Christmas in Texas 2010

OK...for real, I can tell by Tasha's face Greg is being
silly behind me!!

Can you tell Greg has food in his mouth?

Daddys silly baby girl!!

Johnny & Tasha

YES, that's Chris our 16 yr old!!

Lindsay, Logan and Jeremy joined the fun here on CHristmas

eve.....After eating homemade Lasagna, it was gift time!!

Logan is a PRO at opening up gifts!!

CHRSTMAS Morning 2010

Henry, Stormy, Chris and Brando

Zebra Robe for Stormy and a crazy hat for Chris!

Jackson, Henry, Stormy, Chris, Brando as CHris T (Stormy's

boyfriend) open up the Wii for the Zitko family!!

Check out Stormys hat--it's a FROG!!

They were all a little goofy today, um that's tissue paper

on Brando's head.....I don't know why!!

Craaaazy hat day I guess!

OH YEAH---C'mon over for coffee!!

Don't be surprised if you hear about Willow Tree Angels going

out of business.....haha....why I got a set of twins is beyond me!

It was a great weekend celebrating the birth of our Savior!

Staying home was a hard decision, but it was worth it!!

I survived shopping at the Mall....whew!

Up in the sky, it's a bird, it's a Plane....

It's Superman.....NO, it's Super Brando!!

and to think this kid was my shy Guy.....

The mall will NEVER be the same after this bunch!!

Brando 15, Chris 16, Henry 10 and Jackson (Jax) 12

Happy SHopping to everyone, getting down to the wire!!

Begining to look like CHristmas!!

Meet Jackson, he's our new kiddo, here Henry and I
along with Jackson decided to go see Santa!!

Alot of plans fell thru, so we decided to stay home here

in Texas to celebrate CHRISTMAS....the tree is UP!!

Monday is our LOGAN day....His Nana loves spending time with

him, he is talking up a storm.....cracks me up!!

Brando, Stormy, Chris, Henry and Jackson in front of tree!

Happy Birthday Logan *2*

For anyone who knows our Logan, it's all about COWS!
His favorite animal ever-been to the COW auction,
points out cows when we are driving, it's all about COWS!!
Lindsay went all out for his party..notice the Chicago Bears
colors.....have you ever seen a blue and orange COW?

Time for cake.....

Lindsay is the Party Planner-had pony rides

and a petting zoo in the backyard!!

Lots and lots of kids in the backyard! I just love this face!!

The latest COKER Family Portrait!!

Logan did not want to go on the ponies, he had his Grampy!

Henry feeding the goats!!

"My cow-boots" Logan kept saying, those things were

going East and West!!

Happy Birthday sweet Logan.....YOU ARE LOVED!!

An Official LifeGuard send off!!

Flew into Los Angeles to be with my Aunt Gail for
Uncle Bob's Memorial which was on Dec 5th.

My Uncle Bob was a La County LifeGuard for 30 years.

The weather was PERFECT, about 65*, the water was

smooth and the seals were showing off for us!!

Tony of corse did an awesome job sharing God's word

with the family who traveled from North California,

Oregon, North Carolina, Boston and Texas.

This picture really got to me....the first time we went

out to California was the summer of 1981, where Uncle

Bob introduced the ocean and the beach to us....Life is

a journey, and to remember how my sons played in the water

and played with the sand crabs and now listening to one

of them share memories, and recognize that our GOD loves

us so much and we need to reflect that our life here is fleeting!

When we circled around the beautiful Lighthouse, it reminded

of how our LORD is our LIGHT, yeah it was pretty emotional!!

After the Boat ceremony we went to the Elks Lodge for lunch

where Tony took the time to set up the table to show off some

of Bobs plaques, medals and pictures!!

My mother Dawne, Gail and Tony as we are leaving the Elks!

My mother and Gail are sisters!!

Gail kept her lei wheras everyone else tossed theirs in the

ocean to say 'goodbye'....

The Polar Express here in TEXAS!

Lindsay came up with the MOST awesome idea
to start the Holiday season with riding the Polar
Express-she rented Bailey's Bunkhouse that slept
12 people, it was decorated as if you stepped back in the
1920's with all the antiques and great quilts on
all the beds!

Waiting at the Train Depot-in Palestine Tx about
an hour from our house. The Official Railroad of Texas
is truly a "Texas Treasure"


Listening to the Train Whistle, it was coming our way!

The excitment was overwhelming, here it comes!!

This historic railroad offers both steam and diesel

excursions that travel through the scenic piney

woods and hardwood creek bottoms of East Texas.

There the sounds of hissing steam and squeaking metal

was the POLAR EXPRESS! It was so cool, a conductor

stood at the opened door of a car and other staff waited

to help us on board! The train was filled with other children

all in their pajamas and nitegowns. We heard lots of singing

and we ate candied treats and were served HOT chocolate

that was thick and rich as candy bars. Outside, the lights

of towns and villages flickered in the distance as the Polar

Express traveled northward!

It seemed to go faster and faster thur towns, along

rolling over peaks and thru valleys like a car on a

roller coaster! That was when we heard the conductor

say "there HE is ....do you see Santa?" The train stopped!

We heard Jingle Bells, we saw several elves outside of

the window singing, dancing and waving to us!

Then all of a sudden the train started moving again!!

People on the train started singing Christmas carols!!

Logan was taking in everything.....OH WOW....There's

Santa coming down the aisle and handing out Bells!!

All the Staff and of corse SANTA was awesome!!

So the beginning of Christmas 2010 has begun.....