Here are a "few" pictures of our Thanksgiving in LaFayette with my family. We had a great time visiting my parents, my brother & sister-in-law, and our precious niece Kayla. I don't have time to write too much about these, but I wanted to get them up before it was time to start taking Christmas pictures!
Lily found something she really enjoyed while we were there: a box of legos! These were the medium sized ones--too big for her to choke on, but not so big that she couldn't pick them up. She would pull a few out, then dump the entire box over. I don't know what was more fun for her--the blocks themselves, or getting to pour them out.

She also really enjoyed having people get down in the floor and play Legos with her!

The deck behind my parent's house is lizard heaven. We must have seen a dozen while we were there. I think that the colder weather had made them a little sluggish, because we were able to catch quite a few of them. Lydia and Nathan treated theirs like pets. Nathan named his lizard Charlie and Lydia named hers Lucy.

This looks like a touching mother-daughter moment, but that big grin on Lily's face is because she is about to reach out an yank a huge handful of my hair!

After Thanksgiving dinner, we decided to risk getting shot and go for a walk through the woods. Lydia put on Uncle Dave's old hunting vest so that no one would mistake her for a deer.

Gidget is pretty sure that no one is going to mistake her for a deer.

Matt might try to pretend he's not an Auburn fan, but he can't hide his true allegiance!

The great explorer leads the way!

When I was only a little older than Nathan, my parents would take David and me on walks through the woods. There were huge old hickory trees and massive rocks near the branch that was miles behind our house. I noticed on this walk that the branch wasn't quite as far back as it used to be. The hickory trees were big, but not the enormous trees that I remembered. The rocks seem to have shrunk over the years as well.
I noticed as we walked that Nathan kept a firm grip on my hand and a close eye on his surroundings. I can only hope that he was seeing the woods the way that I had seem them when I was his age.

David was determined to play football after we ate lunch. He finally talked Daddy into playing, while Matt and Lydia played Frisbee.

Then it was back inside for a wrestling match.

The day AFTER Thanksgiving is a big shopping day for a lot of people, but not for us. We had something else on our minds...Auburn football.


Nathan is ready for the Iron Bowl!

Cousin Kayla is ready for the Iron Bowl!

Lily is ready for the Iron Bowl!

Matt and I are ready for the Iron Bowl, too! As it turned out, so were the Auburn Tigers! The only thing that could have made that game any better would have been a win for Auburn.

And last, but certainly not least: The Thanksgiving special at our local grocery store. I used to think that nothing could be worse than having ham for Thanksgiving instead of turkey, but apparently, there is something much, much worse!

And Now, A Word From Lily

Friends, it's been a while since I've had a chance to talk to all of you, and I have some things I'd like to say. First of all, I need to apologize for my mother. She does not post things on this blog nearly as often as she should. She says she's going to do better about that, but we're going to have to wait and see. Second, I would like to thank my Aunt Grace for the adorable outfit that I'm wearing. I look especially cute in this, so I made sure Mommy got plenty of pictures of me today!

I am eight months old today! It seems like just yesterday that Mommy and Daddy were bringing me home from the hospital. These past eight months have gone really fast. As you can see, I'm growing really fast, too. I am so tall that my doctor said I was "off the charts." I have finally learned to sit up on my own. It took me a while to get the hang of this--there's a lot of me to try and balance. And really, sitting up in one place is not that exciting. I've got places to go! I've just got to figure out how to get there...

I'm learning to get up on my hands and knees, and then I rock back and forth, back and forth, and then I push as hard as I can, and I go--backwards! I can scoot all the way across a room backwards, but I haven't figured out how to push myself forward yet. Mommy says she'd rather I wait until after Christmas to figure that out

I have finally decided that I like my baby food. It took me a little while to get used to it, but now I get really excited when Mommy puts me in the high chair and puts my bib on. I like most all my food, except for one thing. Green beans. Just when I think I'm going to get something yummy, like pears or sweet potatoes or yogurt, Mommy comes in with a jar of green beans! YUCK.

I'm doing much better about sleeping all night now. Sometimes I wake up and think that I need company and a little snack, so I call my Daddy. He's my favorite person to see in the middle of the night. At least that's what Mommy tells him!

The best thing about being me is all the love that comes with it. My days are filled with hugs and kisses. Mommy, Daddy, Lydia, and Nathan spend all day just loving on me. And when I go to church, my teachers there love on me some more. And then--there are the grandparents and aunts and uncles and cousins. Lydia and Nathan have been telling me all about Thanksgiving and Christmas, and I can't wait! Mommy did warn me about Uncle Bart, though. Apparently, I'm not supposed to eat ANYTHING that he tries to feed me!

Miss Lydia

As I was getting ready to blog about a field trip we took this morning, I noticed that there were a few random pictures of Lydia that didn't seem to fit any particular catagory. These pictures, however, are a far more accurate glimpse into her personality than any of the other pictures I have taken recently, so I thought I'd dedicate a post just to her!



