Christmas

My brother Andy, Drew, Khloe, Kaitlyn, Me

back row: my brother Tim and half of Rich's head
Rich, Tim, Me, my cousin Roxanne and her husband Tim and Andy looking ever so cool!

All of the great-grandchildren at my Grandma McCoy's

Khloe, Kayden, Drew, Kaitlyn and Kailey up front.

Jordan and Taylor were not there.

We had a great Christmas shared with family. It is always good to see all of the family that we only get to see at the holidays. I hope you all had a blessed Christmas!

We're home!

At the formal dining room.
My freckle face kiddos!

Kait loved the water.

Khloe got her hair braided.

The view...

We are back! Back to life in the real world! Waaahhhhhh! I want to go back to the life where all I had to worry about was applying sunscreen! We really had a great time! So sorry for not updating sooner, but we came home to Christmas in full swing! I am working on downloading all of the pictures to our PC at home and then creating an online album to share with all of you.

Everyone have a great, safe New Year's Eve!

We are having a great time! However, this internet connection is terrible. It is on for a few minutes and then it kicks you get kicked off-line, losing everything you were typing. It is very frustrating. I am going to try to download a few pics... we'll see if it works. I had typed a whole post a few nights ago and then lost it due to disconnection.

Nope, it is not letting me download. Shoot! Well I guess everyone will have to wait to see pics once we get home.

We went on the catamaran trip yesterday. We had a very good time. I told the kids it was one of the best days I have ever had. The weather was good, the boat was beautiful, not to many people. We all got to snorkel, not to much reef to see, but the fish were pretty. What an experience for the kids!! We took a sail to Isla Muheres(sp?) and had lunch there. Wonderful food!!! Good shopping.

Today we are lounging in the sun again. We have had no rain at all!! YAY! I'll try to come on again later and see if I can catch a few of you on yahoo messenger! Miss you!!

Hi All!

Hola from Cancun! I don't have pics uploaded yet, but I just wanted to take a minute to say that we made it. I hate not having cell phones! Our flight went well, Drew loved his first time flying. I am so glad that I bought the "backpack" harnes for him. Going through the airport with three kids and seven bags is a bit overwhelming!

Today it was 88 and sunny, we all got a bit of sunburn. Khloe and Daddy did a bit of boogie boarding, Khloe did a great job! Drew said the ocean was "mean" and he stuck to the beach making sandcastles. He has made a friend, Christopher is from Canada. They have had a great time playing together. Kait was going to try boogie boarding, but Khloe caught a wave and accidentally ran her over and that was the end of that.

The food is good, no one has gotten sick yet. Taking the acedopholis (sp?) to try and keep our tummys happy. Breakfast was delicious! The resort is beautiful. I will download pics tomorrow. Our room is great! Ocean view! The water is just beautiful!

Tuesday we are going on a Catamaran trip to an island. I am looking forward to that. The kids are picking up a bit of spanish!! It is so cute! Drew calls it Spanglish. I'm so thankful that we have this opportunity to expose our children to a different culture.

Well we are off to bed. We are hoping to get up early tomorrow and get some shells and sand dollars. Miss you all!

The Stockings were hung

I hope Santa comes!!

I just wanted to share a few pics of our home all decked out for Christmas. It's one of the few times a year that it is clean!! We will be leaving for our Christmas trip to Cancun Mexico soon. We took a family vote and we have decided to go on a nice trip instead of purchasing all kinds of gifts that will be played with for a few short weeks and then end up on the floor with the rest of their things. I am excited and nervous all at the same time! I am going to try to do some entries from Cancun, so I hope to be in touch!! If not, then I wish each and every one of you a blessed Christmas!

8th Annual Dixon Christmas Party

Santa stops by to have his picture taken with all of the kids. He also had a small gift for them!

This is my little sister Rebecca.

Boy oh boy did we have a lot of kids!!

The "Balloon Guy" entertaining the adult room! Poor Amanda!

Delicious desserts that we had catered. I wish I could take the credit!

We had out 8th (or was it the 9th?) Annual Dixon Christmas Party last night. Boy was it a record breaker! We had around 100 people with 30 kids!! We had such a great time!!

Wanted to share pics!

The first and the last

Tonight was the school Christmas program. Tonight was Drew's first program and Kaitlyn's last. Bittersweet. The kids did a great job and looked so cute! Had to share pics!

O the weather outside is frightful!

Our house.

Our street.

*singing* If all of the snowflaks were lemondrops and cupcakes oh what a snow that would be!

Standing outside with my mouth open wide...ahh,ahh, ahh!

Drew was ready to go inside after about three minutes!

Poor Floyd!

We had our first winter storm last night. So far there has been about two inces of ice and about 6-9 inches of snow. It's hard to say how much, it is blowing so bad! In some places it came over Rich's cowboy boots!! No school today, no work!!

