Christmas Eve and Day

Our first Christmas as a married couple was successful! We were able to visit both families on both days and we had a good time! Christmas Eve we went to Grandma and Grandpa Fraser's (Christy's) and did the traditional stuff there complete with a white elephant gift exchange. People play the game some different ways, some get stuff from their house that they are dying to get rid of but can't throw away and then wrap it up. Others (maybe the ones who are lucky enough not to have anything under that category) go to the store and buy things specifically for the game that are sometimes random, but usually good gifts. Scott and I were lucky enough to pick games from those kind of people, we got a game and a movie, both good ones. TT was also lucky, with his playdo.

Some, not so much. But it made the game so much more fun. Like when TT's brother, Sam, opened up a pair of flamingo salt and pepper shakers.

Don't you love his "smile for the camera" face? In all truthfulness, Sam actually loved his "birds".

Jacob also got an awesome gift: a twilight shirt. Just what he wanted.

Good thing it didn't say "Team Edward".

After all the goofy gifts, we gave Grandma and Grandpa a scrap book with everyone's testimonies written in it.

Afterward, we went to Grandpa Fred's and Grandma Dode's (Scott's) for their Christmas Eve. Everyone was sharing stories, talents and things they have been up to the last year. Unfortunately we came in late and couldn't easily squeeze ourselves in the room so we listened from the hallway and chased Carter around. We had lots of fun though.

The highlight of the night: we got to talk to Sandy! She sounded great and it was so weird talking to her on the phone, I felt like she was just over at her friend's house, goofing around. She is an awesome missionary and we are all so proud of her.

Christmas morning was great! We woke up in our apartment together, read Luke 2, and then got to open our presents from each other. Here's the loot:

We did pretty well!

I know what you're thinking: "What kind of a gift is a keyboard for a husband to get his wife? Especially when they already have one?" An awesome one! I HATE Scott's keyboard. It's one of those rounded ones with the letters split down the middle. I can't type on that thing at all! And every time I use it I tell him how much I hate it, so he was so sweet as to get rid of that thing and get a new one :)

My favorite part of the gifts from Scott was how he spent 3 hours in Target trying to decide what to get me, what color and if I was really going to like that or should he switch it for something else. Yes, he's a tad bit indecisive but it is sweet.

Here's another awesome gift from him:

Most people when they were unable to find the gift before Christmas, would just write out an IOU for one. Not Scott. I am now the proud owner of this artist's rendering of The Prestige/ an IOU for the movie.

Yes, we both got each other the same game. If your birthday is coming up, watch out! One of these babies might be coming your way!

After all the gift opening at our house, we headed over to our parents' houses where there was more gift opening. When we got to the Smiths' house they were still on their way home so we waited on the porch. We were looking at how beautiful their tree looked in the frontyard and thought it would be the perfect time to shoot some lovely fall pictures. Of course we used the timer on the camera which doesn't always turn out so great.

Overall, we had an awesome Christmas and can't wait for next year! Many thanks to all the people who gave us gifts, let us into their homes this holiday and have been there throughout the year. We love you all!

2nd Annual Gingerbread House Party

Last night we had a great opportunity to see some old friends and to have the 2nd Annual Gingerbread House Party! A couple of years ago we were just a bunch of single people, in the singles ward, hanging out whenever possible. Unfortunately, life has that way of making you grow up and saying goodbye to old friends. In the past 6 months, 2 couples (including us) have gotten married and another one has gotten engaged, not to mention that everyone seems to be moving all over the country. Our wonderful friend, Kristen, hosted the party along with her husband, Matt.

This year we made Gingerbread trees, which were very fun. Alex's and Kristen's turned out great.

Jared's, not so much.

He thought it was a good idea to pour the little candies over the tree instead of placing them on it. Hardly any of them actually stuck, so Jared picked up the ones that didn't roll off the table onto the floor, and threw them at his tree.

You have to give him props for trying though, some people gave up and just played Wii Sports. Guess who that was.

It was a very fun night though and I can't wait to see them next year!

Congratulations to Kari and Dave for getting engaged, for getting all the way through the engagement story, and for being a trooper and staying all night even though Dave was sick.

Worst Stocking Stuffer EVER!

This has to be the worst commercial on television. The sad thing is, it's not meant to be funny! That poor man, he will never date another woman in his life or every woman he does date will accept all his gifts with hesitance.

A Night in Naples

So, this evening, we (Steve, Ashley, Christy and I) decided to go take a nice little walk around Naples, Long Beach.


The residents of Naples have a tradition of decking out their houses and making them look like the Christmas spirit threw up all over them. Some houses look really cute, while some houses lean more towards the creepy side.


It's always nice to see how creative some of the residents are. Christy's camera doesn't have that great of a night setting, so just use your imaginations. The picture directly below is an umbrella skeleton decorated with lights. Very clever!


Clever wordplay here:


Remember how I said some of the houses lean more towards the creepy side? Well, this house is an excellent example of what I was talking about. Could you imagine coming downstairs for some water in the middle of the night? I would never go downstairs until it was daylight, those things look scary.