Every Wednesday when we get ready for ballet, Lydia begs for piggy-tails. Since we're usually running late, I never have time for them. Last Wednesday, I did, and she was so proud of her hair-do!

Lydia loves to take pictures. She started with a Fisher-Price camera that we got her for her birthday, and has moved on to asking if she can borrow my camera to make pictures. This is one that she took of our kitten sitting on the kitchen windowsill.

Oh, how silly she can be! I have probably spent a hundred dollars on hair clips and barrettes, none of which will stay in her super-fine hair. I finally gathered up all of those clips and told her that she could use them to fix her doll's hair. She had other ideas and spent all morning giving herself a fancy new look. Of course, she needed to wear the red sequined dress to match her hair!

After reading a book about King Tut's tomb, Lydia decided she was afraid of mummies. She insisted that she could not possibly go to sleep on her own in the dark--she just kept thinking about those mummies and she was so scared of them. Could we please let her leave the light on and have books in her bed? Now, it doesn't take a brain surgeon to realize that this was a ploy to get to stay up later and read. To Lydia's credit, she was smart enough to try it on a night when Daddy was home, and he fell for it! She read her Bible storybooks for well over an hour before finally falling asleep with the book open on her lap.

Back to the pig tails and ballet! These are the rest of the pictures I took of her before we left for ballet practice. She loves her ballet class. At the end of each class, her teacher lets the girl who has worked the hardest that day wear a fancy princess crown. Occasionally when I pick her up, another girl will have it on, but most often, Lydia is the one wearing it. She knows all the fancy French names for the steps and positions--there are some days when I feel like she really is speaking another language!

She is also excelling in school this year. Last year, we really struggled with a lack of focus. Some days it would take me twenty minutes just to get her to write her name at the top of her paper! Imagine my surprise when, this year, she completed an entire math assessment in 20 minutes and made a perfect score!

I hope that these pictures have given a glimpse of Lydia's personality. She is such a wonderful, unique little girl. I am looking forward to seeing all that God has in store for her in the coming years.

Beach Pictures, Part 1

It's been a month since our trip to the beach, and I'm finally getting around to posting pictures!

Lydia has been to the beach twice before, once as a baby and once as a toddler, but this was Nathan and Lily's first trip. It was also the first time that my side of the family has gone on vacation together since David and I were in high school.
Between the pictures that I took and the ones that I copied from my mom's camera, I have well over 200 pictures to sort through, which is why it's taken me so long to get these online!

These are in no particular order, by the way!

Nathan had a great time playing with his Uncle Dave!

Lydia and Lily

Lydia, Papa, Kayla, and Nathan

Nathan loved the sand, but was not too sure abut the ocean itself. He like to dig in the wet sand, but would take off running if the waves got too close!

Uncle Matt is not as crazy as Uncle Dave, but I think Kayla had fun playing with him anyway!

This is our first day at the beach. Lydia and Nathan couldn't wait to build a sand castle!

Dad and Nathan walking on the beach--they had just stepped off the boardwalk when Nathan had to stop and play in the sand.

There were red flag warnings the first two days we were there. The waves were as big as I've ever seen them at Orange Beach. Lydia was not taking any chances--she was holding on tight!

Lily sees the ocean for the first time! I'm not sure she was impressed, although she did try to eat some sand.

The Fair's In Town!

One of my favorite memories of when Matt and I were dating is the first time we went to the Mid-South fair together. A man from church had given us tickets, so one night when I got home from work, we headed to the fair. A freak cold front had come through Memphis earlier in the day and the temperature had plunged into the forties. I couldn't have imagined a more perfect night for fair-going! Fortunately, the rest of the city of Memphis disagreed with me and stayed home. Matt and I practically had the fairgrounds to ourselves. It was the first time I had been to a really big fair, and I had so much fun looking at the exhibits and livestock!
Since we moved back to the Memphis area, Matt and I have made a point of taking Lydia and Nathan, and now Lily, to the fair every year. Some years have been more fun than others, but we always look forward to the fair coming to town!

Look, Mom, it's Wilbur!

The petting zoo is one of our favorite parts of the fair. Lydia and Nathan love feeding the animals and petting them. This year's petting zoo was much smaller than usual. We missed getting to see camels and yaks, but we did get to pet this sweet baby pig.

Thanksgiving Dinner

Lily, Mama, and Lilly the Llama

The llama's name really was Lilly. I guess that's why she was the only one looking at the camera when Matt called out, "Lily!"

This hungry goat thinks Lily's sock just might make a good dinner!

Matt and Nathan enjoyed the John Deere tractor exhibited outside the petting zoo, and Lily even got her picture made on it! Grandpa, she's really looking forward to that first tractor ride!

What would a trip to the fair be without fair food? We had hoped to try some deep fried butter, but apparently it's exclusive to Texas! Nathan and Lydia enjoyed ice cream cones while Matt and I shared a funnel cake.

We even shared a little with Lily.