Candlelight Christmas Service

Today was the Candlelight Christmas Service at church. Both kids were dressed in their "Christmas Clothes" so I thought I would take a picture of them in front of the tree at church. Well, as you can see--Chandler would have none of it. She was all ready to take the picture and just started crying. I am not sure why!! I keep reminding myself-she will be 2 in less than 2 months. Will we make it????? Just the slightest thing will set her off & about the only one who can make her happy most anytime is her Pop!!!!

So, we took this picture below. I really like this picture-maybe MeMe should send out "Happy New Year" cards with this picture!!!

Notice the tie that Cheney is wearing-he announced this morning "I want to wear a tie to church." GREAT!! He has never been interested in a tie & I have never bought him one. When he wore a tie in the few weddings he has been in, they have quickly come off. So, he went to his Daddy's tie rack (Billy hasn't worn a tie in YEARS!!) and picked out this Christmas tie. I thought he looked pretty handsome-even though most of the tie was tucked into his shirt!!!

Merry Christmas!

Check back on Tuesday/Wednesday to see pictures of the big day!! To all of those not spending the day with us, we love you & miss each one of you! Please come visit soon!!

Christmas with Granny

So we started our week of Christmas celebrations tonight! Many of you know that Billy's Granny moved into an Assisted Living center this summer. She is enjoying living there, but it has been a hard transition for her. Her apartment is quite small, but we reserved the parlor to use. It was fun & we are so thankful that we can share some time with Granny!

The kids opened their gifts as soon as we got there!

Konni with her friend, Bailey. They have both been in 4H together for many years.

Granny enjoyed all the excitement, but we can be REALLY loud!! One of Granny's neighbors brought over 2 small boxes of dry cereal to give to the kids, but she said that there was only one rule-they had to be quiet when they were eating it!! I don't think she liked all our yelling & laughing!!

The boys playing with their new game.

Stepheny & Kase chatting with Granny

Nanny Gerry & Billy

The boys-Kase, Cheney, & Karson. Chandler really didn't want anything to do with them. They play rough!!

The Polar Express PJ Party

Today was the last day of school before the Christmas Break! YIPEE!! We are ready for a few mornings of sleeping in & hanging out in our PJ's all day (or at least Mommy is!!!!) To kick off the break, Cheney's kindergarten class had a Polar Express Party. Everyone was supposed to wear their pj's to school!! Cheney thought it was great because he could sleep a little later-he didn't have to get dressed!! Unfortuately, I made him change PJ's into some CUTER ones-oh well!! During the morning, they watched Polar Express & drank hot chocolate. After lunch, they had Christmas themed centers. Because we were done giving exams, I got to go help! It was fun, but a little overwhelming! I definitely think that Mrs. Helms has a gift if she is willing to teach 22 5 year olds!! WOW!! But it was great & I enjoyed meeting some of the kids that Cheney is talking about. When it was time to go, I got many hugs from his classmates-they really are a sweet bunch of kids!!

Sitting on the carpet waiting for instructions

Drinking his BIG RED Float-YUMMY!!

Billy looks really excited-he was not too happy that I roped him into coming to help!

Icing his cookie

Showing off his reindeer sandwich-this is the center that I worked with. Cheney took advantage of his Mommy being there & ate all the leftover cherries!!

They also made reindeer food to leave outside on Christmas Eve!!

Thanks for letting me come help Cheney!!

We Went To See the REAL Santa!

Tonight, we headed to the mall to talk to Santa. We wanted to make sure that he knew EXACTLY what we wanted. We got there around 5 pm only to find out that Santa was going on his dinner break in about 15 minutes & they had CLOSED THE LINE!! So, we headed to Chick-Fil-A (our favorite at the mall!). Around 6:15, we got back in line & it was REALLY long. Santa came back from his dinner break around 6:25 & (thank goodness!) the line moved pretty fast.

I am completely amazed that Chandler is not the least bit afraid of Santa. The Christmas that Cheney was 1, he was completely terrified of Santa. The only time that Chandler cried was when they made her get off Santa's lap because the little girl that was before her didn't like her pictures!! Chandler had walked right up & started visiting with Santa. Santa told MeMe that he was VERY IMPRESSED that she was not scared of him!! WAY TO GO, CHANDLER!!!

