The Shuttle........I Mean, The Truck!

Cowtown Sleepers, in Fort Worth, TX, attached the extra seats in our truck, so that all SEVEN of us can travel together!!  Is this so cool or what?!

I like to call it, "The Shuttle."  :)

This is the view from the back.....  It has its own back door, or you can climb through the crew-cab section.

This is what it looks like from the front seat!  The back section has two seats that face each other.  Our truck actually has enough for 8 people!  LOVE it!

I am now an official, dually-drivin' mama! :)  HA!

Blessings,
Steph

The Importance of FOOD!

You know, there is just something about food.


Yes, I know that we need it to survive after a few days, but, it is something much more than that, right?



Food can bring back memories, or even make new ones.



 Food can make an awkward moment, into a funny moment in time.




When we were traveling last year, we met a wonderful family, the Harper's, that also have this 'connection' with food.  They not only introduced us to LOVING bell peppers; the yellow, red and orange variety, but also to the VERY yummy.......


CHURROS!!  Oh me.  Oh my!!



Well, I HAD to buy this cereal when I saw it at the store!  The kids and I laughed and laughed and thought of our sweet new Canadian friends.  We talked about how we miss them, the places we went and even the friendships made with them, that are continuing to this day.

They live thousands of miles away, in another country, but because of  the many things, including FOOD, that we have in common,  we talk on Skype or email regularly!  LOVE IT!


So, the next time you open your home to strangers or even friends, think of the food!  It just might make a lasting impression! :)

Harper Family, this is just for you!!!

Oh, and just so you know!  We REALLY liked it, and ate the whole box in TWO days!  UG!

Love you and Miss you!  Yucca! (another family joke!) :)

Blessings,
Steph

Easter Fun with Special Cousins

Here at Grandma and Grandpa's, there is a FUN tradition of hunting eggs at Easter.  The kids have always looked forward to it, not only for the yummy candy, but also for seeing their cousins.  :)


This year, the weather was absolutely gorgeous, and the kids were ready....

Parker was SOOO excited!  This was his first year of SERIOUS hunting.  (sunglasses and all)  :)

Zach and his cousin, Hunter, were in fierce competition!!  HA!

There is just something so fun about your kids running all over the place like wild chickens!!!

Yeah, Parker!  You did great!

They had a blast!

Hope your Easter celebration was special, too.
Jesus is ALIVE!!!  Praise the Lord!


Blessings,
Steph

Our New Home on Wheels!!

Well, it has been a process, but it is starting to feel like, 'Home Sweet Home.'  :)

Hopefully, by next week, we will have our extra seats added to the truck.  ;)

Check out the "Our New Home on Wheels" PAGE on the right side bar for more inside pics!!
Hope you enjoy the tour!

Blessings,
Steph

Blue Eyes

We have really enjoyed our time here in Texas.  It has been such a blessing catching up with friends and family, celebrating birthdays, play dates and much more.  :)

Little blue eyes, here, has truly melted all of our hearts!   Or should I say, BIG blue eyes....  :)

Yep.  He is Caleb, and he belongs to some very special friends; the Fondrens.  ;)

The kids could NOT get enough of him!  I could stare at him all day long, he's so adorable!!!

Caleb, you are such a blessing!

Dave and Chris-Anne, it was so awesome to spend time with your sweet family!
Blessings,
Steph

WHOO HOO!!!

Just a quick update!

WE SOLD THE VAN & THE ADMIRAL!!!!!

PRAISE THE LORD!!!!

Soon, in the coming days, I will post pics of our 'new' home on wheels and truck.  ;)

Blessings,
Steph

Zach's Birthday!!!

Zach is now officially TWELVE years old!!!!

He is our 'funny' guy around the house.  :)

He is also our creative, imaginative, sensitive and thoughtful child.  :)  If you ever need someone to laugh or cry with, Zach is your man.  If you ever want to witness to someone, or study scripture with a partner, he is your man.  I am always inspired by his boldness for Christ and his genuine love for the truth.


We celebrated his birthday a little differently this year.  Instead of buying him presents, he just wanted the money.  HA!  A true sign that the teen years are coming soon......

He spent ALL of it on Star Wars action figures and even bought candy for his brothers and sisters. :)


Here is Zach's Menu for his special day!

Breakfast: Cinnamon Rolls with Orange icing, orange slices, and orange juice.......we were not lacking in vitamin C that day!  :)

Lunch:  Pizza Rolls, strawberries and rootbeer

Dinner:  Apple Jacks Cereal!!  Yep!  (I added the bacon, so I felt like a 'good' mom) :)

Silly picture!  :)

Zach is not a big birthday cake fan, so he asked for Dream-bars for his dessert.  YUM!

