krause springs

we have friends in town from oregon this week and we ended up at krause springs. on our way home we stopped at matt's boss' ranch.

we roamed some of the hill country on saturday

and we were all beat.

it was a beautifully long and wonderfully fun day.

krause springs

boss ranch

an interesting side note about the above picture:

this property backs up to the pedernales river. yes, this is usually a deep and powerful flowing river. the levels are usually all the way up to just where little pete and allie's feet would hit whilst sitting upon that rock. i had to document how unbelievable and scary this years drought has been. we are officially on another strict burn ban. the lack of rains in the summer and the few freezes we have already experienced this winter have put us in the driest state we have seen in a while. i could write a whole article on this subject and the importance of fire safety, following burn bans  and water conservation restrictions,

which are always important topics, but especially in extremely dry, drought conditions.

a bit late...happy new year!!!

i got lost there in reality for a bit and forgot all about blogging.

this is probably not the last time an unintentional absence will happen and my apology is, of course, accompanied by an update!

leica's first christmas.

so fun. so many presents for the sweet boy.

 g-ma popken really wanted leica to open one special present on christmas eve. we obliged and were so glad that we did.

cheryl got the book the night before christmas which had a recordable playback option that read the story to leica and it was g-ma's voice! such a cool present and leica loved listening to g-ma read him this book. he actually looked around for her a couple of times.

so cute.

 our friend matt came over on christmas and, low and behold!!, there was football watching. i guess every once in a while we can veg out in front of the tv. that's just what you do after stuffing yourself with a yummy holiday meal.

my parents came to visit us over the new year weekend and i put my mom to work.

 i found a used baby bjorn for our upcoming trip to oregon. 

dustin and leica had to model it for me.

 i finally took my camera to the salon on one of our visits and took some photos of the people we like to visit.

 ailing and leica.

 leica and debra.

 debra showing leica all of their new art that is part of their rotating shows of local artists. also, if you need your hair coifed, cut, or colored or you are in need of some lovely aveda, give 'em a visit here or just stop in.

 

 leica is the official 4001 salon mascot.

that's right. official. 

baby, it's cold outside!

it sure did get chilly and wet! we needed the rain, but the weather caused us to stay put indoors and we both went a bit stir crazy trying to find activities to keep us entertained.

since this baby doesn't much like putting on just a onesie,

it was quite the task to bundle him all up, but we did make it to the park to swing yesterday and leica went with dustin for a run this morning.

he sure does look cute in his winter weather gear!

 

my grannie gave me this round ottoman. 

she had it for a long time, since we were kids. we used to put it on it's side and roll around on the ground with it. 

leica loves using it to stand up and he pounds on it with his little hands like a drummer.

maybe one day he'll place it on it's side and roll around on the ground with it, too.

how fun!

sweet baby blues.

guess who has a doppleganger.

we had a great thanksgiving.

stayed at home with the people we love,

watched too much television,

cooked an unconventional feast,

and definitely ate until we were beyond full.

this man and his son look a lot alike.

we met walker rose berre!

the newest addition to the wolfe/berre/popken grandbabies!

walker rose berre

  she is the cutest, sweetest little girl.

we had a fun and quick couple of days in dallas.

it never seems like long enough.

pretty sure leica's thinking about snacking on walker.

 handsome river.

  handsome (and teething) leica.

we stayed at the berre's the first night, 

then at my parent's the next.

leica was dying to try out their kitchen sink as a bath tub.

it was perfect!

so cute.

weekend in dallas: part two

lots has been going on!

dustin's mom and grandma were in town last week,

which was so fun. 

 leica got to open some presents...

 ...got to try on his new warm clothes...

 

 ...and got lots and lots of g-ma and great g-ma snuggle time!

  dustin and i went out to dinner on halloween night. it was the perfect night to go out.

family picture before we left!

 

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 bryan, molly, brady, and lauren 

were in dallas for halloween weekend, so

we packed the car and drove up to spend the weekend with them.

 leica (as willie) with barbie.

such a sweet picture!

 brady as batman!

 

 flora holding her younger, almost bigger, cousin.

 all the cousins and older, wiser garrett.

 the whole fam at hillcrest baseball field.

brady sliding into home base.

he takes baseball very serioiusly.

what a champ!