Alberta Bound

Road Trip 2011 was a blast. On the way out the girls were totally amazing. We had the green box of toys and lot's of snacks. Minimal crying and lot's of fun. We gave Abby our old camera and she took lot's of pics on the way.

 At the farm we had a great visit. Of course our first morning we headed out on the tractor with Poppa to feed the cows. Abby loved watching Poppa pick up the huge bales and then watch the cows chasing us to eat it.

 The definite highlight at the farm were Grandma's new kittens. Abby loved feeding them their milk and petting them. Lucky for us they were really friendly!!

 What trip to the farm would be complete without a trip to the Hutterite colony.Abby refused to be in the picture she insisted on taking it. They loved seeing all the chickens and watching the eggs roll down the chute.

 Abby and  Grandma have something in common. They both love to do puzzles. They had fun putting together Abby size puzzles!!

 I am pretty confident I scared my kids off sledding for a while. I took them down a "real" hill on the farm. I say real because Manitoba is pretty flat well at the end Abby was like "Mom that was way too fast, I am done sledding!" Oops!!!

                                                                       The cats again.

 The reason for our trip was my Dad's 70th birthday party. My sister Vicki hosted it and it was super fun. Of my siblings these are the ones who could come. It is so nice to get together and celebrate things together as a family. I am pretty lucky to have such a great family!!!

                        It was so fun to hear my Dad's siblings reminisce about things and laugh together!!

                                  My girls and I in front of the St. Mary's River at Woolford Park.

Our trip back was lengthened by bad weather but we were able to spend the night at a motel with a swimming pool and have some fun.
We had a great trip and it was so nice to be home, visit with family, and share lot's of memories with the girls. We owe a huge thanks to Grandma from the city for coming. It was so nice to have another adult to help distract the kids during the drive and be a huge help throughout the visit!!!
                                                We can't wait for our next visit in the summer!!!!

Christmas 2010

Cutting down our Christmas tree.

We had such a fantastic Christmas. Abby was totally into it this year. It makes it so magical. We also made a lot of homemade gifts and I was only out shopping twice that was heavenly.

Not the best pic but this is the fantastic kitchen that Santa brought for the girls. They love playing restaurant and making all sorts of yummy food. All the family helped out and they got dish set from someone and Aunt Beth made them 3-D food. This was the biggest hit. Grandma also made them the cute matching aprons. Abby is holding the banana. It makes for hours of playing restaurant so much more fun.

We did our gingerbread house and can you tell by Abby's face how excited she was? Everyday I got asked Mom when can I start eating it?

Christmas Dresses. I can't find the pic with both girls so here is Abby. A better pic of Santa's awesome kitchen with Natalie.

We had a wonderful time visiting with family and friends. Tomorrow I head off to Alberta with the girls for my Dad's 70th birthday. I'm so excited to be going but sad that Ryan can't come. It will be so fun to be back at the farm with the girls again. It is always awesome to go home and be in the peace and quiet of the country and the dark night where you can see all the stars. I can't wait!!!!

Family Christmas Letter

Smith Family 2010

Some adventures of our family can be read here.

Yes 2010 has been quite the year.

Hope it makes you laugh and smile too.

Enjoy our story we wrote it for you.

Our Abby turned 3 and is quite the big sister.

Her imagination always leaves our home looking like a twister.

She took a music class and started joy school.

But her favorite things are the lessons in the pool.

Natalie is one and is very busy.

Always climbing and running keeping Mom in a tizzy

She loves being cuddled and teasing big sis.

She always loves giving a big sloppy kiss.

Mom joined the gym and is doing quite well.

Working part time in the ICU always a story to tell.

Serving in Church and being a Mom.

Visits from sisters and Mom are the bomb.

Ryan's been fishing, hunting, and biking.

Losing a job twice not to our liking.

Serving in church with the young men.

Blessings have come with a great job again.

Our chapter this year has come to an end it is true.

Hope you enjoyed reading our story for you.

May you be blessed with joy in the coming year.

Our love goes out to all of you we hold dear!

