Easter Greetings to all our family and friends! We hope that you all had a great Easter! We did! Our weekend was packed full but that is the way that things usually are around the Chaney household! First of all this was Gage's First Easter. Also it was the first Easter for Gavin that it has not rained. Thursday was Gavin's Easter Party at his school. Then Friday we went to the Haight's to dye Easter Eggs. This is a yearly tradition we do with them. On Saturday we had our Church Egg Hunt at 10:30a.m. That was a lot of fun. There was a huge group of kids there. Then we went to Aunt Paula and Uncle Tinker's at 2:00p.m. to have Easter with Ba's (my dad) side of the family. Everyone had a ball. Your cousins Megan, Savannah, Zane, and Gracie were there. There were also to tinee babies in Lynette and Felicia's bellies. We will have two new cousins by Christmas! This morning we went to Church Services. The church was packed. Gavin and Gage stayed out with us during services and both did great! After Church we came home and loaded up the car to go to Gram and Pa's house. (Ray's side of the family) Your cousins Coleton, Kayleigh, Terra, and Taylor were there. You guys had a lot of fun hunting eggs and playing. We are also excepting two babies on this side of the family. Aunt Heather is due in eight days or she is being induced in eight days. So today we had a surprise Baby Shower for her, Uncle Chris, Cole, and Brooke. It was so much fun. They got lots of great things for a baby girl. All in all Gavin did A LOT of hunting eggs and Gage did A LOT of sleeping. :)
Memorial Day was nice, Daddy was off and we made plans to go to the movies with the Haights and then cook out. Well it rained and rained and rained. I thought we had a low 2o% chance but wow! We did go see "Over the Hedge." It was very cute! Gavin and Coleton loved it! Gage and Brooke went but slept through most of the movie! It was a lot of fun. It was still raining when we got out of the movies but the Daddys insisted on grilling outside. The food was great and the so was the conversation! We always have a ball when we are around each other. Here are some sweet pictures.
Father's Day slipped by this year. I wanted us to do something as a family but with us moving into the new house Ray and I were too excited to NOT work on the house. We kind of took it easy did some things around the house and then had lunch with my family and then went out to see my grandparents. We also picked up some flowers to put on Ray's Dad's grave. We are going over there on Friday. I hope to get a picture of the boys there.
Happy Father's Day, Ray. We love you so much. We would not know what to do without you around and we appreciate everything that you do. Love - Kinzy and the boys
We hope everyone had a great 4th! Our 4th really started on Sat. July 1st with Sara and Gary. We went to Lake Ouachita and spent the day. Then on Sunday we went with the Haight's to the Little Rock Zoo. The Zoo has really changed a lot. This was Gage's first time at the Zoo. Gavin and Coleton had a blast. This is a great age for them to go to the Zoo. Of course I forgot my camera. I forgot the camera the first time that Gavin went to the Zoo. Do you think that I had that in my sub-conscience? Anyways, on Tues. we invited the Haight's over to our new house and grilled and did fireworks. The younger boys had a lot of fun with the Fireworks this year. The bigger boys really let them participate. Gage and Brooke did really well through all the commotion. It was a really nice holiday!
I love this time of year! The leaves are so beautiful and the weather is so nice. Things have been so busy for us this school year. Mommy is going non stop with Daddy dragging along the boys for the ride.
Gage is doing so good! He is now 10 months old. He has 8 teeth! I cannot believe it! He is all over the place! He can ALMOST stand up in the middle of the floor by himself. He is walking, taking almost 5 steps at a time. Then he drops and crawls because he is a "speedy crawler!" He is now saying ALL of our names, well Mama, Dada, Bub-ba, Bye, Bi (bite)... He is just getting too big! Today Gavin said to me, "Momma that baby is growing up." I said "What baby?" and he said "Bubba." I agreed with him.
Gavin has really grown up. I cannot believe how much he has changed this year already. He is going to start Kindergarten next year! OMG! He loves his brother and his school. He loves my "gurls." (That is my Dance team) Every day when he gets off of the bus he asks me "Are your gurls here today?" Christmas is going to be so fun this year!
Well here are some pictures from our Fall Season. Gavin's school went to the Pumpkin Patch, so Ray took the day off and I went and met him and Gage there. We also went to Boo at the Zoo with the Haight's. Also trick or treating on Halloween. We have been busy! Miss everyone and love you all!
