Happy Halloween!

Will try to post after "Trunk or Treat" tonight. As you can see Mavery is not afraid of her costume as I worried she might be. She looks sad but she was enjoying playing in it, I promise. And we are ALL excited about tomorrow, someone turns THREE!!

Crazy Hair Night

Kids had crazy hair night at Awana this week. While I was doing Malaines hair Mavery insisted I put her hair in a ponytail also! Her hair has grown alot since Gotcha, but I am not seeing pigtails anywhere in our near future.

Branson Fun Slide Show

There are so many pictures that I wanted to share with everyone that I decided the easiest thing was to create a slide show. The kids had a really good time with Grammy and Papa on vacation!

Enjoy,
Miss Jenny

Wildfire Video....

After a little nudging Sawyer decided he wanted to ride this roller coaster. He screamed all the way through the ride but begged to ride it again!! We got the video to share with everyone.

Enjoy!

Miss Jenny

Branson Pictures

We had a GREAT day!!!
Getting ready to ride the swings (Miss Jenny rode with Malaine)
Fun on the frogs
Notice the leash :)
Thier caught!!

We are headed out to Dixie Stampede but wanted to load a few pictures from the day.

Miss Jenny

Monday with Malaine

While the older two were at their friends staying up until 4 am, Malaine was able to come spend the night with cousin Jaylyn. We had fun going to the zoo Monday morning and enjoyed our day riding the train, seeing the animals and having some DQ ice cream after. Yum!

It was a beautiful day outside to have lunch!

They wanted to pose with the snake. :)

Train Ride! Choo choo!

The apes were out playing and a couple were sitting right by the window.

They all wanted a good view of the giraffes!

Cousin Amy

Suson Park with Sage

Sage is a monkey and if other can climb it so can she!!


Shannon had Sage on Monday and took her to Suson Park in South County, St. Louis Cara and Chelsea went to play and see the animals. Danielle and two other kids from church joined in for the fun as well. I went over to eat lunch with everyone and join in the fun for a little while!! Sage seemed to enjoy herself playing and laughing. She has learned that if the Sun is shinning here then the moon is in China and if the moon is out then the sun is in China. She is so funny!

The older kids were with friends Sunday night and Monday. I hear Makenna stayed up until 4 am with friends (but they say she was not cranky after that!). Sawyer went to bed a little earlier.

Tuesday the kids were with Nina and spent time with their cousins. When Grammy got off work they left to head out of town. They should now be in Branson having a good time!! I will join them tomorrow and promise to add pictures of all the kids tomorrow night. I believe tomorrow is Silver Dollar City and the Dixie Stampede!

Miss Jenny

Kid's Weekend

The Laxton Children have been having fun. Friday after Home school Co-op the Kids went the the Magic House with Megan and Shannon. (Pictures to come when I get them). Each of them said they had a really good time. I'm told Sage did well!

Saturday the Kids spent time with the Grandparents celebrating Malaine's Birthday. (Megan also has photos of Malaine opening presents that I will post when I get).

Then today the kids came to church. It was a special day at church because we were celebrating our 50th anniversary. There was a special presentation in the services. Then this evening was a special time at church. There were carnival games set up for the children and a bounce house! The evening ended with prayer at the property the church bought that will be the site of a new church building!

Makenna and Sawyer went to the same house to spend time with friends. Malaine got to go home with cousin Jaylyn and Sage went to stay with Nina. Enjoy the pictures of the kids playing at the church.

The kids will spend Monday evening and Tuesday with Nina before leaving for Branson Tuesday night. I will be joining the kids Thursday in Branson and have more pictures and updates for you!

Miss Jenny

Happy Birthday Malaine!

Malaine I hope you have had an awesome time celebrating your birthday!! I wanted to post some pictures of the fun we had at the park on Thursday.

Thursday the kids started the day going to MOPS. Then got Subway for lunch which we took to the park for a picnic! While at the park Sage would point to the sky everytime a plane flew over and say "Mommy, Daddy in plane go to China."

