Elijah's 3rd Bday Party

Elijah had his "Thomas the Train" Bday Party on Saturday. Valeria did the cake which was great as usual. We had a great time.

Visiting Mamaw's grave

We took a road trip for the day to Tennessee to visit Mamaw's grave since she passed away a year ago on January 12. We had lunch with several family members then went to the grave to place flowers and have prayer. We love and miss you still Mamaw.

Emily's Baby Shower

Rachel and Madelyn met at Mrs. Pat's house when Rachel was 8 weeks old. They went to daycare together until Madelyn moved last year. They are still "best friends" Emily and I have become great friends through our little girls. Emily is expecting her second baby girl any day now. Her name will be Aida Ryleigh.

Grier Christmas Get Together

Grier grandchildren

We had the Grier Christmas at our house this year. We had good food and fun. We played Dirty Santa with movies this year. It was a lot of fun. We also played a game called Apples to Apples and had a great time. Thanks Gan Gan for all the good food!

Santa also came to Gran and Pop's house

Santa came to Gran and Pop's house and left candy and a necklace and bracelet in Rachel's santa pants.

Santa came to Rachel's house

The Night Before Christmas

On Christmas Eve, Rachel made cookies for Santa with green icing. Before she went to bed, Curt read her "The Night Before Christmas" She was very excited this year to have Santa come to her house. She was so excited that she didn't fall asleep until midnight. Needless to say, Curt and I were exhausted Christmas morning.

Rachel's Big Girl Bed

We finally got Rachel's toddler bed changed to a big girl bed. I almost wanted to cry when we had it finished, it just looks so grown up for her. She loves it. Thanks Pop for helping us get it together!

Keeping Ella Jayne

We kept Ella Jayne one day over the holidays. Rachel had a great time with her. Rachel says Ella Jayne is her baby. In the picture, Rachel is pushing her around in her doll stroller.

Dodd Family Christmas

Daddy, Crystin, Me, Mama, Aaron, & Joanie

Gran and Pop with their grandkids

Dodd grandchildren

Merry Christmas

This year we had the Dodd Christmas at Mama and Daddy's house. We played Dirty Santa and had a great time.

I have to brag again

Rachel can now spell her first and last name. She learned her last name in one day. Such a smartie!

Decorating the tree

Rachel hiding

Maybe I should take her Christmas stuff back and get her bags.

Rachel has learned to write her name

I started teaching Rachel about a week and a half ago to write her name. She had the R down pat and was writing R's on everything. Every time she brought a paper home from school or church, there were R's all over them. She finally got the rest of it and is now writing her name. So proud!

Thanksgiving

I didn't do a very good job with pictures this year for Thanksgiving. This is the only one I got. This is Rachel at Bass Pro Shops Thanksgiving morning. We went there early and then to Curt's aunt's house with Curt's side of the family. We had my side's Thanksgiving the Saturday before. We had a great time with both families.

My first smocked dress

A lady in our church started a smocking class on Sunday nights so I decided to go and at least try it out. After the first class, I decided that I didn't have the time or the patience to smock a dress. The girls there encouraged me to stick with it so I decided on a Christmas dress for Rachel. I picked an easy pattern that didn't have much stitching to make sure I would be finished in time for Christmas. When my Nana passed away in February, I was lucky enough to get all of her thread she used for embroidery. I used her thread to stitch the dress.

Rachel loves her dress and can't wait to wear it to go see Santa.

Anna Kate's 2nd Bday Party

Anna Kate didnt want to open presents, she wanted to eat cake.

Rachel playing with her great great aunt Sandy