Logann and Peyton Update...

Although Peyton is sitting up in the bumbo in this picture, she is actually sitting up on her own now for a limited amount of time before she topples over. This afternoon she sat up all by herself for a few minutes while I was sorting out pictures to put in our picture albums. She did great!

Peyton started eating cereal last week, so this weekend we introduced zucchini! She loves it. She eats about 2 cubes for dinner each night. She also has bananas and cereal for breakfast. It is hard to believe that she is eating solids already. She does really well too...when she's super hungry, she attacks the spoon!

Brent and I got out some of the holiday tubs this afternoon while the girls were napping. We left out the Halloween one so we can start decorating in a few weeks. Logann discovered it after she woke up and she started decorating the house all by herself! I still need to go put everything back into the tubs tonight before she wakes up tomorrow and does it all over again!!!

Logann decided that she wanted to play under the play gym with Peyton! It is so fun to see how they interact together now that Peyton is sitting. Logann notices that she is a real person, not just a sleeping, eating, and pooping "thing!" Logann dances for her and makes her laugh!

Ok...I have to share with you what Brent and I did this weekend! We went to the Keith Urban concert in Portland! There are no words to describe him!!! Most of you all know how I feel about him...but, really...he was incredible!!! Brent and I both agree that everyone should try to go see him in concert...he puts on a great show! We've seen him 5 times now! :0)

Sunriver

We went to Sunriver this weekend with the Tol's, Marteney's, and the Chao's. It was a fun weekend for all. We rented a large house that was loaded with fun things for us to do. We played by the pool on Friday and we (the Dukes') opted out of going to the pool on Saturday because we stayed back at the house to watch the Duck football game. GO DUCKS!!! That was an awesome game! The other three families are Beaver fans (except Melissa) so they, of course, went to the pool. They couldn't stand the fact that Oregon beat Michigan without breaking a sweat :) Here are some pictures from our weekend...

Peyton's first time swimming! She had to wear one of Dakota's swimsuits because I didn't even think of packing one for her! Silly me :)

Logann had a great time swimming in both the kiddy pool and the big kid pool! Notice that she is holding a green football...she is a true Duck fan too...warming up for the big game!

Yes...that is me in my swimsuit! I was a bit scared to get in my swimsuit, but realized that Peyton is already 5 months old, and I better just do it sooner or later! Thank goodness that it is already September and the "getting in my swimsuit" opportunities for the summer are about over! People had to wear their sunglasses around me though...because of the glare coming from my white legs! I can now give Great Grandpa Dukes a run for his money!!!

Ok, here I go again...this wasn't taken at Sunriver, but it was too cute not to post on the blog. She will be 5 months tomorrow (on Brent's 30th birthday!!!) Isn't she just the cutest baby ever! She was such a good baby at Sunriver though...Brent and I were so proud of her! People asked us a few times if she ever cries and if she is always this good!

Ok, thanks for visiting our blog! We love keeping you updated with our growing girls!

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!