My friend from Henderson Justin Bennett, got married on June 17th. He married LeighAnn Irvin. They are such a sweet couple. They have been engaged for over a year and asked Gavin to be their ring bearer last May! I was so thrilled that they thought of him! Gavin was adorable in his tux. Overall he did wonderful! Remember that he is 4, Ray and I thought he could have acted a little bit better but he was very good. LeighAnn's dad told us that if had not been for Gavin he would have cried through the entire wedding. I am glad that J, LeighAnn, and their families were so sweet about Gavin being..well..Gavin! Thanks for inviting us to be a part of your very special day!
On Saturday, July 8th we got together with some of my friends from Henderson at DeGray Lake. Josh, Sara, Ashley, Star, and myself were the "friends" that attended HSU. Sara brought her husband Gary. Star brought her fiance Duane. Josh brought a friend from Fayetteville. Of course I brought Ray and the boys. We grilled hot dogs and hamburgers. It was a great day to be at the lake. Gavin rode his bicycle all over. He actually rode it into the lake. Gary took a turn also! It was so good to everyone! That would be the one thing that I miss the most about Henderson- my friends! We are going to start making this an annual event. I hope that we can add names to the list next year. ( Like Justin and LeighAnn! Hey you two, we missed you. Also Sherrie and Bethany! )
Last Monday we went to Conway to pick up Gavin's new dresser for his room. Ray works with a guy that lives in Conway. His name is Doug and his wife's name is Kelli. They have a little girl named Marli and she is about to be 3 in August. They just had their second child a boy Mason Dane. Him and Gage are about 6 months apart. They came down for Gavin's birthday party in Feb. So it was nice to get to see them again. Doug and Kelli made dinner for us and then the kids got on the slippin' slide. Gavin and Marli had a blast. But I think that Doug had the most fun out of all! There is a cute pic of Mason sleeping. Gage was inside asleep, as usual, so no pics of Gage. We had a great time and I look forward to getting together again!
We went swimming with Tina, Cade, and Malaki the other day. Gage, you do so good in the water. You played and Tina loved holding you and putting you on the floats. After a little while you got sleepy and we put you on a raft, out of the water, and you slept for 45 min. or so. Gavin you had fun playing with Cade and Malaki. I think that you are finally remembering about swimming under the water and holding your breath. Last year you did so good. This summer we have not been to the pool near as much. It takes a little while to pick everything back up! I am proud of both my water babies and of Cade and Malaki too. They swim very well!
It was hard to choose which pictures to post on the blog. There were so many to choose from. We hope you enjoy them as much as we enjoying being there and taking them.
We had the 3rd annual Lake Degray reunion in July. It was a lot of fun! Not everyone could make it but I hope to see everyone next year. Gary brought the boat up and my boys loved it. It was Gage's first time in a boat and Gavin rode the tube. He did great! My kids are water babies or fish. It was a great day to talk and catch up! Thanks all for coming! Can't wait for next year!
We had such a wonderful time in MO for Josh and Megan's Wedding. Gavin was the ring bearer and he did great! Sara, Gavin, and I went up early for rehearsal on Friday. We went to the Fantastic Caverns and the Candy House. It was so great! Saturday we spent the day at the wedding. The guys went fishing that morning and had a good time. The wedding was great! Gavin was soooooooooooooooo good. I was so proud of him. He stood there and just smiled. Sunday we got up and went to Bass Pro Shops and WOW! That was great, we also went through a museum that my boys loved!! Gary and Sara went home a different way so that was the end of our trip together. We stopped a the Natural Bridge of Arkansas and stretched. It is a bridge make out of rock. There is some really neat history behind it. It was a weekend that was packed with stuff but very fun!! We stayed with Bob's mom Polly, now called mema by my boys. She was wonderful and her house was beautiful! Thanks for a great visit and hope to be back up there soon.
Here are the pictures. They are pretty cute. Gavin is with Josh and there is one of him and Justin. There are some other pictures from our visit to the caverns and Bass Pro Shop.
Congrats to Sara and Gary on their first baby. He or she will be born some time in April. We are so excited to have a little play mate for Gavin and Gage. You guys are going to be great parents! We cannot wait to see he or she in the Spring!!
