Smiths and Watkins Travels through Italy, Slovenia and Croatia

It was absolutely AWESOME and WONDERFUL to have the Watkins come visit. They've been gone for 3 days now and my kids still tell me how much they miss them. While they were here they took a side trip down to Rome for 3 days. We took them over to Slovenia to visit some amazing caves that look like "Lord of the Rings" inside. Since we were so close to Croatia, we literally drove across the border took a picture, drove a couple of miles in and then returned. Now they can check that one off :) We went skiing in the Italian Alps. It was my kid's first time ever to ski!!! We went to a famous place for knives called Maniago, etc. We ate fabulously as well!! Above all, we just had a ball being together. Being away from family and friends is probably the hardest part of being over here SOOOO we're sooooo happy when people come and visit!!!

Christmas Day + Sam's Birthday

Did I ever say that I LOVE LOVE LOVE Christmas?!? Well, if I haven't, I absolutely love Christmas!!! We had a wonderful Christmas day with the Watkins. On the afternoon of Christmas Day we drove up to a mountain town called Poffabro that displays 100's of different kinds of nativities. We walked around this town and then went home to have Sam's birthday dinner. Yes, it was my nephew's birthday on Christmas Day. We did a big Christmas turkey dinner with the works. It was a wonderful day and even snowed that night!

Christmas Eve with the Watkins

I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE Christmas time and especially Christmas Eve. This year, we went to Venice with my sister Christy, her hubby Marty and their two kids Sam and Jake. It was wonderful! Above are a lot of pictures from there. We also have a family tradition of eating scones on Christmas Eve (NOT English scones, though). My grandpa Cook's birthday was on Christmas Eve and scones were his favorite food so this tradition has no been passed down to his great-grandkids :) We also perform the Nativity every year on Christmas Eve. We love that there were 2 more people to add to the cast this year :)

December Birthdays - Sydney and Carrie

December is big month for our family. Carrie and Sydney both have birthdays, not to mention our anniversary as well as Christmas, New Years, etc. Carrie swore she'd never have a child in December, but there are some things you can't control :) Here are some pictures of our December birthdays!

November 2008 - Grandma and Grandpa Smith's Visit

Grandma and Grandpa Smith came to visit us for almost two weeks. It was soooo wonderful to have them and sad to have them go. We were able to see and do a lot of things. We visited Verona, Pisa, Salzburg, Venice, Murano, Burano, Nove, etc. These are some pictures from the trip.

Reflections of Christ...just in time for the Christmas Season

Halloween 2008

We had a Primary Carnival and "Trunk-or-treat" that ended up in the hallway because it was pouring down buckets of rain. It was a lot of fun despite the weather!

Cameron's Birthday

Cameron's scout troop was able to go on the American Air Force base and sit in an F-16 flight simulator that the real pilots use to practice on as well as get the grand tour of an F-16. Caleb got to tag along which he thought was pretty cool! It happened to be Cameron's birthday that day, so it was quite a present for him. The Commander there let each boy "take-off", "fly" and "shoot-down some bad guys."

Matt, Trista, Zander and Maddie's visit

We had a fabulous time with Matt and Trista and Zander and Maddy. They were able to come over and see Paris, Rome and Venice. Our kids were thrilled that a couple of their cousins came....because of that I keep hearing "when are we moving back to the states....we want to live right near our cousins!!!" Maybe it's not such a good idea having their cousins come - just kidding! I wouldn't change it for the world!

Akassia in Marsa Alam, Egypt

Snorkeling in the Red Sea

The Red Sea was absolutely magnificent! It was such a fabulous experience to be able to see the beautiful, colorful fish and coral reef. Cameron and Caleb 'caught the bug' but Sydney had a fear of going in that deep of water in the sea. To make a very long story short as well as Blake talking her through her fears, she literally overcame this fear and actually went snorkeling the last day. She fell in love with snorkeling. We're so proud of her!

King Tut...

King Tut......They crack us up! The guy in the picture with Sydney seriously asked how many camels we wanted for her...every time we saw him - which was often!

Out and About in Egypt

The kids had a ball playing beach volleyball. After watching the Olympics this summer, they have a new interest in the sport! We had so much fun swimming. By the end of every day, we all crashed!