time with friends!

while lance was out van shopping, we got to spend the day with my friend, ashley, and her cute girls! this is riley and rachel visiting! don't ya just want to squeeze her?

allie and caleb LOVED swinging and jumping on the mini tramp in the back yard.

i tried to get a pick of anna, but when i asked her to sit by her sister for a picture she said, "no, maybe later." HA! she is precious!!! and, of course, i forgot to get a pick of ashley and i.... i don't think we have taken a picture together in two years! thanks for the visit girls... we had so much fun!

time for change....

I loved my murano and i'm soooo sad that we had to trade it in! it was a fantistic vehicle and i would recommend it to anyone needing that size car. however, three kids across the back of a small SUV is enough to drive anyone crazy. it was time for the minivan!

we found a GREAT one in arlington this weekend. it is silver, 2005 w/ brand new tires and literally NOTHING wrong with it! it was certified by the dealership and i'm certain there is more storage in this van than in my home. we also got a 100,000 mile bumper to bumper warranty so we have no worries!

i've been telling everyone my new attitude: "bring on the soccer practices... i'm a minivan mom!"

ice cream!

BEFORE:

AFTER:

lance had a HUGE mess to clean up. he even had to wipe chocolate off one of the paintings that was hanging on the wall! to say the least... they enjoyed themselves!

san deigo

for time sake... i will write little and let the pics speak for themselves:
when we first arrived in san deigo it was just before lunch time. we headed to Ocean Beach to eat at hodad's as recommended on the show diners, drive ins, and dives on Food Network! it was excellent and super fun!

this is the view from our balcony (if you look close you'll see our sea lion friends that barked frequently on one of the empty docks).

here are the private cabanas that you could hang out in and even roast smores in the evenings.

the first night we hit up a baseball game at Petco.

we spent a great deal of the next morning at the Wild Animal Park. Really cool experience to see most of the animals living all together as if they would in africa.

although it is fast food... rubios has the BEST steak tacos EVER!

we went to La Jolla and enjoyed the beach one evening. lance got in, but i knew i would be WAY too cold.

that evening we hit up "little italy," an italian community in san diego with lots of restaurants and shops. so cute!

this particular restaurant was filippi's pizza grotto. you had to stand in line in this skinny hallway of a grocery store to get a table.

the next morning we headed to point loma to see the lighthouses.

great view!!

one of our last stops was the uss midway, a retired navy aircraft carrier. it was HUGE!

we really enjoyed our time together and the quietness of the trip... thank you mom and dad for watching the kiddos. we've scoped out all the great spots for our return trip w/ kids!

Allan Smith Family Reunion!

i don't know how you have a family reunion and don't get everyone together for a picture??? only my crazy family. however, the camera was present and here are a few random pics of the weekend...

allie w/ her cousin taylor!

one of MANY tractor rides for caleb with pawpaw. caleb is soo intense when he drives the tractor!

this is my cousin, greg, pretending like he doesn't know how to hold a baby! i think he looks pretty good w/ a kid! But he won't get pressure from me... he just got married this summer!

blake, my niece, holding riley... she loved hangin' with him!

this is an amazing table that my dad made from scratch! nine of the stars have a grandchild's name and birth date etched on them! so cool!

and this is sweet baby jackie w/ her daddy (my brother) matt!

seeing the LORD in everything

i went to the grocery store last night. as i was getting out of the car, i told lance, "pray that i can get all our groceries for $80"

my total was $80.29! I hung the receipt on our fridge as a reminder that God is in the details of our lives!

**pics from our family reunion, trip to San Diego, and ice cream at Braums are coming soon!**

free at last!!

we bought caleb a waterproof boot to keep his cast dry while swimming at our family reunion. well, of course, it leaked and his cast got wet. i will say that it was the best hour of swimming caleb has ever had, but it came at a cost.

we spent LOTS of time with a blow dyer to his leg.
after getting back in town on thursday, we took him in to check the skin under the cast. if you leave the cast on, it is possible to get a skin infection. however, all was fine and the x-rays showed perfection... so he got to keep it off.
i'm hoping we can get the video of him walking on here soon... it will give even the grumpiest person something to smile about!

egg-cellent cake!

so our friend, jarratt, came for dinner last night and we decided we would make pineapple upside down cake. allie always loves to help and when the boys are preoccupied i don't mind her assistance because i'm not in such a hurry. i gave her all the ingredients and let her pour it in the bowl and stir it. she also placed the pineapples and cherries in the pan. basically, she did IT ALL!

well, let me proclaim a small warning... either have your child use the mixer or stir vigorously after they have completed their creation because we got a little surprise... scrambled egg on the bottom of our cake! YIKES!

i tried to serve pieces with no egg, but the guys couldn't help themselves with the jokes..
"egg-cellent cake"
"pineapple egg-side-down cake"
"yoke can make this for me anytime"

poor allie... she was still proud, but did say sorry with a little giggle!

tick tock

time just keeps tickin' and our kids get bigger and bigger!

riley has started sitting UP!

he still tumbles over occasionally, but he's doing really well!

we've been repairing the house and the kids have been "helping!"
this is daddy and caleb working on the garage windows

and daddy and the kids breaking the tile out of the bathroom

today's funny: the kids have alone time each morning and this morning when i went to get allie she said, "mom, i got married and daddy made me this pretty princess cake!"

family pictures

while we were in bartlesville, our sweet friend esther shigley so graciously took our family pictures!

you may not believe it but these pics were taken just two hours after caleb had his temporary cast put on... he didn't even have a nap!

these are lance's parents!

the gangs all here!

this is lance's brother's family. hannah, mason, and kent!

esther managed to get a great pic of lance with each of the kids. we are going to frame them for his office!

material things...

we found the leak!

oh, yes! that is our bathroom floor w/ a HUGE hole! HA! the plumbers found the leak under the slab, under our bathtub. while they jack hammered, we prayed that somehow it would be lightening related!

and it was! check out those burn marks! if you look close you can see where the lightening blew out the pipe. then, the heat welded the pipe back together - leaving a TINY hole.

i have to say that i'm just so thankful for our safety right now. for those that don't know... the lightening struck the tree on the far right, just behind the truck (on loan from a friend) and finally grounded out in the kid's bathroom which is the window on the far left b/t the two trees! it ran under the whole length of our home! ahhh! now i know why it sounded so bad and scared us so much! thank you, LORD, for your protection!