MeMe had to fix Chandler's hair-she sits STILL for MeMe, not for her Mommy!!

Doesn't he look handsome??

Chandler didn't want to be in the picture with Bubba-she kept running off

I thought this was sweet-I wonder what they were talking about?

Stephenson Kids-I may be prejudice, but I think they are the cutest kids around!! Many people smiled at them in the mall & talked about how pretty Chandler's dress was!!

On the way home, Cheney decided that was the REAL Santa!! He knew because he had a real beard!! Good boy!!

KIDS KLUB CHRISTMAS PARTY

Tonight was the last night that we will have Kids Klub until 2008!! The kids worked really hard on the musical preparations so deserved to have a great Christmas party.

Don't they all look so pretty & handsome?

Well, this is how they really look!!

They all brought gifts to exchange, but instead of the usual gift exchange they all received balloons that had instructions inside. Each kid had to pop their balloon & read the instructions. No one knew which gift was theirs until the very end. Here is Deano & Cheney patiently wait to pop their balloons. Everytime a balloon was popped-everyone screamed! It was great fun!!

Cheney popped his balloon (THANKS MR. MARTY FOR THE SHARP STICK!!)

Check back soon for more pictures. We are going to visit Santa tomorrow. Cheney & I had a discussion tonight about whether the Santa at the mall was the real Santa. He finally decided it was one of the North Pole "managers" & the "manager" reports DIRECTLY to the REAL Santa. I told him that you never know which one is the real Santa & which is the "manager."

Good grief, they grow up fast??

Angels Aware!!

After many weeks of rehearsal, the Kids Klub presented their Christmas musical tonight. The title of it was "Angels Aware" and the cool thing is that I did this musical when I was in elementary school and I had the SAME DIRECTOR as Cheney did!! Wow, Ms. Janice has been working with kids a LONG time!! The kids did a great job and had a great time. I got to work with them on their speaking parts and they worked so hard. I am so proud of them!!

Bethany-I am so proud of you!! You did exactly what I asked you to do-FINALLY!! Thanks!! I wish Mr. Billy had taken a picture of it!!

Cheney looking cheesy during the last rehearsal tonight

Going over last minute instructions with Ms. Janice

Do I look like an Angel?

Cheney's best buddy, Deano, played the part of Gabriel tonight. He did an outstanding job!! Way to go!!

This is Katie-one of the youngest member of Kids Klub. This is one of the few times that Katie seemed to have it all together. She was quite the ham on stage...

So, does she look as angelic now??

Michael & Cameron did a great job also!!

Cheney's Christmas Party

Tonight was Cheney's 1st Annual Christmas Party. He got to invite 12 of his friends over and we had a great time.

The girls (minus Bethany) decided that they wanted to eat inside-Terryn, Micayla, Maggie, Katie, & Riley

The boys (plus Bethany-UH OH Bill!!) ate outside-Justin, Cheney, Garrett, Karson, Cameron, & Bethany

After we ate, we went to a couple of houses on our street to Christmas Carol. The kids had never done anything like it & I think they enjoyed it!

At this house, this couple was so sweet & appreciative of the singing, they passed out chocolate chip cookies! And while we were gone, guess who arrived...

Blue Santa (aka Mr. Jerry)

Katie was so excited she jumped right into his lap!

The kids listening to Blue Santa talk to them about Jesus

Chandler joined Katie on Blue Santa's lap

Blue Santa brought each kid a beautiful chocolate snowflake

The entire group

Cheney & Blue Santa had an extended chat about being a good boy & loving Jesus!

After Blue Santa left, the kids headed outside to decorate sugar cookies. I think they had a great time making their creations!

Justin had A LOT of green icing!!

Kase even got into the decorating action

While everyone was decorating, Chandler headed off to the swings-one of her favorite places to be!!

Everyone had a great time! Maybe we will make this a yearly tradition!!!

Thanks for coming everyone!!!