Happy Birthday Zach!  We love you so much!!

Blessings,
Steph

Play time with Friends!

Last weekend, we went to a really neat park in Tomball, TX with the Kemper family.  :)  It was a gorgeous day to visit this local park and spend a day with some special friends.

Houston Area Live Steamers is made up of many volunteers who LOVE trains!  They put together an amazing miniature train station for kids and adults who appreciate this wonderful hobby.  Out of all of our children, it was Parker who was the MOST excited!

I should have taken a picture of him in line, waiting for his turn....his eyes were as big as SAUCERS!!  :)

Here is one of the small trains that pulled all of us big people around the track.  Too Cool.

Even the girls enjoyed the ride!

In the parking lot, there were several of these beauties.  :)

Next door, was a nice park, with lots of shade and room to run!

We had some 'good 'ole fashion fun'!  How can you wrong with train rides, playing at the park, a picnic and good friends, all in one day!?

Blessings,
Steph

Terrific Time with the Ticknors!!

About two years ago, I started researching the RV lifestyle.  You see, we had not even CAMPED before we 'hit the road' last March!  HA!  Todd and I had to learn about types of RV's, various equipment, maintenance, organization, traveling, and on and on.  We are still learning, too.  :)

One family seemed to always have the answers we needed, at just the right time, to help us along in our journey.  :)

We FINALLY got to meet this wonderful family and spend most of the day with them!  Can I just say, "What a blessing."  The day was filled with yummy food, swimming, sword fighting, fishing, picnics, football, playing with dolls, action figures, 'school', coloring, and great adult talks filled with advice and encouragement!!

WOW!

You can't help but smile when you're around this little man!  :)

Chow line.....

'Big' men flexing their muscles......

more 'big' men.....  ;)

Parker's reaction in this picture says it all!  It was a fun-filled day!

Ticknor family, we had SUCH a wonderful time with you!  Thank you for your hospitality and friendship.  We sure hope to meet up again on the road one day!

Blessings,
Steph

Happy Birthday Hannah!!!

Our Hannah recently celebrated her birthday.  :)  I just want to cry......
I still remember holding her, just days after she was born, thanking the Lord for such a sweet gift.  Hannah was my first home birth, and she is my first little girl.  She is our 'naturally' foo-foo- loving, bow-wearing-all things-pink and fancy, kind of girlie-girl.  :)

But, look out boys, cause she will give you a run for your money, when it comes to running races, catching frogs, and simply fascinated with BUGS!  EEEWWWW......


Hannah is also our creative child. ;)
For each of the kids' birthdays, they choose the menu for the day.
Here is Hannah's Menu:

Breakfast: Cinnamon Rolls, strawberries and grape juice
Lunch: Grilled Cheese, ham, fruit salad and orange juice
Dinner: Hot dogs with Chili, and Smoothies

Hannah did not want the traditional cake and icecream this year!  She wanted pinapple, strawberry, and blueberry smoothies instead.  :)
We still had the candle though!  HA!

She got a baby bed for her baby doll.  ;)

And, a unicorn pillow pet.  ;)

Happy Birthday Hannah!  We love you so much!

Blessings,
Steph

Fun with the Zavocki Family!!!

We have wanted to meet up with this sweet family for the LONGEST time!  Well, it finally happened!  Not on the road, either, but while we are here at HOME!  HA!
They were making their way through Texas, and we hooked up last week! YEAH!

The Zavocki's invited us to the condo where they were staying, and we enjoyed a night full of swimming, (in a heated pool), sharing stories and advice, and a REALLY , lively game of 'Hide-n-go-Seek' in their cabin. :)

There is something special about swimming in February!  Yeah for heated pools!!!

 This BIG moth was 'hanging' out outside their cabin.  :)  I kept reminding Zach to leave it alone.....this one does NOT need to be dissected.  :)

Our sweet, little men.  ;)

Zavocki family, thank you SO very much for the great time!  It was such a blessing to meet you and share our 'stories.'  Hopefully, we can meet up on the road one day and conquer a hike together!

Blessings,
Steph

Happy Birthday Emily!

We celebrated Emily's birthday while we were home and had a great little party for her.  She is growing up to be such a thoughtful, respectful and HILARIOUS little lady.  :)

Emily just cracks us up.  She can be so quiet and reserved, and then, when you least expect it, she will belt out a song from the TOP of her lungs.  HA!  Or she will say something so smart or funny.  She just makes me smile.  :)  She makes me so thankful to be her mom, too.

Happy Birthday Emily!  We love you to pieces!!

Hannah made her a sweet, homemade card.  :) (with some coins taped to it!)

