Blast from the Past

Here is an old video of Damon. He was about 13 months old. Eric titled the video, "Look out Below." Just in case you were wondering, no one was harmed, I mean permanently harmed in the filming of this video!

You will surely be missed, Grandma Pat!

One week ago today, we received the sad news that Eric's Grandmother had passed away at age 87. While the news was difficult, we are reassured that her death ended the suffering she had endured as a result of at least 2 strokes over the past 3 years. I only knew Grandma Pat for about 8 years, and really only knew the Grandma Pat that everyone else knew for about 5 years. I now wish I had known her even better. What an amazing lady she was. I just found out last week that she was born in Canada and was part French Canadian. I wish I could go back in time and ask her more about her childhood. But I know from the stories that were told at her funeral that I will be able to learn more about her from her children and grandchildren.

The service was beautiful, just the way she would have wanted it, a beautiful Catholic mass with her favorite psalms and hymns. On the way to the cemetery, the ground was covered with a fresh blanket of snow and the sun was shining, even though the temperature was only in the single digits. During lunch her family members shared stories about her, many showing her sense of humor. I remember Grandma Pat always looking so beautiful and put together, which I think is rare for someone in her eighties.

I know her family will miss her dearly, especially her husband Roger and children.

Thank you, Grandma Pat, for making such a wonderful impression on me!

Happy Birthday Kiley!

I can't believe I forgot to post about our sweet daughter's birthday! Kiley turned the big 11 last Monday the 12th! We will actually celebrate her birthday next weekend when she is with us. But I just wanted to wish her very Happy 11th Birthday and say that I can't believe how fast time flies. When I "officially" met Eric in 2000, Kiley was about the age Damon is now! I feel like I blinked and 8 years have passed! I just want to say, "Slow down, girl, you're growing up too fast!" We all love you very much, Kiley!

The Best Christmas Ever!

I know it's a little past Christmas, but I still wanted to blog about what a wonderful Christmas we had. Our first family Christmas celebration was December 20th and we finished our last one on January 1st. That is 12 days of family get togethers and holiday fun.

The Smiley Christmas was so much fun this year with both of our boys really getting into (literally) the presents. Marshall wanted to open anything in sight that had wrapping paper on it. Damon opened his first present, a Little Einsten rocket, and then didn't want to open anything else. We finally convinced him that there was more fun and toys to be had. Kiley received a DS and she and her two cousins Alivia and Corban spent most of the day chatting back and forth and playing video games.

Christmas day was pretty quiet with just Eric, me and the boys. BTW, this was the first Christmas morning that we have ever woken up in our own home and the first Christmas morning that I have not woken up in my parent's house. But we decided this was the year to start making our own traditions. We went to church Christmas Eve and read "'Twas the Night Before Christmas" before going to bed. Christmas morning we took the first annual picture coming down our stairs. After presents, Eric's parents came over for breakfast and to see the boys gifts. Our new Christmas dinner tradition was making homemade pizzas. Damon had so much fun topping his pizza. And Papa John's has nothing on the Smileys' spicy barbecue chicken pizza!

The Fisher family celebration began on December 30th with my entire family arriving at our house, Mom and Dad, Todd, Sherry and Chaz from Nashville, TN, and Adam and Melody from Eugene, OR. This marked the first time that we had all been together with spouses, stepchildren and the newest little ones. We had a blast from staying up playing cards until 2:30am, to the big birthday bash at Red Robin and a visit by President Nixon (the only way I can explain this one is "Todd Family Tradition.")

I had 11 days off and Eric had about 9 days off, so it was great to just spend tons of time with the kids.

Anyway, I'll leave you with a few pictures to show how much fun we had!