Broken Bow, Oklahoma January 2009

In January, Annie, Wendy and I had a girls (Mommy's) weekend with kids up in Broken Bow, Oklahoma. It was a blast! We went hiking, make smores, went to a nature center, did crafts and explored all weekend. The cabin was amazing and comfortably fit us all. This picture on the left is of the kids around the sign to the cabin and that's our cabin in the background. What a great time!!!!

2008 in REVIEW

2008 was a fantastic year for the Payne family. We took 2 trips to the mountains, got to experience 2 snowdays in 1 week in Texas, went camping ,went to the beach, spent time at the lake, Colton played soccer & joined Indian Guides, Cassie did cheerleading & dance and we all just had a great year. Here is a look back at 2008....what a blessed year we had!

Wall Family Tree Farm, Terrell, Texas

We decided to start a new tradition this year. With the advice of Cory, we went to this precious Christmas Tree Farm in Terrell and cut down our own tree. We really had no expectations and the trip ended up being a blast. It was so much fun for us and the kids. The farm was so cute, a huge red barn where they sold cider, hotdogs, home picked pecans, and hot cocoa. They had Christmas music pumping everywhere, a huge playground, and hundereds of acres of Trees to choose from. A wagon picked us up at the main barn and we hopped on and headed down to a tree pasture. There we grabbed a saw and started looking for the perfect tree. We already have a big ol fake on in the family room so we decided to let the kids pick out their own tree for their gameroom. We said it had to be taller than Colton and shorter than Mommy. So they found the cutest 5 ft tree and whacked it down. Then we all carried it to the wagon/hayride and headed back to the barn. There were these sweet puppies roaming around the barn too. I talked to the owner who said that their mommy will be having another litter in Feb. We fell in love w/ the puppies. Since Chloe passed away last week, we've been talking lots about getting a new puppy. I got their phone number...we may be getting one of their puppies next year:) All in all it was just a great day; ended with dinner at Chilies and chocolate shakes for the kids. Good times :)

THANKSGIVING 2008

For Thanksgiving 2008 we headed to Colorado to spend the holiday with my brother Sean and his family. He has 5 kids so it's always a blast for the kiddos. We went to the Cheyenne Mtn Zoo which was on the side of a mountain and just amazing. We spent Thanksgiving Day cooking and relaxing with the fam. The next day we took family pics and John and I took the kids to visit Kevin Bauer and his sweet family for a bit. Then we headed back to Sean's, let the kids open their Christmas gifts from one another, and we headed back to Dallas. It was a very smooth, fun trip. We can't wait to get back to Co...hopefully this summer.

Cassidy's Thankgiving Program

This was Cassidy's cute little Thanksgiving Show. She loves being all dresses up in costumes

Colton's Thankgiving Feast at MCA

Colton's 1st Grade Class had a Thankgiving meal with their 5th Grade Reading Buddies. He's holding the turkey treat he made his buddy. They got to share a big Thankgiving type meal together and play games. The really dig hanging w/ the older kiddos.

Colton's 1st Slumber Party

Colton had his 1st slumber party with 2 of his buddies from school, Jack Marcusse and Caleb Buchannan. These boys have been planning this party for over a month and were all so excited. These 3 have gone to school together since they were 4 years old. At their sleepover they had pizza, made their own sundaes, watched movies in the gameroom, played with dinosaurs, and just had a blast. It was so cute...they were so excited to be sleeping over that they all put their jammies on by 7:30. They even let Cassidy hang with them the whole night. I rarely saw any of the boys all night without a smile on their face. Just a fantastic time:)

Halloween 2008

A few random shots from all the Halloween events we went to this year

Maddie Grace's show

This was at Maddie Grace's stage show. Cassie, Colton and their friend Caleb got on stage afterward & played around

Not ready for him to grow up

Yes, he may be too old for me to be taking sleeping pictures of him...but he's still my little guy. He still likes his footed jamies, still likes to climb in bed with mama when he's not feeling great, still hugs me and tells me he loves me for no reason but to need a hug, heck, he'll always be my sweet little boy. This was the other night when he was not feeling good. I just had to take a pic of him with his Lamby!

Swim party

Here is Cassidy at a swim birthday party for Evelyn...her buddy from last school year!

Jog a Thon 08

This was our Fall 2008 JOG A THON fundraiser for McKinney Christian Academy. The school goal was to raise $70,000 and we made the goal...YEAH! Now the entire school won a party at Hawaiian Falls next Spring. Cassie ran about 8 laps and Colton did around 11.

Pumpkin Patch 08

This October we had a playdate out at the Celina Big Orange Pumpkin Farm for Cassidy's Pre K Class. Some of her best friends showed up so she was thrilled. She only goes to school Monday, Wednesday, and Friday so Colton was not able to make it with us today

DeGray Lake State Park, Bismarck Arkansas

We just got back from another fantastic trip to DeGray Lake and I tell ya, that place just gets better and better. Now that the kids are growing up and are more self sufficent, these kinds of trips are much more laid back. We took some friends from our Sunday School Class, The Johnsons, and had a blast. They are a great family, their kids are super sweet, and we all just had a total laid back, relaxing weekend. We spent a lot of time just chilling out at the campsite, fishing right down from our Yurt/Cabin, and visiting. The weather was amazing. Low 50s, High 70. We hiked a new trail, did some Dutch Oven cooking, went on some walks, got to go on a hayride (although the driver went about 3omphs) it was the just the act of it that made it fun.

It's always great to have a weekend where nobody thinks about work or the daily grind. Our only thought is....who wants to pull out the chips and dips...or "Mommy, come lay in the hammock with me". Gotta love it!

John & Colton's Indian Guides Camp Out

This was Colton's and Daddy's 1st boys campout with their Indian Guides group. They went up to Camp Classen in Oklahoma. Colton got to hike, shoot a rifle, shoot a bow & arrow, and fish. He had a blast and so did John getting to know the other Dads and getting some real quality time with Colton