Emily LOVES to cook.  She baked her own cake, because she LOVES to cook!  I was able to decorate it with these cute princesses and castle for only $7.00 at Walmart!  She loved it.  YEAH!

Singing, "Happy Birthday to you......"

Yeah Emily!!

She was so excited to finally get some of her own 'GIRLY' Legos!  :)

And, doll clothes!  :)

For each of the kids, we have a tradition on their birthdays.  I let them choose the 'menu' for the day.  Here is Emily's Menu:

Breakfast:  Cinnamon Rolls with Orange icing, strawberries, grape juice, sausage and donuts

Lunch: Grilled Cheese Sandwiches with Ham, Fruit Salad and Purple Gatorade

Dinner: Hot Dogs and French Fries

It was a special day for a really special little girl.  :)

Blessings,
Steph

Happy Birthday Grandpa!

There is a special man in my family's life, who has the charisma of John Wayne. (He even totes around rifles, pistols, and any other hunting gear needed at any given time.)

He is thoughtful, sensitive and imaginative.  Almost sounds too goo to be true, right?  Well, that is exactly who Grandpa Golden is......absolutely....positively......AWESOME!!

This creative, selfless man literally built this 'tank' for my kids in one day!  So cool!  

They were preparing for one of their fun-filled, air-soft- gun-wars, and he decided to do something pretty special. 

 He and Zach designed and built this in just a few hours.  :)

There is an opening for the air-soft rifle to shoot from, a plexi-glass window and plenty of protection!

Zach was SOOO proud!  We are so thankful to have such a wonderful Grandpa, who took the time, energy and resources to make such a special memory for one of his grandsons.

Thanks Grandpa!  We love you and appreciate you so much!

Happy Birthday!!

Blessings,

Steph

SLASHING PRICES!!!!

Just wanted to let you know that we have dropped the price on our Class A motorhome and the Toyota Sienna!!!  Below are the links to each of them on Craig's List:

Here is the Van

Here is the Admiral


Just a quick update on us, too!

We are here in Texas, hanging out, busy with school, and catching up with friends and family as much as humanly possible! :)  We have bought a "new to us" truck and a "new to us" toy-hauler.  We have been REALLY busy moving, cleaning, organizing and repairing our new home to accommodate this lively, seven-member family!  :)

Houston weather has been so gloomy with rain, so I have been waiting for some sunshine to share pictures!  Hopefully, I will get these this week!


Blessings,
Steph

Do you need a new van??

We are selling our van!!  There are a lot of changes happening in our family lately.  ;)

We decided that we need to sell our Class A motorhome, and sell our van, a Toyota Sienna, so that we can transition into a toyhauler fifth-wheel and pull it with a truck.  We found our new toy hauler and truck within 2 weeks!  It is so exciting to have what we need for the long- haul, no pun intended!  But, now we are needing to sell our motorhome and our beloved van.  We don't need two vehicles, since our truck will seat all 7 of us safely.

I thought I would share some of these details with you, so that you can PRAY for us during this transition.  Please pray that the Lord would provide the right buyer for both vehicles.  Please pray that He would be gracious, and sell them SOON!  :)

Below is a link to our Craig's List ad with many details about the van.

http://collegestation.craigslist.org/cto/2807308099.html


Thanks so much for your prayers!
Blessings,
Steph

Zach's Corner!!

The United States Mars Voyager!!!

Blessings,
Steph

How to fit a family of 7 into a truck!?!

WOW!
I had no idea that so many would be interested in our future vehicle!  Thank you for your concern and curiosity.  :)

I thought I would share with you how ALL 7 of us will fit into a truck, so that we can pull a toy-hauler.

Cowtown Sleepers can add anything you need to an existing truck!  We will be purchasing a crew cab, that would normally fit 6 people, and have Cowtown add the Road Runner sleeper with seats option and back door, to fit up to 8 people!  :)

Here is a link to their website: Link

Hope that helps!

As we make changes, I will share more and more.  :)

Blessings,
Steph

Changes are Happening! Rig For Sale!!!

YEP.  That is right!
We are moving into a new home!


A new home on wheels, that is!  HA!
After spending a year in our Class A motorhome, we have decided to get a toy-hauler, fifth wheel, for our family of 7, to have PLENTY of room.  :)

We love to travel and decided to continue this awesome lifestyle.  The kids are only getting bigger, so we started looking into toy-haulers.

There are many details that are still needing to be worked out before we hit the road again, but I thought I'd share what has been going on lately.  We are really excited, and when we get the new home, I will post pictures!

If you or someone you know might be interested in buying our motorhome, please email me at stephlgolden@yahoo.com

Below, is a link to the craig's list listing:

http://houston.craigslist.org/rvs/2784905294.html


If you have any questions, let me know!

Blessings,
Steph