Grandma Hernden

On December 23rd, Michael's grandma, Grandma Hernden, decided to go home to celebrate the holidays with her Heavenly Father. This was a bitter sweet moment as it was sad to see her go but a relief to know she is in a much better place. I really really enjoyed listening to the many memories of her life from many family members, as I did not get to know her when she was well. She loved visits from the girls as they sang and danced for her. She would tap her feet and sway to the songs and were very proud to show off the girls to everyone else. She looked so beautiful today.. most likely how she looked years ago and am so happy for such a wonderful service. Afterwards, the family gathered at Great Grandma Coy's where we enjoyed pizza and time with Anya and Morgan who just arrived in Pa yesterday.

Christmas with the Meraklis'

Despite the rain both on the way and home from Maryland, we had a most enjoyable evening as usual. Aunt Linda and Uncle James cooked an amazing Christmas dinner. And the Greek appetizers were a real treat! Our kids played with cousins and had a fabulous time. They are all either in ballet or gymnastics so they had a great time showing off their moves to one another and danced the evening away. We shared pictures and stories of the many trips we all took that year and also watched a movie made up of pictures of my Papoo and all of our family.

Part II.. Christmas Eve and Morning with the Coys

Keith, Cindy, Lindsey and Kyle all decided to spend the night with the girls on Christmas Eve! We had a fun filled evening full of some dancing, singing, stories, food, and gifts. The girls slept in until 8 and went crazy from there! Paper, toys and bows were everywhere! This was the first year that both girls really could open gifts by themselves and boy did they go at it! Some of the highlights were the scooter and roller skates that they got from Grandma and Pappy, the piggy banks they painted themselves w/ Aunt Lindsey and Kyle, and Alexandra got her own little guitar like Mommy!

Michael really went above and beyond on both my expectations and spending limits we set. He is sending me to California for a week w/out kids to visit my good friend Jolene.. woohoo here I come! He also is hooking me up w/ guitar lessons which i've wanted for a long time and to top it all off we are also spending a weekend in New York to see The Lion King for our 6 year anniversary in 2wks! Michael, well he wasn't so lucky.. he got a pair of gloves,clothes, soccer ball and planner. After all of the gifts were opened, Aunt Brenda, Emile, and Brie all joined us for breakfast and a game of Disney UNO! We had a great morning and were looking forward to the next party in MD.

Twas the Night Before Christmas..

Twas the night before Christmas when all through the house, not a creature was stirring not even a mouse..

Uh, wrong house! Extended family's cars lined a full street and totalled about 50 people. We were so blessed to have them all visit US here in PA. The kids had a wonderful time opening and playing with new gifts along with giving Aunt Jen a fabulous makeover. The adults enjoyed eating, socializing, and watching the Ravens (most from MD). And congrats to Aunt Lisa and Mr. Roderick for their newly announced engagement! As we drove home from The Meraklis home to our home where another festivity begins, Alexandra once again asked me why we give gifts to each other. It is unbelievable how these sweet spirits remind us constantly of the true meaning of Christmas in and amongst the busy rush! I reminded her that the 3 Wisemen took gifts to our Savior, Jesus Christ when he was born and that above of all, Jesus gave us all a very very special

gift.. He died for each and every one of us! Hope you all have a Very Merry Christmas and are able to take time to remember the true reasons for Christmas!

(My masterpiece)

Christmas Cookies..

Aunt Lisa invited all the ladies and Addison over to bake Christmas cookies so that the kiddos will have a treat to leave out for Santa. Aunt Lisa oversaw the kids as they worked on their beloved sugar cookies.We, on the other hand, were stuck doing the hard tedious ones. I had choco kisses which I admit were worth the work but took forever to assemble! Aunt Lisa even bought all of us cousins special Christmas shirts.. which we sure looked good in lol! Although we are lacking the frosted window panes, we are sure enjoying the holiday spirit!

Christmas at Hershey..

Because the kids were not satisfied w/ the lights on just our railing, Michael decided to go all out and put the icicle lights up on the house! The kids stayed outside to make sure Daddy was alright and didn't fall. Things went really smooth and we had the house decorated in a few hours. After which, we took the girls to Hershey. Although the price has drastically gone up, we all had a very enjoyable evening. The girls rode on ride after ride and really enjoyed Christmas at Hershey!

FHE

This past Monday, Aunt Lisa and Mr. Roderick came up to visit. We had a fun evening opening birthday gifts.. boy the kids really appreciate gifts they get later, watching Mr. Roderick dancing w/ the stuffed dancing turtle, and enjoyed our fancy hotdogs over a bonfire. We find any excuse to have bonfires. What a blast!

It's Beginning to Look Alot Like Christmas

It's beginning to look alot like Christmas.. or atleast at the Coy Home! We really really look forward to Christmas so we put up our Christmas decorations right after Thanksgiving. If Michael let us, we would probably keep it up all year. The kids were very helpful in putting all of the ornaments on the tree. They especially liked to see the ornaments we received when they were born. Now we are just trying to convince Daddy to climb up on the roof and hang icicle lights. Michael doesn't sound to excited about doing this. Alexandra reminds him that Santa has to climb up on the roof and he never falls..lol! If only the temperature wasn't in the 60s, we'd be on our way!

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun..

