Thanksgiving in Kentucky

Our girl enjoying all of her Thanksgiving Meal

I actually told Ruby NOT to smile in this picture.  I think her Uncle John is teaching her bad picture taking habits :)

This is more like her normal pose when I take a picture

The table...yummy food made by Brian's Mom

Of course the girls started the day out with some swinging time.  

Ruby loves to push her sister on the swing.

This year Grandpa and Grandma Laffin bought Ruby her own big girl swing

Lake Time

Last weekend we got to spend some great time with my brother Joe and his family. We had a wonderful time going out on Racoon Lake in central Indiana. Here are some highlights (Photos by my brother and sister in law)

Lauren enjoying a swim

Ruby was so happy all day to be on a boat and to be with her cousins

Sweet Logan was all smiles too

Zachary and Joe on the wave runner

Zach trying to so some "cool tricks cool tricks" (Yo Gabba Gabba anyone?)

This baby girl was all tuckered out!

Brian and Telia got to drive for awhile

We all love the lake!!! We will certainly do this again!

His and Hers

A weekend away

I spent last weekend in Atlanta with my old friends Julie and Missy. We had a wonderful time together. It felt like no time had passed and yet we were all so different than we were 15 years ago. It was great to catch up with these lovely ladies!

We woke up every morning to this lovely view of Midtown.

We had fun at a local brewery tasting lots of types of beer.

My favorite Sweetwater Beer was the Sch'Wheat Beer

We enjoyed a lot of coffee

And a lot of good conversation

We ate well...really really well. This is eggs benedict with braised short ribs and hash browns at Serpas brunch

We got to enjoy lots of beautiful flowers thanks to the warmer weather in the south

I am super thankful for a husband who didn't complain about me being away for 3 nights and took great care of our girls.

Happy (late) Birthday!

Ruby turned 3 years old on the 8th! We were in Cincinnati checking out the sites on her actual birthday. Believe it or not we forgot our camera and still haven't found it. Therefore, we have no pictures of anything that we did. bummer.


Ruby got to celebrate with her friend Nora (whose birthday was on the 4th) by getting dressed up and eating at The Old Spaghetti Factory. She also celebrated with a few other friends and family this past weekend. We opted for no big parties this year and instead just made a cake at Mamaw and Papaw's house and gave her a few presents. Here she is with her Cinderella cake that she requested.

Ruby's Uncle Joe also had a birthday last week on the 5th! We had fun with him and his new bride (and lots of other family) that day celebrating their recent marriage.

Congrats to John and Sharon

This is a little late but wanted to say Congrats to Brian's brother and our future sister in law Sharon! They are getting married in the fall and we are super excited to welcome Sharon into the Laffin family! Cute pic from our LA trip last year

Happy Birthday Grandpa Naegeli

Today Ruby's Great Grandpa turns 97 years old! I am sure he is not reading this blog but we wish him a very Happy Birthday anyway!

The Laffin's Visit The Big Texan

Big Texan

Brian's manly steak breakfast

On our way home we stopped by a major tourist trap called The Big Texan. It is essentially a restaurant/gift shop/freak show. They advertise that if you can eat their 72 oz steak (with all the fixins) then you get your dinner for free. We went for breakfast but no one attempted to eat the huge steak. Brian did get himself a big steak breakfast however. Ruby had fun checking out the gigantic cow outside too.

Texas take 1

Evidently I didn't have the camera on the right setting therefore I didn't really get that many great pics while in Texas. Here is a cute one with Grandma and Grandpa and the kids.

One day we went out on a boat and enjoyed the Texas sunshine and swimming. Ruby didn't care too much for the water so she practiced her driving skills.

San Diego Zoo

Yes, I am still blogging about our trip to California even though it was over 2 months ago. You wouldn't believe how many pictures we have. We also had such a great time that I want to share it.

Ruby was so ready for a nap before we headed to the zoo but we wouldn't let her have one (so she was sleep in the car for 2 hours). She was in prime meltdown mode until we gave her a paci and turned Baby Einstein on...she sat perfectly still on this couch until it was time to go.

I never get tired of taking pictures with my husband. Thanks to Sharon for fixing my hair that day.

Look at this weird guy. He stood like this for the longest time. It was really kind of creepy.

Who let these guys out of their cages? Okay, that was my husbands corny joke. :)

Check out that huge hippo behind Ruby's head!

The Old Homestead

While we were in Southern California we were able to visit the towns where Brian and his parents grew up. We visited his old home and his grandparents' homes. We also visited a yummy fried burrito stand and the park where Brian used to play. Here are some pictures of that day.

More reunion

Ruby sporting her Naegeli family reunion shirt and eating some ice cream with Grandma

Ruby and her second cousin Joaquin hanging out before they said goodbye.