First Tooth and Crawling

Our little happy man, hasn't been very happy lately...one reason was he got his second haircut...not a happy moment. The second reason was a little white thing that poked through on his bottom gum line...yup - a TOOTH! - he won't let us in his mouth much..so no pictures! But, trust us...it's there! Preston has also discovered a new found freedom - he is CRAWLING! Yes, Preston is officially on the move. Oh man, that means keeping everything not Preston appropriate up off the ground - or doors to the basement shut.

Winter Wonderland that we call Spokane

Is this normal? That is the question we keep hearing in regards to how much snow we are getting...and our answer is WHO KNOWS??? We will see in the next couple of years if the winters match up... So far, we have had TONS of snow... Right now, I bet we have 2 feet of snow accumulated in our front and back yard. It has snowed, froze, rained, and snowed again. So, a lot of the snow is packed tight...it can even hold the adults! Clay and CJ went sledding on a big hill here on base this morning - sorry no pictures - but we did get this cute one of CJ all bundled up ready to go! Preston looked so cute in his hat, we had to snap a picture of him too!

My Little Potty

All CJ wanted from Santa Claus was a "Little Potty". On Christmas Morning CJ's Christmas wish was granted! Now, in the aftermath of Christmas, we are working hard on putting that potty to use. If only Santa had been kind enough to leave us a "how to" manual. CJ has actually been doing really well. He is excited about sitting on his little potty and he proudly does a "Mommy/ Daddy look" and proceeds to do a Vanna White hand wave as he shows us his success! It is so fun to see his satisfaction and excitement! He is quickly becoming a pro - he even has the "I have to read books on the toilet" mentality down - who taught him that? Maybe there are just some things that are innate!

With Wondering Awe....CJ saw

Well, The boys had a pretty good Christmas. CJ was awakened at about seven-thirty by a strange noise coming from right outside of his window. He awoke just in time to hear Santa Clause riding away, saying "Ho Ho Ho" and ringing his jingle bells. Needless to say CJ was quite estatic to have been able to 'Almost' catch that Jolly Ol' trespasser in the act.



Preston enjoyed his first Christmas on record. He loved all of the wrapping paper and ribbon. He also was blessed to have a couple of extra hands there to help him get to all of that paper and ribbon.

The Ward's Nativity

A family tradition we continued this year was to dress up and reenact the nativity on Christmas Eve. Since we decided to stay home in our new house for Christmas this year... our nativity was a little scarce...but cute! We had Mary, Joseph, Jesus, and a lone Shepard (the essential characters!) At first CJ looked like a Jamaican Shepard, but with a little help from Mom, he ended up looking like a traditional Shepard.

Sayin' Goodbye to Sister Smith

A few weeks ago, we made a fast weekend trip down to Brush Prairie to say goodbye to Sister Smith! She is off to Brazil. She is going to make a great missionary! She did such a good job on her talk and she even bore her testimony in Portguese....she's been practicing and studying hard. It was fun to be together before she headed off for 18 months.
Here are 6 of the 7 crazy Smith kids...having some laughs while at home. We were sorry that Nicole and Corey and their family couldn't make it.... it is so hard to get everyone together. We haven't ALL been together for over 2 years now. WOW...has it really been that long? Yep.
It was a lot of fun to have both of the Grandma's there together. Preston was able to meet his Great-Grandma Smith for the first time and get reacquainted with Grandma Kerr. Both of these ladies are so special to us - they add such a spark to the family... We love them.

'Tis The Season....Sushi anyone?

Well, you may have heard a rumor going around that it's the 'Christmas Season'. Well, we've heard that rumor too, and as a result we've been getting things ready for the holiday; our tree is up, the stalkings are hung on the ....bookshelf with care, and CJ & Preston are napping right now!(I couldn't think of anything better to write)
The weather has been cooperating quite nicely for the season as you can see by the little CJ size snowman and the weather forecasts for more and more snow. If you were wondering what kind of snowman it is, just ask CJ and he will promptly tell you that it's a Mickey Mouse Snowman (you have to look at the ears).



We took the boys to the BX (Base Exchange) yesterday, and lo and behold, there was Jolly ol' Saint Nick and Mrs. ...uh... Nick. Now CJ and Preston have already seen Santa twice this year, but this was the first Santa that was sporting combat boots.

Clay had his birthday earlier this week, and when Laura asked what he wanted for his birthday dinner, she probably rolled her eyes a bit when his response was "Sushi". But she was a good sport and went along with it. She really does like sushi, even if she tells you that she doesn't......I think.
We found out a couple of weeks ago that CJ is a big fan of the wonderful delights of sushi, and when he heard that we were having that for dinner, his excitement went through the roof. He loves the stuff. I think that he ate at least four or five California Rolls and at least two of the raw salmon. Some of the other Japanese delights included eel and shrimp sushi with the standard side order of wasabi.

Christmas Festivities

We are ready for some holiday festivities to help it feel like Christmas. We went to the Christmas Creche Exhibit. It is a gym full of different nativities. It was so fun seeing all the different styles of nativities displayed. There were several foreign arrangements that were fun to look at. They also had a dress up and take your picture area...which was a lot of fun! After we took the picture, we noticed that Stan had on a pointed hat! It is just the star from the background... oh it just adds to his wiseman costume!

We also finally put up our Christmas Tree and decorations. CJ did the honor of putting on the top of the tree and he did a mighty fine job.

