Sam's First Deer

I know many don't like to see or talk of such things, if you are one, scroll past the next little bit. I only added a few bloody pictures. But, we are proud of Sam. Sam thinks he is now the Great Hunter. Anna is also a bit jealous. Her turn is next year, ok, Uncle Ben? Special thanks to Mr. Clay, who was awesome enough to let them hunt with him at his camp. Thank you!



The blooded shot. One of those hunting things, I guess, but a requirement.



The right after shot before the one above, but this one is my favorite. Needless to say, Sam had not been warned and was VERY upset. After a few tears and the anticipation of being able to get Anna at her first kill, we got the above.




In the woods, Dixon said the buck was very patient waiting to be killed, since it took forever for Sam to be calm enough to allow the sight to stay on the deer when Dixon had lined up the shot. Sam did pull the trigger.





In the blind, waiting for the hunt to be over.



Not sure who is the proudest - what's your vote.



Anna was pretty excited, too.

Christmas 2007

Anna is SEVEN years old. Where has the time gone? She is so photogenic.



Sam, the rotten boy, had the best holiday ever for a five year old.



Grancy and Uncle John even were present to witness the new bike (see blog below).



What to say about uncle Ben?! Sam says, 'Uncle Ben is part of the family.' And for Sam, that says it all.

'Best-est' Presents are those you love

Unless of course, you are a kid:

The new bike::::

Pre-Christmas Bike Ride

I think the Cole's have a new before Christmas trek. We hope to go on rides more often in 2008. We hauled all the bikes down to the levee on the Mississippi near LSU and rode into town. It was about 6 miles total. It was a glorious cool day. Afterwards, we wandered around town, visited the fruit stand in Port Allen and then had dinner at Mellow Mushroom. FUN!

Office party - for the "Over There' Group

Well, since we are not at corporate headquarters, we decided to have our own office Christmas Party at the Chimes, of course.







Angela on the left and Rebekah on the right. They are the others involved in the Red-Headed Step-children of the Over There group.




Angela's gift was the most popular.... one of my favorite parts is the disclosure.... uh, duh!

T-shirt for 2007

I love WOOT.com. They have the best stuff, random, yes, but kewl.

Not that I completely agree with this but, I love the concept.

Hope your holidays were wonderful. Ours were. I will post pictures when I can!

Some new family pictures from early November

Update...

Well, Thanksgiving left us with much to be thankful for.

A great dinner in Jena with the Huffman group, aka at The Willis'. Everyone of import was there. We had a wonderful visit. We even got to see Patrick, Danielle and the boys. I simply can not believe how big Paxton is getting. And Carson, he is simply adorable.

We had a shortened visit to the Cole's this year (aka The Paul's). Aunt Paula is recovering from her early Turkey Day Hospital Trip with pneumonia. She returned home Friday afternoon with strict bedrest orders.

Shortened for Sam and his injury. There was an accident with Sadie and Sam's face. Here is a rough picture



No stitches. Lots of antibiotics and vitamin E Oil.

First Annual LSMSA Halloween Party - LA

October 2007

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Gifties onsite!

"

Anna as Cinderella


Sam and Michael



JC sampling the Jambalaya - yummy!



Kristina



Joseph (aka JoeB), Theresa, Lori Lincoln, Angela and Darrel Long

Richard Buckland Dutchtown #99

Richard is a Junior at Dutchtown High School.
6' 1"
243 lbs
Benches 300lbs
Clean 345lbs
Squat 500lbs

4.92 40
3.00 GPA

We have known Richard since before he was Richard and went by Jay. He is a fabulous kid.... we can't wait to see how far he will go....

September is Football in LA but other stuff too....

I love football. College is the best. But I like high school also. We are cheering for Richard. He is defnesive something at our local high school. Sam and his little sis, Torie are buddies. He hopes to get into a great school on scholarship. We hope so too.

Sam is in soccer. I haven't downloaded but he is preciously cute and pretty darn good. The other parents tell their kids to pass him the ball.

Meet our new Mike

From the advocate

He is a 2-year old Bengal/Siberian mix. He will become twice his current size. He is frisky and gorgeous. He is from Indiana! We already LOVE him!

http://www.mikevi.com

Sam skinnied up

Sam had his tonsils out July 31. He was a remarkably good patient and did bounce back pretty quickly. He sure looks thinner though.....





See how skinny he cheeks look now.....


Sam decided to give a shot of the other cheek, too.....



At least he let you also know his college choice!

Anna is in SECOND GRADE!

When did this happen? I am so stunned. She is getting so tall (I couldn't find the pre-k picture in front of her door for comparison). I hope she will love her new school. Art, music and Spanish are all classes she will be taking and I think she will enjoy. Of course, there is still her favorites to Math and Science.



Of course, we needed a shot of Sam, too! He has slimmed down after his surgery a few weeks ago. Please note, the daily required snack before breakfast!



And finally, of course, a treat to start the year off right. Starbuck's kids hot cocoa with extra whip and chocolate sauce.

LAID OFF, again

Monday! I know, sucks. But I did get a good package. My last day will be August 20, which is a Monday - ODD to say the least.

So, now what? We shall see.....

Meet Emmett - just a little guy

This is Emmett Kelly, my folks new Harlequin Great Dane. Their older pup, Titus, passed away two weeks ago. Luckily, the kids and I were visiting. It was a sad time. Mom always wanted a Harlequin. So, I checked the paper yesterday and one Great Dane was available. And here we have him - Emmet

Mom will be coming to get him early this week. He is a bit of a pup still, only 10 months old. He weighs in at 120 lbs. I would guess he will grow a bit more and gain another 30 or 40 lbs.





Check out this sweet face. Doesn't he just make you smile.



He was so well behaved in the car. Ok, I will admit, he drank some of my hot chocolate. Sweet tooth! opps!

He scared the heck out of our cousin, Lyn. The look on her face when she walked in the door was pure horror. Poor Lyn, she came over to watch the kids for a bit. Ben was in town and we all (and Kat) went to the Chimes East for dinner.




Ellie is only 70 lbs. I always think of her as a big dog. Poor El, she has been a great hostess dog. I know she will be happy to see Emmett go. She knows where to hang out when she wants a break from a rambunctious puppy. She will hide under the dining room table, where Emmett can't go.




But, Emmett is a Southern dog. A South Louisiana dog, he loves Abita, of course. Good Boy!

But, this experience has told me that we aren't ready for our next dog. I still miss Indy, but we just don't have the room. I think we will wait until we move.