Happy Birthday Andy!

20 years old!

December 12th was Andy's actual birthday...unfortunatly I was not around a computer that day...Andy marks the last of the birthdays for the year...we love you Andy...Greg and I can't believe that between the two of us 3 of our kids are not "teenagers" anymore...

Happy Birthday Karch and Natalie!

Its a big birthday for our kids Karch and Natalie...

One is now old enough to drive....eeekkk...

The other is old enough to be legal....double eeekkk...

To both we wish them a very happy birthday and lots of love...

16 years old today

21 years old today

And the season begins...

So high school basketball officially started this week... Monday night was our player intro night...its a fun time of the year for my boys...but what this means for me is getting boys to practices every day and at different times since they are on different teams...Karch is now double sporting it...Club volleyball has begun...Kendall has started practicing with her club volleyball...for 3 months life is spent coming home from work and pretty much spending every evening driving kids around...I know others are in my same boat...so I will not complain...instead I am going to focus on not stressing out when I go a week(or two) without making a home cooked meal, the house is not clean, laundry piles up, and my to do list continually getting longer...

Birthday dinners and father son time...

Last Monday night we headed to Cheesecake Factory to celebrate Kenya's birthday...a treat for all of us... great time...good food...laughter...10 min. photo opp (which should have taken 10 sec. thank you boys)...

Two nights later I came home from work to a glorious site...it was my birthday, and I must admit I was having a woe me moment when I left for work that morning because Greg had no work that day and my kids had no school that day, yet I did, grrrrr...but I had big smiles as I arrived home that evening because the house had been cleaned, a cake had been made by Karch and decorated by Kendall, and Greg was standing at the stove making dinner...so wonderful...Kendall had even typed out a menu for dinner, funny girl...and to top it off Greg did ALL of the driving the kids to and from their practices that night...now I am just needing to figure out how to have these kind of birthday nights more than once a year...seriously the best gift...thank you my dear family...

Andy came to town for a short visit at the end of the week. Greg took work off and the two of them were able to play...thanks Andy for making your dad's week!

Happy Birthday Kenya!

20 years old today...

Mmmm...no longer a teenager...hoping you have a wonderful day that brings you smiles...I know thinking of you today is making me smile...I love you honey, Happy Birthday...

An unexpected road trip

When Greg and I arrived to my parents this past weekend and looked at all the boxes that were already packed and then looked at what still needed to be packed and then looked at all their furniture that was making the move and then saw what was in their storage needing to be moved we started getting concerned that it might not all fit into the rental truck...my mom assured us that their home teacher thought it would all fit, and besides they already rented the biggest truck available...

But even after puzzle piecing everything into the truck it became very apparent that there was not enough room...it was decided that another truck would need to be rented...seriously...so the next size down truck was rented and the rest of the stuff was packed very precisely into that truck...and if you can believe this there was still things left behind...so my niece and her family scored! But the question that needed to be solved was who was going to drive the extra truck up to Spokane...Kenya volunteered, my parents thought they could do it, Brady???? We found out that you needed to be 21 years to drive the trucks so Kenya and Brady were out...and there was NO WAY we were letting my parents drive the truck...no offense mom and dad but we expect you to live longer than your move/drive up north...Greg had his busiest week at work and so I became the driver of the second rental truck...

So as my kids and Greg headed south Sunday morning, the rest of us headed north...it was a two day trip with a sleepover in Bend, Oregon...yep...never thought I would ever go to Bend...but my very first trip to Spokane turned out to be great fun...even without makeup or clean clothes (I was so not prepared to travel for longer than 2 days) I made sure we stopped for some photo opps...and if anyone is thinking that Spokane, Washington seems to be in the middle of nowhere, I am here to tell you that you are right...it is :)...and it was sooooo cold...but the landscape was still pretty to look at...and at the end of the trip it was a treat to see my sister and the rest of my nephews and niece who I had not seen in two years...

My mom rode in my truck the whole way...it was great to be with her for the two days...I love this photo of my mom...there is something about it that makes me giggle...

Mt. Shasta after we passed by it...

Was laughing really hard when I saw this happening...Brady was so glad I had my camera...I am the BEST Aunt ever...

We drove next to the Columbia River on the Oregon side for over an hour...

I followed Alan the whole way...so when I saw him roll over a curb I was able to adjust and not do the same...

Saying goodbye to my family sans makeup and clean clothes :)...happy for the new beginnings for my parents...glad that they are near my sister and Alan and grandkids...will miss all of them...

Packing up and heading north

This past weekend we took a road trip to my parents home to help them with their move to Spokane, Washington...45 plus years living in California...so jealous that my sister gets them...can't believe they really made the move...we had a good time though saying goodbye and loading them up...a lot of lifting, silliness and some showing off of muscles(courtesy of my nephew Brady) kept the weekend full of activity...my brother in law Alan and nephew flew in town to drive the truck to Spokane with them...it was also great to see my nieces Noelle and Taylor and Noelle's kids...my sister Kim who died 10 years ago would be so proud of her daughters...there was only one problem...not everything fit into the rental truck...yep...
Some of my mom and dad's grandkids and great grandkids

A Wedding in Utah...

This past Friday Kenya and I took a quick trip to Utah...why???...Kenya's cousin Kelli was getting married...this marks the first grandchild on the Smith side to be married...Kelli is Kenya's closest cousin in age...they were born 3 days apart...Kenya and Kelli despite not living near each other seemed to connect anytime they saw each other...so when we heard the news of her engagement Kenya said to me 'we are going, right mom, we HAVE to go'...of course, I felt the same way and told her I would see if I could work it out...so after using a companion pass we were committed to going...
But for me this marked the first Smith family event since my divorce 51/2 years ago...this was a family that for 14 years I was a part of and loved and still love...yet just like that once the divorce is final you find yourself not just losing a husband but you also find that in a way you have lost or should I say the boundaries have changed with this whole extended family that was very much a part of your life for so long...even so I was looking forward to it...and by the end of the day I was glad we made the effort to attend...
The wedding ceremony was beautiful...the bride and groom looked so happy...for me I can't help but smile when I see two people so in love and ready to make that most awesome and challenging committment...and this is why I love weddings because of the happiness it makes me feel...
It also was awesome to be able to spend the day with Kenya...my daughter is a funny girl, yep...
It was so great for Kenya and I to see her cousins...Tara and Carson looked sooo good...we have missed them...it also was fun to see the younger cousins and how cute they are and how big they are getting...
, We loved seeing everyone, it was especially good for Kenya to see her aunts, uncles and grandparents and the only thing that would have made it better is if Kenya's Uncle Mark and Aunt Tami had been there...

Chelsea and BYU Volleyball

One of the things Kenya and I wanted to do was to watch our dear friend Chelsea play volleyball...we were lucky enough to discover as we were planning the quick trip to Utah that she had a home game on Friday night against the U of U...we left the wedding reception early to go watch her play...

It had been awhile since we had seen her play in person...we were sooooo proud of her...she rocked...unfortunately BYU ended up losing in 5 games...but I can confidently say it was NOT due to Chelsea :) she played sooo well and the whole time Kenya and I were so happy to see her succeeding on the court...you go girl!!!!

Hospitality Plus...

One of the greatest things about marrying Greg is that my kids and I inherited a whole new extended family...and lucky for us we love them...whew...

Kenya and I stayed with Greg's brother and sister in law Jeff and Lisa while we were in Utah...it is so nice how accepting they have been on their end with the additions of my family to their extended family...we loved seeing them and on Saturday even got to meet their first grand baby Brooklyn...she is a doll and it was fun for me to see how natural they have filled the roll as grandparents...we also were able to stop by Greg's other sister Lisa for a very quick hello...our time was short with them but it was made up by staying up REALLY late both nights talking and catching up...Lisa, Jeff and Brooklyn

Enjoying being part of the Warnick clan.

Sister-in-laws, Lisa and Lisa...

Thanks Jeff and Lisa for the hospitality and the warmth we always feel when we are there with you!