Miss Jenny

Happy SIXTH Birthday Malaine!

We love you SO much and miss you tons and we are sorry we are missing your special day.

We know you are having lots of fun and we are thinking of you and wish we could be with you. But soon we will have your new little sister with us! Thanks for being such a sweet girl, you are such a shining star in our family!

First Day of Fun

This is Jenny posting for Shannon. I am the Director of Preschool and Children's Ministries at the church where she attends. I will periodically be posting pictures and stories of the fun the kids are having while Mark and Shannon are traveling to get Mavery. I spent today with the kids and will post on that tomorrow. For tonight I will post about Wednesday.

Shannon and Mark spent all day Wednesday on an airplane to China. While they were on the long plane ride the kids enjoyed time at Chuck E Cheese!! No one remembered a camera but I was able to scan pictures to share with everyone.
Hopefully you can tell this kids had a good time with Grammy and Aunt Debbie.

Ready, Set, GO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well, it is official. We have left the house, said goodbye to the kids, apologized in advance to the grandparents and wished them the very best of luck, (kidding of course, they acted very excited to have the children, and the kids were thrilled to get rid of us I think!) We have packed and repacked and checked and rechecked everything in our suitcases. I have cleaned every inch of my house over and over. Well, I never did get the refrigerator pulled out or the stove, so if you are staying at my house, don't look under those appliances, deal? Though the dishwasher is clean underneath, we had to get that fixed last week so if for some reason you want to check there, it is good! hehe! My lists are all checked off and there is nothing else I can do now but get on that plane and GO! Yesterday, I was not so sure I was going to make it, that I was going to get it all done. But tonight, as I am sitting in a hotel room by the airport, I feel good. I have even stopped saying for the hundredth time, did we get it all, did we forget anything? At this point if we did, we will live w/ out it. We have us, we have the laptop, we have the camera and all the paperwork. Nothing else matters. As I looked through my master list I made way back when, the only thing (that it totally a lie, the only MAJOR thing) I did not get crossed off was losing lots of weight. And unless I manage to lose 10 pounds overnight, that is just not getting crossed off and I am even at peace with that. Right now my eyes are on the prize. My Mavery will be in my arms in just a matter of days. My heart has been in China since I stepped off that plane 2 years ago with arms full of Sage. And now we return for our 5th child, quite possibly the ending to our story. (Mark would shout out a big amen ,we are done here!) For almost a year now I have stared at her face and wondered so many things. And now, no more wondering. Soon we will touch her skin, hear her voice and hold her in our arms. We will turn that sad face into smiles and wrap her up in all of our love. Here we GROW again!!!!!!!!

**Join us at our travel blog by clicking here or on the picture card on the side bar. Amy made the cards for us, aren't they sweet?

**Kids posts of things they are doing will be posted here. (and believe me, they wish we were gone another week for all the invitations they got this time!)

**I have added some posts if you scroll down, some are posted before Makennas birthday.

Catching Up-YMCA Diving for Donations

I wanted to make sure you got to see pictures back from our April event when our friends son wanted to help us by doing a fundraiser. You can go and check it out here.

My Sage

It is hard to leave the kids, I struggle with all of them of course. But Sage, I am having a really hard time. She is SO little. I struggle with guilt over being gone from her that long. Though the alternative is taking her. And you know the thought of that just breaks me out in a cold sweat. If you have met Sage, you know what I am talking about. 14 hours on a plane, I would rather have my teeth pulled out one by one with no drugs than to put myself OR the other passengers through that. She does not want to go on a plane to China, she has told me that over and over. "I no like plane to China, they go to fast. "Sage likes her bed, she likes her routine. She does not do well when you take away her nap, or even if you try to move her from her house. So while I will miss her horribly, taking her is not an option. We feel we are supposed to devote 100% of our attention on Mavery in China and that just could not happen with Spicy Girl there. So, she stays behind. But it is more than just the leaving her for 2 weeks. It is the, I am bringing home another child. Right now, Sage is the baby, the princess, she runs the show around here. Soon, she is going to have to share her crown. And not only is it a new sister, it is a sister that is her age. I know this is all normal, this is how it was when we added Sage and Malaine was the baby, or when we added Malaine and Sawyer was a baby. Or when we added Sawyer and Makenna was the ONLY princess in our house. I know that every mother goes through this guilt and so you can understand. Just hard.

