Off We Go

Off we go to MI to celebrate Christmas with my family! There should be around 40 of us there, but time will tell. It seems there are always boyfriends/girlfriends/friends/etc. that show up, so there could be 50 of us : ) My oldest sister Shirley now has 10 (plus one to be added in June), my next oldest sister, Darlene, has 16 (plus two on the way in the spring), next is my brother Doug and my sister Mary, both of them have 4 in their families. So now you see why there are so many of us. Well I had better go and make sure everything is packed, Daddy is on his way home and everything must be ready.

P.S. Don't waste your time the day after Christmas thinking you will get lots of bargains, because you WON'T!!! Our day was NOT prosperous at all yesterday!!! They (the store people) said stuff wouldn't go more than 50% off until after the 1st of the year. Oh well, now I know NOT to drag myself out of bed on "black Friday" and on the 26th of December, I NEVER have found the bargains I need or want.

Merry Christmas from The Coopers

Today was kind of an unusual Christmas, but we still had a nice time! We had planned on serving dinner at a local church to shut-ins or those that are less fortunate than us, but the only shift that was left, was a 4 hour shift and we didn't think the kids would be up to that. We ended up having dinner with Jerry's parents and grandparents in Lafayette, which was a nice time. After lunch, we headed to Mamaw & Papaw's so the boys could go out and shoot with Daddy and Papaw. It took them awhile to get use to the bow and gun, but they ended up coming mighty close to the bulls eye, several times. When we left their house, we headed home to watch the Christmas play Talon wrote and directed. The kids have been working on this play for at least a week if not more (Talon of course more than the others, HA)! Since the play has ended, we have just sat around doing nothing, which is VERY unusual for us all (kind of nice)! We hope all of you had a wonderful Christmas, with your family. We will be heading to MI later this week to celebrate Christmas with my family and then home for New Year's to celebrate with Jerry's family, since his sister and her family were unable to be here today.

Jerry, Janiece, Keegan, Gma & Gpa Hysel


Kallee drinking coffee out of "her" special coffee cup Papaw made for her
(an empty creamier cup : )

Mommy & Kallee

Talon, Papaw & Keegan

Daddy helping Keegan shoot Papaw's bow!

Ready, aim, fire...

Talon shooting the bow!

Keegan with his puppet telling jokes, at the "pre-show".

Kallee reciting one of her lines for the play!

Keegan signing autographs after the show, LOL!

Christmas Cometh to The Coopers

"Santa" came a day early to our house, so have been playing with our new toys all day! We decided since we are going away tonight and will be gone tomorrow, we would let the kids open their gifts. Since we usually head to MI right after Christmas, we let them open their gifts a day or so early, so they can play with them before heading up north. As usual, they got WAY TOO MUCH, but thank goodness NOTHING was bought full price, YEAH! I am the kind of shopper that shops all year round for the kids, that way in December we can relax and not have to worry about having the funds to buy them their gifts. There were a few items we bought this month, but not many. Take a look at what they got!

Kallee enjoying her umbrella Talon bought for her at

Old Fashion Days

(thank the Lord for OFD)!
Now Kallee can bake with Mommy like a big girl!

Talon used some of his own birthday $$$ to buy her this flannel doll set at a Christmas Bazaar here in town (he is so thoughtful when it comes to this kind of stuff)!

Keegan picked out this Ariel set for his Sissy, it included; a purse, a cell phone w/holder, a set of keys w/ a remote, sunglasses, hair clips...

Kallee all decked out!

Kallee loves her doggie that Talon bought at OFD! It barks, walks and wags its tail!

Kallee opening her baby doll!

She loves her dolly, she came with bottles, a pappy, a bid, a teddy bear, a diaper bag...she laughs and crys too!

Keegan getting ready to try on his Spider-Man slippers.

Keegan with his favorite gift, a remote controlled Dinosaur!

Keegan with his new Bible cover that looks like a football (his favorite sport)!

Bat-Man returns, HA! He loves this gift, I would have to say paying $4.97 for it, wasn't a bad deal after all : )

Talon with his soccer Bible cover (his favorite sport)!

Talon opening his guitar that we bought him. We bought it used, that way we weren't out a ton of $$$ if it isn't something he decides he doesn't want to pursue! It is a really nice guitar, thanks Danny, I'm sure he will put it to good use!

One of Jerry's friends has consented to give him lessons!

Watch out Papaw, Pastor Johnson and Steve Waggoner, there's gonna be a new guitar player at FBHC! Papaw put new strings on it and tuned it, so now it is already for his first lesson.

And last but not least...

... a cell phone! This is something he has asked and asked for, but we have always said NO! We decided last week that this was something we feel he needs now, so... he is NOT allowed to hand his # out, SO DON'T ASK GIRLS : )

P.S. Santa was good to me and Jerry too! We both got some form of clothes ; ), perfume/cologne, a study Bible, some books...

Christmas Sunday w/ The Coopers

Today was our "Christmas Sunday" at FBHC! I have always considered the Sunday that we do our plays, "Christmas Sunday"! It was supposed to be last week, but due to the beautiful snow God sent us...no church. Anyways, here are some pictures of the kids before heading out the door to church and then some of us after church this morning.

A friend gave me this beautiful dress for Kallee (thanks Michelle A.), but since it was

sleeve-less, we had Mamaw make her a little jacket to go over it (thanks Mamaw)!
Keegan acting crazy!