We had such a lovely Thanksgiving! Last weekend we went to a cabin in Texas to meet my aunt, uncle and cousins. We had Thanksgiving dinner and Christmas all in one weekend! It was so nice! It was our first time to meet my cousin's daughter, Sadie Beth, and vice-versa for them meeting Gage! All of the kids had a great time together! The kids received great gifts and the adults had a great time playing dirty santa!
I was out of school Wed., Thurs., and Fri. Ray took off work on Wed. and then was off Thurs. and Fri. We had a great time all being home together! We went to my aunt and uncle's house to have Thanksgiving dinner with my dad's side of the family. We had a great time! It was so beautiful outside!! Gavin ran around with all his cousins!
After my family, we went to Ray's side of the family. It was nice to get to see everyone! Heather and Brooke were in California; we hated to miss them!
Ray and I got up Friday morning and went shopping!! We had such a great time together. The boys were with Mema and Nana. It was a lot of fun to be out early in the midst of all the crazy people at the sales! We came home and got out ALL of the Christmas decor. We now have the Christmas tree and all inside house decor put out. We also worked hard on the yard lights! Ray still has to get on the roof and finish up!
What a wonderful family holiday! There is so much to be thankful for and so much that God has blessed us with. Love to all!!
Christmas is definately here! The house is looking good. The tree turned out absolutely beautiful! Ray finished the outside of the house. We concluded that it looks like a gingerbread house. Our house is a light brown color and we have colored lights hanging from the roof and outlining the house. The yard looks really great too. Gavin's favorite item is the "HoHo" and "deerrein" on top of the house.
The boys are getting ready for Christmas. We exchanged gifts with Lily and Levi at the Dance party. It was a lot of fun. We got the great-grandkids together from my dad's side of the family to get a group shot. There are 8 of them. Since last Christmas there were 3 born. It is a pretty cute picture cosidering 8 kids, all under 6.
Here are a few pics for your enjoyment!
Gavin and Gage had a great Valentine's. They were dressed in red for the day. Gavin had a party at school. They decorated shoe boxes to put their Valentine's in. It was very cute. He had tons of cards and candy!! Gage spent the day with Melissa. The boys received Valentine's from Nana & Ba, Mawmaw, Aunt Pat & Uncle Bobby, Bryson, Mema, Aunt Kassy, and of course us. Gage had the best time opening the basket from us. He emptied it out and then would walk around with it and put things in it. It was very cute! Thanks everyone for a great Valentine's!
Today we had an afternoon dinner with Ba's side of the family. Uncle Tinker and Aunt Paula were nice enough to let us invade their place. We grilled hamburgers and hot dogs. There were so many people there; we were missing Savanna, Josh, Taylor, and Uncle BJ. That is not bad out of 33. (Just brothers, their children, and grandchildren.) There were over 400 eggs for you boys to hunt with your cousins. It turned out to be an ok day, if the wind could have died down a little, it would have been better. Gavin needed an afternoon nap, so he was a little turkey for a while. Gage went along after Ray, stopping every once in a while to pick up something. (Usually not an egg.) It was a great family get together.
Then we had the Haight's over to decorate eggs. This is a yearly tradition for us. We always get candy to stuff the eggs and then we dye some and let you guys decorate. We have TONS of eggs. Gage, you and Brooke had the best time in the floor together. The first thing that you did to her was pinch her cheeks. It was so cute. Gavin, you and Coleton played big time together! We are looking forward to a good day tomorrow.
I realized that I did not post the rest of our Easter weekend. I know that has been forever ago. I will post some pics to share. We had a really great family gathering here at the house. The rain held off and we were able to hunt the 400 and some odd eggs outside. Thank the Lord!! We had a good crowd. Gavin you got Happy Feet from Nana and Ba, so we watched it after everyone had gone home with Coleton and Kayleigh. I think that adults enjoyed it more than you did. Gage you got baby's first signs from Nana and Ba you are doing very well with learning some of them. Thanks to everyone who had gifts for the boys. They loved all of them.
This year Memorial Day was celebrated early for us. We had a great family cook out at Gram and Pa's house. Almost the entire family was there. It was sorta a sad occasion, because we found out that Ray's Pa has cancer. We found out today that it is called small cell carcinoma. We are very sadden by this news and would like to ask for prayer from everyone. Please everyone put Jerry Long and his family on your prayer list.
Despite the news we did have a very nice day together as a family. We took a ton of pictures and I will post them for you to see.
Gavin and Gage are growing up too fast. Gage is into everything. We went swimming on Monday and the boys had the best time. We are lucky to have children that love being around the water. Gage would go into the water a little ways and then come up and play on the beach. It was precious. Gavin is fearless and wants to play with everyone that he sees. He is a veyr good swimmer and does not think that he could get hurt in the water. I trust him, just not the little kids that he picks to play with him.
