Annual Cousin Pictures

This was my favorite picture...sweet Baby Jack! Don't you want to eat him up?


Look at the Terrific Ten!!! (Ages 8 mos-11 yrs---2 TWO year olds in the bunch!)






We took the Stonecipher Cousins for our annual picture on Friday. As usual, it was a fiasco, but not because of the kids, they were actually really good! We had to wait a long time for our "turn" and our photographer was having some issues and was in a mood. She later apologized to us, which was nice. David took the kids to McDonald's while we moms looked at the pictures (over 100) and made decisions. Here is a taste of our pictures!

The Everetts' Visit

We had a fun visit last week from the Everett family. We have been friends with Mark and Holly since before we got married! Holly was one of my college roommates and she sang in our wedding. Her husband, Mark, is a fabulous builder and they live in Colorado. One of their sons has a congenital spinal defect and has to come to Scottish Rite hospital here in Dallas for check-ups. They let us know that they were comign to town and we made plans for them to come to see us and stay with us before heading out to see family last week. The kids had a blast spending time together. Their children are so very polite and kind. Reagan had her eye on their oldest, Andrew. We stayed up way to late laughing, playing the Wii and a dice game that we used to play with them called "Blowout". We were hurting the next morning from staying up so late! It was a great time and we hope to get to see them again soon!!!!

Christmas Day

We had a lovely day celebrating Christmas with family. Grandpa and Bee were here (Jennifer's parents) Jerral and Dilia were here (Jennifer's brother and his wife) and Aunt Betty with her friend Art (Jennifer's paternal aunt). The kids had a great time opening and enjoying their gifts. John got a shot gun (watch out!!!) and Jennifer got a new vacuum cleaner! We had a "Cowboy Christmas" meal with BBQ Brisket and yummy sides, lots of pies and the treats that John made (referred to by my mother as "John's chocolate covered balls!") Here is a glimpse of our day....

Christmas Eve

Well, it is Christmas Eve...actually, technically, it is Christmas morning, so Merry Christmas!!!! We did our Christmas Eve traditions tonight. We got goodies together and went out to go Christmas Caroling. We always go visit a lady who is a shut-in and we bring her goodies and sing. All of her lights were out when we got there, but she came to the door when we knocked. She was so happy to see us. It was sweet. Even Reagan joined in the caroling this year. We ended our night at the Packwoods' house for a Happy Birthday Jesus party. Savannah and Grandpa baked a cake together and Savannah decorated it. Gracie may not speak to me again after tonight. I got her boys Marshmallow guns for Christmas. They had a blast shooting all of us and making a mess all over the house. Reagan was frantically trying to pick up the marshmallows and throw them away. We came home, got baths, the kids opened presents from Bee and Grandpa and then went straight to bed. The stockings are hung and ready...Grandpa is playing the Wii...it is after midnight!!! Well, we are off to bed, but I wanted to take a moment and wish you all a Merry Christmas. Jesus is Born!!!

Santa Came to Our House

This was last year....

This is THIS year, some things never change!

We had a visitor tonight at our house. Santa Dave from our old neighborhood came over and did a photo shoot. Reagan was okay with him being here until I forced her on his lap. She was just nervous until that point. She is so terrified of Santa!!! The Saums came and got some pictures with their kids too! All of the kids were excited about the candy that Santa Dave gave them. We are thankful for Santa Dave's generous visit! Merry Christmas everyone! May God bless you this year.

Teddy Bear Picnic

Blayne and Reagan got to enjoy a fun Teddy Bear Picnic at our church this morning. They enjoyed decorating cookies, making a nativity craft, singing songs, hearing the Christmas story, watching Miss Pattycake and getting a visit from the fire department!

Savannah's Class Party

We enjoyed attending Savannah's Christmas Party. I think that she enjoyed showing off Blayne and Reagan to her friends. They kids had a great time. Reagan and Blayne got to have a cookie too!

Pay It Forward Assembly

Friday was the "Pay It Forward" assembly at school. Whitney was asked to be on stage to call a sponsor up to receive a certificate. She took her job seriously and memorized her lines. She did a good job. The story about the visit to the orphanage aired on our local news station Friday night. The assembly was really neat and was a great send off for the holidays as they reminded the kids to "pay It forward".