Merry Christmas

Love,

 The Smiths

Christmas Traditions

With Christmas fast approaching I have been thinking about all the wonderful tradtions we have and want to have. This year Abby is actually understanding Christmas a bit better which is so much fun. I feel a little behind this year but we will get there soon.
1. A real Christmas Tree- I love having a real tree. I love the smell of pine throughout my house and the pine needles filling up my vaccuum cleaner. I love having part of nature inside with me. This year we are going to head out and chop our own tree down. SOOO excited!!!!
2. Acting out the Nativity- I am not sure how this will go this year since we are the only ones in Ryan's family with kids and I am not sure how excited the adults will be to be donkeys etc. I am sure it will still be a blast!!!
3. The Christmas Train- We just started this last year and I loved it. It is a small train that takes you around a forest full of different light displays. Hopefully this year it won't be -30something it was a wee bit chilly last year. Super fun!!
4. Fondue- One of the traditions of Ryan's family that I love is having a fondue dinner. It is so fun to sit down and visit and eat slowly and just enjoy each other. Of course it is also very yummy!!!
5. Christmas Letters- Ryan and I started this tradition when we were first married of writing letters to each other expressing our gratitude etc. to each other and now we do it for our kids. It is a super fun thing. I know one day the kids will love reading the letters!!
6. Music- I love Christmas Music. This year I wasn't able to be in the choir due to work but I love singing all the Christmas songs and hearing them. I love sitting and singing away at the piano!!

Well those are some of my favorite traditions. This year is kind of exciting as Ryan's family decided to do an old fashioned Christmas and Ryan has turned into a little Santa in his workshop building all sorts of cool things. I will show you all after Christmas. It makes it so much more exciting when you actually make your own gifts!!!

I am so excited that in January my Dad will be turning 70. Oh boy and I get to go home. It has been over a year since I got to see my family and the farm and the mountains. Oh I love the mountains. Anyway I am uber excited even though Ryan can't come and it will be a long drive with two young kids but it will be so fun to see everyone!!!!

Hope you are all having a wonderful Christmas season.

Sadly our camera is on the fritz so no pics.


MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas!!!

I couldn't resist we finally have some lovely white stuff falling and it feels closer to Christmas. I got out the old Reader's Digest songbook tonight and played some of my favorites. It brings so many memories of home and of my family and especially my sisters sitting and singing at the piano!!!

As a tribute to my Uncle Roger who passed away today from cancer I thought I would share my favorite memory of him. I remember when he came to visit and I must have been 7/8 ish and he was trying to teach me to have power over my body by not laughing when being tickled. My brothers would constantly tickle me and he thought if I could get enough power over my mind I wouldn't laugh and then the tickling would stop. Well it never worked and I am still ticklish but we had a great afternoon trying to train our minds. I am so grateful for the gospel and for the knowledge that families can be together forever!!! He will be missed!!

If you ever wonder?

Do you ever wonder if you are doing a good job as a parent? Well I often do and probably stress out about it more than necessary. Yesterday however Abby did something that made me think I must be doing pretty good.
First of all Abby is into making cards and most recently giving them away. We were at the gas station and she was coloring her card while the gas tank was getting filled. As we went into pay she was like Mom I want to give my card to the clerk. I was like why? He was a teenage kid who probably wouldn't care so I kind of blew it off.(Bad Mom) Anyway on the way out I was like how about the guy who actually puts the gas in our car. A nice retired gentleman who loves doing his job. Well Abby marches over and says thank you for always filling our car with gas and gives him a card. Who knows what he thought but as I drove away he had the biggest smile on his face.
All in all I think Abby is a pretty great kid and I was so happy she wanted to say thanks to someone for doing a good job.

I bet if you think about your kids you can see something in them that makes you realize that you are doing a good job too.

Trick or Treat

Halloween was an adventure this year. Abby had a party at her joyschool and then we celebrated on the Saturday with all our church friends. It was loads of fun for everyone.

First the costumes:

Abby the clown

                                                           Natalie as Little Red Riding Hood

And here is "The Great Pumpkin"

The best part of Halloween this year is the weather. It is amazing. Even yesterday on November 1, 2010 we went to the park in light sweaters to play on the structure. In Winnipeg this is amazing!!! Hope everyone had fun trick or treating!!!!

We started a new tradition of watching fun cartoon Halloween movies and I have to say I do love Charlie Brown's "The Great Pumpkin" A definite keeper in future years!!

The other best part of today is my husband got a job offer!!!!!! Hooray!!!!!