Anyhow it was a very nice weekend with all the families!!
We had a fun filled Father's Day weekend. On Friday Gavin and I picked up Ghost Rider among some other movies to surprise Ray with. Ghost Rider was great. On Saturday we gave him his present. He got shelves for the garage. I think he was excited about them. We are ready to get the garage organized. We also got together with the Haights on Sat. Sun we slept in and cooked Ray breakfast. Gavin was a big help. Later, we went to see my dad, Pa, and Ray's dad's grave. This was the first time in along time that we had been to the grave. Gavin took some great pics of Ray and me fixing the flowers. We got a couple of cute ones of the boys by the headstone. It was just a really nice and relaxing day.
Levi and Lily hosted a Halloween party Friday night. It was decorated so cute!! The kids searched (in the dark with flash lights) for pumpkins, bobbed for apples, played a balloon race game. There was tons of food and of course candy!! We had a great time! Gavin is a teenage mutant ninja turtle and Gage is a skeleton. The skeleton was Gavin's at that age! (The pic of me is my friend Misti as a vampire biting my neck!)
Carving pumpkins is pure pleasure for adults. That is after they rake all the seeds and yucky stuff out of the pumpkin, draw something cute on it, and cut it out. WOW, then all the work is done!! But it is something to be proud of. Ray and I worked hard. The kids started helping and then ended up rolling down the hill in the front yard and playing in puddles from washing the cars.
We had a wonderful Halloween. We trick or treated on Main Street in Malvern. They had they set up very nice. There were tons of businesses there passing out candy. It was the best deal: park your car, walk the streets, score on lots of candy, kids happy, then leave! It was great! We will definantly go back and do it again next year. It was so neat to see all the costumes and people walking up and down Main Street. Of course we did family stops after that. Here are a few pics. Heather, Coleton, and Brooke came with us. We will miss them next year! :( Kassy met us and she is always a huge help with the kids!! My friend Misti's son, Levi, was with us too. Everyone had a great time!
We had a wonderful Thanksgiving and break from school! We were so busy during the week and weekend doing so many different things. Gavin and I were out of school for Thurs, Fri, and Sat. That was a blessing! The boys, Kassy, and I drove to Texas to meet Aunt Pat and Jacy to bring Mema home. She had broke her hip the previous weekend in Texas and had hip surgery! She is 80 and stubborn, so her recovery has been great! She has not slowed down at all it seems. We had a nice weekend with the Bazzell's despite the fall! :( Wednesday evening we started to work on the remodeling that we are doing. Thursday we finished up a few things before heading over to Ray's mom's house for Thanksgiving lunch. The cassaroles were to die for! Yum, sweet potato pie dish! :) We left from there and took Mema a plate and then headed out to my dad's side of the family. We had a good time. The kids all got to run around and play, so they had a great time! We left there and took mom and dad a plate. Mom is in the hosiptal again. She now has some kind of infection? Hopefully she will get to come home this week. Friday morning I got up REALLY early and went shopping! I love Black Friday and all the sales! I had my lists ready to go and had the morning mapped out. I got everything that I was on my list and was done by 7:30 a.m. I know! We went over to see Mema then we went home and rested. That night we got out the Christmas stuff and decorated the house out. The tree is beautiful. My "theme" if you want to call it that is snowmen. Ray finished up the remodel. (I will tell you about that in another entry.) Saturday Gage and I went shopping with Sara and Karen. They came up from Dierks. We got a lot done and had a really great time. I remember why I miss her so much and why I would love to live closer. She is looking so good, bearly even pregnant! Ray and Gavin worked on the outside lights and the remodel. Sunday we went and had lunch at Mema's and then did a little more shopping with Kassy. (I had to get the kids out of the house for Ray to work!) It was busy, I know, but great and really productive!
We have seen Santa everywhere this year! The boys have kept their eyes peeled for him. I think they have sat in Santa's lap like 30 times!! Here is a little thing that we went to at our local library. It was cookies and milk with Santa. It was cute and we got to visit Ashley there. She is the new libraian at the Malvern - HSC library. Gavin loved going and getting books. We have been back and returned and gotten more.
Hope everyone is having a great holiday! I know that we are!