This weekend, Angela and I painted Mom's room for her birthday. And boy were we regretting it! Not only was it very hot due to the crazy weather but my Mom did not pick regular paint. She wanted a special marbled look which took twice the amount of time as regular paint.

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun!

So that is exactly what we did. We made the best of the situation by stripping down to the essentials, turning up the music.. and it all went down hill from there. We managed to finish the whole room and had a lot of fun doing it!

THANKSGIVING

This year we celebrated Thanksgiving with both sides of our family, and boy were we busy. We began the afternoon at the church where we celebrated with the Coys'. We moved our dinner up at the church due to the large amount of people (30) and so that we could play basketball after eating. Boy did we have a blast. We had quite the variety of food and Michael, Matt, and I even managed to win our basketball game! Meanwhile, Alexandra and Isabel were busy decorating cookies and running around! Great idea Mom Coy- the church building was a hit!

Following our first dinner, we headed to Angela's house where we spent time with the Meraklis Family. This dinner was our traditional dinner. Angela cooked a wonderful meal! We had a relaxing evening talking, eating again, watching The Davinci Code, and planning out our Black Friday race for gifts.

We couldn't be anymore thankful on Thanksgiving and are really looking forward to seeing the rest of our family on Christmas!

Angela's Info..

Ok.. so quite a few people have been asking me for Angela's realty information to help buy/ sell a home, so I figured i'd make it real easy for you and just put it on the blog so I don't have to repeat myself:P..

Angela is still part of Jack Gaughen, however, she has joined forces w/ the second leading team in her office (Marie Arcuri & Nedette Otterbein). Just some info on the team: Their team offers a stager who comes out to make recommendations prior to listing your home, places adds in the paper weekly, presentations, etc. The women seem to be very family oriented, church going, honest people. One of the women actually graduated w/ a Marketing Degree (not typical of many realtors) and really knows her stuff..as a Marketing Major i'm pretty impressed w/ her techniques. Presently, their team alone has 15 listings .. some offices don't even have this many. Anyways, give me a call if you need or want any more info. I hope I answered all of your questions Heather.


Office: (717) 854-9242
1499 South Queen St
York, PA 17403
angela.lyons@jgr.com

Mom's Birthday..

Our family always looks forward to Mom's birthday.. it's always celebrated at Outback! It's our family favorite! The steak and swordfish are definately our top picks.. I think I would rate it up their with Phillips Seafood Buffet.. and that says alot. Anyways, despite Patrick having a rough night with the Eagles losing one of their key players, we had a wonderful evening full of good company and fun conversation. The adults had their table and the kids theirs. Next time I think we may even hire a babysitter to tag along.. Dad had to parade all 4 of the grandkids around the restauant a few times. Needless to say, the were the talk of the restaurant. One of the things our family does as a birthday ritual is talk about memories and feelings about the birthday girl so.. some things about my Mom..

*I can call my Mom anytime to complain.. as I did this evening!
*One evening after a night class about 11ish, I decided to go to WalMart to get groceries while the kids were asleep.. I guess Michael didn't remember me telling him this so he proceeds to call my Mom and Sister. In a panic, they both go out in the middle of the night to search for me. Mom was crying to hear I was alive when I made it home.. sorry, I felt so bad for this one!
* Mom always treated us kids equally.. even though I was quite a pain in the butt.
*My Mom was there in labor and delivery with both girls and really was great support for both Michael and I.
*Mom comes to my house early in the morning on her day off just to watch A and I so that I can go to school.
*My Mom is one of my best friends-I love you Mom!

Alexandra's Magical Week in Disney

Alexanda had a fairytale time at Disney World . Sometimes I think she is still there! She talks about it all day and all night. Papoo, Yia Yia, and Alexandra left for Disney on Monday morning and arrived at Animal Kingdom (the resort they stayed at) a few hours later. My parents said that after arriving, Alexandra told some of the kids at the resort that she had just moved to Disney.. I guess it was true for the week. They marched in parades, went swimming, rode the rides, and Alexandra was spoiled all along the way.. as she always is by Papoo and YiaYia. She managed to get signatures and hugs from all of the Princesses and Disney characters. Popoo, Yia Yia and Alexandra were even rewarded family of the day.. don't ask me what that means but they came home with a special award. Alexandra picked out a Minnie-Mouse dress for Isabel and herself and a few other souvenirs for her cousins thanks to all of the spending money she received from Poppy in MD. Alexandra definately had a magical week at Disney and will be excited to go again!

One fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish..

One fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish..

yeppers, we saw them all at the Baltimore Aquarium today! Although quite expensive, we're never disappointed. Isabel loved her time by herself today. She got to pick out the lunch she wanted at the cafe and had my full attention as well as many other's. It had to have been atleast 6 people who stopped to ask me all about Isabel! Boy does she love the attention. Her curls and mischevious looks seem to captivate so many people.. I think i'm going to make her wear a hat wherever we go:P We spent quite a bit of time looking at the sting rays after hearing about the Irwin tragedy. Isabel's favorite parts of the aquarium were the Rainforest and Dolphin Show. I was amazed by the new Australia Exhibit. After our visit to the aquarium, we decided to pick up a cheesecake at the famous Cheesecake Factory for Michael. Here I ran into a girl I went to high school with in Baltimore which was pretty neat. Isabel and I were exhausted but had a wonderful date together!