FOR SALE...

Today was a bittersweet day for the Kinney Family as we officially put our house up for sale. The kids are eager to move to the new house and we are SO THANKFUL for the opportunity to move. This house is FULL of good memories and we have loved it well! We pray that the house will go to a family that will love it as much as we have and will live a happy life here.

I look at every nook and cranny and think of stories that go along with each inch of the house. I hope to record them on video before we leave so that the kids will long remember our happy times in this house.

Me Pirates are SCARY! Arghhh!

With Nate, Mitchell and Emma in school most of the day that leaves Madeleine in charge of what we will be playing. Sam is a willing participant to most anything and will do what Madeleine says willingly...at least, at this point in his life. Today, they were playing "Mean Pirates" and Sam had to be the "bad guy" and have a magic wand to turn the good guys into toads...and Madeleine was a pirate too, "but a pretty one."


Oh, how we love to see that sparkling smile!!!!!

First REAL snow!

Well, our family had become VERY weary of all the rain! We were watching the weather eager for some serious snowfall and we finally got some! Although Tianjin City does get a little bit of snow in winter, Sam was too little last year to appreciate it. He had a great time playing out! He is such a light weight that he is easy to pull in our sled so spent the majority of our times outside conning one of his brothers or sisters to pull him on the sled. Nate tried to hook up Camden to the sled but she was so happy she kept jumping on the person IN the sled rather than pulling it!

A visit to Paul Town

The kids had Martin Luther King Jr. off from school so we decided to go and have lunch with Nana Boo. All of the kids LOVE to visit at Nana's house. It is filled with treasures that they anticipate every time we go. Nate loves Grandad's desk and the fact that it has "secret" drawers and Emma always has to check out the typewriter collection. Nana is great to tell the adventures that she and Grandad had traveling the world collecting all the neat souvenirs in their house. She also made a pan of killer brownies that made our day. The kids will never tire of "The Boys Room" which has the famous
triple bunk beds and the toys that Nana has had for MY entire lifetime and probably a lifetime before that. Nate is so sweet as he always loves the smell of Nana's house. I feel the same way! We love our Nana Boo!

The Enchanted Forest

Mitchell on his tree "swing." He claims it is like Bridge To Terabithia. Emma always comes home with a pocketful of beautiful stones in her pocket.

Our tiny patch of woods at the new property has quickly become a favorite place to play. The kids run full tilt into the trees and will play tirelessly until we call them to go home. The spring and creek have run a bit higher lately due to all the rain and the kids love to walk in it and make bridges, find rocks and explore all the nooks and crannies.

We have horses on both sides of our new property and we made fast friends with two of the three horses on the one side today. When they hear the kids they meander over to the fence to see what they are doing. Now, if we could JUST convince Sammy that they are horses and NOT cows!

Our Christmas tree...

Bob had the best idea this year. We bought a root balled Christmas tree to have for our last Christmas here at the house and planted it out at our new property so we can decorate it for Christmas 2007! The kids LOVED the idea and so after Christmas (with all that mild weather in abundance) Bob and Nate went out and planted our Christmas tree! We all decided it looked a bit lonely out there so went out to check on it the other day and take a photo!

Happy New Year 2007

We had such a great time bringing in the New Year! Good food~good friends~good fun! Belliveau's came over for dinner and partying!

This is a photo of Emma and Kate practicing their New Year cheering! The boys had an excellent time playing Game Cube, FIFA 2007 and I mean ALL the boys...Daddy, Greg and even Sam along with Nate and Mitchell!