Some more creepy dolls. They were actually running at us in this picture, that's why it's so blurry.


So, the drainage in Naples isn't that great. Let's say you leave your sprinklers on for a little too long or it rains; Well, due to lack of draining, you usually end up with a nice little puddle such as the one seen below:


I had to manuever a potted plant in order for Christy to climb along a wall. Steve used the more direct, 'romantic' approach:


All in all we had a very enjoyable night, despite the fact I kinda got us lost and we had to walk for miles to get to our car. It was definitely worth it!

First Smith Christmas

Yesterday we celebrated our 6 month anniversary and we're so happy that we made it this far without killing anyone. It has been great so far and we're looking forward to the next 6 months, especially since it starts with our first Christmas as a family.

Scott was officially welcomed to the family with a traditional "Made with Love by Grandma Riner" stocking!

Yes, that baby is completely cross-stiched from calf to toe. Thanks Grandma, we love it! Since we don't have a fireplace, our kitchen wall will just have to do this year.

Our next step was to get a tree, and again, our space is limited here so we had to make do with this baby, which Scott is strapping to the roof of the car because it is just so enormous.

Is that the cutest thing you ever saw? Now getting the tree was the easy part. Decorating it, not so much.

Let's just say we're not the most spatially-oriented people. I added some candy canes to try and help it a little but I'm not sure if it hepled it or made it worse.

Ok, I was wrong. That tree skirt has to be the cutest thing you ever saw. Here are our first Christmas picutres together, complete with cheesy poses.


Look at it this way, we can only improve.

Hey There Delilah, I'm at the MTC

This is a really funny video, just wanted to share it with everyone!

Sam's Day Out

Our family had a very scary day on Tuesday. I (Christy) was at work on my lunch break when I got a text message from my sister, Melissa, that said, "You know Samuel (our nephew) is missing, right?"
Let me tell you a little bit about Sam. He is 4 years old, the son of Ben and Heidi Dimick and first Dimick grandchild. He has had some developmental problems, which mostly affect his speech so far. He started talking later than he should have and when he did, it sure was not in English. We're still trying to decide if it's German or Vietnamese. For example, he calls his aunt Christy and uncle Scott "Pussys" and "Bot". I don't know exactly where he gets that first one from. He is just the most adorable little thing and we would all do anything for him. Another one of his problems is that he is very OCD. When he goes to my parents' house he goes straight to his trains (his favorite thing in the world) and sets them all up. If you even think of moving anything out of its place he completely loses it. He has had some testing done and they have gone back and forth between blaming his speech problems on autism and chronic ear infections. He has been having speech therapy for a year or so now and is doing well. At this stage we don't know exactly what is going on with him but we do know that we wouldn't have him any other way!

This is his school photo from last year. Cute, huh?
Another of his quirks is that as soon as he walks into someone's house he promptly removes all of his clothes. The first time he came to mine and Scott's new home he didn't even think about it, just ripped everything off. He also really loves the kitties and likes to talk to them. Here's some awesome shots of both of these things.


So back to text messaging on my lunch break. I said, "WHAT? No, I did not know this." Melissa went on to tell me that he had been missing for about an hour and that he came home from school and disappeared shortly after, that the whole family was at their house looking for him and freaking out, that the police were looking for him and that they were about to call in some blood hounds. I started to freak out when my sister texted me again and told me they found him. Apparently the bus driver took Sam home and he ran inside and said hi to his daddy. The bus driver came to the door to make sure his parents were there and didn't see Ben, who had gone back into the back room and couldn't hear the bus driver, and upon seeing that Samuel was apparently home alone, told him to go back on the bus. So while everyone was going out of their minds and all of Orange County was looking for him, Samuel was having a nice ride on the bus taking all the other kids home.
The bus driver did the right thing since he is supposed to see the parents in order to drop the kids off, and I keep thinking about what that poor guy thought when he pulled up to the house and saw all that mayhem.
Now, the best part of this story is how our other sister, Katie, found out. If you think that it's bad that I found out an hour later through a text message, wait til you hear this. Katie arrived home and saw that there were no cars in front of the Dimick house, which was weird because there are 7 cars that live there and SOMEONE is always home. But, the door was unlocked and the TV was on, so she figured someone was home in some part of the house. What really had happened was that they had gotten the call and everyone ran out of the house so fast that they left the TV on and the front door totally unlocked. The phone rang a few minutes later and Katie answered it, noticing that the caller ID said Westminster PD. It was a recording that went something like this:
"Attention Westminster residents, there is a 4 year old boy missing...
That is slightly autistic...
And can't carry on a conversation...
Wearing a train t-shirt..."
Hmmm, wonder who that could be?

All that matters now, is our Samuel is safe and he doesn't even know anything happened! When he got off the bus he kept saying, "Why you sad mommy? Don't cry."
It just makes you remember to appreciate your family a little more. And maybe update each other on important stuff.