We had not since Sara and Gary in a while. So this year we planned a trip to see them for Christmas. We took off on Sunday afternoon and had a great time visiting with Sara, Gary and Ma. Gary cooked deer meat and fried potatoes. Dinner was so yummy! Mommy got sick, we think because her belly is not used to all that greasy stuff from Weight Watchers. :( The kids got great gifts. Gavin at first was not happy with his games he got. Ray and I were so embarrassed!! Then we played his games and he was very excited about them! Playing guess who with him is interesting to say the least! Here are so cute pics...
We came home from Sara and Gary's this morning to get ready for the evening. Mommy was still a little under the weather so she was not any help. Daddy made two chocolate pies that were delicious!! We always go to Granny and Papa's for Christmas Eve. This year we had Christmas at Uncle Tinker and Aunt Paula's. It was nice and big. We took some great pics of the families. The food was wonderful and the presents were great!
When we got home from Granny and Papa's we baked cookies for Santa. You boys lined them out on the pan. Mommy had to spread them out a little bit... :) They were super cute. We decided to let the boys up all the gifts from us because last year they could not finish everything in the morning. This was a brilliant idea. Y'all loved everything that you got! Lots of clothes and some little toys. We put the cookies and milk out and then laid in the bed with mommma and watched Meet the Robinson's... Daddy had a few things that he needed to do... ;)
Mommy woke up just in time to find everyone asleep. (Remember mommmy was not feeling good!) Aunt Kassy was sleeping with Gavin, Gage, and Mommy in the big bed. Nana & Ba were in the spare room. Uncle BJ & Jenni were in the boys beds. Poor Daddy was sleeping on the couch. Mommy made sure everything was in order before the boys got up ;)
You both woke up together. We woke everyone else up and got out the cameras... You opened your big bags from Santa. Gavin got his "T" wrecks dinosaur hot wheel game & Gage got a spongebob squarepants that talks to him and a Giggle & Go Elmo gargage. They were super excited. We asked Gavin if he was happy and excited about what he got, he said well I did not get a trampoline. I said well Santa left a note. We read it and it said to check outside. Gavin was so excited to see his trampoline!! They went out a jumped in the frost. It warmed up and he was able to jump a lot the whole day. We had great breakfast pizza and homemade cinnamon rolls. I got so many great things. I cannot even list everything!! Ray loved the air compressor we got him and could not believe that I kept it from him!!
Later we had Ray's side of the family over for Christmas. We missed the Haight's so much. We talked to Chris on the phone which reminds me of when Ray and I were dating. That was the last time that we were on the phone together. :( The food was wonderful! Barbara's brocoli cassarole is to die for... The gifts were so nice and too much!! It was a great evening.
Later that night we invited our neighbors over to watch a movie. It was so much fun talking and the kids playing. They watched the movie for a while and then ended up in the playroom. :) We had popcorn and had a great time!!
We have so much to be thankful for. This new year means new additions for us. No, not a baby! Just adding more love and joy to our wonderful family. Our lives our working out better than our plans. Of course God has the real plan. We have a beautiful house that we are updating and remodeling. We have very nice and dependable cars. The boys are growing up so much and so fast! They always keep us on the go! We were blessed with wonderful jobs that fit us well. 2008 has came at us hard and fast and we have met it with a great outlook.
We had a nice Valentine. The boys got singing and dancing frogs. They loved this! You press the button and they go at it. The also got Spongebob and Spiderman candy. Gavin had a party at school. He had a ton of Valentines! We made a Transformer box, which was pretty neat! Gage had a little thing at Lissa's. Of course they are spoiled rotten there. We all wore red for the occasion. I had school and Ray had work. Ray made me breakfast this morning! YUM! He had me the cutest warmup outfit! I cannot wait to wear it! He also picked the perfect card, because it sings and dances!! I got him stuff for grillin'. I was surprised at school by three different roses with three balloons. One from Gavin, Gage, and Ray! I told him he did too much! It was such a wonderful day! I felt loved and I guess that is what it is all about!! My pics of the boys are not that good, but I will post them anyways.
Well this is the first year in about 6 years that we did not get together with the Haights to dye easter eggs. It was pretty sad. We did go ahead a dye eggs though. Amanda and the kids were in Louisana so we could not start this tradition with them, maybe next year. The boys had a lot of fun. Gavin was very independent. He wanted no help and wanted to do them all! Gage kept on dropping his eggs and cracking them! We used those to put sleeves on. The boys also helped me stuff the plastic eggs with candy. They did really good. I could not believe that Gage filled the eggs and did not eat them. He copied me perfectly!
