Christmas Magic

Okay... So it's mid January and I'm now just posting about Christmas morning. But it's been an amazing first 15 days of 2011! This year is full of promise, possibilities, and hope. :)

We didn't travel for this holiday season and it made for a very relaxing (church callings aside!) Christmas for the Smith family. Although we missed being with our loved ones, it was so great to have our own family Christmas. Kevin and I reminisced about our very first Christmas together after we were married. We both worked for BYU/ the MTC doing early morning custodial. So we got up at 4am on Christmas morning, went to work together for 4 hours cleaning carpets and vacuuming miles of hallways and classrooms, polishing glass doors, and cleansing drinking fountains with Foamy Q&A. Good times... Then we came home, had breakfast and opened our gifts. We spent the rest of Christmas day putting together a new entertainment center and talking to our families. It was great. And we loved every minute of this Christmas with our little boy and his pretty little pup. :)

On Christmas Eve we decorated sugar cookies for Santa's plate.


Kevin added to the holiday spirit by creating a sugar cookie Homer Simpson! Of course Noah picked this cookie for Santa's choice few!


Leaving carrots and peanut butter for the reindeer... This was one of my favorite traditions when I was a little girl.


Christmas touches around the house:



Lighting the carousel on Christmas Eve... We actually cheated and burned the candles a few times before Christmas, just because Noah loved it.


Christmas morning!!!! We wondering just how late Noah would let us sleep, and around 7:45am he wanders into our room, saying he was ready for breakfast! I think he just forgot. :)



Proof that "the Big Guy" actually came! Oh yes, Noah checked.


Merry Christmas!


Don't forget about breakfast...


Kev knows me SO well...


Kevin tackling the Christmas morning puzzle/ game that my parents always give... This year was a miniature pinball game and he enjoyed every minute!!!


But the BIG deal this Christmas was setting up another entertainment center 11 years after our first Christmas day set-up. Only this one is exponentially SWEETER... Here's a peak:


And here's the big picture... So to speak!


Here's the grand entrance on Christmas morning and discovering all the magic downstairs!




Santa brought Daddy and Noah some really cool remote cars called cyclones. Noah's favorite color is red and Daddy's is blue. So the cars just happened to match!

Of course, Abbie likes the cars too. But she just wants to show them who's boss. She gets so worked up after a play session that she usually has to take a quick trip outside! Yeah...

Alas, the Christmas tree came down before New Year's Eve this year. We had to make room for the new set-up. But TRUST ME. It was SO worth it to watch Inception on such an amazing TV. We decided that was the first movie we would watch. Noah had to wait until the next morning to watch what he wanted. I think it was How to Train Your Dragon... Outstanding. :)

K, until next year!!! Be good.

Love,

Someone who now enjoys the BLISS of the Food Network in HD. You heard me...

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Son-Beam

It's official... Noah is a SunBeam now!!! And of course on his first Sunday in Primary we got a little report from his teacher.

Noah sat down in a SunBeam sized chair and said:

"Look... My feet are touching the ground. I'm sitting like a MAN."

So true.

So true....

Love,

Someone who cried a teeny bit while spying on him from the back of the Primary room. Hey, I'm allowed.

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10...9....8....7....6....5....4....3....2...1....

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

We are LOVING 2011 so far. How about you?

For New Year's Eve, we went to Five Guys Burgers and Fries. Oh yes.... That's right.


Then we went to an all out bash at the Lincoln Children's Museum called "Make Believe Midnight!" There was a kickin' dance floor and they gave everyone glow necklaces, noise makers, hats, and all the craziness a little kid could handle. :) Noah ran from fun exhibit to exhibit. We've been to the museum many times, but we've never ventured up to the third floor. He just easily spent all his time on the first two floors and then it would be time to go. But the THIRD floor has an astronaut station with a space shuttle that simulates launch, a lunar rover, a full airport replica complete with ticket check-in, metal detector and TSA station (sorry, no pat downs! I would have had to hurt someone for touching my kid....) There was a real airplane that the kids could climb into and pilot. Noah was in HEAVEN!!! He also discovered that he could "scan" the luggage, plop it onto the luggage car and "drive" it to the airplane. We probably spent 20 minutes at that station pretending to be in Toy Story 2 when they ride in the suitcase and Woody has to rescue poor Jessie! What an imagination...


So... We played and played and PLAYED. Then at 8:00 everyone counted down to "midnight" and 1,200 balloon dropped three stories to celebrate! Pretty cool. Noah caught himself a big blue balloon and was content. We saw some poor parents with two or three kids trying to hold onto 4 balloons each. Yeah. I love that my little boy is happy with just enough.



