Yes, it is....

The first day of school. Yes, it is actually sunny this morning for the first time in ages. Yes, it is crazy that my "babies" are going into 2nd and 4th grade. Yes, it is nervous looks on their adorable faces, because they are going to a new school in a new town. And Yes, it is AWESOME that they both loved it! Oh, and by the way, yes, it is driving me crazy waiting for the Miller baby to arrive any minute!!!!

Summer??

That beautiful picture of the view from our backyard from the other day? This is the same view today. This is pretty much what our summer has looked like. Wet and soggy. And foggy. Days like this make us long for those summer days in La Grande. The kids playing in their pool in the back yard, shooting shots (for shots), and barbecues with our friends, including Stephanie and Earl. Everyone, please enjoy all your sunshine! We Smiths are soggy in Alaska!

Nothing Fancy

When Jake was a little guy, I had so much fun dressing him. Let's just say he was a well-dressed little man! As he's gotten older, he's cared less and less about what he wears, and more and more about basketball (or any sport for that matter). This is a picture of our soon to be 4th grader playing a pick up game of basketball with some kids who are least in the 8th grade. He didn't show a hint of nervousness, and he hit three 3 pointers! Doesn't he still kind of look like a little guy out there?? But the point of my story...we were talking about school clothes yesterday and he informed me he didn't care what I got him as long as it wasn't "fancy". Which apparently includes anything that isn't shorts and a t-shirt. Ah, they grow up so fast!

"Princess" Kaitlyn (Vera Wang style)

Those of you that know me know that I love shopping. I love clothes, perfume, makeup, shoes, etc. And I just found out how much my princess loves those things also! This weekend when my parents were visiting we walked around downtown. There was a duty free shop and we could smell the perfume outside. If you've never been to southeast Alaska, you don't know how good that smell was!! We don't have malls, shops, things like that. Unless you count Wal Mart and that doesn't count for super fun girly shopping! So we went in and Kaitlyn immediately starting freaking out. There was a perfume in a heart-shaped bottle! And it comes with two rings, one of which looks like a crown!! After trying to come up with a reason not to buy it, I realized that my sweet daughter puts up with a lot....tons of sports (whether on tv or her dad coaching), fishing and hunting. Yes people, that is pretty much all everyone does here. Yes, it's fun. But every once in a while my Kaitlyn craves a little more girly adventures. So she is now the proud owner of Vera Wang Princess, and when I came home from work today, she was wearing her cute sweater and smelled fabulous!! 

Grandparents and Furniture

Well, we had quite the weekend! Grandpa and Grandma came to visit from Washington. It was so much fun to have them here. Family makes everything nicer! It was relaxing and we were able to show them our new town, where we work and where the kids will be going to school. To make the weekend even more exciting, we finally got a dining room table, the love seat that goes with our couch, and a new bed. We have been waiting for a while to purchase these items, and it makes our place feel so much more like our home. And just in time....fall is just around the corner and everyone knows how much I look forward to decorating my house from September to December!  

    

Swish

So basketball is HUGE to our family. Kelly coaches, both the kids play, and I'm a happy observer. Ok, and sometimes a rabid fan (don't tell anyone). Tonight Kelly had open gym at the Middle School. Jake loves it. He shoots the whole time we're there, and talks trash to the high school kids (sounds just like his dad!). Kaitlyn shoots around also, and keeps me company while I watch. Tonight Jake hit some pretty amazing shots while playing PIG against Kelly, including a three-pointer with his eyes closed!! On purpose! Princess Kaitlyn made 15 shots, all while wearing her beautiful dress! And I would be in big trouble with my husband if I didn't pass on this story...we had the coaches over the other night for a back yard fire. Coach Erik asked if he could make a long distance call on our phone. Kelly said only if it was important (joking, of course), and he replied that he needed to call Bobby Knight!! I don't know what was funnier...all the adults crowded around the phone to listen to Coach Knight talk, or Kelly dialing my cell phone afterwards because Jake threatened to hit redial so he could talk to him! 

For Stephanie

Ok, so it's not just for Stephanie, it's for all of our family and friends that would like to keep up with our busy lives. But I never would have started this blog if hers wasn't so awesome and I didn't read it every day and smile (Kelly calls me a stalker, so rude!).  I am new at this whole blogging thing so bear with me! We actually had some sunshine here yesterday, so we had a fire, roasted hot dogs, made s'mores. We even threw around the football and the kids kicked around their soccer ball. It's days like this that we're reminded that living in soggy Southeast Alaska isn't so bad...even the view from our back yard was nice!!