We had a wonderful weekend in Dierks with Sara and Gary. It was busy helping get the nursery together for Teralee. Everything turned out so beautiful! It all came together in the end. I am so jealous, because it is to pretty! It was so nice outside, so the boys played out there most of the weekend!
Thanks for having us down! Thanks Ma for the room and board! Thanks for feeding us so well! We miss you all already! We cannot wait for Teralee to get here!!
Check out their blog for pics - www.stewsbunch.com
We were out of school Monday. So we decided to go and do something with the boys. Our friends, Levi and Lily went too. Ray took the afternoon off and met us at the bowling alley. It was so much fun! Gavin is so excited because that is where his birthday is going to be just like Coleton Haight's from last year! Here are some pics.
We are so excited that Teralee is here! She is absolutely perfect! I went down on Thursday evening to see the family in Texarkana. She was born on Wednesday weighing 6.13 lbs. and was 19 in. long! I could not wait until this weekend to see her! :) We had plans to go down and stay the night on Saturday night and that is just what we did. We left from Arkadelphia after my class. The boys are in love with her! They wanted to hold her and love all over her! Gavin would say give me the baby; I want to hold her! He would just sit there and play with her little hands. Then Gage said "wanna hold baby..." It was so cute. He crawled in either Ray's or my lap and would hold and love on the baby! Teralee just left her little buddies do whatever to her! She was so precious! Also I wanted to take some pics of her, so she let me do what I wanted too!! :) We are glad that Sara and baby are doing great! We have waited a long time for this, and I know that they have too. Sara and Gary have been so good to our boys for years now!! They treat them just like family, so now it is our turn to repay the favor! We love you little Teralee and look forward to many more visits, trips, and whatever else we want to do together!!!
We spent the day in Dierks with Gary, Sara, Teralee, and Ma... Well Gavin spent the day with Ma and we were over at the Sara and Gary's... It was so nice to catch up and visit! We miss you guys so much! Teralee is huge! I cannot believe how much she has grown. She was just precious... Ray and I fought over her, well Gavin too. He is just in love with holding her. Both the boys were wanting her... It was a great day... Hated it ended... Looking for the next day to get away...
We were all so excited about Gary, Sara, and Teralee coming up to stay the night at our house! I know I repeat myself when I say this, but the boys love Teralee! They want to hold her and kiss her. We had a great supper and nice visit. It always seems like it is not long enough (because the visits never are!) They went with us to Brickfest. Teralee was perfect! She hung out in the stroller and did not make a sound! Sara found some of the cutest hair bows for her! I am going to make a hair bow holder for you, Teralee. Do you want a giraffe or elephant or lion? Tell mommy to let me know! Love you all!
On Saturday we got up and decided that we needed to go and see the baby, that is Teralee. It was a nice and relaxing day. We drove down that morning and visited and loved on the baby. Almost everyone got a nap. What is it about Saturday afternoon naps? We grilled out and then went to see the fireworks in Nashville. They were great! Gage did a lot better than the night before. He wanted me to cover his ears, but he loved the "pop." I know I say this on every post, but I wish that we lived closer.
:( Anyways, I got the first pics of the boys with their little girl for the first time. We have pics of Gavin with T and Gage with T, but none of them together! I know! crazy! The sneak peak was the "photo session." It went good until Gage popped the passy in T's mouth. I think it hurt her a little. :( She puckered that bottom lip, and we all just scooped her up! I think the pics turned out really cute!
The three days off was nice. We did not do anything! We worked around the house - cleaning, mowing, picking up... Sara, Gary, Austin, and Teralee came up Sunday. Gav and Gage LOVE her! You can tell from the pics that they just want to squeeze her! Poor girl! She will be able to hold her own later with them! Teralee is a little more mobile now, so it is harder for the boys to just hold her. She is a strong little toot! Love you sweetie! I wish we could have seen them longer! It was a nice visit!! Miss you guys already!
Oh about two weeks ago the Stewart's came up for a visit. (I know I am a little behind. I am attemping to get it straight right now!) Anyways, Ray and Gavin were going to the Razorback game with Gary and Ma, and Sara, Teralee, Gage, and myself were going to hang out all day on Saturday. It was nice to slow down a little and just hang out. We always enjoy our visits because there are not many, and they are just plain too short! Gavin is still in love with her! Gage thinks he is big enough to have her too! Gage "learned" how to share Teralee's toys! They both love play house Mickey! Ashley also came over to chat on Saturday. It was great to see her!
