We Have a Pitcher in the Family

Two years ago when B was in T-Ball, he seriously had the GREATEST coach.  Back in T-Ball Coach Chad had said that when B got older he thought he would do well as a pitcher because he had a strong arm.  Well, this year we were fortunate to get Coach Chad again and he remembered that about our little baseball player.  He put B in the pitching rotation and B loved it.  He worked so hard when he was on the mound and it was so-so fun to watch.  B also worked hard fielding and up to bat.  I love baseball season and am always a bit sad when it ends.  I'm looking forward to watching you play again next season, Buddy!

Build a Bear Birthday Party

 My sweet girl turned 6 today.  Yesterday she had a birthday party at Build-a-Bear.  

What a fun celebration.

  

Here are all the girls with their bears.  They had so much fun building them together. This is the sweetest group of girls.  I wish they could all be in the same class again next year. 

 Here she is with her finished product.  It definitely looks like she enjoyed her birthday party.

A birthday kiss from mom and dad.

 This little girl melts my heart.  She has so much personality and such a sense of humor.  She amazes me and surprises me all the time.  She loves kindergarten and has learned and grown so much this school year.  She is the perfect combination of sweet and spunk.  

I love you and am so proud of you birthday girl!!!

Love, Mommy

Holiday and Fall Fun (catching up on blogging)

Thanksgiving with the Smith family

Todd and I hosted my family for Thanksgiving this year.  It was the first time I made a turkey without any help.  My mom and sisters brought all the sides.  I really enjoyed hosting and everything turned out really well.  It was a team effort and I would say we worked really well together.

Some Christmas crafts.  We made these Santas with the kid's handprints.  It was super fun to do and a great keepsake too.  In the background are the socks that made up our "advent calendar".  Everyday the kids pulled out a treat.  Some days it was something small like a quarter or bubble gum and other days it was something bigger like a game to play on the plane for our Christmas trip to Colorado.

What's in the sock???

A few years ago we started a new Smith family tradition.  We have a gingerbread building contest, boys against girls.  This year the boys made Jimmy Johnson's house with his race car having crashed in to it. You would think that the girls would be more creative than the guys, but they definitely get in to it and give us a run for our money.  The girls made a Mickey Mouse house because of our newest member to the girls team.  My niece (6 months old at the time) loves the Mickey Mouse club and squeals with delight anytime she hears the music or sees the video come on T.V.

Whenver the cousins are together for Christmas on Todd's side of the family, Joy has them dress up and act out the nativity. Some of Marcy's friends came over to join us this year.  The kids really enjoyed it a lot.  I think we have an adorable Mary and Joseph and some cute shepherds.  

The cousins in their Christmas jammies.

The kids skied again this year in Colorado.  They are really doing great.  As you can see, B got to add poles to his ski gear, which was a move up in his skill level.  H really did great skiing too.  Unfortunately, I didn't get any good action shots with her this time, but both of our kids definitely have their daddy's snow skiing gene.  Soon we'll find out if they like water skiing like their mommy.

 

B and H got this jungle gym for Christmas from Todd and me.  They are both such monkeys that we thought this would be a perfect gift for them.

 B and H in their Christmas outfits.  Man I love these kids!

Eleven Years Together

This past November, Todd and I celebrated 11 years of marriage and what great years they have been!  It seems that the longer you're married, the better you know your spouse and yourself.  Todd and I are different in a lot of ways and I think that is what attracted us to each other.  We compliment each other and help each other to grow.  I can definitely say that I am a better person because of the wonderful man I have married.  He challenges me to try new things and to push myself when I don't always want to.  I challenge him to stop and smell the roses and to take time to play and enjoy life.  Together we balance each other.  

We have lived in four different homes/apartments.  We moved to Bakersfield and back.  We've had two beautiful babies who are now 5 and 7 years old.  Together, we have taken several wonderful vacations as we both love to travel and experience different parts of the world.  Our first vacation as a married couple was our honeymoon to Maui.  Over the next few years we went to Italy and Greece.  Then to New York, Washington D.C., Massachusetts and Pennsylvania.  We've taken road trips to Colorado, camped at Bass Lake, gone on lake, beach and mountain trips with his family and mine.  This picture is of us when we returned to Hawaii for a week to celebrate our 10 year anniversary.  We went to the Big Island which was gorgeous and wonderful!  We had even more fun than we did  on our first trip to Hawaii.

This November we stayed in Los Angeles for one night and spent the next day at the Reagan Library.  Here are some picture from our day there.  

A part of the Berlin Wall

 

Thanks for a great eleven years, babe.  I love you!