Happy Birthday, Baby Precious!

I must be living in a time warp. Because just two or three days ago I gave birth to a sweet baby girl...and now she is already a year old! A year! And even though first birthdays are the best, I hated to see it creeping closer and closer on the calendar.

Even though Abby's actual birthday is Dec 2, we celebrated on Nov 27th because of Kenneth's work schedule. So at one o'clock we gathered with a house full of family and friends to celebrate the birth of Abbigail Skye.


Abby's cakes, the big one for our guests and
the little one for her to destroy! (I made them both!)
Abby trying to decide which part of the frosting
to eat next.

Me and Baby Precious.

One of her favorite gifts....big sis Bella loves it too!!!!

Pass the fried turkey!

So, a brief synopsis of our Turkey Day: We had a little chaos getting everyone dressed and out the door (although from the picture below you can tell I didn't spend any time on my hair- what can I say, I'm low maintenance!). My sweet potato casserole was DE-licious. My bro-in-law's fried turkey was soooo yummy. Memmie Renfro coudn't stand it and once again tried to wash the kitchen floor while we were all standing on it. (Apparently the 'cleaning' gene skipped my generation). I ate so much I didn't have room for dessert. The end.


Me and my family on Memmie's side porch.
Abby and Auntie Rachel

After dinner we went up to see some of my sisters' horses. Bella loved it.

I am not in this picture because I am so allergic to horses I can sneeze just

thinking about one. I kept a safe distance and tried not to breathe.

Halloween 2010

Halloween this year wasn't just any old Halloween, it was also Abbigails first Halloween. So I was super excited to dress her up.

Bella was an Elephant this year. Why? Well, because my niece Ashlyn was an Elephant last year, and we get her hand-me-downs. And as long as Bella doesn't mind wearing used costumes, that's what we're gonna due! I know in a year or two she will probably start wanting to pick out a particular costume. Until that day comes, I'm going cheap!

As for Abby, well, she lucked in to being born at a different time of year than her big sis and cousin, so she got her very own brand-new costume. With her dark hair and brown eyes, I knew from the start who she had to be...


Bella-Ellaphant and Princess Snow White.
Bella in action on Main Street in Erwin!

Abby visits Memmie Miller

Halloween was lots of fun this year. We made our usual family rounds, and met up with my sister, Aunt, and cousin for some trick-or-treating in down town Erwin. Abby got tired a little earlier than the big girls, so we headed back in early.

We had a great time and got a ridiculous amount of candy. And I tried my very best to help my children eat all their Reese's cups. It's hard being a mom, sometimes!

For Sale!

After living in Jonesborough our entire married life ( four and a half years and counting), K and I have decided to put our house up for sale and move back to our hometown, Erwin. Jonesborough is a great place to live, and we have a nice neighborhood. But I work in Erwin three days a week, and we go to church there. Plus we are often over on the weekend for some family function or the other.

Now that we've actully got the "For Sale" sign in the yard, I'm really excited about moving back to Erwin. The irony of this situation is that I can remember a time when I couldn't wait to get out!

Anyway, I know the housing market isn't that great right now, but I'm not gonna worry about that. The thing is, the Lord already knows who will buy our house, and he may be moving them this direction as we speak....or type. Oh, whatever.

Orlando, Part II.

My husband has had this trip to Orlando on the brain for ever. He loves riding roller coasters and couldn't wait to ride rides with Bella. I was of the opinion that it would be better to wait till they were both older, were tall enough to ride everything, and would remember it all. And although my opinion has not changed, I have to admit it was an awesome trip. And kudos to my hubby for being our travel agent!

We stayed at the Royal Pacific Resort, one of the three resorts located inside Universal Studios and Islands of adventure. The rooms were really nice, if a smidge on the small side. We could take a water taxi or walk to the park entrances or the Citywalk.

Bella rode everything she was tall enough to ride. I know we rode "The Cat in the Hat" at least thirty times. Here are a few pics:


Me and Bella on "One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish".
We got really wet!

Me and Abby hanging out by the Lagoon Pool.

Bella and Aunt Rachel on the "High in the Sky Seuss

Trolley Train Ride."

Hogwarts! My hubby's favorite part of the park!

It was awesome, especially if you are a Harry Potter

fan....we are!

In front of Honeydukes Sweet Shoppe.

Worwando! Part I : Gatorland!

Ok, so I know the title of this blog post sounds like a video game. One of those strategy ones where you pretend to be the wizard or the swordsman, etc, and battle the evil monsters.

Actually "Worwando" is how Bella says Orlando. Which is the real subject of this post. After returning from Hilton Head Island, we were home for seven short days before we had to pack it all up again and head for sunny Orlando. Yes, we drove. No, it was not fun. And no, we will not be venturing to Orlando again unless it is on an aeroplane.

Anyway, getting there wasn't too bad. We drove to Savannah and spent the night, then went on to Orlando on Monday morning. We had gotten free tickets to a place called "Gatorland" from our travel agent, so we decided to stop there since it was too early to check in our resort.

To be honest, we were all a little leery of a place called "Gatorland". It sounded kind of... well, redneck. And the entrance wasn't entirely reassuring:

Yes, that is a large alligator mouth made of fiberglass. It wasn't very encouraging. However, Gatorland actually turned out to be a pretty interesting place. And it was more than a little disconcerting to be walking along and look over the hand rail to see this:

The picture doesn't do it much justice, but they had some big gators. There was a small petting zoo, as well as an aviary, a walkway through the swamp, tortoises, etc. The girls had a blast. The down side was that it was in the upper nineties that day.

I love this picture. And I shouldn't have to even say it, but no, this is not a

real alligator. (Although you could have your picture made with a real

baby one for $15. We passed on that. )

6 Juniper Lane

We recently loaded up our belongings (almost all of them), filled up our coolers, borrowed a u-haul, and headed for sunny Hilton Head Island. This year our temporary residence was 6 Juniper Lane, just a short walk from the beach and- a fact that thrilled my husband to no end- a two minute drive from a Wild Wing Cafe. I ask you, does life get any better?

We had a great time. There was lots of good food and long lazy afternoons in the sun. On Wednesday evening we all donned white shirts and khaki bottoms and headed to Folly Field beach for family photos. Apparently this is very popular because half the people on that beach were dressed like us. I was tempted to casually join another group and see if anyone noticed...

Arabella is a beach veteran, this being her third trip to the island, but for Abbigail it was all brand new. And of course the first thing any self respecting baby does at the beach is sample the local cuisine:


Isn't she beautiful? (the baby of course!)

Abby loves the water. Every time we sat her down, she

would turn tail and head for the open seas. I think if we had

gone out one night when the moon was full and the sea turtles

were hatching, she would have crawled away with them into the

water without looking back...

Ashlyn and Bella, one of the rare moments when

they were sitting still.