Stay warm!!

O Christmas Tree

The perfect day to look for the perfect tree! It was 65 degrees outside!!

This is the kids with our tree before it was cut.

Daddy cutting the tree. Timber!!!

Loading two trees on top and had two inside!!
Stopped for a bite to eat at this little place on the way home. Our Pastor's family is the Stewarts so we thought this was funny! Had to take a picture!!

O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree, I love your branches!!
That is Kaitlyn's rendition of the song when she was about 16 months old!! We enjoyed our hunt for the perfect tree again this year! Last year it took us about 5 hours and at least half a dozen places before we found "the one"! This year we just set right out to the area where we had the most luck last year. We visited three tree farms and found the perfect tree at the last one! We will have 6 trees in all this year, I will post pictures as we get the other ones ready!

We hope that you will join us for our 9th Annual Dixon Christmas Party! Invitations will go out this week. December 9th is the date. The time will be listed on the invitation.

Thanks was given

Khloe and Grandma Penny

Grandpa Penny and Drew

Kait, Khloe, Grace and Papa Dixon

Drew and Papa Dixon

Much Thanks was given this year as we celebrated Thanksgiving with family. We had a very busy day. First to Rich's family to celebrate with them, then to my Mom's to celebrate there, and finally to my Grandma McCoy's to celebrate with them. We ate a lot!! Now today we are off to get some Christmas trees!! I will be sure to post pics once it is up and decorated!

Camp Read A Lot

Our school sponsored a program called "Camp-Read-A-Lot". The kids got in their PJs, took their blankets and pillows and went to school in the gym to read under the stars. They had story tellers and volunteers that read to the children. My kids had a great time!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope that all of my readers have a wonderful Thanksgiving. This is the time of year that we are to remember all that we are thankful for. I am the most thankful that God sent his son to die on a cross for my sins so that I can have life everlasting in heaven. I am thankful for all of the times God interceded and saved my marriage when I was ready to walk out in the early years. My husband is such a blessing to me and our marriage is stronger than ever. I am thankful that God knows the plans he has for me because left on my own I would really screw things up. I am thankful for the three healthy beautiful children that God has blessed me with. It amazes me everyday that I am blessed three times over with healthy children. I am thankful for the roof over my head and the food on my table and the car that I drive. I am thankful for my church family. I am thankful that I have a church to go to where the word of God is taught in a real and truthful way. I am thankful for the singing voice that God has blessed me with, and I am thankful that I was able to quit smoking so that I can keep it! I am thankful for my family. Although we are not all as close as I would like to be, I am thankful for them just the same. I have four brothers that I love dearly and hope that they will all find Godly women to make their wives and make me an Aunt!!! I pray that as they get older and mature we will become closer. I have four other adopted siblings that keep my mom on her toes! I am thankful for the addition that they are to our family.

I am thankful for the friendships that I have. Misty, Richelle, Becky, Trish, Talena, Nancy... and many others. Their support in all I do is so important to me. Friends mean a lot to me and I am blessed with many very good ones. I am thankful for the friends that I have found on-line through Fertilichat and other blogs. I have found that on-line friends are to be taken for what they are, a name on a screen that you know only through cyber-space. There is one though, that has crossed that line and become very special to me. Hope. The name says it all. She has given me hope, helped me through trials, and helped me keep my feet on the rock of my foundation, Jesus Christ. I am blessed abundantly, my list could go on and on. Just remember to thank the Lord above for your blessings on Thanksgiving day. Enjoy your time with your families.

Future Champions!! That's Right!

All dressed up and ready to cheer!!

Kaitlyn and Khloe performed last weekend in St. Louis at the America's Center. We competed against two other teams, walking away with a huge second place trophy! I have not gotten official scores yet, but I hear that we got second by less than a point!! The girls did a great job pulling together as a team, I was so proud!! This is their third year in competitive cheerleading.

Here is a link to more pictures. They are of the whole team, so you will have to look for our girls at the bottom and click on them. http://www.actionmoments.com/search.php?searchtext=\Cheer%20and%20Dance\2006-2007%20Athletic%20Championships\03-St%20Louis\Images\Cheer%20Time%20USA\Large%20Junior%20Level%202&cf=RC

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween! Pumpkins carved by (left to right) Drew, Kaitlyn, Khloe and Daddy!
Trick-or-Treat!! Trick or treating at Great-Grandma McCoy's!
Drew was Rodney the robot from the Disney Robots movie.
Kaitlyn and Felicity were Sock Hop Girls. I made Kait's skirt.
Khloe was Little Red Riding Hood. I made the whole costume except the shirt. Khloe came to me with a McCalls pattern in her hand and said "I want to be this!" I had never used a pattern before, but my friend Nancy helped me learn to use my sewing machine that I have had for several years, and I made the whole thing!! It was so fun! I hope to use the sewing machine more!