But on the flip side, Sage is getting a sister! She is getting a twin! I always wanted a twin sister, someone my age. What a blessing for her to have a play mate her age and someone who gets it, who lived the same life she did before they were in our arms. I can't wait to see them in action together, even just that first meeting, when they lay eyes on each other for the first time! I know we are in for alot of adjustments, but we are ready. I think Sage is ready. Maybe ready to "train" her up in the Sageness way of life. Oh my goodness, what if Mavery acts like Sage? I think our life is about to get REALLY fun! ;0)

Our China Blog!

Ok, I have a million posts that I am determined to get caught up w/ before we leave here, but wanted to go ahead and share our new blog link! Tomorrow night we will be leaving the house and so I will move my new posts to that blog. You can click here or www.2china4mavery.blogspot.com. I will also be moving my email to my gmail account, which is linked on that blog, but it is shannonlaxton@gmail.com

The blog fairy, who is the most patient woman in the world, you would not believe what I put that poor woman through trying to decide on a "look" for our china trip., did an amazing job I think on the China blog. Take a peek and see what you think! I am still playing around with some things, but you can get a look at our full itinerary.


But keep checking here. The kids updates will be here while we are gone. And like I said, I have a bunch of posts that I need to publish before we leave!

Counting down till take off!

Malaines EARLY 6th Birthday

Did I mention that this time of year is birthday bonanza for us? Malaine Shaye will offically turn 6 on October 11th, and yes we will be gone. So, we declared that this weekend was her 6th birthday with us! We celebrated the whole day, just as we would have if it was her birthday. The other kids are not quite sure they agree that she gets 2 birthdays, but they went along with us anyways. We spent the day at Chuck E Cheese which I dreaded to do for a Saturday. But actually, it was not that bad. We went early and the kids had a great time. Those of you who know Mark well will enjoy this. For the kids birthday party, my dear Aunt and Uncle gave them gift cards for Chuck E Cheese. (thank you Ray & Judy!) So we were excited to go for FREE on Saturday. But it is only free if you remember to turn in the gift cards when you pay. Which Mark did not do. So, guess we will get to go to Chuck E Cheese AGAIN. Guess that is one way we can introduce Mavery to America, take her to meet the BIG mouse and let her go in overload from all the noise there. Kidding of course, we will totally use Mavery as an excuse to stay away from all annoying places for quite some time! ;-). Maybe the grandparents would like to take the kids to Chuck E Cheese while we are in China? It is FREE! One thing that is so funny is that Sage does not like Chuck E, I think I have said that before. She chants over and over, No chucke, no Chucke. But she does love the games and totally knows how to put the coins in and is all about tickets.

So Malaine has more celebrating to do, but at least we were able to play for a day. And yes it is a cake made of ding dongs. Hey, I am going to China this week, making cakes was just not on the agenda! My kids thought ding dongs were quite the treat, so I did not feel quite so bad. Mark enjoyed telling them how that is what Grammy fed me for breakfast as a child. They are so jelous of the good ole days!

Apple Picking

We spent the day recently at Eckerts Apple Orchard with the Harriss Family along with our homeschool co op. It was a beautiful day and the kids had a blast! Of course getting out of school is always a treat and being with friends makes it even better. This was Sage's first time to pick apples and she thought it was pretty cool to pick the apples right off the tree and eat them.

The Millstadt Farm is lots of fun as you can watch pig races, go through a corn maze, we saw 2 week old baby goats, and the kids favorite was the "haunted house". It was nice to get out of the house and away from packing for a few hours!