More Christmas - Part VI

Finally, we are at the last of Christmas celebrations. We got together with Nanny Gerry to celebrate Christmas this week.

Nanny Gerry with her grandkids. Konni (18), Karson (8), Cheney (7), Kase (4), & Chandler (3).....

After Christmas - Part V

The Christmas celebration continued on Sunday afternoon. We got together after church to eat leftovers & visit with Ashtyn & Drew.

The great-grand girls are outnumbered now. Chandler & Ashtyn sure are cute & they love to play with each other.

Cheney & Drew--I was proud of Cheney for asking to hold Drew.

Great Grandma with 4 of her great grandkids. We missed you, Thatcher!!

Christmas Day - Part IV

Yes, I know...when we do Christmas, we do Christmas....after waking up & opening presents with our immediate family, we all gather at Grandma's house to exchange presents. We love giving gifts!!

Cheney & Travis looking cool! They are two handsome boys!!

Grandma gave Cheney & Chandler some money. They were very excited!

Poor Chandler had an ear infection in both ears....she spent a lot of time laying around. After we opened presents, Daddy & I took her to the only clinic that was open on Christmas Day. I am sooo glad we didn't have to go to the emergency room!!

Uncle Mitch was playing around with Cheney's guitar! SILLY GUY!!

Christmas Day - Part III

We spent the night with MeMe & Pop's house on Christmas Eve. This has been our tradition every year--even Lance joined us this year. Santa brought us some cool presents!!

Cheney got an electric guitar with an amp.....it is pretty loud, but he was super excited....now we have to get him some lessons!

Chandler got a Leapster 2. She was very excited & hasn't stopped playing it. I love it because it is more educational than a Nintendo DS which is what she wanted.

Uncle Jeff & Aunt Kerry sent Cheney some awesome Hardy Boys books. Thanks, he LOVES to read!!

Chandler loved her Strawberry Shortcake game & coloring book from Uncle Jeff & Aunt Kerry!

Pop was sporting his Weirs Beach shirt from Jeff & Kerry....that is cool!!

Christmas Eve - Part II

After we opened presents at Granny Nette & Papa Jim's house, we headed over to Mama & Pop's house (Daddy's grandparents). All the Stephenson Great-Grandkids were there--except Konni. We sure did miss her!!

Hunter was the oldest there. He is in the 8th grade. Lily is the youngest. She is a year old. Here they are looking very sweet & innocent.....

....but this is more like them! I think Daddy took over 10 pictures & this was the best one....it showed their true personalities!!

Christmas Eve - Part I

At our house, we celebrate Christmas for almost two whole days....it is so much fun!! This year, we started on Christmas Eve afternoon. We headed over to Granny Nette & Papa Jim's house. It is always fun to play at their house because they have a lot of pets!!

The Handsome Stephenson grandkids (minus Konni). It sure is good for Chandler to be the only girl among all these boys. While they were running around, she just sat & watched them act silly.

Chandler & Kase--Kase is 4 months older than Chandler. They love to play together!!

Cheney & Karson--Karson is 9 months older than Cheney. A gew days after Karson was born, we found out that Cheney was on the way. It is so much fun to have cousins close in age to play with!!

Stay tuned....Part II is just around the corner!!

We Love You!

We hope you & your family had a fabulous Christmas! Our family celebrates all day long so we are tired & still recovering from the fun. We hope that you took time to remember the reason for the season & thanked God for sending His Son to the Earth to save us.

We Love Each And Every One Of Y0u....

Pictures will be here soon!!

Merry Christmas!!

They Want To Move There

We were packing up to leave the deer lease & it was decided that they would like to move there.....I think they enjoy the simplicity of life there!!

Sharing With Our Neighbors

Yesterday, the kids delivered homemade strawberry bread to our neighbors. It was fun to watch them wish them a MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Yep, I am bragging

Cheney is a very special boy....he makes his Daddy & I very proud. He is super smart....the kid has only made a 105 on every spelling test this year: his bonus word last week was ACHIEVEMENT! How many of you can spell that correctly? We rarely have to go over the words or help with his homework. And we think that is great.....but do you know what makes us more proud?? We have been told that he has the best manners.....when he took a guest to Sunday School, he introduced the guest the correct way to his teachers--without being prompted. This makes me more proud than his grades.

Last Sunday, our church had their annual missions banquet. Cheney & a few of his classmates were asked to walk around the room & read facts about being a missionary to the adults.

I had more than one person find us to tell us how wonderfully polite & smart Cheney was.....many of them congratulated us on a "job well done." I know that God gave us the best gift when He blessed us with our son!

WE LOVE YOU, BUDDY!!

My Kids Love Deer Lease Weekends!!

Mommy did something this past weekend that she thought she would never do again: SHE AGREED TO GO BACK TO THE DEER LEASE!! Can you believe it? You see, Mommy doesn't think it is fun to get up early to watch for deer, get dirty most of the day, not take a bath, and eat meat & potatoes at every meal. But CHENEY & CHANDLER LOVE IT.....so I agreed to it. I love to see them have a great time & make lasting memories. As soon as school was out on Friday, we headed down south with truck loaded down with food & Lance.

Chandler & I skip the morning hunts....we need our beauty sleep!! But we head out to the deer blind at about 3 pm for the evening hunt. As we drive down the sendero, they throw out corn for the deer. This is great fun!!

