Blog-A-Palooza #2 (Amy and Landon come for a visit!)

Okay so looking back I guess we didn't have a very eventful year because I am already only about two months behind so ummm maybe this isn't quite a "Blog-a-palooza" that I thought it would be. Anyway in September Amy and Landon came all the way to Florida to visit us! Oh... okay they came because they were going on a cruise but also to visit us. I give them two thumbs way way up because outside of my parents they are the only two family members who actually made it out to visit us! We got to spend a couple of days with them and we had a great time! We played games, went to the beach and visited dining destinations that they don't get to enjoy in Utah. As always I didn't take nearly enough pictures :( but here are the few I do have! One of the more memorable moments was playing charades which caused a great deal of laughter! Amy especially is quite good at charades!hehehe! Remember Amy dee?????

Blog-A-Palooza #1 (Katie starts Preschool)

Katie started preschool! This year preschool is right up the street from our house which is very nice.  It is through a Christian church and so they also incorporate Christian values which I really appreciate.  Her teachers names are Miss Arlene and Miss Penny.  Both are nice women who really care about the kids.  This preschool is from 8:30-12:30 EVERYDAY so I kind of feel like she is in kindergarten already. :(  It is a little hard on me to let her go everyday but honestly katie has the type of personality where it is really good for her to have some structure in her day.  Honestly it helps me spend more one on one time with Annie as well as it helps me be a much kinder mommy to Katie once she gets home.  I try and plan a little activity to do everyday with Katie once she gets home so I still get my time with her!

At home before we left for school

Outside her preschool room

Halloween 2011

Halloween 2011 was pretty good for the Smith Girls.  Stephen had to work down south of us so during the month of October we only got to see him on the weekends. This meant it was just the girls and I on Halloween.  We still had a good time going around the neighborhood and trick-or-treating but we did miss Steve.  Annie was so darn cute running up to the doors just like her big sister and saying to the best of her ability "Trick-or-Treat" and then usually grabbing multiple pieces of candy out of the bowls presented to her.  I don't think people minded how much she took because she was just so cute! Katie enjoyed the night too although she got tired of it pretty quick. We stayed out as long as the girls wanted to (which wasn't very long) and then we came home to check out their stash of goodies! All in all it was a great night and we had a good time.

Annie was an A-D-O-R-A-B-L-E Lady bug!

Katie decided to be Minnie Mouse.  She looked so cute!

My Little Trick-or-Treaters

At the end of the night checking out their loot! 

Blog-a-palooza

Tap Tap Tap Is anyone still there???  Okay so obviously have not been bloggin'! Life is moving too quick I guess! SO get ready for Blog-a-palooza! Thats right I am going to be bloggin' like CRAZY until I am caught up so that might mean like 3 blog posts a day.  Get ready we start tomorrow! Okay well good night blog world see ya soon!!! I hope everyone is doing well out there!

Time in Fresno

I stole these pictures from my sister in law Amber (thank you!). Here are some pictures of Annie and Hailey who are only three weeks apart and are so fun and cute! I was also able to be there to celebrate Russ's Birthday! It was a good few weeks! :)

A trip to Cali October 2011

Thanks to my parents I was able to fly home to Fresno to see my family. Steve of course couldn't come so I was VERY brave and flew by myself with a four year old and one year old from coast to coast! As you can imagine this was something I worried about quite a bit so I brought a stroller for Annie to ride in and (even though I despise these) a kid "harness" for Katie. I also dressed us all alike in Khaki pants and a brown shirt. The girls shirts even matched completely. I thought that if I lost one kid I could show people the other kid and say this is what she is wearing just bigger or smaller depending on which child I lost! Well thankfully I didn't lose either kid however our first flight had some issues meaning we missed our connecting flight out of the Dallas Ft. Worth Airport. No big deal right? WRONG!  Guess how long our layover was........8 HOURS!!! Not kidding! I had to entertain my girls in an airport for EIGHT HOURS! It was a loooong and interesting day. Both girls did quite well considering we were on the go for almost 20 hours that day. Thankfully the Dallas Ft. Worth Airport is huge so we did a lot of walking and exploring. My camera battery was not charged prior to my leaving (oops!) so I only have pictures of us trying to waste time at the airport not any of our time in Fresno.

         Katie and Annie playing in the Airport playground

On our first flight! We are so excited and happy here!

On the people mover (again!) in the Dallas Airport

This picture is my favorite (I zoomed in on it below so you can get the full effect) this was after about 3 hours of hanging out in the airport running out of things to do already and I remember thinking, "I still have 5 more hours of this!"

Needless to say when we finally landed in Fresno my kids were not the only ones shedding a few tears! We had a great time visiting my family and I would do it again even with the 8 hour layover!

Disney World Characters

I have honestly lost count of how many times we have been to the happiest place on earth. We feel so lucky to be so close to Disney World and to be able to go just about as often as we want. The girls really love it! Here are some photos of us (mainly Katie) meeting some of her favorite characters!































I just have to comment on this picture!  Annie is not always sure about being placed next to these characters for a picture and you can definitely see what she is thinking in this picture with Winne the Pooh! hahaha

Recent cute pictures

Annie all dressed up and ready for church


Tuesday night is family night at Chick Fil A. This includes face painting for the kids!


Sweet Annie playing in the tub!

Grandma and Grandpa visit...March 2011

I am so happy Grandma and Grandpa got to come and play with us! Grandma and Grandpa went on a cruise and then they got to come and spend some time with us.  We did a lot! We went to the beach, zoo, children's museum, and Disney World! I sure loved having my parents here and I know the girls loved having Grandma and Grandpa to play with.  I wish they could have stayed even longer but I am thankful for the time we did have.

We played on the beach!


We played at the zoo


We went to the Children's Museum








Katie went into a Dr. Suess book!






More time on the beach


and of course DISNEY WORLD!


Grandpa's favorite ride


A little down time at home


More Disney World