Rhyla Belle

Today the Smith family was happy to welcome the newest addition to our family.  Rhyla Belle Smith was born at 7:10 am.  A bright baby at 9lbs 3oz and 21 inches long.  But the biggest news is ........................' WE HAVE A GIRL!!!!!

Christmas Day

Having Doug so far from us during the holidays has made us do our traditions a little differently.  This is the first year that the boys didn't run out to see what Santa had brought them, but instead ran out to see dad on Skype.

While Dad looked on the boys ripped through their presents.  Everyone got that special thing they asked for and this year the gifts that the brothers gave each other were very thoughtful.  We enjoyed a great breakfast and then I enjoyed "a long winters nap."  It was great to be around family during this holiday time.

Christmas Eve

This year I was determined to have Christmas in San Antonio even if Doug wasn't there.  I purchased all the presents, decorated the house, put up a tree, and made preparations for Christmas Eve and Day meals.  Then three days before Christmas, after watching a movie that stated that Christmas was to a time to be with family and friends, I made the impromptu decision to go to Arizona for Christmas.  I made this announcement to the boys and within an hour we were on the road to Arizona with little to no idea what we had thrown into our suitcases and into the back of the truck.  All I knew was we were going home.  We arrived Thursday evening and I really didn't get with the program until late Christmas Day.

Christmas Eve came with all the family traditions.  We made homemade pizza (that didn't make anyone sick this year).

We visited the temple grounds to see the lights.

 

We opened our jammies

We read the nativity story and The Night Before Christmas.  This is usually Doug's job and we tried to have him read the story to the boys over Skype but it just didn't work out.  So I got to take over the duty.

Then it was off to bed so Christmas morning would come that much faster.

A Deployment Christmas

Since I view this blog as more of a family journal than anything, I figured that I was allowed to share how hard it is to be away from the one you love at this holiday time.  I admire those spouses who seem to take every deployment in stride, but I don't seem to be one of them.  All I what for Christmas is my husband home.



Nate's Christmas Concert

This year Nate has been involved with his school's choir.  So with the holiday season comes the Christmas Concert.  He was so excited because there were speaking parts and he was the one with the most lines as Rudy the Soda Shop keeper. 

It was really pretty cute with the Grinch even making an appearance and Nate did a great job.

News from Doug

There is a lot of experiences that Doug has that he either can't share or only share parts.  We call these his secret squirrel experiences.  But once in a while I get quite a few details.  Here is a picture and his explanation of it.

This picture was taken on the roof of the incomplete 500,000 sq ft Presidential Palace near Baghdad International Airport (built courtesy of the American tax dollars sent in the "Food for Oil" program...) and the building in the background is called Perfume Palace, built for Saddam's mistress who became his second wife.  She never lived in it.

Grampy, Doug wanted me to make sure you knew that the uniform he is wearing is the Army's ACU's.  He has to have special Air Force tags made but he is allowed to wear it because he is assigned to an Army unit.  Also he can't wear the unit patch on his uniform because of more secret squirrel stuff.

Happy Birthday Douglas

Ever since we have been married I have tried to do something special for Doug's birthday.  You must admit having a birthday in December is kinda a gip since Christmas is right around the cornor.  So I really try to make a big deal of his day.  There have been years were I have had to cajole co-workers to go just a little longer so I could set up a special dinner in the work cafeteria, or shopped like a crazy woman for the ingredients to a dinner he wanted.  I have written embarrassing posts on this blog or let his birthday be a secret when we have gone out to dinner because the last thing he likes is to have random strangers sing happy birthday to him.  Most of all we have spent them together. This is the first one in 11 years I've missed. 

So what do you do for your husband that is 7,000 miles away on his birthday.  Well, you think of him all day long, you get to those long overdue posts so he can see what his family has been up to, you let the rest of the world see the only picture that you have received from him since he arrived in Iraq, and you thank God that he is in your life.  It's not much of a birthday but it's the best I can do this year.  Have a happy and safe birthday my love.

Thanksgiving

With Doug gone this year it was a different Thanksgiving for us.  Usually we stay home celebrating with friends but this year the boys headed back to Arizona.  We loved almost every moment of it.  (Thanks CA Jen for the 8 hour flu)  We attended church with Papa, had a baby sprinkle for Aunt Jymie, played at the park, went hiking with Aunt Taty, watched movies, played with Vash, cooked with Nana, bought Christmas presents, and ate.  It was a much needed trip.

I forgot how easy Thanksgiving dinner can be with more than one person cooking.  Then again, I love my mom's kitchen that allows so many cooks in the same area.   

Danny even got in on the preparations when he and Aunt Taty whipped the cream for the top of our pumpkin pies.

Hiking with Aunt Taty

The boys get a whole week off for Thanksgiving and since making that big dinner for the four of us didn't appeal to me, we headed back to Arizona to spend the holiday with family.  In fact it was great timing for our entire family.  Aunt Kate, or Aunt Taty to those in the know, had a week off of school too and arrived just an hour after we did.

The boys were so excited to spend time with the family and when Aunt Taty invited them to go hiking with her they were all over it.  I packed them up with snacks and water and they were off.

From my understanding of events, everything was just fine until the going got a little rough.  Then my big, tough boys decided they were hungry and wanted to head back.  But Aunt Taty was having none of it and to the top they went. 

They were happy once they made it and were really happy to come home to a shower.  (Yea, I have rubbed off a little!!!)  Thanks Aunt Taty for the fun!!!!