Reunited at last!!!

Mia had a good friend and cribmate from her babyhouse in Ust-Kamenogorsk, Kazakhstan. Her name is now Britney and she has come to the U.S. with a family we met while we were there. She now lives just a little over an hour away from us!! We have been meeting with them off and on during our journeys. Britney came home in late November, and this is the first time that the girls have gotten any time to spend together! It is the first time they have been reuntited since we left the babyhouse in August! Mia remembered Britney! She smiled and kept touching her! They are so sweet. We had dinner with the Lawson family and all the kids enjoyed playing together, especially Mia and Britney! It is so sweet to see these girls together, here in their new families. What an amazing blessing that they are still together after they have found new homes half way across the world! God truely has a plan for us all, and it is so evident in these two sweeties! They will still grow up together! It is so unbelievable to me, but what a huge blessing! Stay tuned for more adventures that they will share together!

New Year's Eve at Chuck E Cheese...

Every year we meet up with our friends to hang out and exchange gifts at Chuck E Cheese. We all get to visit and the kids get to play. Fun for everyone! Mia got to ride some rides with Allison and Thane and Seth were all over the play gym with Grant! Caitlin and Maedline were all about the games and getting tickets to cash in. We all had a great lunch and loved our gifts! But most importantly we loved getting to spend time with our dear friends The Umphreys! After our Chuck E Fest, we ended up at Aunt Karen's house for more gifts and an evening for the grown-ups! We ate, played games and rang in the new year with our best friends! What a blessing! We look forward to the new year and all the great times we'll have together!

Christmas Morning At Home...

We woke up at about 8 am to an eager crowd! Everyone was ready to make a mad dash to the family room! I love watching the children as they come down the stairs in anticipation of what is under the tree. This year, Santa was VERY good to us all! Caitlin got the cell phone she asked for, Madeline got the entire SpiderWick Collection, Thane got the Lego Millenium Falcon, Seth got a Thomas Lego Set and Mia got a Playskool Bubblegum peek-a-block Ball toy! Mommy and Daddy also unwrapped alot of goodies. We both got lots of CD's and DVD's this year! We look forward to catching up on some of our TV shows through DVD! :) Too much fun! We finshed out the morning with big hugs and thank-you's and then we were off to Grandma Nancy's for a big lunch with the extended family! We ended the day visiting one more time at Grandma Roxie's! We are so blessedto have so much family to visit with!

Christmas Eve at Gma Roxie & Papaw Dan's

Christmas at Grandma Roxie and Papwa Dan's house is always an event. There are 9 grandchildren and 7 adults there! This year we also had 2 friends! So it was hectic and loads of fun. The tree was absolutely overflowing with presents! Caitlin loved her suede jacket from Aunt Tina and her new bling bling jeans from Grandma and Grandpa! Madee loved her new Disney Mix Click MP3 Player from Grandma and Grandpa. Thane Loved all his gifts especially the new Xbox games. Seth loves helping everyone else unwrap their gifts, but really liked his Walmart Semi Truck! Mia of course loved the paper and boxes. She got some nice new clothes and toys though. My dad was suprised to receive a new Dell Laptop and my mom got a solid 18kt gold watch! WOOHOO. I can't wait to borrow that one! ;)

As always my mom fixed an incredible meal and we had fun watching all of the children's faces as they opened each gift. Christmas really is my favorite time of year!

Christmas at Gma Nancy's and Papaw Jim's

We exchanged gifts with Grandma Nancy and Papaw Jim and it was great. Mia was more interested in the paper, but got some neat things. Caitlin got an Orlando Bloom calendar, andDigital Dance Revolution for xbox. Madeline loves her new Kareoke Revolution for xbox and her American Girl things for Molly. Thane was excited to get lots of new Xbox games and a signed picture from Tony Stewart. [Mommy went to high school with Tony and called in a favor from a friend :) ] Seth loved his new Lego Knights Kingdom playsets. We also got a second xbox for downstairs. This way, the girls will have a chance to play their new games and not have to be in the boys room to do it! :) It was a great night for all!

