On saturday the 16th Lauren and I went to Mexico with the Flipside. We got up at 5:00 a.m. to leave by 6. We were actually on time even though Sophia and Gracie woke up multiple times and I got less than 4 hours of sleep. We drove down with Dai, Bekah, Lizzie, my sister Debbie, and Devon. Now I'm not a drive a long way just to drive back the same day kind of girl. Claremont is a long way for me. Kyle and I have always talked about exposing the girls to poverty and mission work, and Kyle couldn't take Lauren, so I had step up and put my money where my mouth is. I like my trips to be well organized, with a list of things that are going to happen, but due to unforseen events, I had to let that go.(and it was very hard.) It took 3 tries to get insurance at the border, but we finally got it and went across. When we got to the town, we found the Pastor's house only to find out he was not there. So we decided to head to the church, after a few circles we finally figured out the church had been destroyed. Apparently in June the ground under the church had erroded and the building fell down. So we were looking for something that wasn't there. By accident we ran into the Pastor's wife, and she had us go to the community center. We found out that the Pastor had left his family and gone to the States, we didn't get all the details, just that it was bad. Aaron had talked to him via e-mail, and he had indicated he would be there so we didn't know exactly when he took off. He never mentioned anything about the church either. So it seemed he didn't want to tell us what was really going on. They weren't able to open the community center, so we gave out the presents and did the whole barbeque outside. It was very cold and we had to use a toilet that was a step up from outhouse, (it was one of the nicest in the town) but it was a good chance for Lauren to see how other people live. The girls handed out juice(jugo) at the barbeque, and Lauren and I got to see two of our boxes be opened. We meet the new pastor and made some good contacts. We left at four and spent about 2 and a half to 3 hours at the border. At one point we thought we would be stuck because no one would let us merge. They would literally rather hit the car in front of them then let us in. But Dai manged to get in, I would have been there a lot longer if I had been driving. The girls did great the whole day, I was very proud of them. We finally made it back to the church at 10, six hours later. Next year Dai and I decided Kyle and Mark get to go.

Here are the christmas pictures. Paul took them, and I am so happy with how they turned out. There were a lot of great ones, so it was hard to choose one for each of the girls. It was the nicest picture session I've ever had. Paul came right to the house, set everything up, and we were ready to go. It was so nice not having to deal with some unknown photographer, who would miss all the good smiles.

Rub-a-dub-dub, four girls in a tub.

Sunday was the Christmas musical at church. Lauren played the angel and Gracie told everybody what to do. Needless to say both girls are quite at home on the stage. Lauren said all her lines perfect, and Gracie had an impromtu solo in the microphone and kept all the little ones in line. It was a lot of fun to watch all the kids. I really appreciate Rayna giving all the kids a part to shine. Next year Isabel will be up there, and she might not let anyone near the microphone. I can't wait!

Every year my Mom has all the grandkids over to make a gingerbread house. It's a lot of fun, and the kids love to eat the decorations. They are getting a lot better at actually making it look good. Lauren wants it to look exactly like the box, but that is pretty much not going to happen with her sisters helping. There is so much going on during Christmas time that sometimes I just want to scream, but I know that giving them these traditions will mean more to them then any gift they will ever get.

Christmas time is here! I love christmas decorations, we always decorate right after thanksgiving. Kyle tries to put off getting a tree as long as he can, because I would get one today. This year was a lot of fun, the three older girls were so excited. As I was opening all the boxes Gracie said, "It just keeps getting better and better!" These are the pictures of us along with Devon and Merrick, decorating our advent tree. It's really neat, all the ornaments our part of the nativity. As they put up an ornament we read about it. It's a nice way to get focused on the real meaning of Christmas. So have a blessed christmas season. The Smarts

Thanksgiving was truly a day to be thankful. As I look back on our family's year we have a lot to be grateful for. First of course is Sophia, her birth and now that she is healthy. Second for the health of all our girls, watching them grow-up is such a gift. Seeing the blossoming of their faith is amazing. There are of course many more, but after those two the rest aren't nearly as important.
We started the day at my parents house with my family. With everyone there we have 11 kids 7 and under, so needless to say it is a little crazy. But we love crazy at our house. Next it was on to Kyle's parents, where it was just the grandparents(4 greats, 2 grands) and us. A little different atmosphere. But still a lot of fun. Wendy was worried about two turkey dinners, but I told her even though it's the same basic ingrediants the meals couldn't be more different, just like our familys. I hope everyone elses day was full of love too.

When we were in Cancun all of Kyle's family came with us. There were five generations from the Greats all the way to baby Sophia. Our girls have a total of 10 grandparents. It just amazes me how close they are with all of their Grandparents. What a blessing in our lives to live so close with our family.

Lauren was amazing in cancun, she has no fear and is a really strong swimmer. She jumped waves with Grandpa Steve, dived under waves with Grandma Wendy, and boogie boarded with Kyle. She could swim the whole length of the giant pool. She has great technique, and is really strong. She is probably a better swimmer then me, and I've been swimming a lot longer. Gracie also started to really swim much better. When we first went snorkling she was afraid of the fish, but by the end she was right in there with them. It is so wonderful to be able to give our girls these amazing expirences(thanks Steve and Wendy).

The sand in Cancun is really soft and clean. The girls had a lot of fun building sand castle's and burying Kyle in the sand. Especially Isabel, she would just lay on the sand, and she let us bury her too. She would spend hours just picking up sand nd throwing it into the ocean again. She would chase Grandpa Steve around trying to throw sand on him. I'm sure you can image how much sand she would bring back with her in her bathing suit and diaper. Isabel was also the one most into collecting shells. There are a ton on the beach so she had a lot to choose from. Gracie was into getting the sand dollar pieces, and Lauren was too busy playing in the ocean. Needless to say we came home with nice tans(for my white family), and no sun burns.

We went to Cancun last week with Kyle's whole family. It was a lot of fun. The girls love it. They are such good little travelers. Lauren and Gracie actually went snorkeling with giant sea turtles and a school of fish with at least 5,000. So here are some pictures from our adventure.

The NG tube is gone! Sophia is officially on the bottle and is almost 14 lbs. As you can see by her cute little booty she is doing great.

Halloween was a lot of fun this year. Lauren was a fairy, Gracie was Lucy (from the Chronicles of Narnia), Isabel was Cinderella, and Sophia was a bunny. Grace and Isabel had parties at school, but lauren didn't even get to dress up. My Grandparents come and see all there greats every Halloween, and they keep multipling. After we visited with them we went and saw Kyle's Grandparents. Then we went up to LBF(my parents church), to their carnival. It was a lot of fun. We meet my parents, the Lassiters, Lanes, and Verlangieri's up there. The Girls got their faces painted, ballon flowers, played games, not to mention all the candy they got. They also had a petting zoo, the pig was in love with my boots, and a reptile house. Lauren held a snake, she wasn't scared at all. Isabel touched the snake too but only the tip of his tail. Gracie liked all the snakes too, but she doesn't like to touch. Then we headed up to Steve and Wendy's. By the time it was over, between all the grandparents, it was liked Christmas they got so much stuff, candy and toys. It definitly was a happy Halloween. Mors special because all our girls are healthy!