The pic of the three kids buckled up is us trying to get some food with three babies! ha!
Last weekend we went down and visited with Teralee... and I really do mean Teralee! It was like no one else really exsisted! The boys played in the floor with her and just ate her all up! It was a last minute visit. We did not get to stay very long, but Ray and I managed to get some good shots of her! I think she is the most beautiful baby girl I have ever seen!
We were so thrilled to have the Stewarts here with us Sunday afternoon and all day Monday! Teralee stayed the night in "her room" as the boys call it! (This is the computer room.) They brought gifts and food! Sara made deer chili which was great!!! They also brought Gager a Thomas cake, so he got to blow out his candles again! We had the best time hanging out and talking! The kids painted an ornament that was from the party on Saturday. I loved helping Teralee with hers! We ate and opened some gifts. The boys got "hoppers" as they call them. They have had some fun with them! Do you see them racing in the pics? Gage got a busted lip that day! The kids love them and the games sets they got too! It was just a much needed and wonderful visit! We cannot wait for the next one! It will be sooner than later! Love you guys! Merry 1st Christmas Teralee!
We decided (while we were not busy) to spend New Years with the Stewarts and their family! We went down early afternoon on New Years Eve and played with Teralee and her cousins Jace and Jerod. My boys had a ball! We ordered pizza, sat around and visited, and just had a fun time being together! We snacked all evening and made it to New Years! Sara and I had our doubts! ;) (Mommies need their sleep!) The boys of course loved having the sleep over and begged to stay another night! We would have loved to, but daddy had to work on Friday. :( We did have a wonderful and traditional New Years lunch with the family! The food was great! We even got to take some home with us! Thanks to everyone for hosting us! We love your family so much! Hopefully we will not let the months slip away when school starts!
Well not really. The Stewarts had to drive a little farther! We met Sara, Gary, Teralee, and Austin in Arkadelphia a few weekends ago. (I know I am behind. I am finally getting everything caught up!) We met at Western Sizzlin and took over a corner. We had a tv, food, and friends. It was perfect! Teralee was so cute! We cannot believe how big she is getting! The boys received books for them. Gavin got one about Obama! He is his biggest fan! He sleeps with it every night! Gage of course got Spongebob! Thanks for everything! Can't wait for the next meeting!
Saturday we had a batchorlette party for Chasity. She is getting married on March 21st! We went downtown in Little Rock and had a blast! We ate pizza at Gussano's and then made our way to Willy D's with a final stop at The Cowboy. Here are a few pics of the night! ;) We need more girls' nights out!
Today was the big day! We worked hard all week getting everything just right, and boy did it pay off! Everything was just perfect! Chasity was absolutely BEAUTIFUL! Plus, I loved my dress! I actually get to wear it again; I am super excited about that! The decorations, cake, food, and ceremony were just perfect! Thank you Chasity for giving me the opportunity to share something so important to you! Have fun in Vegas girl; you deserve it!
Is there a better way to end spring break than with the Stews? I don't think so and neither did the boys! They loved that we were going to stay the night with Gary, Sara, and Teralee. Every one of us just wanted their paws all over that precious little angel! She just cracked us up the entire time. Gavin and Gage were eating up all the attention that she was giving to them! She was just crazy about them and wanted to do everything that they were doing. When it was time to go, Teralee was ready TO GO WITH US! I wanted to take her so bad! (It will happen one day mom and dad! Not sure when, but one day!) We love you guys and miss you so much! Two weeks will not go by fast enough! :)
We visited D-town on Saturday for Miss Teralee's birthday party! We cannot believe that she is already one year old! She is so precious! We have loved being involved in her life so much! Her party was so cute! Of course, Gage loved it because he loves Mickey Mouse! The bounce house was perfect for my boys! They made the cutest picture frames. Everything was perfect Sara & Gary! Thanks for treating us like family! :)
Sunday we made a quick trip to Dierks to see the Stewarts. A quick trip to us is not staying the night... A trip that was just not long enough is two days... Wouldn't it be nicer to live closer together... Some things won't change, but that is okay! :) The boys loved Teralss's new water table. We played outside for hours, took a break, and then went back out! Gary grilled some hot dogs for dinner. We hated to leave, but as the sun was going down, we knew it was time to head back to Malvern. Teralee we promise either the waterpark or the zoo next! Love you all!
