Gabel Family Reunion

The third weekend in August was the Gabel Family reunion again. We, as usual, had a really good time. It was so fun to get together with all of my cousins who also have little kids now! We loved sitting back and watching how they all interacted; in many of the same ways we did as kids growing up on the farm. Quite a few of our family from the Tacoma area made it down so that was awesome!

Logann playing in the sand box!

Grace, Logann and Taylor digging in the dirt by Papa's gazebo.

Peyton: 4.5 months! Smiley as ever too!

Dukes' Family Reunion

Here are some pictures from our vacation in Lincoln City where we had the Dukes' Family Reunion. We had the opportunity to get to know more members of our Dukes Family. The kids played on the beach and had a blast.

Logann decided to go for a jog!

Here is Aunt Amy staying warm by holding Peyton all bundled up!

Along with playing on the beach, Logann decided to go rock climbing!

This picture wasn't taken at the beach...but I thought I would throw it in because it was too darn cute! Such a big girl Peyton is!

Logann was looking back, making sure she wouldn't get in trouble by going too far without daddy or mommy!

Logann was looking up at the kites...it was pretty windy on Friday so there were lots of kites to look at up in the sky!

Finally...a picture with mom. It seems like mom is always the photographer which explains why most of the pictures in the girls' scrapbooks contain daddy, and not mommy!!!

Uncle David lifted Logann up on his shoulder so she could get a better view! David was walking her to the beach one day in the stroller and as soon as she saw the beach, she shouted..."Look at the view!" We are often surprised at the things she says!

The Farm

We went to the farm again this weekend and attempted to camp with the girls in Uncle Howard's camper. We made it through the night on Friday night, but decided to load up and head in to Mom and Dad's house for a good night's rest on Saturday night. Glad we did!

Another one of Dad's sows had babies. Here is a good picture of them eating from their momma!

We had a great time at the farm as usual. Logann played in the dirt and we couldn't get her off the 4-wheelers! We saw a lot of friends that we hadn't seen in a long time. There were lots of activities such as shooting guns with instruction from Stan Terry, riding 4-wheelers on the many trails that Dad made out in the woods, and pig castration on Sunday morning! Fun on the farm!

Busy Summer!

A few weekends ago, Sandy and Owen came up for dinner with Amy and David. They are visiting from Virginia. Logann and Owen had a good time together on the trampoline! Logann towers over Owen, and they are only a few weeks apart in age. I wonder why she's so tall?!!!

Peyton is 3.5 months old already. Her sleep schedule has changed...for the worse. She is getting up once a night around 3am. Oh well, what do you do. I remember Logann going back and forth too.

She's getting stronger! This weekend, I set up the bouncer and got out the jumper that hangs from the bonus room doorway. She likes to play in those for a short time now. She gets tired easily, but she's building up strength!

Brent and I went on a date this last Saturday evening and left the girls with Hannah and Natalie, my cousins. Logann did really well and was zonked by the time we got home. I took this picture of her sleeping when we got home. Peyton, on the other hand, didn't do as well. She was really fussy and wouldn't take the bottle very well from Hannah. She finally got hungry enough and took it, but put up a fight before hand! Anyone want to babysit??? :)

Peyton's Firsts!

Peyton is finally taking a bottle and drinking all of it!

We can finally go out on a date some evening without her going hungry!

Brandi Tol brought her neice, nephew, Delaney and Dakota out to the farm last weekend to see the pigs. In this picture they are looking at the 6 week old piggies. After they were done playing in that pig pen, we walked out to the pregnant mommy pig to see how she was doing and Brandi's nephew said, "Is that the mommy pig?" I said, "Yes, that's the one who's pregnant." Then he said, "There is a baby coming out of her!" Sure enough, she was in labor and had just had her first baby. Brandi and the kids stayed around to watch two more be born. She had 11 babies in all.

Peyton is sitting up in her bumbo. She likes to be sitting up so she can look around and watch Logann run laps around her!

Everything else is going well in the Dukes' household. Peyton rolled over the other day while she was laying on Logann's bed. Luckily she rolled into the middle of the bed. We now have to be careful of where we lay her down! Peyton went on a stretch of getting up once in the middle of the night to eat, but she is back to her old schedule of sleeping from 9 pm or 10 pm until about 6 am! It is nice for Brent because he leaves for work around 6 am and gets to see her for a bit. After he leaves, I put her back to bed and we all sleep in until around 8 am! Logann is back on track as far as pooping goes. She is eating better and acting happier, thank goodness! Well, all for now...hope you are all doing well!

Swim Lessons!

Hello everyone...here are the pictures of Logann and Brent at swimming lessons. They really do have a good time together. We went to swim lessons on Thursday, then headed home to Lebanon that evening to help at the farm. Dad is doing hay on the farm this month. Logann had to have two baths each day...one before nap, and one before bed. She loves to play in the dirt and rocks at the farm. She was looking forward to watching one of the sows give birth but it didn't happen. She is long overdue, but still hasn't had the babies yet. Peyton did really well at the farm too. She even started taking a binky this weekend, so now we will shoot for the bottle! We will try this evening with Brent gets home from work! Hope you are all doing well. Take care and stay out of the heat!

Jumping off of the platform
Being dunked by dad...her least favorite part...going under!
This is where they "swim" around and pick up all the balls and bring back to the teacher!

Update on the Girls

Hello! Just an update...Peyton had her two month shots a few weeks ago. She weighed 12 pounds and was 24 inches long. Very healthy! Logann had a doctor appointment on Friday to see what was going on with her problems going number 2. They took an ex-ray and everything looked fine except for large amount of stool in her system. Her doctor put her on the medicine adults take before they have a colonoscopy to clean her out. The dosage was 2 oz for 3 days and she should have had a B.M. after the first day, but didn't until the 4th day (this morning). After she gets all cleaned out, we have to give her a medicine that will help keep her regular. Her doctor said that this happens often with kids who are potty training. Keep your fingers crossed! Logann started swimming lessons last week. I will post a picture of that soon. They are Thursdays at 6pm, so that is something that she and Brent get to do together! They had a lot of fun last week and are looking forward to it again this week. Peyton is sleeping really well at night...not getting up until around 5 or 6 in the morning! Then she goes back to bed until about 9am. She is very smiley and giggley lately! Still not taking a bottle or binky. We'd like her to take a bottle so we can get away and go on a date some evening! We will just have to plan it around feedings I guess! She is still cluster feeding, where she will want to nurse at 6pm, 8pm and 10pm. It helps her sleep all night though, so it is worth it!!! That's all for now. Take care!