Easter I is at my aunt and uncle's house. Mom was still in the hospital so her and dad were not there. Kassy rode with us down there. We had sanwiches and tons of dip and chips. The desserts were yummy too! There are a ton of little cousins down there. We love getting together and letting all the kids play. We had over 200 eggs and the kids went to town searching for eggs. The even had a trailor ride behind Uncle Tinker on the four-wheeler. It was beautiful and a wonderful afternoon. We took mom and dad food after this and spent a little time there.
Easter II is at Gram's house. There were not many people there. Gram, Bev, Barbara, Bob, Tera, Taylor, and our family. Derek was away. Darrell and Ron were with their families. The Haights were in Colorado. Bryan is now in Iraq and Amanda and the kids were visiting her family. THis was also the first Easter without Pa. Everyone was truly missed! It was a very different Easter. We had sandwiches and dip again. The kids played a few games that involved eggs on spoons and then they hunted eggs. They had a ton of candy when it was all over with, our car was packed full of stuff, and we were glad to get home. This was a wonderful Easter, we even went to church! We are hoping to find a new church home.
We spent the weekend at the MacKenzie family reunion in Monticello, AR. This is where I received my name sake. It is my grandmother's maiden name. I remember growing up attending these reunions. Everyone used to ask me what is your name and I wouls say MacKinzy. They would say oh yes, what is your first name?? They thought my name would be MacKinzy MacKenzie!!!??? It is funny to think back to. Those cousins that were on my generation have apparently come to the conclusion that they are too cool to attend family reunions. I hope they start attending because the family will die out if they do not. My boys were the youngest there, and everyone just adored them! Of course they got to eat and do whatever they wanted. There was a trampoline so that is where Gavin stayed. Then, there was a sandbox and that is where Gage stayed - DIRTY! :) I stripped him down and let him have at it. He was okay until I took the water hose out to clean him off... ;) We stayed in a hotel with Nana and Ba. Gavin got to swim and Gage was unsure about the water. I am sure he will warm up! Mema was so proud to have us there! She and Aunt Joyce were the only sisters there. Mema is turning 81 tomorrow. I hope she gets to make more reunions! We had a blast, but sad that Daddy was not there. He was on call. The reunion will be in Texas next year! We are already planning the trip!
We decided to take the boys to Boo at the Zoo this year. We usually make the trip to the Rock with the Haights; however, they are in Colorado now, so it was just the family. The best tip I can tell you about Boo at the Zoo is to get there early and beat the crowd! We did not have to take a stroller this year which was great! The boys roamed and prowled around. We still had light when we entered, and we were some of the first to get in. We saw the monkeys, and the boys got a head start on the candy. There were no lines!!! It was so nice. We sat through the animal feature which was full of "scary" animals... you know... SNAKES, SPIDERS, OWLS, SKUNK... The ones you never really want to get very close to! My boys loved it! If they did not bring the animal close enough for Gage to almost hug it, then he had a fit! There is a pic with him and the spider... We had to make Gavin get in the pic! ;) We got some fair food... Oh and Gavin wanted to go through the Haunted House... not the best idea, but okay we agreed. Of course Ray took him... Are you kidding?? Me in a haunted house! I DON'T THINK SO!!!!! He hated it and cried! Gage got to ride a ride and had the best time! It was a great trip. I am glad that we take the boys! Gavin has almost been every Halloween!
We had a great week of Halloween celebrations... We went to Boo at the Zoo... On Wednesday night Ray and I took the boys to the Haunted House at the school. It was being put on by the Champs program. The kids were very nice to us... No scaring... Of course I was totally freaked out! I HATE Haunted Houses! We then went over to a local church's fall festival with the Hortons. It was a lot of fun. On Friday, we came home and got ready as quickly as we could and left for Gram's house. She was waiting to see the boys, and they were so excited to see her! We did not stay long because we were meeting friends to go along Main Street in Malvern. We tried to make the costume contest at the library and missed being judged because of traffic. We got on Main Street and paraded with everyone else! It was a lot of fun... The whole town of Malvern and surrounding areas seemed to be there. It is safe and fun; plus the kids get a ton of candy! We finished the night at the Magnet Cove v. Glen Rose football game... We kicked tail!!! Go Beavers!
NOTICE THE PIC OF RAY AND THE BOYS... WHO DOES RAY RESEMBLE?
We hosted Thanksgiving at our house this year, and let me tell you how different Thanksgiving was this year! BJ was in with his finacee, Jenni, and Kassy is married! We are sorry that the kids could not be here! We had a house full with just our little family really! lol! Aunt Sandy, Uncle Terry, cousins Joe and Faye, a friend of Kassy and Scotty's, Stevie, and of course Mema were here! Here is the biggest kicker - I COOKED! I know right?!? I made pumpkin and pecan pies, the dressing, all kinds of sides. Ray deep fried a turkey, and we baked a ham! I loved every minute of it! The house was so warm and alive! It was the perfect day! I could not have pictured it any better, except for a few more of our closest friends and family to be here.