Tuesday was the first OFFICIAL day of summer for us because I had nothing to do! ha! We got up and went to the movies that morning at Tinseltown. I bought passes for the entire summer $5 for 10 old kid movies! We got to see Evan and Lacy at the movies. Then we went over and had lunch with daddy. We came home changed into our swim suits and headed to the lake. Crissy and the boys met us there. It was a nice, hot day! I have needed some sun! The boys did great! They played and entertained themselves and played with other kids. It was a great afternoon visit! We are going to have to do something next week too!
BEFORE we went to Florida, we went to Murfreesboro to dig for diamonds with Aunt Sara and Teralee. I am not sure what it is about boys and dirt, but usually you cannot keep them out of it or clean. Well my boys decided that after about 10 minutes of "digging," they were through! I was thinking great, the day I pay to play in the dirt, my boys don't want to! We waited for Sara and Teralee to arrive and stayed out long enough to get some pictures... but no diamonds! :( Then we headed to grab a snack and on to swim! Of course my boys were in heaven! We are SO water people! The little "waterpark" was too cute! There was a "castle" with a slide and water gushing everywhere! It was a nice way to spend the day and atleast I can say I have been there since I live here!
We have been doing a lot of days at the lake this summer. I must add it has been great to go with the boys at this age. Gavin totally just wants to find a friend, and he is good! Gage finds something to do, or someone to play with. They are both swimmers and great in the water! We have been making a weekly date with Wyatt, Weston, and Miss Crissy at the lake. They were camped the week we came BACK from Florida, so we went out and spent a day. We grilled hot dogs and then went to the swim area. Just some summer fun; soaking up the vitamin D!
Gavin and Gage absolutely adore our neighbors. There are two kids - Sierra is Gavin's age and Preston is a year older than Gage. The boys always want to go out and play with them or invite them over to play. The other day we went over to their house to play in a water slide. The kids had a blast.
A while back we went to the zoo with Teralee, Aunt Sara, and Uncle Gary. It was Teralee's first time at the zoo! We had so much fun showing her around! Gavin and Gage just love Teralee! They would take her as a sister if Sara would let her come live with us!! ;) We spent about 2 1/2 to 3 hours just walking around and seeing a bird show which was too cool! (In one of the pictures a bird is flying right by Teralee's head!) I thought the pics of each boy with Teralee were just precious! We went to dinner after the zoo and Teralee was going to stay with us. (if mommy and daddy would have let her!) By the time it was all over all three kids were crying to stay with each other! UGH! the hardships of living apart!!
Wyatt had his birthday at our favorite place, the lake this last Sunday! He loves dinosaurs, so he had a dinosaur cake! It was too cute!! The boys swam and then we ate hot dogs and cake. Then Wyatt opened his presents! He got all kinds of cool dinosaur stuff!! Happy Birthday man! We love ya!
A couple of weekends ago the Henderson bunch had our annual get together! Mainly we were history undergrad majors some being in education. We all graduated over a years span and had the best time hanging out on the quad and in the Garrison. I would not trade anything for these friends that I met in college. They have been loyal to me and been there for me! This is who came this year:
Sara with Gary and new addition Teralee
Josh with Megan with a baby bump named Harrisen
Ashley
Bethany with kiddos Duncan and Dovie
MacKinzy with Ray, Gavin, and Gage
We grilled burgers and hot dogs and had a little "baby shower" for Josh and Megan! They were so surprised! I made some cupcakes, and we all chipped on a cute duffle bag with name, personalized burp clothes, diapers, bib, and a painting for the nursery. We ate, swam, talked, snacked, swam, ate... You get the picture. We had to have one last bang and that would be Bethany locking her keys in her car! We finally found someone to drive to Caddo Valley to open the car! It was a great day! I really hope that in the fall we can meet up in Northwestern AR for a weekend. We really missed Justin, Sherrie, and Star this year! Maybe one year everyone can come! Start planning now!!!
