Easter 2012

It's crazy to think how far our family has come in the last year. A year ago, Brian and I were cooking jambalaya, our attempt at bribing the doctors and nurses at Texas Children's to take extra special care of our miracle baby, Kynlee! This year we had jambalaya again on our back porch just celebrating our family and Jesus! We are truly one blessed family and I thank the Lord daily for all he has given us! Nothing beats a celebration with family, friends and great food. Especially when you aren't in a hospital!!

We had a fun filled Easter! Complete with swimming, fishing, Easter egg, dying, hunting/shoving and it wouldn't be complete with out a photo shoot! Jamie picked up some baby chicks for our shoot last week. One died before the end of the first night and then we lost one Sunday afternoon. I'm not sure if he died at the foot of Alexis or the nice toss that Daddy gave him, but either way, he didn't make it through the day. I do feel bad, though!

She could be outside all day long!
Aunt Chelle and Carter came down for the night Friday! We had a GREAT visit! We haven't seen much of each other over the last two year, and when we do, it is always in big groups. So, it was really nice to just enjoy each other like the HLP we are!!

I got a cute picture of the three of them even though A was fighting it! She'll do anything for a handful of goldfish!

Carter loving on Bandit!

Jennifer and Kaylee came down for Easter!!! I was so excited to see them! It has been WAY TOO long! Hopefully they come back sooner rather than later! All the cousins enjoyed being together! I'm so mad I didn't get all 6 of them together!

Alexis glittering her first Easter egg!

I'm not sure if she liked it on her hands or not! This is her new shocked look these days!

The kids weren't too into the dying this year because there were fish to be caught, but they all managed to color a few!

Brody really loves Alexis!!

Brody, Kaylee and Bryce

We let them play with the chicks for a little while on Easter Eve. Alexis was just excited to see what was in the doggy's cage.

She is so sweet!

The Easter Bunny was good to everyone! Alexis was more interested in what the boys got than her own basket! They got this ball popping game and she would make this face every time Daddy popped the ball out!

How handsome is he?

Pay close attention to the gigantic bunny! He will be making an appearance for the next 18 Easters! What the heck am I to do with a bunny this large!! This is a prime example of a Diana Barak miscommunication!

Laureli was so happy even though she just woke up!

The "best" picture of the four of them together.

Her first Easter Egg hunt. I forgot how much I loved her basket!

Watch how she quickly changes expressions!

Scared!

To full of kisses!

Kynlee was so happy to see the chicks, until one of them crawled up under her dress!

Not a fan of them pecking at her bum!

Three sweet girls!

Laureli is such a relaxed and happy baby!

This might be my most favorite picture of the day! Alexis was excited to see the boat go by and Kynlee thought it was just hilarious! We topped off our day chowing down on some cupcakes!!

Laureli was too tired for cupcakes!!

Campbell's Lake House

On the way home from seeing Willie, we cut the trip in half and stopped by the Campbell's lake house for an overnight visit. We haven't been to George and Kathy's house since before we were pregnant with Alexis so we were excited to spend some good ole' quality time with them! One of our old friends, Jarret was there with his three kids and it was great to visit with him as well. I wish we had gotten to visit with Jamie but she was running a marathon! Saturday evening we were lucky enough to eat crawfish for the first time this season and Daddy did a great job of cooking them! Then we woke up early Sunday morning to take little Miss. B's bluebonnet pictures and I am so happy with how they turned out. She is just a doll and was so cooperative for Aunt Deidra! We spent the rest of the day just being lazy and Alexis had a blast on their playground. I think this is definitely a must for the Mannion house! She is a pro at getting up and down it!

Brinkley was all smiles in the pool!

Up the ladder!

Alexis loved playing peek a boo in this little cut out!

This is Alexis "showing me her eyes!" On Friday night she got something in her eye and was rubbing it, so I asked to see her eyes and this is what she showed me. Of course I was dying laughing each time she did it, so now she thinks its funny and this is what you get when you ask to see her eyes!

She really liked the slide! It would throw her in the air and she would land on her bum and laugh hysterically! See, Pappa, she doesn't get hurt, she LOVES it!

Sweet B just playing by her lonesome!

Willie's Weekend Visit

We haven't stopped traveling since our last post! Two weeks ago, we traveled five hours to go visit Willie. It was a much needed visit for all 5 of us, Ranger included! I feel so much better after our little visit. The ladies that are training him are really nice and they showed us what he has been working on as well as allowed Brian to run some field tests with a couple of the better trained dogs. Unfortunately, Willie isn't the best of students! It sounds like he has a little ADHD in him! He must really be just like his Daddy! He loves to play and be petted, which apparently isn't a great thing when being trained to be an observant bird dog!! They are also worried about his noise level in the field! He is such a baby and cries whenever you apply the slightest of pressure to him to get him to do what you want!! I did ask the ladies, point blank, if their dogs were house dogs or strictly work dogs. She said her dogs are 100% house dogs and get loved on just as much as a small dog. This made me feel so much better since our dogs cuddle with us nightly!! I didn't feel as bad leaving him as I did when Brian first dropped him off but I am so anxious for him to get home!!

I was just playing around with my new camera and she was being the perfect model! I think she was just as excited to see Willie as Mommy and Daddy were!
He is still so very pretty! He has gotten bigger, but Brian and I were both surprised by how he has filled out rather than gotten too much bigger or taller!! I'm sure I will be totally shocked when I see him next time!

Just striking a pose for Mommy!

They both loved seeing each other!! Alexis was so excited to see him and he couldn't wait to play with her! He was still very gentle with Alexis even thought he is much stronger than her now!

One last goodbye for the night!! We went back early the next morning to play for a couple of hours!

Showing off his new tricks! He isn't the best at holding and walking, but he has improved, slightly, since we left!

He is so pretty! Notice the background!

Alexis loved feeding the ducks! She was begging for them to come out of their house after she scared them all away!

This girl loves her ATVs! She is going to need one for her birthday!!

Here we are saying our goodbyes until we get to see him again!

For some reason, she loves to throw herself onto the ground!