Koinonia scavenger hunt

Our Sunday school class had a winter wonderland scavenger hunt Saturday night. After a yummy dinner (food is of course at any function) we were told our objectives --- take 5 pictures with everyone standing in front of something white and collect 5 white items that could fit in a white lunch sack. We broke into our assigned groups and off we went. I do have to admit, our group came up with some creative things, but the most creative had to be Matthew's. Matthew lost a tooth while running around Rockwall, guess what, it was white and could fit in a bag!

Yeah, were up to date!

Just a quick note about the site. When you look at it, you will notice that the pictures don't really correspond with the dates, that is because it shows the date I loaded the picture and not the date it was taken. So we didn't really take our summer vacation in November, and the kids really did start school in August, etc... Unfortunately, I don't know how to change this, so just go with it and enjoy the pictures.

Venture weekend

Each year our church does Venture. It is a weekend for our youthgroup were they stay at host homes for the weekend, enjoy great music and messages at church, do a couple of outreach projects, and bond as a group sharing and, of course, playing around. This is the first year that we had one old enough to participate, so we thought this would be a great time to finally get involved it. We hosted a group of 9th grade boys (9 to be exact and 2 college age leaders). I know what your thinking 9th grade boys, are you crazy, but what a great group of boys. They were all so polite and well behaved, and when they left you couldn't tell that they had been there (that is other than the mass empty packages of food left in the trash can).


Yes, that is my daughter with pink hair. Apparently, it is tradition for the girl's to dress weird Saturday night. Some girls came in footie jammies, some in matching shirts, some with matching scarves, and then there was Amanda's group --- colorful hair, strange attire (Amanda's included yellow wings that you can't see), to be in 7th grade again, well maybe not.











We all had a great a time especially Mike and Matthew because they got to behave like teenagers for the weekend. The weekend also has changed Amanda. She wrote on her Facebook (yes, she has a facebook) that she was saved at age 5 but didn't understand what that meant until age 13. A highlight for Mike and me was when her leaders found us and told us what a heart for God she has, and how impressed they were with her, brought tears to my eyes. Venture was over at noon on Sunday and we were all wiped out and spent the day resting, oh yeah, and watching the Steelers win!!!

Amanda's basketball tournament

Whose ball is that Amanda, that's right it's your ball!!! Mommy can't help but shout this at least once every game, this is also what I have her saying before each game --- I think it must help because she gets a ton of steals!



Amanda's team played in the district's tournament. Amanda did awesome, we were very proud. The team struggled in the championship match, they couldn't get very many shots off. Amanda's coach took her off pointguard the last half and had her playing guard (which is her favorite position). They were able to get some more shots off, but couldn't pull out the win. Her team came in second in the tournament and continues to have a great season with only one loss so far!

Basketball is full swing for all!

Annie, Matthew and Michael's basketball season has started. They are all playing on the same teams as last year, so it is nice to see some familar faces.




Annie is playing on the Wild Things again this year. Mike is enjoying being the assistant coach once again. The team added one player this year, but other than that remains the same. It is the third year we've played with these girls, and we just love them. Annie is enjoying the year and is becoming a more agressive player.




Matthew's team is the bulls and daddy is still the coach. The team has gained several new boys this year, a couple from Matt's football team. It is a great group of boys! Matthew is playing several different positions this year. His two main positions are post and wing. He may not be the tallest kid out there, but he does a great job under the basket getting those rebounds, apparently white men can jump!




Michael plays on the Running Rebels. It is such a blast watching this little guy run the court. He plays pointguard and patiently waits half court for the pick, it is hilarious. He also has great concentration guarding. So good that he often forgets to see where the ball is because he is so focused on his man, it is great!!! This team has improved so much this year, they are actually making plays!!! It will be fun to watch as they get even older and compare film from last year.

A new look for the boys!

The boys were due for a trim, and our favorite barber (Michele Donaldson) came over. Out of the blue, both boys decided that they wanted a change and wanted to go short. I wish I had taken pictures during the cut, it was a funny sight when the bottom was shaved and the top was long. We tried to talk Matthew into a mohawk (JK), but he opted not to. Both boys are happy with the new do. Gotta admit, it has taken daddy and mommy longer to get use to, but of course we think they look great!

The beauty of ice

I don't know if I will ever understand the weather here in Texas. Over Christmas break, we had freezing cold days where my heater ran and extremely warm humid days where my air conditioning clicked on --- whose air runs in Dec/Jan. Well on January 5th, we had a freezing day. I had to return to work that day (BOOOO!!!), while the kids got to stay home and play. It was freezing out, below freezing, it was 30 degrees. And there was precipitation. Freezing, precipitation, shouldn't that mean snow??? Well, apparently not in Texas!!! I know the explanations, I do, I've heard them severeal times, but I don't like them. If it is cold enough to snow, I want snow, plain and simple. Although I didn't get my wishes, there was a lot of beauty around me. The fields were completely white, not with snow, but with ice. The trees and bushes were coverd in ice, it was very pretty, and I thought you might enjoy seeing a little of what we saw (although pictures don't do it justice!).

