Curious George and Clifford come to visit!

There was a book fair at the base school and the two characters, Curious George and Clifford, were making an appearance...so we just had to go! When CJ heard that two of his favorite cartoon characters were coming and he could meet them, he was soooo excited. We were a little curious our selves to see how he would react to them, because we have never really gotten a great response to Santa Claus.....and well...same thing, kind of. But, CJ LOVED the two characters. He went up to them, talked with them, and even hugged them! Whoo hoo... Now, Preston on the other hand wasn't sure what to think of the furry friends.

CJ's new Favorite toy...PLAYDOH

For his birthday, CJ got some playdoh and playdoh tools...and it is his new favorite thing! He loves it! He cooks with it, creates things with it, squishes it, makes a mess with it...yep...just has lots of fun with it! He has four different colors...red, yellow, blue and green. Whenever we get it out, we ask him "What color of playdoh do you want?" the answer is ALWAYS the same....GREEN. I think it is now official...CJ's favorite color is GREEN! We made these snow people the other day and CJ said that it was Daddy, Mommy, CJ and Preston. (from right to left).

It's CoupleTime!

We wanted a picture of just the two of us and we thought, who can we get to take the picture? CJ was standing right there, so instead of putting the timer on the camera, we offered him the job...and boy did he take it willingly! We were a little nervous handing over our camera to a 3 year old....but he did all the things right...he pointed the camera at us, said "cheese" and then snapped the picture. After looking at the pictures...he didn't do a half bad job! Good job CJ!

Quick trip to Idaho

The trip to Idaho was quick, but jam packed full of activities! We were able to spend a few days in Rexburg/Idaho Falls seeing old friends, visiting with family members we had't seen in a long time, and witnessing Kathy and Brett's sealing. Kathy was a beautiful bride and was sooo happy. It was fun to finally meet Brett (the night before the big day! I think we were the last of the family to meet him) but that's okay - we approve (not that Kathy needed our approval anyway!)







Then, it was off to Dietrich to spend a couple of days with the Ward Clan on the farm. Time went way too fast playing with cousins, sledding down Papa's hill, riding four wheelers, and before we knew it we were back home again. Becky stayed with us in Dietrich, which was a real treat for us! You should have seen her in the snow...you'd think she'd never seen the stuff before - I'd swear she was out there kissing it! No...just kidding, but she did LOVE it! It was fun to see her excitement. And Of course, CJ loved the Tractors...ok, ok..he wasn't the only ones - yes Becky and Laura got a ride in the loader bucket! AND then dumped into the snow...we are very glad it was some soft snow, it almost wasn't!! Close call!

Still MORE Snow!!!

If you have snow and a lot of it...then you better learn how to have fun with it! That is what we have been attempting to do with all the snow we have been living with! While in Idaho, Stan built a huge sledding hill for us - and the whole family was out there using it! It was fun for all! Then, when we got back home and realized that our snow not only didn't melt away, but compacted into ice...Clay thought....hmm..these would make great ice forts...and so Clay and CJ went to work. They built a snow fort in the back yard, and boy was it impressive. It was about 8 feet high and looked really neat...however, it didn't last long. Actually, we timed it just right...one whole side literally fell down on top of us right after we snapped the picture of us in front of it. Poor Clay. But, before you start to feel sorry for the man, let's finish the story... the next day, the boys went to work again, but this time in the FRONT yard. We have a nice, solid fort (that is still completely standing 24 hours later!) in our yard that all the neighbor boys love to come and play at...not to mention all the cars slow down to stare... well - we are known now - we have the ice castle in our yard! Clay uses it as a shield as he chucks snow balls at the neighbor boys! What a kid...and that's why we love him!

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.