Noah rockin' the dance floor!

The luggage car adventure:




Balloon countdown and craziness!




After that, we headed home and put him to bed where he crashed until after 8am. Kevin and I watched our own movie and rang in the real new year at midnight with a sparkling berry juice toast. It's been a year of ups and downs, but a good one.

Here's to 2011!

Love,
Nicole
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For the love of Anke

Yesterday our little Anke went to sleep. She was surrounded by those that love her more than anything... Some there to hold her and others (including myself) in spirit. She was almost 14, and the last 14 years have been so amazing because of her. She became "The Baby" of the family the summer after my freshman year of college. We'd asked for a dog so many times and never dreamed that she would actually come home to us and be ours. But Dad and Mom surprised us all! We even bought her a squeaky pacifier. And her favorite place to sleep? Mom's slipper. The perfect spot for a little 4 pound bundle of love to curl up and rest.


I NEVER.... NEVER cried when I left for college or had to go back after a holiday. But after spending that first summer with Baby Girl, I bawled like a baby when it was time to go. I remember holding her close and she licked the hot tears off my cheeks as they came down. I kept saying, "This isn't fair! I waited my whole life for a dog, and now I have to leave her!" She forgave me since I kept coming back for more each summer and Christmas. :)

Anke was the best snuggler EVER. If we settled down for just a moment on the floor or couch, there she was curled up and ready for love. My mother was her everything. I mean, she adored my daddy, was very submissive to him and her morning routine always included plopping herself down across his stomach for a good tummy rub. But if she couldn't be by my mother, the world was just not right. Sometimes Mom would be so busy around the house that Anke would bark and scold her until Mom would settle on the couch for just a few minutes so that little girl could just snuggle for awhile. :)


My Abbie LOVED Miss Anke. Anke at first tolerated my little whippersnapper, but soon they looked for each other to snuggle and play. We always joked that Abbie learned manners from Anke, and Abbie was Anke's personal trainer! I really believe that the reason I have Abbie today is because I had Anke in my life first.


First day home... She squeaked like tennis shoes when we left her alone!


Trapping flies on the window sill and watching the golfers


Her "room with the curtains" under the bed...


I wish that I could have been there with her yesterday, and with my family because I know that this is the hardest thing that anyone could go through. To make a choice and to decide that it's time. Especially when your little love seems to have had a few good days. But I know that Little Girl is happy and pain-free and loved where she is... Until we can be with her again. Thank you for all your love, Anke. You will always be our Puppers.

These are my mother's words. I hope she will forgive me for posting this, but it's a glimpse right into her heart and no one could say it better. She sent us this email yesterday:

Goodbye Dear Friend

Dear Family,

Today I said goodbye to one of my dearest friends. It's hard to explain why it is so hard because this friend never spoke to me in words. She has been my one constant through the past 13 years. The one friend that was always there for me when my kids grew up and left the house and then got married, never to return home for good again. But Anke was always there to give me a reason to get up in the morning, to snuggle with me when the house seemed too empty and I was having a tough day.

She would follow me around the house wherever I went and curl up close by. She waited up for me when I came home late and she came to find me if it was late and I wasn't in bed yet. She made me feel special, because she loved me unconditionally and truly missed me whenever I was gone. And now I will truly miss her.

This morning we made our farewell walk around the neighborhood. Anke's mind still wants to do all the things she used to do, even though her body doesn't let her anymore. I watched her as she hobbled along (her gait is very unsteady these days) and when her legs would give out on her, I picked her up and carried her for awhile. I talked to her about all the things we've done together. We listened to the birds and stopped at her favorite bushes for one last smell.

I reminded her about the time that she would run with reckless abandon on the golf course behind our house, chasing birds... her legs bounded out just like a deer and her hair would flutter in the wind that she created as she ran. She was so free then. I told her that we would be setting her free again. That she could run to her hearts delight... forever.

I hope she had a nice journey home and that she will be there to greet me when I get my chance to go. I know for sure that I will be looking for her.

So goodbye dear friend. Happy running!

For the love of Anke,

MOM

Sneek Peek...

Ho Ho Ho!

Here's a little glimpse of how yesterday morning came and went... There were glittery ribbons, paper and bows, web-camming, breakfast casserole, AND...

... a santa hat. Hope you didn't shout or pout!



More coming soon.

Love,

Mrs. Claus
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