On another note we have had a wonderful time with BJ and Jenni while they have been in! We are planning for that wedding! It will be here before you know it!
Every Christmas Eve we always go to my Granny and Papa's. (my dad's parents) Well this year Nana had just gotten out of the hospital and was feeling a little yucky, so we took Christmas to her. Uncle BJ is in Finland with Jenni. He said that it is beautiful - snow everywhere! Oh, how I wish I was there with him! ;) Aunt Kassy and Uncle Scotty and the kids came up. We picked up Mema and headed over to Nana and Ba's house. We made what we were going to take to Granny's and just ate it there. It was a nice and cute little meal. I think we had three desserts and did not eat a one really! We just visited and had a great time being together! That is really what it is all about! We all opened forever! Mom and Dad got really nice things. They aren't used to spending that money on themselves! The kids really opened FOREVER! I really do mean that! They got tons of toys and clothes! Mom and Dad bought the boys laptops which they have not put down! Ray and I got some really nice things like a new coffee pot and toaster to match the new kitchen! We are truly blessed for the life and things that we have! Merry Christmas to all!
When we left mom and dad's house on Christmas Eve, we drove through and saw some lights with Mema. It was still pretty early, and the boys were not about to go to bed yet! We dropped off Mema and headed home. The boys played with all their toys, and we did too! The toaster and coffee pot look great! The boys opened two gifts. One had their Christmas pajamas in it and the other was their hallmark series ornament! Gavin opened his ornament first and Gage said, "Yeah, I get a motorcycle!" (Gavin gets a sports person, and Gage gets a motorcycle.) Gage knew what he was about to open! It was the funniest thing! Then we baked some cookies and read some new Christmas books. One was Who will guide my sleigh tonight. It was about Santa trying to decide which animal was best for guiding his sleigh! So cute if you have not read it! We wrote letters to Santa. Gavin's was precious! He asked about Mrs. Clause and talked about a trip to Disney again! They were so tired they did not get out of their beds one time! What a memorable Christmas Eve!
The boys did not get up as early as we thought they would. When they did get up, they were ready to go. We had to hold them back to get all the cameras out!! They went into the living room to find a Mickey blow up train with a note a few presents. The note was from Santa, and it sent them on scavenger hunt! They finally found were Santa had left their treasure boxes and stockings! The boys were so excited when they figured out that Santa had left them a trip to Disney World for the summer of 2009!! We were too! ;) Gavin just knew he was getting that because he had asked for it! It is going to be an awesome trip! The boys also go a "rip-off" Wii, video racer game, and board games. They opened all kinds of clothes! We have been really impressed this year with the boys. They got so many toys, but they are playing with them equally!! We play a different board game every hour! Gavin got the cutest Indiana Jones hat and whip! Gage got a microphone player! Of course they have still been hoppin' on the hoppers from the Stewarts!
On another note, the boys helped me clean the toy room. Gavin was very giving to other kids! We cleaned out good! Ray is making the kids a "short" table, so they will be able to play with all their toys and hopefully keep them organized! We will see! There is still another birthday to go for Gavin!
We rested the rest of the day! It was nice and peaceful. We even got naps in! Late afternoon we went to see The Tale of Despereaux. It was very cute, and the boys loved it!
We had a great Easter weekend. It started with a hunt in Dierks with Teralee, Jace, and Jerod. Gavin got tons of prizes! Gage loved the candy! ;) Saturday afternoon we met with my Daddy's side of the family. There were 8 second generation cousins to hunt eggs with. They range from 9-2 years old. (The pic is too cute!) It was a great visit playing in the yard and hunting eggs. Then Sunday we went to church with Nana, Ba, and Uncle BJ and had lunch after. The boys dyed eggs that afternoon too. They really liked that! We ended up hunting eggs in the house later that evening. We had a certain number in each room. The video is too cute! It was a very, very nice Easter weekend that was surrounded with family and great times!
