellie with Grandma Texas

The beautiful Christmas decorations at the ranch!

Jack in the "sea" of presents.

We had a great Christmas at the ranch! We were able to spend the whole week between Christmas and New Year's there. It was so good spending time during that week with Michael & Barbara. Even though they live in San Antonio, we do not see them often enough! Ellie enjoyed her first ride and picnic out on the ranch, and of course, Jack loved running around the ranch, throwing rocks, duck hunting with daddy & grandpa and spending time with Grandma & Grandpa Texas.

Christmas in Indiana

Me with Gretchen & Max.

Ellie enjoying Grandpa Indiana's cozy arms.

Jack & Gretchen had such a great time at the Children's museum. They especially loved going down the slide. It was fun watching them play together this visit. I think they really enjoyed each others company! The other day when we skyped with them, Gretchen was trying to figure out how to get Jack to her house to play. It was too cute!

Jack & Rachel playing in the snow and braving the cold temperatures!

We had a wonderful visit to Indiana the week before Christmas. Ellie did great on her first airplane ride and slept the whole time both coming and going. Yea! Jack loved playing in the snow and was pleased that Grandma Indiana had carrots for the nose and blueberries for the eyes of the snowman. I need to get the picture off my phone of the snowman with all of his accessories pieces! =) He also enjoyed making snow angels!

I am so sad I did not get any pictures of Jack with the Brenner cousins. They drove down from Chicago, and we were able to spend some great time with them. Even though Jack came down with a tummy bug, he at least had one good day to play with his cousins. He really looks up to his cousin Luke, and loved learning how to build with legos with Joe & Luke. And, of course, loved playing cars with David on the putt putt mat in the basement.

Fall pictures

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving at the ranch! Jack loved going hunting with Grandpa Texas, Daddy and Baylor!

Happy Halloween from Lightning McQueen!

Halloween Buddies!

Good times with Grandma Texas! Jack loved carving pumpkins with her.

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

A great time with Grandma & Grandpa Indiana! We were so thankful for their help when Baby Ellie arrived!

The proud big brother!

Portraits-Jack 3 yrs, Ellie newborn

Eleanor Kenley Malone

Eleanor Kenley Malone was born on October 1st at 8:41am weighing 7 pounds, 11 oz and 18.5 inches long. We feel so blessed to have such a healthy, beautiful baby girl! When we first saw her, the first thing we noticed was her nose. It was pressed flat against her face, and Ryan and I decided that she looked like a Navajo Indian Princess, taking after her great-grandmother Trujillo. During her first few weeks of life, she made the cutest squeaking sounds, and we always joked that we needed to get an oil can for her. Jack is proud to be a big brother, and it is so sweet to hear him talk to her in a soft, high-pitched voice. It was so special to have both Grandma and Grandpa Texas and Indiana there for Eleanor's arrival. They were such a huge help! We are finally getting adjusted, and I am now finding time to blog about the past few months.