Snow, Anyone?

I must have been a really good girl this year (yeah right!!) because all I really wanted for Christmas this year was snow. Well, we have snow. Actually, that would be an understatement at this point. These pictures are deceiving because we have shoveled so much snow already and are running out of places to put it.

We have cleared this front deck so many times, and this morning it was covered again!

This is the view from our front porch. We have had to pile all the snow up in front of it because we have run out of places to put it!

We started to worry that the roof over the front porch couldn't handle the weight of the snow, so Kelly went up there to shovel it off, which made me very nervous!

The front of our house. There are a few stairs down to the porch. 

By the time Kelly got done on the roof it was pretty slick. He decided the best way off was to just jump into one of the many snow piles in the driveway. We're supposed to get eight more inches tonight, and I have to admit, I almost hope we don't. The Clark Cochrane Classic basketball tournament starts tomorrow, and it will be tough to go back and forth in all this snow!

Merry Christmas from Alaska!

I was really beginning to think that we weren't going to get any snow for Christmas. After all, we don't usually get any until after Christmas most of the time. It was driving me crazy, though, that most people in the lower 48 had snow and we didn't. I mean, we live in Alaska! Shouldn't WE be the ones getting snow?? Las Vegas had some, and that was the last straw. I was depressed. Then, yesterday, it started. Snowing, that is. And this morning, on Christmas Eve, as I'm baking, cooking and preparing, my kids are outside sledding and we have a white Christmas. Hope all is well with everyone. We miss you all. Merry Christmas!

Family and Happiness

No pictures today, just some thoughts. They say things happen for a reason, and it's not that I haven't always believed that, it's just been proven to me lately. I got some weird news at the doctor recently, but it brought my mom to visit and we had the best time together (things turned out fine, by the way)! It also has made me appreciate all my friends and family so much more this holiday season. The biggest surprise of all, though, has been my "new" sister-in-law. Kelly and Shanna met when we were Washington visiting for Thanksgiving. It has been so amazing seeing how much they have in common! It's like I can't imagine them ever not knowing each other. But the greatest part of this has been that I have a new friend/sister too. I look forward to talking to her every day! She is so special, and I hope that while she's reading this, she's all teary like I am while I'm writing it! She is so special and I am so thankful that we now have her, Jeremy, Samuel, and Benjamin in our lives! To top it all off, she got me to get on Facebook and I have found some old friends from high school and been chatting with them. And I know that I didn't post anything about our Thanksgiving trip, but I have to throw in how much we loved seeing everyone, and we love and miss you all so much! Ok, sorry about the schmaltzy post...I promise I won't make a habit of it. Love you all and Merry Christmas!

Early Christmas Fun

Talk about fun! Every year we have a early Christmas party with my Mom and Bob because they travel during Christmas. So the kids get to have early Christmas, complete with opening presents and fun food!

One more thing I would like to mention. Family is so important during the holidays (and the rest of the year), and this year we are blessed with even more family. When we went home for Thanksgiving it reminded us how wonderful all of our family is! We also welcomed a new family member to our family (Kelly's sister) and it is like she has always been here! I can't imagine not talking to her every day! Now, here are some silly pictures of our fun day, and hopefully Kelly doesn't get too mad at me for posting them!

Kelly playing the Hannah Montana video game while wearing a Hannah Montana wig!

Mom with her new vase!

Papa Bob with some new hunting accessories!

Jake shooting everyone with his new nerf gun while yelling "say hello to my little friend" (yes, our family is a little crazy)!

Kelly and I. He is going to kill me for putting this picture on here! We miss everyone so much and hope they're having a wonderful holiday season, and please, I lost my address book and need everyone's address so I can send out Christmas cards!

Two for One

This weekend is a two for one. Two postings in one day! I'm trying to be better about posting!! We Smiths love sports, and we can play them and watch them pretty much all the time. Making a ginger bread house? Not so much. We gave it our best effort though, and we had a pretty good time making it! Here's hoping it tastes better than it looks!

                                                                

                                                     

Basketball Weekend!

Saturday was all about basketball! Kaitlyn had a game at 9:00 am, Jake had a game at 10:30 am, and Kelly had a fundraiser for the high school boys team from 6:00 - 8:00. Kaitlyn played so well! She got a little bored, but she played hard. Watching Jake play was amazing also. What a difference a year makes! And let me tell you...Kelly likes to pretend that I'm the one that gets all crazy watching the kids play, but don't let him fool you! Jake's game got close and he was, well, let's just say vocal. Yes, I guess you can say we're a basketball family!