I really wanted to be at the lake this year for the 4th! I love my childhood memories of being at the lake with my cousins, aunts, uncles, and family. Mom was feeling good, so it was a great day to go to the lake. Aunt Kassy was on vacation, so her and Uncle Scotty did not get to come. Aunt Jenni and I went down really early - like 6:45 a.m. to get a spot. Yes, that early... There were some spots left, but all the spots on the beach side of the lake were taken! It was crazy! I knew they would go early! Ray and the boys cam down a little later. Then Nana, Ba, Uncle BJ, and Mema arrived. So did Steve, Misti, Lily, and Levi Horton. We swam for a little while, then cooked hot dogs and burgers. Then went back swimming. It was such a great day! (I did not take that many pictures! I was so mad at myself!) Later that night we went over to the Horton's house to do fireworks. The kids loved the sparklers. Ray and Steve did a pretty good show! Thanks for having us over!
Boo at the Zoo has been an annual tradition in our household for several years now. I think we started going when Gavin was a baby with the Haights! This year Wyatt, Weston, and Miss Crissy went with us. We have learned to arrive early and not to go on Saturday! It was not crowded at all! We had day #2 of nice weather, so there was no rain! Yeah! The boys love getting dressed up for Halloween more than once, so they were in full costume! Ray and I did not dress up for this one. (Pics to come of the Chaney "pirate" gang from Halloween! ;) ) The boys loved getting the candy, of course! Gage would say "Aaarrgghhh, give me candy!" He had us rolling! Gavin wanted to do the costume contest, so we saw the live show of night animals and entered the contest. We entered the boys together since they were themed, and they won first place! Gavin was so excited! We rode some carnival rides and had some carnival food! Yum! Oh what fun!
We have been doing Halloween for years now, but it never seems to get old. :) We decided on a theme for the family this year! Yes even daddy! He was a great sport and had a great time dressing up! We were pirates. I shopped at yard sales and consignment stores for all the right accessories. Halloween morning we had to attend mommy's cheer competition, then we came home for a nap! We got up and dressed and went downtown Malvern. It was getting late and people were running out of candy, but you still received plenty! Aunt Kassy, Nana, Jacob, and Anna met us to trick or treat! We went to The Crossing and you all racked up there! We missed Crissy, Wyatt, and Weston! We were in the same places at different times. :( Afer we were done trick or treating, we went to the Horton's house with the Aarons. The kids played and played. Of course we ate some hot dogs and sweets! Thanks everyone for Gavin and Gage's treats! Teralee sent a McD's card, Sierra and Preston sent a nice vampire snack, Nana and Ba had cute buckets with candy, Aunt Kass and Uncle Scotty and kids sent $$! We love you all!
I am sure you are wondering where the name Rice comes from. Well my mema is a Rice which is my momma's momma. :) Our family is here and in Texas. My aunt and her family came in this past weekend to celebrate Thanksgiving with my mema. For those of you that do not know, my mema has dementia. It comes and goes. Some days are worse than others, and she has been sick often this year. She will be 83 in May! No one wants to think about their loved one dieing, but we all want those memories. Well this weekend was full of memorable moments! There were 23 people total. My mema, her three daugthers and their husbands, her five grandchildren and their spouses, and the six great-grandbabies. (Kassy's two were not there, so we were short them!) It was short and fast but wonderful to see everyone. Almost everyone traveled in late on Friday. We planned a breakfast Saturday morning with everyone. Then the males went golfing and the females talked, cooked, and watched the kids. Mema stayed at my house almost all day which was a record! She did not want to miss a second with those babies! She did go home around three then we went back to get her for dinner. The kids played and played! There was a 7, 5, and two 3 years old. Also 7 mo. and 3 mo. babies. The older cousins played the Wii, watched movies, and played outside. They acted like they had been together all their lives. (Remember they do live miles and miles apart and only see each other maybe once a year!) The dinner was great! My mom had recently had knee replacement surgery and was just trying to make it. My aunt from Texas had everything under control. I showed her the kitchen and whallla a meal! Yummy! I am so blessed to have such a wonderful family. It was even more a blessing that everyone could be here, amd Mema could enjoy everyone together! Thanks Texans for making the long haul! We love ya and miss ya already!
Oh yes, and the picture of Gage was hysterical! Everytime Ray would count one, two, three... Gage would jump in front of the camera to get in the picture! Do you think we have a camera hog or what??
