Trip to Sun City!

We spent last weekend with Brandon and Teresa in Sun City, CA! It was a great, but quick trip and we even had the best surprise ever.....Daniel was there Friday and Saturday! Being a mom-to-be I got really emotional about seeing Daniel and cried about the "surprise". Thanks Brandon and Teresa for making that happen! It couldn't have been more special. Here are some pictures from our trip:





Daniel was very excited to help decorate the Christmas Tree. Footballs, dogs and all!

Hey....this one looks like Scruffy!

Its time to put the star on, do you think you can reach the top?

How about a boost from dad?

Come on Grandpa! Let's go for a walk! Grandpa really needed some air Saturday morning. He tried to keep up with Brandon and Snuffy and found out it's not as easy as it used to be. Needless to say.....we had fun teasing him all day!

He was truly overdressed for the warm Sun City weather....leather coat, hat and all. We think he looked like someone out of the Blues Brothers Movie in this picture.

Even once he was back inside, he found it very hard to take his glasses off.

Check out this video clip of Daniel and Grandpa playing. It's a little wobbly as Scruffy was trying to knock me over, but it's still cute!

Do you think Grandpa can get out of this knot? Daniel was very into this piece of rope and amused himself for hours tying up a sleeping Grandpa.

After a long hard day, Grandpa finally fell asleep on the couch. He had worked so hard on keeping Rocky of the couch that it was just too ironic to see them both sleeping soundly!

Thanks for a great weekend you guys! We look forward to many more with both our families and children!

Idaho Snow!!!

Well, it finally started to snow in Idaho on the 2nd of December and boy did it snow! We accumulated a foot overnight and nearly 2 feet of fresh white stuff by the end of the day.

This is what our back deck looked like when we woke up on Sunday. Apparently Mother Nature had been very busy while we slept.

Jack was a little unsure at first what to do with all the white stuff. He has since learned to love it, except......

man I have to pee....where do I go? How do I get there? Ian had to shovel some paths for him so he would actually go....

thanks for the tip on that one Mike!


By the time we were done goofing around in the back yard, Ian decided it was time to shovel... we were in for a surpise. We opened the front door to two feet of snow on the deck, walkway, cars and driveway. I think we shoveled three times that day; when the plows finally came through about 4 pm, we had to remove the 4 foot high burm at the end of our driveway. That wasn't much fun....next year we want a snow blower for Christmas (hint, hint)!

Snow Camping

This was our first year joining the crew at Indian Head Camp Ground at Priest Lake. What a blast! It was great fun, even when you are the only sober adult there. You would not believe what a production it is.....we were only there for tear down, but I can't imagine how much work putting it all up would be and will be in future camps!

This is the exterior view of "The Compound" if you will. There were a total of 4 Wall Tents, each with their own wood stove to keep it nice and toasty! You can tell there were plenty of coolers and beer....a nice mommy even brought O'Douls for the prego.

The all important bar and eating area....this also became the hang out for the boys. It was also the warmest in here!

The gourmet kitchen was amazing! We ate better while we were camping than we do when we're at home! They even had a camping oven and a drip coffee pot that works on the gas cook stoves! Nice work Laurie!

And finally, the sleeping quarters! Believe it or not there were 16 of us packed in these two tents. We were nice and warm too (as long as someone stoked the fire when they got up to pee). Ian and I were quite surprised how comfy and cozy it was and Jack thought it was really cool to be able to follow people outside in the middle of the night to do his business.

Growing belly

Mommy's belly is really expanding now! A co-worker has started taking photos of the growth each week.


This picture was taken at the end of Month 4. Just barely showing and only when the clothes were more fitted.
















The picture below was from our weekend in Seattle for Linnea's Birthday Party and Jen and Wally's engagement party! The three of us are all due within 3 weeks of one another with Marci due the earliest. We may end up with a whole football team, as both Marcia and Marla are having boys!

















We had Thanksgiving at the Smith's House this year before going snow camping....yes, SNOW CAMPING!!!!










And finally, my belly at month 5! Now I am really starting to feel the expansion. My non-maternity clothes are about to be retired to the back of the closet as they are getting smaller and smaller!

Honeymoon Photos

Welome to the Smith Family Blog! We decided that with a growing family this would be the best way to keep everyone in the know.



A Sunset Smooch at Poipu Beach. This became our evening hangout and susnet watching place.



























The view from our condo was beautiful. We couldn't have asked for better ammenities. Ian even made a special friend ~ the Gecko!















We felt like we were on top of the world at the end of Waimea Canyon Roas. The Kalalau Valley used to be inhabited, but no longer has permanent residents.









This is the view from the far East End of Kuaii' looking towards the Napali Coast. That is definitely an adventure we will take advantage of next time!


This was a really interesting formation in the sandstone that looked like it had been used as a teenager hide out!


This is "Secret Beach" that the locals know for its nude sunbathing. We didn't see any of that, but the hike back up was a good work out.



We had a blast on our Horseback ride! Even though we were totally sunburnt from the previous day at the beach, we still enjoyed ourselves! The picture overlooking the bay is where Indian Jones was filmed!










And last, but not least, my favorite photo of the entire trip! We just happened to be on Kuaii during a blue moon and captured this beautiful shot!