Kallee doing her silly face!

We LOVE our sissy!

Mommy's beautiful Christmas princess!

The Coopers ~ Jerry, Janiece, Kallee, Keegan & Talon

Mommy & Kallee

FBHC Christmas Programs

Well today was the day...Christmas program time at FBHC! It started off with the Toddler Class, lead by Sis. Melva Carey and Sis. Melissa Huffer. The little ones sang "Away In a Manager" and "Happy Birthday to Jesus", while ringing their jingle bells. Of course, it was adorable as usual, they ALWAYS look so cute up there, pacifiers and all, lol! Next was the Jr. Class (the class Jerry & I help in), directed by Sis. Angie & Bro. Gene Davis. The title of the play was "The Wubbles' Wonderful Christmas". It went over pretty good, but many lines were forgotten and the ones that were said, weren't very loud, ugh! I don't think it helped much that we only got to practice once (not even with the whole cast), and that we had to hand out parts over and over and over, since they kept losing them, AHHHHH! Oh well, it is over and done with now. Last but not least, was the Tween Class, directed by Sis. Tracie & Bro. Mike Peck. I wasn't able to be up there for most of it, but what I did hear my son's solo, which was very good (yes, I'm a little proud : ) All in all, we had a wonderful "Christmas Sunday"!

Kallee was the first "S" in JESUS!
These are the kids I was responsible for, to get up and down off the platform. They all did a great job! We had a few extras in this Nativity, but since not many were there without parts, Sis. Angie said "stick 'em in the Nativity", it worked! L to R: Maddy (our angel), Nikki (Mary), Cody (Joesph), Ethan S. (our Shepherd), Caleb (Wiseman #1), Kyler (Wiseman #2) and a couple of our bus kids were Wiseman #3, plus the extras.

My nephew Lane was "Grampy Wubbles" and Keegan was "Bubby Wubbles"

Connor & Ethan were our "thieves that stole Christmas"!

Brief Summary of our Play: After preparing for Christmas, the Wubbles family thinks their Christmas is ruined when a couple thieves break in and steal their decorations, gifts and Christmas dinner. Their church ladies (Karris, Jaida, Ava, Madison & Daryiah) come to the rescue, and the true meaning of Christmas in found.

Tween Class

Front Row LtoR: My niece Courtney (2nd from right), Jerry's cousin's daughter Karissa (3rd from right) and Talon (last one on the back row, to the right)

Courtney reading "her part" for the first time! She had to fill-in for someone that wasn't able to be there, she did a great job!

Talon singing his solo that was supposed to be a trio, he did a GREAT job!!!

Saying Goodbye to J & S Rentals

As many of you know, I have worked for The Waggoners, off and on for 13 years. A year and a half ago, I was asked if I would like to fill-in for the summer and I said sure, after all I we could use the moola. Well what went from just working the summer, turned into working until December, working till the first of the year...and now has been 1 1/2 years. I can't believe it has been that long, but it has been. I really have felt for some time that I was "cheating" my kids by having someone drag them to the office for me after school, and then getting home late and then not having much time before it was off to bed for them. I talked it over with my hubby and he said if I really felt like I should quit, to do so. Needless to say, I gave a 2 month notice and yesterday was my last day! The kids are thrilled that I will be picking them up from school every day and that we will get to come home and do homework and actually have supper before 6:30. I am thrilled that I can start my cleaning or laundry and not have to stop at 12:30 and leave to head to work. Don't get me wrong, I was very thankful to have this job, it helped pay off some credit card debt, some medical bills, and helped with the "extras". We will miss not having that extra, but I'm sure we will manage somehow. I do plan on going to work for Jerry a couple days a week in his office, but I will only be working a couple hours each day and I will be done before heading to pick up the boys from school. When I arrived at work yesterday, there was the most beautiful Christmas centerpiece waiting for me! It is sooo gorgeous, I wish it was silk and I could use it year after year! It has burgundy calla lilies(sp?) which are my favorite flower! It also has some burgundy carnations, along with some white snowball type flowers (I don't what type they are). There is some pine and spruce sprays in it, along with some gold sprayed greenery. To finish it off, it has a gold ball spray stuck here and there and a large silk, burgundy ribbon. Thanks so much J&S for this BEAUTIFUL centerpiece, it is much appreciated!!!

It looks so pretty on my dining room table!

Look at the gorgeous calla lilies(sp?)!

Princess Kallee

Jerry's secretary is sooo wonderful!!! She not only bought Christmas gifts for our kids, she also bought Jerry and I a gift certificate for Apple Bee's, plus included babysitting in the deal! Are we lucky to have her or what? We really feel she was sent to us by God, especially after going through 3 secretaries in 4 years, ugh! Anyways, she bought Kallee this complete "Princess Set" which includes a whole lot of "bling" with a pair of lovely shoes to match. Of course Kallee thought the gift was great, it sparkled and it was jewels, HA! Missy, his secretary, has 4 boys so she said she was really excited to get to buy this set for Kallee!

She is doing the whole Cinderella thing, bib-a-dee/ bob-a-dee/ boo (I may not have spelled this correctly, but you get the point)!
She was making sure she had her wand the right way!

She looks just stunting in her RED snowflake pj's, her PINK & PURPLE jewels, along with her ORANGE & GREEN pappy and to top off the whole outfit, the BLUE, GREEN & YELLOW curlers, LOL! I think she could win a beauty contest with this get-up!