Lee's Birthday

Clayton loves his Pawpaw! The feeling is mutual.

Landon ( Lee's nephew) wanted some cake!

Party crowd!

Jack wanted to make Uncle Lee's cake.

Jack loves to help with the cooking!

Fred and Jennifer came down on Thursday to spend the last bit if Clayton's spring break with us. Thursday was also Lee's birthday. We watched Memphis play ball ( very sad) Thursday night, visited friends Friday night, and on Saturday we had a party for Lee at his mom and dad's house. It was a great weekend!

Spring Break in Istanbul

We had a wonderful time this week visiting with our family in Istanbul. The grandkids have grown so much, and it was fun seeing all the "new" things they are doing. Kaiyah is crawling. Zeke is talking more and loves to play blocks. One of his favorite things to build is an aqueduct. We had fun hanging out with Dan and Tami. The first few days we were there, Tori and Lee were there also. It was fun being together for a couple of days before they left. The only thing about following Aunt Tori is that by the time Kaiyah got over her ( she loved her Aunt Tori) and warmed up to me, it was almost time for us to come home. We are taking it easy today, trying to get over the jetlag before going back to the real world tomorrow ( also known as work). Thanks Dan and Tami for a wonderful week. We miss you already and are looking forward to our next visit.

Birthdays and Snow Days

There was a surprise end of winter snow storm in Memphis yesterday. When it snows in Memphis everybody gets into a holiday spirit. I love it! Fred and I got up this morning, found out that church had been canceled, and decided that we didn't need small children to have fun in the snow. We had a snowball fight, made a snowman ( he is reclining since the snow wasn't wet enough to make a tall one) , and of course we had to have snow angels. This made for a perfect ending to a wonderful weekend!

We had fun celebrating Pawpaw's ( AKA Fred) birthday this weekend. There was a lot of Wii playing and we were even visited by a stormtrooper or two. Fred got a lot of nice gifts, but the best one of all is the knowledge that Fred and Jennifer are expecting us another grandchild. Will it be another stormtrooper or a Princess Leah?

Visit with Tami and Dan

I have somewhat recovered from jetlag and thought I would put a few pictures from my trip on the blog. I don't have many pictures because my picture card got eaten by Dan's computer when I tried to download pictures and we couldn't get it out. So I only have the pictures that Dan put on a CD for me. But they are cute ones.

Kaiyah has really grown. She is making real progress toward crawling. I love her smiles!

Zeke is talking more and better. He is doing well on his potty training and loves getting " pee pee treats". Before I left he said, "Mawmaw go home now. Bring Pawpaw here. " So I am going to do that. We are going to make a trip during spring break in March. We decided to do that instead of this summer when we found out that the tickets are half the price in March that they are in the summer. It was a great trip and I look forward to seeing them again soon.

Such a Cute Wiseman!

Last Sunday night we went to Paris, TN to see Clayton in the children's Christmas program at their church. He was such a cute little wiseman. He told me that the wisemen wore lots of bling bling. But I was also assured that he knows what role they played in the story of Jesus. I love that kid! Jack was proud of his brother. After the show he said, " Good job, Cotten ( Jack talk for Clayton)" and gave him a big hug. Jack really enjoyed the program, especially when Mimi ( his other grandmother ) broke out the fruit snacks. I loved watching all the children remind us in such a precious way that we are celebrating the most valuable gift ever given - our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ! Merry Christmas to all!

He's not a dog?

Well, this is a post about Poco who is a member of our family. Poco is a yorkshire terrior who has been around for nearly 5 years. Clayton and Jack love him and the feeling is mutual. Clayton once introduced him to my dad with, " Grandad, have you met my friend Poco?" The other day a dog ran too close to Jack and he said ( in his cute 2 year old voice) " I not like dogs." His dad ( my son, Fred) said," Yes, you do. You like Poco. He's a dog." Jack looked at him like he was the silliest person alive and said ( again in his cute voice), " No he not. He not a dog." Fred asked him what Poco was if he wasn't a dog. Jack said, " He's Poco." It just goes to show that when you really love someone, it doesn't matter what they are or what they look like - you won't notice how different they are. They will just be Poco - or whoever that is to you.

Zoo Lights

Friday night we went to Zoo Lights. It was so much fun. There were cookies to decorate, a train to ride, animals to see, and the most beautiful Christmas lights. We met Lee's family there and had a lot of fun hanging out with the Smithermans.


Clayton loves his Uncle Zach!

Tori and Lee

Liz and Zach

Tori and Jennifer

Fred and Renee

Fred and Zach

Clayton

Jack loves his Uncle Lee and was not happy about the

fact that Lee's other nephew ( his brother's son , Landon)

was getting Uncle Lee's attention.

Fred, Jennifer, Clayton, and Jack