Here is a link to the news story...

http://www.wfaa.com/video/?z=y&nvid=315177&shu=1

Visit with the Saums

Our sweet friends that serve as missionaries in Kenya are here for an extended furlow. They are living very close to us and Blayne is soooo excited. They have a son (Jonah) Blayne's age and a daughter (Savannah "Savvy") Reagan's age. We had them over for dinner. It was such a fun time!!!

Whitney's Christmas Party

I got to attend Whitney's Christmas Party. Boy was it nice to just come and hang out with her and NOT be in charge. Last year I was the room mom. It was a great party and I enjoyed my time with Whitney.

All I want for Christmas....

When we got home from the nursing home, I MADE Whitney let ME pull her tooth. I LOVE to pull teeth!!! She was not happy, but it came right out. She was so excited! She has a HUGE gap, I don't see how she will eat!

Nursing Home Visit

We went to the nursing home this week to visit Mammaw and Poppa-Plays-Toys. They are now at the same nursing home while she recovers from her last fall and Poppa is a resident there. We brought gifts to them and Mammaw was really concerned because we adults are not exchanging gifts this year! Poppa's health has really declined these past few weeks. It is hard to see our sweet old folks getting weaker and older and just watching them decline before our eyes. We had a wonderful visit. Poppa even joined in and sang Christmas carols with us! Mammaw's sweet neighbor was there visiting when we arrived. She and her son were so kind to come and visit. We went to the Purple Cow for dinner after our visit. And as you can see in the pictures, we never have just a simple visit. As we were approaching the nursing home, we came upon a lady whose tire had fallen off of the axle!! She was right in the middle of a busy street, so we couldn't pass her up! John pulled in front of her and stood in traffic with her and called the police and a tow company. She was on her way to get her husband from work, so we actually went and picked him up and brought him back to her. So, we spent about an hour taking care of this stranded lady, which put us later for our visit, which put us REALLY late for our supper. My kids were awesome without complaining and even saying things like "it is a good thing that Daddy was here to help that lady", "is this this same lady that ran out of gas that time that we helped?" "I am glad that she didn't lose her tired on the fast street (I-30)..." I am so thankful that John is the kind of man that teaches our kids that it is important to put others before yourself. They are learning some great life lessons!

Move that BUS!!!!

Well, because of all of the STREP that we were sharing around here and the fact that the temperature was in the teens on Monday, we did NOT go to the "Move that Bus". It was so miserably cold, and they kept changing the time for it, I didn't want to risk getting out there and being cold, wet and muddy and not being able to see. Lots of people who were planning on going, didn't go, so I hope that they had an okay crowd. I didn't see any pictures of the crowd from that day. The house us beautiful and sits high on the lot. There is still security at the streets that go to the house, but I hope to take the kids for a close-up peek soon. Here are some pictures from the last few days of work. The brick layers (30 of them) walked off the job on Friday...don't know all of the details of that...Rick Stacy helped get the furniture for the house and my friend, Beth , got to talk to him. I was sad to miss all of the excitement, but it just didn't work out for the Stoneciphers this week. We will be excited to see the show in February!!!!

Pay It Forward

Today we had the neat experience of "Paying It Forward". There was a writing assignment at school and the kids had to write "If I had $1000 I would..." their instructions were that they couldn't spend it on themselves. Whitney wrote about doing something for an orphanage. I haven't gotten to read her paper, but we were contacted that that her writing was chosen and that they were going to "Pay It Forward" to a local Children's Home in Keller. We did an Angel Tree at school with kids from the home. My kids had a blast shopping for the kids. Whitney scoured the tree and found THE one she wanted. The girl asked for "shampoo and conditioner for a girl with blond hair". Whitney said "yep, that is the one that I want". It was such a neat experience. Our school also collected toiletries for the home. There are 40 residents there. The director talked to us and told us about the circumstances which they come from. (ie parents are in jail, parents have died, parents are homeless, parents have made bad choices). It was very eye-opening for the kids. (and for adults too) We had a local barber shop come and do boy haircuts, and a cute girl salon do the girls hair...all FREE! And our kids painted the kids' fingernails and helped them paint Christmas ornaments. The kids were so cute and our kids were so sweet and helpful. Blayne and Whitney even helped sweep the hair off the floor (sweet!) A local news station is doing the story. Whitney didn't get interviewed, but her friend, Farah, did. It is supposed to air on Friday night. I will keep you posted. Here is a slideshow to enjoy: