a little update

Gracie found a new place to discover.This is the sweetest book and Gracie loves reading it.

This is Gracie's favorite song to dance to.

One day I will get around to the "end of year" update...if life would just slow down for a few days. Ha!

A mini update: After I wrote the last post, Jason's Granddad died later that night. Julie, Ryan and Bill all made it to Tuscaloosa to see him before he died. Noah spent the night with us that night. We traveled to Tuscaloosa over the next few days to be with family and for the funeral. In the middle of that we turned in my leased car and bought a mini van (I sure hope Gracie plays soccer one day!). We've been happy with our Honda so far.

We had a good Christmas. It was much better than I had anticipated. I had imagined myself weeping all day long and not able to enjoy anything. It was hard, but our day was filled with wonderful new moments and sweet memories of Dad and Pa-Pa Howell. My sweetest new Christmas memory was Gracie seeing her rocking horse that my dad had bought for her. It still remains to be a favorite and she still ask for "Penny" often. We remind her that Poppa Hayes (Payes is what she calls him) gave it to her and that he loves her. Whenever she sees his picture she calls his name in the sweetest voice. My dad had bought "Penny" for Gracie just before Thanksgiving. He was so excited about it and showed it to me with great enthusiasm on Thanksgiving day.

On Dec. 31 my great Uncle Roy died. He was my dad's uncle. He and his wife, Violet, live in Hoover not far from us. Uncle Roy had a stroke two years ago. They did not expect him to recover as well as he did and count the last two years as a blessing. Uncle Roy and Aunt Violet were and are very special people to my parents. They had always been like another set of parents for them. Uncle Roy was so saddened by my dad's death. He depended a lot on my dad for house projects and they always knew they could call my parents at any time. My parents had gotten in a little routine of taking the newspaper to them after church and visiting with them most Sundays. Today was his funeral.

On January 1 my cousin Christi (Cookie's daughter -for those of you who know my mom's side of the family) gave birth to her first child. His name is Brantley Chase and they are calling him Chase. He weighed 5lbs 8oz. Christi was due mid Jan. so she was about 38 weeks. The doctors did an emergency c-section because Chase's heart rate was so low. When he was born he was not breathing. There was a blood clot in his umbilical cord. He is on a ventilator in the NICU at DCH in Tuscalossa. The doctors have talked about brain damage, mental retardation and a poor quality of life. Please keep Christi, her husband Zach, and baby Chase in your prayers. (I know there are more details, but I do not know them all and do not want to misquote anything, so please forgive the vague details.)

Ok, so that's about all I can write for now...so much for a mini update. Thank you again for all your prayers and support and I just ask that you continue to pray for my family and extended family. Life is and has been tough, but we are resting in our God and know that he is in control. I pray that through it all we continue to glorify Him in all that we do and say.

To end on a light note...Our sweet baby girl will be TWO next Friday! I can't believe how fast the time has gone. She has two new teeth, so we're catching up with the rest of her buddies with 11 now! She is talking so much and putting two and three words together all the time. We still don't understand everything she says, but it is so neat to see her understanding her world better and being able to communicate with us.