Todd Anniversary

Over the weekend, I had the opportunity to photograph a very special milestone for two very special people - LA & Phyllis Todd celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary Saturday. The Todd's are collectively a very special group of people and are truly like a second set of parents to me. Their daughter, Sue Ann, was my best friend and as kids we were inseperable. In fact, my own daughter bears her name.

On display were 50 year old wedding photographs, Phyllis' actual wedding dress, head piece, gloves, hankerchief, and going away dress. It was amazing that she'd saved all of that for so many years. Their boys had even had an 8mm film of the wedding converted to DVD for everyone to watch.

There is not a time in my life that I can remember not being involved somehow in the Todd family. In fact Saturday - the moment that I pulled up, one of Sue Ann's many cousins was parked in the car next to me. We jumped out and hugged forever - both sharing a special secret - we had both named our daughters after the same girl. I could hardly hold back the tears. The tears fell freely Sunday afternoon when I made my monthly trip to the cemetery to lay flowers at Sue Ann's grave and I had found that Alicia had beaten me earlier that morning, leaving her own set of Sue Ann's favorite signature pink flowers with just the sweetest note. I knew I shouldn't have read it, but I just couldn't hold back. I felt even closer to that family at that very moment and so honored to inadvertantly be a part of it.

While the faces have changed and matured over the years, the good, kind loving nature has never faltered. The Todds - all of them - from Oklahoma, Texas, Colorado, Missouri and beyond are all just extended family of my own.

Just as Phyllis said - there aren't many people who can say that at their 50th wedding anniversary their 3 aunts and own 90+ year old mother attend. What a precious, special honor for them to have what I'm sure was over 200 people come and share & celebrate their day with them. It was a true testament to the incredible people they are and the amazing family they belong to.

I love them all from the bottom of my heart.

There should be an age limit...

Okay- I think I discovered yesterday during my daughter's birthday party I'm 'officially' old. Or at least too old to play on a moon bounce! I had NO idea how those things could tire you out! And now, today, my body is cracking and popping and my back hurts so bad from playing forever on that thing during the birthday party. We had a great time with lots of friends and family! But how could ANYONE resist this sort of fun?? I was still bouncing when I went to bed last night! It was a blast though! Painful today, but great fun yesterday!


You have no idea how hard it is to focus on a bouncing subject while you, yourself are bouncing!!! (Especially when you're as graceful as I am and can hurt myself walking on a flat, non-bouncing, smooth surface!)




Now that is the look of pure happiness!






What the cake looked like BEFORE 30 cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents and neighbors hacked into it!

At the end of the day - all that was left was a extra large piece of cake - which Kallie claimed as HER'S! (She only licked the icing off!)

My baby girl...how time flys

This weekend, my baby girl is turning four!!! I can hardly believe it! I surely doesn't seem like nearly four years ago when I had gone to a baby shower - not expecting her to arrive for over three more weeks - when I got a little nervous because she didn't move. I will always remember how I didn't want to scare Shawn and called in sick to work so that I could ease my mind and go see the doctor. I remember how Dr. Monty didn't want to alarm me, but recommend I get to the hospital. I drove myself to Southwestern. Waited about an hour when I heard the nurse outside my room discuss induction. I knew then...she was coming! I called Shawn at school - just hours before he was supposed to leave for Altus for a softball game. Told him he might want to find someone else to coach third base. He did. Of course neither of us knew that it would be another nearly 20 hours before Kallie finally made her debut. After an emergency C-section and hours of painful labor - she showed up at 6:14 a.m. And life has never been the same! And I couldn't imagine it any different and would never want to!! Now we prepare for her Little Mermaid this weekend...four years old - going on at least fourteen!!

Taken this past weekend after she found some of the decorations for her birthday party on the 9th. Hanging from the kitchen table almost a week now!!



Her first car....not thinking she'll accept this in about 12 years....



Her first four-wheeler ride at her Neenee's and Pop's.


She and her daddy still fight over 'ice cones' and slurpees!

She ate these flowers after about the second picture

She got her first 'big girl' bed!!! (Never slept in it - still sneaks into our bed in the middle of the night!)

EJHS had a shower for us a few weeks after we brought her home!!

Our first road trip!

This July we took our very first extended road trip vacation. After months of planning and worrying it would turn into a 'Griswald Family Vacation', we took off and headed east. We visited Hot Springs, AR; Memphis, TN; Nashville, TN; Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg, TN; and finished up in Ashville, NC. And of course made the trip back home. A little shy of 2,500 total miles driven and Kal slept a total of 5 hours on the road! 3 from Ashville to Nashville on the return leg and then about 1.5 hours as we pulled into OKC to Lawton. Oh, and she slept briefly from Knoxville to Pigeon Forge. Unbelievable!

I decided to put my 'mom' hat on for most of the trip while Shawn took a majority of the pictures. Well, except a few when Kal could grab my mini cam and clip a few pix on her own. (She's been with mom one too many times on photo shoots I'm finding out).

We were gone for about 8 days that were packed with adventure and fun. Certainly not a trip I'd love to take any time soon again (a little too much time in a car for my taste). But it was certainly a great time to build a lot of family memories that I will cherish forever. And the best part - no one got sick!! Whoo hoo!!! This is a rarity for us. Our last go at a vacation resulted in Kallie throwing up for 3 days (mostly on me) leaving early from the skiing trip with the rest of my family and going straight in to the doctor! NOT my idea of fun!!!! That trip sort of stuck with us so we packed every single drug we had at home to head off any possible sore throat, cough, upset stomach, vomiting and well, everything else!

I was able to give Shawn and Kallie a tour around Nashville, a place I've spent time in over the years, took a tour of Graceland, where Kallie scored a pink Caddie magnet (of course), saw the Biltmore Estate which was unbelievable, did some wine tastings with Kal getting in on the fun with tastings of their grape juices. Took in Dollywood, a Ripley aquarium and too many more things to list. It was one of the best vaca's I've ever taken!! Had two of my most favorite people with me and now it's back to work!

My daughters favorite things...

I think the second best thing I've ever done in my life (second to marrying my husband) is being a mom. She's almost four now - which is totally hard to believe - and I swear, she makes me laugh every single day! Her little personality is so witty and quick, I'm amazed at her some times.

At this point in time her most favorite things are "HOT pink" - everything has to be HOT pink. Clothes, cars, toys, sometimes food...she's in the process of wanting to repaint her room her favorite color. However after painting that room too many times to count now, neither Shawn nor I are up for that challenge. It does scare me though thinking at four she's ready to redecorate - what's in store in the next 10 years?!?! She's also a strangely huge fan of the Food Network, or as she calls it, the 'yummy show'. Paula Dean and Rachel Ray are who two most favorite cooks. She can sit mezmorized for hours watching those two on TV. I've never seen a child do that. And because she has this inate love of cooking, she loves to help mom in the kitchen. I let her have a little ley way and have a bigger hand in things that I probably should at times, creating more work when it comes to clean up that I'd like, but if she has a passion for it, why not?

Currently she feels that mom needs to be in the market for a new 'hot pink' car. We play a great car game as we drive down the road - "yellow car" is the name of the game, but really we seek out yellow, orange and especially pink cars.

Oh - and her favorite singers - Fergie! What 3 1/2 year old can quote lines from "Fergalicious"??? Seriously?

These are all things that make me laugh and roll each day - she comes up with the wildest things to say and do. It's made Shawn and I realize she watches EVERYTHING and soaks it all in like a sponge. Being her mother is absolutely amazing!