The Sneak Attack

One of my friends thought it would be fun to wake the girls up early one morning (which on break, 8:00 was early for them), stick them in a car, don't tell them where they are going and then take them to breakfast at IHOP, in their jammies. What a great idea!!! While she was out with the girls, I treated her and my boys to some chocolate chip pancakes with whip cream too. They just didn't get the embarassment of being in public, at least not this time, but I'm sure their time will come too.


Amanda was, let's just say, less than amused to be woken up this way. It took quite some time to pry the blankets off of her, and for her to comprehend what was going on!


Annie heard the commotion in Amanda's room and was ready for us when we barged into her room looking oh so cute. We'll get you next time Annie!


Off to IHOP they go!

Happy New Years

I did a terrible job of getting pictures of New Years Eve, sometimes I'm just not on top of it. We went out to dinner at Wild Wings and had some buffalo wings with Grandma and Papa. We then went over to the Donaldsons and visited, watched football, played games, etc... Grandma and Papa left around 10 so they could get some sleep before their big drive in the morning. We toasted in the New Years with our friends and let the kids go crazy with poppers outside. It was a really nice relaxing night just enjoying the company of loved ones, what a great way to ring in the new year!!! We woke up early the next morning and kissed Grandma and Papa goodbye, then remarkable, everyone went back to bed and slept another couple of hours, it was amazing!!! We spent the day, doing what we love to do, just being at home together as a family, ahhhhhh!!!

Ice skating

Before Grandma and Papa went home, we decided to spend an afternoon ice skating. We went to the Galleria (can't help but say that like a "valley girl") in Dallas. They have a rink with a huge Christmas tree in the middle. It was really crowded, but we still had fun. Grandma and Papa didn't skate, but they took a ton of pictures while the kids and I did. It was Michael's first time and the other kids hadn't been in 4 years. Matthew and Amanda caught on really quick, but it took a little longer for Annie and of course Mikey. It was nice having the older kids with me because they took turns helping take Mikey around, big back saver. I forgot how painful those skates are, my poor feet. After a couple of hours, we called it quitting time and headed to Starbucks for some hot cocoa.

Christmas day 2008

So, we found another bonus of having grandparents with us on Christmas. Apparently at around 3:30 am, our girls woke up and "had to use the restroom", which meant they had to check to see if Santa had come. The girls became very giddy with excitement because Santa had come and they couldn't contain themselves. They went in and out of their room (they were sharing Amanda's room so that Grandma and Papa had a room) several times, later to find out snooping in the stockings. After an hour or so of this, Grandma decided she might as well get up and check on them. Seeing as everyone was too excited to sleep, they decided to break the cards out and play some go fish, afterall what else is there to do at 5am? Papa decided to join in on the fun and shortly after, so did Matthew. Daddy and mommy were peacefully sleeping and totally oblivious to what was happening on the other side of the house. About 6:30 rolls around and we start to hear uncontrolable giggling and what sounds like something being pushed across the tile. Well, the kids were forceably pushing their Papa through the house so that he would wake us up laughing all the way, thinking that mommy and daddy wouldn't be upset if Papa was the one waking them up early. Well, at this point we were all awake except Michael. Finally at 7:00 we decided everyone had waited long enough and we would wake the little guy up, funny we thought he would be the one getting all of us out of bed!!!


We went in to wake Mikey up, and soon as we touched him, his little head popped up, he jumped up in his bed, and with his eyes barely opened, yelled "it's Christmas, it's Christmas". He immediately ran out and saw Grandma and Papa in the kitchen, climbed up on the counter and announced it to them!!! It was cute beyond words!!!


Grandma, Papa, it's Christmas!!!



Once we were all awake, we started by opening our stockings and the gifts that Santa brought.









After our yummy breakfast of cinnamon rolls, we all gathered around as daddy read the Christmas story, and spent sometime talking about what Christmas is about and why we give each other gifts. Then if was off to round two of gifts. Yikes!






Mommy finally finished Michael's "ABC" scrapbook. I think he really liked it!!



Grandma Horsley made these beautiful quilts for the boys!!!


The girl's admiring their homemade gifts from Aunt "E"


Daddy enjoying what is his favorite gift each year, football cards!!!


The aftermath!!!



A favorite new toy of the boys is their new nerf guns. It didn't take long for a nerf war to break out.


The girls broke out their new scrapbooks and scrapped away with Grandma.




It was a beautiful day outside for the boys to try out some of there new toys!


Happy 69th birthday Grandpa Pelletier!

We were blessed with a wonderful Christmas, and are so thankful to God for all that He continues to do for us, but especially for giving us the gift of His Son!!!