Workin' Hard for a livin'

We have been working hard - we just painted the living room in our new house, moved all of our stuff from our duplex into the new house, cleaned the duplex for inspection, spoke in church, ...whew. It was hard work, but as you can see we had the help of the expert - CJ. He is great with a hammer - see the determination on that face! We also had the help of Clay's parents, Stan and Amy, who came from Idaho to help us move- Thank you, Thank you. It was a lot of work - we appreciate your help! We are now in our new house and ready to stay put for a while! No moves for a couple of years...or at least we hope. With the military, you never know!

The Cute Ward Boys

They just keep getting cuter..what can we say? Preston is growing quickly and gaining a little attitude as you can see! But, boy do we love them. The boys love each other too. It is so fun to watch them interact. Preston watches CJ with envy - wanting to do everything he is doing...he gets so excited and just kicks his legs and waves his arms - it looks like he is going to take off... CJ also loves Preston and is always asking to hold him and then to have Mommy go and get the camera to take a picture!

Surviving Survival School

One week down and still smiling. Clay has completed one week of his survival training- two more to go! He has come home with some pretty interesting facts! Laura's favorite was when he said that 1 lb. of bugs is more nutritious, healthy, and contains more protein than 1 lb. of meat(At least that's what the instructor said). Well, doesn't that just make you want to change your diet? What's for dinner honey? BUGS! Well, after this next week, Clay should be able to tell Laura if the BUGS are just as tasty as they are nutritious. UGHH.
Clay has been spending the last few nights packing this huge backpack...it weighs close to 60 lbs. We aren't sure how far is going to have to carry that thing.... goodness.

Downtown Spokane

Downtown Spokane not only consists of the traditional shops, restaurants, and parks, but there is a breath taking waterfall (Spokane Falls), Gondola rides over the waterfall, a carousel, ducks to feed, a bridge, and apparently there is a huge wagon slide that we failed to see... I guess we will have to take another trip downtown!
We had fun in the gondola trying to get a good family picture in front of the falls. We crouched on the floor, twisted, turned and well...we had fun.
CJ did a good job keeping that horse under control!

Halloween Lion and Ghost

We let CJ pick what he wanted to be for Halloween this year. He wanted to be a ghost! He was so excited to be a ghost - we practiced saying BOO, Trick or Treat, thank you, and Happy Halloween. He had it down to an art by the time Halloween arrived! CJ went trick or treating 3 times; we went to the ward trunk or treat, the hospital on base had a childrens trick or treat, and then of course around the neighborhood on Halloween night. 3 times still weren't enough, he still asks to go trick or treating daily.... so he goes trick or treating to Mom and Dad!
Preston was the lion! Not so much fierce and intimidating, but sure cute! Preston had many admirers on Halloween night from all the trick or treaters. Several of the teenage girls ooohh and awed over him as they came to the door. He's going to be a heart breaker with those big eyes and that cute smile... (Thanks again for the costume Christy!)

Fall is in the Air...so are the Leaves

Fall is sooo beautiful. The leaves are changing color and falling. CJ, Preston and the neighbor boys Harmen and Porter are having a great time playing in the leaves. They are keeping Clay busy.... Clay rakes them into piles and then the boys jump in it and throw the leaves around. Great fun for everyone!

Side note: Clay thinks that CJ's outfit is a little retro... his comment was..."What is he wearing? That is awful"....he wants to keep it for Halloween next year, then one of our boys can dress up as "Uncle Rico" from Napoleon Dynamite. Oh goodness. Laura thought it was cute...guess not. We had to change the outfit before we went out into public!

Preston's First Haircut

The other night after we gave CJ a haircut our eyes turned toward Preston. His long dark hair hanging over his ears and his "comb-over" told us he was due for his first haircut. Well, more hair came off then was planned. After the first stroke, Laura paniced....it's tooo short! But, what can you do at that point? Nothing, you have to keep going. Laura just about cried as she watched her baby get his first buzz. "He has less hair now, then the day he was born" (A Laura Quote from the experience). Now that it has been a couple of days, Laura is getting used to her new son.

Picking Perfect Pumpkins

Even before we moved to Spokane we heard about Greenbluff Farms. Now that we are here, all we hear about is Greenbluff Farms. So on Monday night for FHE, we decided to get some "real" pumpkins (straight off the vine), so head out to see the wonderful Greenbluff Farms. An hour or so later and after receiving not so great, okay, how about down right bad directions twice - we gave up on the whole farm experience and ended up at the "pumpkin patch" aka Albertsons parking lot. While picking out our pumpkins another couple came and joined us. We chatted and of course the infamous Greenbluff Farms came up - - they asked if we had taken our boys there yet...after telling us about homemade pies, hay ride, animals, pumpkins off the vine, etc. they convinced us to try again.
So, on Tuesday afternoon we headed off on our second attempt. We got to a farm in the Greenbluff area and found a huge pumpkin patch - must be it. We started looking at the pumpkins...asked about hayride - no, pumpkin shooting - no, homemade pies - no..hmm.. that is strange. Whatever... we were here and so we picked out some pumpkins. While checking out we asked about events calendar and such....we got a brochure. Come to find out... there are at least 20 farms in the Greenbluff area! Holy cow...we were under the impression it was one BIG farm. So, needless to say..each farm does a little something different.... we had stopped at the first farm ( no hayrides or pies...) but we got some great pumpkins right off the vine !