Every Christmas Eve we go out to my Granny & Papa's. It is tradition. We have been doing it since I can remember which is a long time ago. I believe I was five or under. The story I remember that Christmas goes like this: It was a white Christmas. Everyone was at Granny & Papa's eating and carrying on. My Uncle Larry was loading up firewood in the back of his truck. He was backed up to the house facing a ravene that went into a little creek. My cousin and I hopped into the truck and thought we were going to drive literally. My cousin pulled the truck into drive and jumped out! (OH yes!) I was left banging around the cab straight for the ravene. Needless to say today my ear is a little less attached to my head! Anyways, good times down at Granny and Papa's. This year was no different except that the RAIN had came and the roads were flooded. We were not sure that we were going to have a way in for Christmas! This would ruin tradition!! We headed down for a way in and found WATER over the first entrance. Just as we were backing up a truck came up on us. We moved over, and he went through the water. It wasn't too deep, but we could not see the road for a little ways and the current was swift. Well by golly Ray was not going to be out done! He trudged on through! We made it! YEAH! The dinner was great, and we bothered everyone with great pictures! Love Christmas time!
After Granny and Papa's we head back to my mom and dad's. I remember growing up we would finish at Granny and Papa's then come home and beg mom and dad to open presents! We usually got to open everything from under the tree before that night was over. I just asked my dad the other day was Christmas this much fun when we were younger, and he said Girl I used to have to sleep on the couch with the video camera so I could get all your reactions! We were early risers! :) I am sad that I did not get any photos of my parents with my boys! :( Not a one! Anyways, we went back to have Christmas with mom and dad and Kassy and her family. We drew numbers and let everyone sit in front of everyone else while they opened all their gifts! I liked it because I got to see who got what! Gage was first! Gavin was a little down the line. :( It was a great Christmas! The boys got a DS from mom and dad. Aunt Kass and Uncle Scotty got them a DS game. They got clothes too! Gage was so excited about his DS and Ben Ten game. Gavin just knew he would be getting one too. He did, but his expression was not what I thought it would be. I think he was more relieved that he got a DS too! :)
We came home that night and did our family tradition. The boys open three gifts: new pjs, their hallmark ornament, and a new Christmas book. We bake cookies, read our book, and head to bed for Santa to come! This year we let them open gifts from Gram and the Haights. Gram got them DS games! Gavin was thrilled with his wrestling game. :)
Our Christmas day was pretty low key which was great! It did not start too early because our boys are never early risers. They were pretty funny watching still half asleep going through their stuff from Santa. :) They got basketballs, a basketball goal, golf clubs, clothes, Wii games, DS games, and DS kits. Gage also got a scooter and helmet, and Gavin got a skateboard and helmet. Mom, Dad, and Mema came over to see what Santa had brought to the boys and for our traditional Christmas breakfast. After they left, we went to see Gram in our pjs. The boys were excited to see her, and it was good to visit. We came back home, and the boys played, and we sat around! It was great not having to run around and get ready. We didn't have a Christmas dinner, just some leftovers. :( But that is okay; it was worth it. Uncle Bryan, Aunt Amanda, Kayleigh, and Kaiden came by to exchange gifts. Of course the kids were thrilled to see their cousins. Uncle Bryan tried to show Gavin a few tricks on the skatebard Wii game. We had fun laughing at that! Haha! He is actually pretty good, so I guess we will have to hire him to teach Gav a few things! ;) We ended the day with how we started being LAZY!
Some of the pics have captions. Scroll your mouse over them to see which ones do!
Our Valentine's Day was very low key. Just the way we like it. ;) You boys started with parties at your schools where you both received a ton of Valentines and candy. (Here we come cavities!) We went to church on Valentines day and had potluck after service. Ray is still a little under the weather from his surgery, so we came home to be with him and laid around. Soon it was snowing AGAIN! It ended up covering our yard! We probably got a half inch. The flakes were huge but just not cold enough to stick for about four hours. The boys got shirts in their Valentine bags with candy and word search puzzles. Gav got a wrestling shirt and Gage got a Bakugan shirt. They are really into those things right now along with Mario. Ray got me a book and the boys picked out some flowers. I got Ray a sack of goodies to have by the bed for his recovery! :) We have been so blessed by the Lord. It was very special for this day of love to be on His day.
Our Easter was really low key. We spent most of the day together and with close family. We got up Easter morning and dyed eggs. The boys had a lot of fun dying eggs this year. The Easter Bunny left them baskets full of things of their favorite colors. Gavin loves green, and Gage loves blue. They are set for the lake with new fliflops, water bombs, and new towels. We got ready and went to church. The service was nice, and we had fellowship lunch afterwards. Later that afternoon we went to see Mawmaw, Bob, Gram, and Mimi. Right before dark the boys finally got to hunt eggs. They were about upset they missed hunting eggs. Ray and I practically threw the eggs out into the yard to beat the darkness. :)
This blog belongs to the Chaney Family - Raymond, MacKinzy, Gavin, and Gage Chaney. We are so excited that you are checking out our space. Please send comments to us!