I think they are pretty cute, riding around like this!!

Then, we get into the deer blind & this is what they do for several hours....eat, sleep, & watch movies. Mommy read & Daddy slept.....

Daddy & Bubba love watching for deer....this time out, we saw an 6 pt. buck, a large hog, & a rabbit. Daddy shot at the rabbit, but we never found it. It was a fun, relaxing trip, but EVERYONE needs a bath--even LANCE!!

Princess Gone Country

We went to the deer lease this weekend. While we are there, Chandler will only wear her cousin Kase's cowboy boots. But she still sports her Princess dresses!! She loaned her pink one to Terryn.....they had a blast running around in the mud all day in their princess dresses!!

SILLY GIRLS!!

Christmas Love

Chandler brought home a Christmas gift the other day....she told me that Ms. Emard said we couldn't open it till Christmas.....

I have no idea what is in the package, but so far, the card melts my heart....seeing her learn to write is so much fun!!

The Gingerbread House

Cheney made a Gingerbread House at school the other day.....

Can you see the door & the window?

He thought it was pretty cool.....they saved their milk cartons, washed them out, covered them with icing, stuck graham crackers on the icing, and then put another layer of icing on....

DO YOU WANT A TASTE?

The Best Part....

....about the Christmas season, that there are lots of goodies being prepared. Which means Chandler has been doing this frequently!!

She sure is cute--even without a shirt!!

Too Much Excitement!

It is getting harder & harder to get these kids to go to bed at night....there is just so many exciting things to do.....but we still have to go to school 4 more days....the countdown is on!!

We have been ending each night with a great Christmas story!!

"Rejoice"

This morning at church, Cheney's choir sang a song called "Rejoice." This is the 1st time that we used the video camera to record them singing to post on the blog. I hope it works for you. They sounded so cute. Remember, you have to pause the music on the blog.

Just The Girls

Tonight, just the girls were home....Daddy & Bubba are at the deer lease. I am sure there will be many more weekends with "just the girls" at home. We have played with makeup & dress up. I am sure glad that God gave me a girly girl to play with!!

Decorating MeMe & Pop's Tree

Cheney & Chandler spent the night with MeMe & Pop the other night because Mommy & Daddy had a church Christmas Party to go to.....this is what MeMe sent me about their night:

The kids were getting ready to decorate, I suggested they wear their PJs since it was cool--Cheney agreed, Chandler insisted that only a Beautiful Princess could decorate. The next thing we knew, she had 2 stools so she and her Bubba could reach the high places. They both had more fun playing than decorating. THEN, they wanted to serenade on the piano. Such a fun night.

Cheney & Chandler are sure having a lot of fun this year!!

Elks Lodge Hoop Shoot

Cheney participated in the Elks Lodge Hoop Shoot this morning. He did a great job, but pretty tough for him. He made the age cutoff by 5 days! He was the smallest boy there. And the basket was at regular height....the basketball league he plays in lowers the baskets for the younger kids. We are proud of him for trying....and he knows he needs to work on his shot. HE LOVES BASKETBALL & that makes this mama happy: It in indoors!! Maybe I won't be sitting through games in the rain & cold!!

Cheney is #8.

Shooting.....looking good!!

Holiday Stroll Parade 2009

Most of you know we live in Texas & spend most of our days in or around the water, but we are having a COLD spell....we aren't used to it at all. The forecasters are predicting snow tomorrow, but I will believe it when I see it. I will certainly blog it here if it does!! Tonight was our Holiday Stroll Parade. It is fun that it actually feels like winter....we have been to the parade in the heat before!! BUT NOT TONIGHT!!

They sure are cute all bundled up!!

MeMe, Mommy, & the kids....Daddy & Pop joined us later. The propane business is busy lately....people gotta stay warm!!

He is looking more & more grown up every day. Today is my birthday & he gave me a birthday card that said "I will love you forever." I hope so because I know that I will love him forever & more.

My sweet baby girl is looking all grown up too!!

The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year!

Christmas 2009

I used to think that Christmas was best with young kids....but I think this year is going to be fun!! The kids helped unpack boxes & decorate. We had so much fun.

I love this time of year.....lots more pictures to come!!

Fun At The Deer Lease

Daddy & Cheney have been going to the deer lease for a while now & they love it. They finally convinced Mommy & Chandler to join them for a few days. We would only agree to go if they took the travel trailer down there. They did & we spent 2 nights there over the Thanksgiving break.

During the day, this is pretty much what the boys did....stand around & work on "things." Even Lance enjoyed hanging out with the guys.

Around 3 pm, it was time to head to the deer blind. We loaded up in the station wagon--I mean jeep!!

Daddy & Cheney were throwing out some corn for the deer.

Chandler worked at spotting some animals.

But she quickly grew tired & fell asleep.

May be the reason we saw only a few deer---potty break!!

Chandler too!! Isn't she a cute little hunter??

She woke up & ate some cheetos....we decided that we picked the noisest food to take for snacks.....apples & cheetos!!

Cheney fell asleep & missed seeing the few deer we saw...didn't take any shots. Oh well, it was fun!!

Daddy & Mr. Trevor promised the boys that they would take them rabbit hunting....they had a blast, but I think they were the noisiest rabbit hunters ever. But they had fun & that is what matters!!