The Christmas Holiday.....

I hope everyone had a Merry and Blessed Christmas...

We got to spend lots of time with all the family from both sides.. Mimi and D-dad, Mom and Ray, Sterling and her Family and Kelly, Grandma and Poppie and Nanaw Jerrie.
The only ones that we missed were My Dad and NAncy, Nanaw Pat and Grandma Sandy!

We had such a good time with everyone and love all the presents!


Here are a few pictures over the holiday...

Kelly and Nanaw





Peyton's New Bike




ALi and Peyton Christmas Morning VERY Early!!!







Papa Ted And Nanaw Nancy she is showing off her new bracelet!




Peyton and Kota the Triceratops



I have lots more pictures but Peyton is needing me and Ali needs help getting ready for a birthday party!!

Our Tree.... And a Birth!!!

Our Tree.....



And A Birth....

I am so Excited about the birth of Crystal's Twin boys!!! They arrived this morning and seem to be doing well. They are in the NICU for 7-14 days since they are premature and their lungs aren't developed very well. Their names are Heath McEwin and Hunter Mark Amthor! Can't wait to see pictures! I am especially excited about this because I know how long Crystal has waited and tried and tried to be a mommy and it just blesses me so much that she got a double portion! She no doubt, will be an awesome mom!

Please keep them in your prayers!


Love,
Heather

School, Kids and other Random things...

WOW! I Didn't realize it had been since Thanksgiving that I has posted! Time just seems to be getting away from me these days with Work and School and all the home duties Weeks FLY by!
We put our Christmas tree up Thanksgiving weekend as tradition. It took us several days to get this accomplished. Ali and I started putting it up Sat. night... However Peyton feel asleep so we waited until Sunday to finish because I know he has been patiently waiting to help. Ali seemed to think our tree looked like a Twig! Maybe more so the Charlie Brown Christmas Tree..It just seemed so small in the new house with the tall ceilings. (Can I just say that I hate shaping the tree after it's been in its box for a year? HATE IT!) I have secretly always disliked that tree.. it just never would stand up straight and it always had what looked like a gap in the top.. HAHAHA!

Sunday morning Stephen comes in from work and looks at the tree," Is this the same Tree we have always had?" YEP! Amazing how things look differently in different surroundings? He and Ali insisted that we needed a new tree! I have to say, I did agree... So, the tiny tree made its way into the kitchen and we decorated it with all the ornaments that we have collected through the years and ones I had when I was little and homemade ones..
Anyhoo.. thank goodness for Dian.. she had like 6 trees she wasn't using.. so we borrowed one.. Stephen brought it in and it is 7.5 foot tall and about 4ft around.. with lights, thank goodness! A person can lose their religion stringing lights. Now it doesn't even fit where we intended it to go... It's a beautiful tree! I will post some pictures after while. While i was typing this about the two trees, I was reminded of something... As a Christian, I always pray for the needs of my family, yes, sometimes materialistic prayers, but more so that our needs be met... AS always, My God has provided us with something bigger than we had planned! He always is this way.. we think small, just to enough to get us by, but HIS ways our BIG.. even if it's just a Christmas tree!

Today Ali is in Mertzon with the Jr. high at her UIL meet. She competes in Impromptu, oral reading and some writing something or another.. She can't wait to be in High School next year so she can be in Drama! I do believe that is going to be her "thing". Next year... High School... OMG! 5 more months and Ali can call herself a high schooler! NO!!!!!

So, enough rambling from me.. Just popping in to catch up! Better get back to work!

Enter Into His Gates with Thanksgiving...

and into His courts with praise;
be thankful unto Him, and bless His name.
For the Lord is good;
His mercy is everlasting;
and his truth endures to all generations. ~Psalm 100


I hope Everyone had a great Thanksgiving!!! Thanksgiving was a little different this year. Stephen had to work and lots of family didn't come to the ranch this year. This year we had Thanksgiving at the ranch. Jolene and James and their kiddoes came in from San Antonio, Aunt Melva,Uncle Jody,Granny and Pa came in from Angelo, Jeremey, Branson and Collin came in from Lubbock and of then there was me and the kids and Lovie and Cautro and Quenten. LOTS of kiddoes running around! It was really cool having them all together and very CRAZY!!!! I am very thankful for the time spent with family. I am going to San Angelo this weekend to see my Nanaw and my sister and hopefully see Kelly.

I hope everyone is full with food and their heart is warm with the love of their families.

Thank You Jesus for my family!
Thank you Jesus for my Babies!

Pictures of All the kiddoes!








Thank you Lord that I have MORE THAN ENOUGH....

Memory Lane...

This was taken on the day that Stephen and I got married, June 10th, 2000.
Ali was 4 and would turn 5 that August.




This was Taken 8 years later...




This was taken Nov. of last year Peyton was 2 and ALi was 12





THis was taken in Nov. this year. My how they have grown!

My babies are growing up!

Shoes.......

