Cajun Christmas! part I

We spent an exciting Christmas in the South with the Dannenberg side of the family! We had so much fun for the eight days we were able to visit. Our trip began with a very bumpy landing into the New Orleans airport, there was so much turbulence people thought we were going to die and were screaming at the top of their lungs everytime the plane darted or dropped during the last half hour of flying. We could see a bad storm with lots of lightening and thunder but didn't realize until after we landed that New Orleans received 7.5 inches of rain in less than 10 hours that day! That's more rain than Arizona gets in a year!

We spent the first few days at Dan's parents house in Baton Rouge, and got to see Susan and our nephew Paul. Emmy and Paul had so much fun playing together, it was cute to see them take to each other so well. Emmy started walking more and more because she saw Paul running everywhere and wanted to keep up!

We had a truly southern style holiday. For three days we were in Onalaska, Texas - town on Lake Livingston which was beautiful, and very cold. Once we started hearing stories about the lake, I was really glad it was so cold --- the alligators, snakes, and other dangerous things hibernate when the temperature is cold.

Emmy had so much fun staying on the lake. There were a few dogs around that she laughed at all the time. As you can see, she loved looking out the windows of Dakin and Gary's lakehouse, who wouldn't with such a nice view. On Christmas Eve we had a meal fit for any southerner - Gumbo and a dish called Shrimp and Butter Beans. Delicious! Christmas Day was even better, real Cajun stuffed chicken cooked in a "Cajun Microwave" (really cook outdoor cooking contraption - see picture below), Boudin (Cajun Sausage containing meat and stuff, but traditionally was a blood sausage), grilled alligator, sweet potatoes, LSU cheese, pumpkin cheesecake, and Chess Pie ( I hope I spelled that right). Delicious! Couldn't have asked for better hospitality.

After our stay in Onalaska we headed back to Baton Rouge and had the chance to visit Mike the tiger - LSU mascot. He is in his own zoo like setting on LSU campus all the time. The kids loved seeing him, despite the pouring rain.

What a great way to spend our Christmas, we had the best time!

Emmy turned one!

Emmy turned one last week, she had a good time at her party. We had a dinner with just the AZ family, it was fun. She ate so much food I thought she would burst! Here she is eating cake and ice cream and opening presents.

We are headed to the South (aka the 'dirty-dirty') for the holidays, hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas and remember Jesus Christ and his life and sacrifices for us.

Emmy's first steps.

Emmy decided to take her first steps the other night (December 12, the day before her first birthday). She completely surprised me with it, and actually repeated it for the video camera after a little coaxing. Here is the repeat, so its actually her second steps? :) She is not a full fledged walker, in fact she still crawls everywhere, but she's getting there.

Mohawk tubs!

Here is emmy in her mohawk tub time! She is always extremely happy in the morning and loves her ducky in the tub.

Almost walking!

Our monster is becoming quite the active girl! She has always been into things, but it is getting bad! She is walking around everything so well that she can get into most anything. She can even reach the top of the table, which she does often. Despite the messes she makes, its pretty cute seeing her almost walking! She doesn't quite have the confidence to take more than one step on her own, but I'm sure she will be there in no time, and I'm enjoying her not quite walking yet!

Sick Days and Cabin Fever

Well, Emmy has had some sort of flu bug the past three days. It has been hard for both of us to stay home all day long! She is such a good girl when she's sick, just extra tired and not wanting to eat anything. I know she is so tired of being in the house though, I can tell by the way she acts. She misses Tyler and probably Target, since we are there so much! Today she is feeling a lot better - she didn't puke this morning (hallelujah!) - so we get to get out of the house.

Here are some sick day pictures. Special thanks to PaPa for buying new toys this past weekend, its nice to have something new to play with when you have cabin fever!

Emmys first Halloween!

Emmys first halloween as a puppy! She was great in the costume despite teething alot, which explains the first picture. We took her to a trunk or treat event at a park with the church where emmy got some awesome candy for mommy and daddy!!! I know its wrong, but shes too young for most of it. Minus the sucker which she really liked.