So after the HSU reunion, Gary, Sara, and Teralee came and stayed the night with us. We visited, and the boys and Teralee played and played. Sunday Sara and I went over to my classroom to talk school stuff! We met the guys with kiddos for lunch, and then storms started to hit. The Stewarts waited out the storms and left later. So glad you guys could stay the night and visit! We miss you!
The other night Crissy, Wyatt, and Weston came over for dinner. After the dinner the boys would not play on their own. They were all in the living room wanting our attention, so we decided that we would read them a book. Gavin picked Froggy plays T-ball. It was a really cute book. The boys sat on the living room floor while I read to them. Then, we made plate frog puppets. The boys colored their plate green, and we glued a popsicle stick to the back. They jumped around and ran the bases like Froggy for a long time. It was really cute! Glad you came over guys! It was fun!
Crissy and I decided that we needed to get away. We could not decide on where to go and with much debate, we headed to Galveston, TX. I am so glad that we went. It was about 7 1/2 hour drive, but the time in the car was well spent - talking, eating, and laughing! We wished we had had one more day! We went to the beach, the Moody Mansion, and the Strand. It was a blast!
Weston turned two a few weeks ago! His birthday was at the park! He said he wanted a football and fishing pole with a tractor cake! Isn't he easy to please? Love you Weston!
and we drove to Arkadoo to meet two of the fairest maids in all the land. We met at Chicken Express to have a feast and to discuss our life happenings that we had missed. Princess Teralee was most precious and so independent. Queen Sara was much like myself awaiting the "first day of school." Oh what fun we had even if the scrooge did not come to play! ;)
Ray and I went to the HOG game against South Carolina last weekend with Sara and Gary. While we were so close to Josh and Megan, we thought we would try to meet Harrisen! Josh is a good friend of mine and Sara's from Henderson. He went to Fayetteville for law school and met Megan there. They were married a few years ago, and Gavin was in their wedding! They have a new addition to their family Harrisen Glenn. It was so nice to see them and meet the baby! Hope to see you guys again soon!
Sunday morning we woke early to make it to church service. (I seem to want to sleep in on Sundays :( and the boys don't like missing church.) They were so excited to talk about the king that wanted to kill baby Jesus and how the wise men brought him gifts. It was precious seeing their little hearts love our Lord.
After church we went home and waited for Teralee, Sara, and Gary to arrive. The boys were so excited to see Teralee. She is the apple of their eye. They fought over whom she was going to play with all night. We made tacos for dinner and had my "puppy chow" for dessert. YUM! Then on to opening gifts! The boys got the coolest sleeping bags from the Stewarts! They have lived in them since then. (Because we are out of school, the boys get to sleep in the toy room. They think they are "camping" out!) They also got McD's gift cards which they loved and have already used! There is nothing like a good 'ole happy meal!
Monday we got up and went to do a little shopping. Hot Springs was crazy, but it was a lot of fun just being with the Stewarts! The Stewarts had to go home :( but we did finish Monday evening going to look at Christmas lights with Nana and Ba. Our mission was to go to Garvan Gardens, but the line was so LONG! We ended up driving all the backroads finding little subdivisions, thanks to my daddy! What an amazing holiday already!
We went down to pick up our camper from Dierks, so we decided to pull it over to Sara and Gary's and stay the night. The boys and Teralee played and played all day outside! The weather was so gorgeous! Then Gary grilled for us that night, and we stayed our first night in the camper! Here are some pics playing outside.
Teralee's 2nd birthday was a CUTE Dora party! Swiper had swiped her party and the kiddos had to use the map to find it. (Too Cute!) Can't believe that she is TWO! Love you baby girl!
Okay, so I am a little behind on the blog! I am going to try to do several posts to catch up! We went camping with our friends, or Crows, over Memorial Day weekend! Needless to say, the camper is a huge hit! We all love it and the water! Ray's boat is doing great! We are looking into purchasing a tube too. Our babies are water bugs, so we stayed in the water A LOT! It was a great weekend playing and laughing with friends. We are so blessed!
We have seen the Stewarts about three times since I last updated. We have met twice for movies in HS. Once we saw Marmaduke which my kiddos loved! Then we did the $1 which was great and cheap! They also got to spend almost a week with us while Sara and I had the AP institute. We were busy with baseball, but we got Larry's Pizza one night, and Sara cooked the other night! :) Everyone is growing so fast! It is just crazy!
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!