I just bought 2 pair of shoes for $5! THe best shoes ever! Please go check them out at Angie's Blog- BRING THE RAIN.... Read the post titled 50,000.

http://audreycaroline.blogspot.com/2008/11/50000.html

I don't know if the link will show up, but if it doesn't then on my Blog you can find the blog BRING THE RAIN.


I love SHoes and I have too many, so it just seemed right to buy these!

Lord, THank you that my kids, my husband and I have shoes to wear. Help me not to take that for granted.


Have a wonderful Afternoon!

Heather

Lazy Day...

Just what I needed! A day to do absolutely nothing....well except laundry and dishes and chase Peyton. That boy is one busy kid! I pray that he settles down as he gets older, I love that boy so much but jeez, he can wear anyone out! If I had just a tad of his energy I would be good to go for weeks! I might sound like I am complaining, but really, It blesses me to see little pieces of my heart running around but if he could be still for just a little awhile???
Stephen and Peyton stayed in Sheffield last night so Ali and I had a girls night and went out to eat and watched a movie, Veggie Tales The Pirates That Don't Do ANything.. I love that ALi still likes those movies. We feel asleep on the couch early! We were exhausted!


stephen is home now and has made a fire in our fire place... it's not that cold out tonight but I LOVE me a Fire!!!

Good Night!

Heather

Oh! ALI MADE A 91 ON HER MATH TEST!!!!

TGIF!

I am so glad it's Friday!!

Let's see if I can give a run down of this week..

Ali had a Basketball game in Forsan- They WON!! Go WARRIORETTES!!!
#14!!!

The kids had Youth and Cubbies.. Peyton LOVES to go to Cubbies.. He learns bible verses every week and is supposed to recite them.. every week it is Jesus LOves me and GOd does too! I guess he hasn't learned the others yet...

Math tutorials for ALi- She brought her grade up 14 Pts. this week! GO ALI!
She had a Math test today so fingers crossed she got a BIG FAT A on it! A Big thank you to Manish!!! He is tutoring Ali- he is an engineer I work with.. SO SMart that Guy! Because well, we don't need me tutoring her..

We went to Watch Quenten in his school program.. It was a Thanksgiving AND Christmas program... Since when do they do that? It was wierd to hear them singing Christmas songs before Thanksgiving??? They had a turkey running around AND a snowman! Whatever.. it was cute!

Work was extrememly busy!

I filled up my YUKON for $45!!! WOW!!!!

Oh and I had a nervous breakdown...

More fever blisters...this makes 7 in a month or two?

got antibiotics for the fever blisters... YUCK!

Colored my hair TWICE!!!!

So, really not THAT exciting of a week but it was Busy and I am worn completely out! Hopefully we will have a nice quiet weekend....

Yea, probably not....

Love,
Heather

As Promised....

Here are some pictures from Saturday working in the yard.

A Change Of Season.....

I would have to say that Fall is my favorite Season. I always tell Ali that I can smell fall coming. With Fall comes cooler weather, the start of a new school year, football games, soups and chili for supper, sweat shirts, Thanksgiving, the smell of cinnamon and spice candles burning... I absolutely Love it! Fall is such a cozy season. Fall also brings LEAVES! I love the leaves and the colors they start to turn. Our new house has these huge pine trees in front so we don't have to worry about leaves falling, but our neighbors do! Today the kids and I raked leaves and made piles and Peyton jumped in them.. Ali wasn't happy about that because she had worked her tail end off getting them just so... I will have to post the pictures tomorrow, the camera is in the car and I am too cozy on the couch right now and besides, it's COLD out! Anyways, I started thinking about how seasons bring change and not just with the weather. We go through Seasons with the Lord too and I feel like I am beginning to come into another Season with HIM now..a time to draw even closer to HIM. I am excited about this new Season, I am looking forward to what HE has in store for me and my family and what HE is going to teach me in this Season...I just pray that I can be STILL long enough to hear HIM. In the past I've been known to only hear HIM while using the bathroom or taking a shower and sometimes not even those times are a very quiet time,and those with younger ones know what I am talking about..you can't go pee or take a shower without at least one or two kids right there with you =) Anyways, I posted one of my favorite scriptures From Ecclisiastes........... I will put pictures up tomorrow!!!

There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under heaven:
a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,

a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,

a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,

a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain,

a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,

a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,

a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.

Photo Shoot

Just wanted to share a photo or two that Keva took of the kids last weekend in an effort to get Christmas cards done. Bless Keva! LOL!! Peyton thought he was a dinosaur the whole time so if you can imagine how MOST of his pictures turned out! She did capture some very sweet ones of him and Ali and Oh Ali! My, My, My... she is growing up everyday! I actually teared up looking at the pictures of her.. Where does the time go? It really blesses me to have these pictures.. I LOVE PICTURES! You can never have enough! Why is it that husbands have no clue the importance of them or is it just mine? THey each tell a story and bring back so many memories! Thanks again Keva!