Caitlin was also cheering for her school in the Holiday Tourney. So, we were at a game, then home for gifts, and back to another game! The girl bulldogs were out the first game, but the boy 'dogs' made it to the second game where they played a valiant game to lose only by one! Maybe next year we will bring home the holiday tourney banner!

Christmas Party Go-ers!!!

Well, we are officially in the holiday countdown!!! We have attended a few Holiday parties and the kids have the 'present bug'! Every day it's, 'How many days until Christmas???' We have a Christmas countdown calendar, but I am the only one who can read it. :) ha ha.

All the kids got to see Santa, and it was Mia's first time! She did really well and didn't cry at all! She just looked at him like, 'What's with all the fuzz on your face?" It was cute!

We went to The Harley Davidson Chapter Christmas Party and the boys got Remote control cars, Madee got a doodle bear, Mia got a toy piano and Caiti got a bag of goodies! We also attended a friend's party where each kid got a bag of candy and goodies! They are loving it! A big thank you to those hosting the parties! We love to see, and visit with all our friends and family!

Tree trimming....

Cheek out these reindeer! hahaha What a fun night tree trimming is. Yeah right! 'Mommy is it my turn, he already had a turn...hey, that's MY ornament! Daddy can I help, oops, sorry, I was being careful...." I am sure some of these comments will sound familiar to you as well! :) Now, the night did go just like that, however, I wouldn't trade it for the world. I love these memory making moments with my kids!

I made the executive decision to put up 2 trees this year. One for all the children's ornaments and hand made beauties and one for the front room that has all the more expensive ornate blown glass ornaments. I call it my Mary Kay tree! It is decorated in mostly pink!

You will have to come by and check them out! We hope you enjoy your tree trimming festivities!

'Thanes'-giving Day...

Well we just had one of our favorite holidays! 'Thanes'-giving Day was a success. We have had this new holiday for a couple years now. It all started, when Gavin mentioned that Thanksgiving Day was coming up and suggested that we change it to Thane's giving day, so that Thane would have to give him a gift. This of course was a joke.

Well, Thane got really excited about being able to give gifts to his loved ones. He was so excited that he did not quit asking me about it. So, I finally took him to the local dollar store and he proceeded to choose gifts for each member of our family, and our extended family. We took them home and he wrapped them all with love and care, packed them in a backpack, and waited to 'deliver' them.

On the next day, 'Thanes'-giving Day, we went to our usual holiday meal. After we ate, Thane passed out his gifts and watched everyone loving their gifts. He was smiling from ear to ear. It was so sweet to watch! He was so proud of himself and so happy!

Now, he looks forward to it every year. He often asks, "how many days until 'Thanes'-giving, mommy?" I hope you all enjoy receiving these gifts as much as he loves giving them to you. What a sweetie! I don't know how long he will want to celebrate this holiday, but we will encourage him to do it as long as he likes! What a joy it has been to see him give to others!

Happy Birthday Girls!!

We had a great party for the girls! Mia is 1, Madee turned 9 and Caitlin will be 12! They are all growing up so fast. We got to share this day with lots of family and friends. Mia went face first into her first birthday cake, and hammed it up for everyone. Mia got a couple new DVD's, some clothes and a shape sorter! The girls got new bedding and curtains for thier rooms, some perfume, a couple of purses, and some new jammies. They each had a friend spend the night. What a day! Thanks to everyone who came! We love spending time with you!

Mommy goes to Colorado....

I just got back from my annual Mary Kay Fall retreat in Colorado. It is hosted by my national Sales Director Jan Harris. It was the best retreat I have ever been to! We also stopped on our drive down from Denver to Colorado Springs, at the Garden of the God's Park. The scenery there is so beautiful.

We saw the 'Balancing Rock' and Karen and I were somehow coerced into climbing up to it for a picture. The only problem is that we were in high heels! You should've seen some of the looks we were getting! ha! We managed though, and now I have this really great picture of us 'holding' up the rock! hee hee!

The weather there was great, it snowed one morning but, it melted off by the afternoon. I got alot of great training from some of the Top Directors in our area! What an awesome trip!

Our Unit was #5 Most Improved so far this year! Woohoo! Kerry was also #9 in the Top 10 Court of Recruiting! We are off to a really great start in this Seminar Year!