Mason's Blessing

So one of my goals for the week is to update our blog...I set it BEFORE I saw how many pictures I've blogged nothing about. Two downloads plus more still on the camera. Wow! I am a slacker.

Well, gotta start somewhere. So here are some pics from Mason's blessing. He was blessed on June 14,2009. Thanks to Chelsea (who was pregnant but hadn't told anyone) for trying to get some with all our faces at least visible. A smile was just too much to ask for from Gavin... It was a beautiful, sunny day, and thank goodness! because we had TONS of friends and family come over to my parent's house (which was also our house at the time) after church. My brother Garrett had just come home from his mission to Alabama and we were able to have Mason's blessing on the same day he reported. What a great meeting! Garrett really did a great job (at least on everything I heard from the mother's room while nursing Mason). Gavin was all for the pictures. Especially when he heard everyone's oohs and ahhs over him hugging his baby bro.
So he went for a kiss... and made sure everyone was still watching!
We got so many cute ones of Mason in his tux, but here are some of my favorites.

Happy Boy!

Sleepy boy... with extremely kissable cheeks and lips!

Handsome boy!

Like I said, we had lots of people come out to support us. It was so awesome! But, I didn't get very many pictures of those that came. Here are the very few I did catch.

Everyone eating all the great food that I did hardly anything to prepare. In fact, I was in charge of picking up the cookies. Yeah, I know, I'm so domestic. Thanks everyone for bringing stuff. Big thanks to my mom for making all the great teriyaki chicken and gravy. YUM!

My awesome piano teacher/mentor/second mother and her husband. They're so awesome!

Uncles Tay and Tan love their nephew!

Grandma T (she's so cute)

Grandma and Grandpa Smith

Uncle Gar (formerly Elder Smith) - doesn't he look so good?

The proud, sweaty (I speak only for myself) parents!

Cutest daddy in the world

My boys will get far more kisses than they want from me, but I can't help it!

It was a great Smith reunion. I'm so glad we could all be back together. We've grown by three since Garrett left, and we'll just keep on growing! Can't wait for my little niece from Tay and Sara!

Orlando

We spent August 18-21 in Orlando and had a blast! It was such a fun trip. We left Gavin with Grandma and Grandpa Smith and took Mason with us. He is the BEST baby ever! He did awesome! We did a lot of driving around to just kind of get a feel for the area. There is so much to do there, but hanging out in the car and enjoying the beautiful scenery made the trip for me. There's something about road-trippin' with my sweetie that beats pretty much anything else (maybe because I started really falling for him on a road trip to Cedar City to visit my brother Taylor during Spring Break :o).

We did spend a day at the beach, and the drive there was gorgeous. We thought it was funny that they actually mow the grass on the sides of the road in Florida. It is so green!

Most of the road we took went right through a HUGE cattle ranch that the church owns out there. I think we heard this is the largest cattle ranch in the U.S. Pretty impressive...

And here we are at Cocoa Beach! There's something about lounging on the beach with nothing to do and the sound of the waves in the background that is beyond wonderful. I can understand to some extent why my bro Ashton's aspiration is to be a beach bum. Sort of...

Mason really did like the beach, but we stopped pretty much right in the middle of nap time because we were trying to enjoy the sun before a storm came in.

I love his chubs! He BARELY fit into his swim suit - it had to be retired after this trip...

Don't we look good in Florida?

I sure hope you said "yes" because that's where we're going to be spending the next few years of our lives. Craig's starting up a business out in Orlando and we move a week from today! Kind of crazy - when we moved in with my parents, I thought that when we left we'd be going across the county, maybe, but not across the country. I'm incredibly grateful to know that the Lord is leading us where He would have us be. Also I'm very grateful to know that the church will be the same there as it is here, and we will still enjoy the blessing of having a temple close by.

And since I have no guarantee of coming back here to visit very often, here's my pitch to whoever wants to hear it (I guess read it). Should any of you wish to enjoy all the innumerable pleasures of Orlando, including but not limited to DISNEYWORLD!, let us know and we'd be happy to have you stay with us. We can't make any promises about the comfort or quality of the available accomodation, but hey, it'll be FREE!!!

Anyone interested?

For all you piano lovers, I must sell my piano. So I guess this is a moving announcement as well. But instead of staying around here like we were planning, we'll be heading out-of-state for a few years. This is something I've never wanted to do, but I'm sure that's one of the reasons things have worked out this way. I know it will be a great experience. One of the many sad things about leaving is that I can't take my piano with me :( So here's the info if you or anyone you know is interested:

This beautiful cream-colored grand piano is from the late 1910s or early 1920s. I had some work done on the sound board when I first bought it, and the technician said that it's the closest steinway model A knock-off he's ever seen. It's not in perfect condition, but it has a great, full sound, intricate detail flourishes, and tons of potential for anyone interested in doing some restoration work. It's also great 'as is' seeing how I've had it for over a year and loved it. This is the PERFECT starter grand!

It's Official...

I'm a slacker. My baby is 2 months old and I'm just barely posting about his birth! But I haven't just been laying around being lazy--I've kept busy. More busy than ever, but the best kind of busy I've ever been. I can NOT believe I have two kids!!! Hopefully I will get the blog caught up soon with all we've been doing these last 2 months, but for now, here's the birth announcement my sister-in-law Chelsea made for Mason (she also took the pictures). Thank you so much Chelsea! You're so talented!

I may be a little biased, but I think he is just the cutest baby in the world!!!

Waiting...Among Other Things

So...no baby yet. I'd probably be pretty depressed in different circumstances - I had Gavin a week before his due date, and I'm just 6 days out now. But I'm actually okay with not having had him by now because we ended up moving this past weekend. For anyone who may not have known, we were house-sitting my Grandma T's house while she was in Hong Kong serving a mission. She got home on the 23rd of March and initially our plan was to stay in her house until after the baby was born and Craig had finished school (she had generously made the offer and it seemed like the more logical thing to do). However, we started feeling super unsettled and out of place once she was actually home and just waiting for us to move out before she could move back into her own house! So even though it's been a crazy, stressful time to pack up and move, I feel like this is the right decision and a better place to be. You should know,though, I'm typing this in the middle of a bombshell of a half-kitchen/family room/game room/ piano studio a.k.a. my parent's basement that is now loaded full of all our stuff. It makes me laugh like a maniac that I would consider this as better, but given all the circumstances, that's the way it is. We're hoping that we can get out of their hair and into a place of our own soon, but we'll have to see what comes up and, more importantly, how we feel about what comes up. I think we'll be here for a good couple months, though, what with the new baby and all. But I could be wrong about that too. I'm learning more and more that I can't totally plot out my life - most times the Lord has other plans. And looking back, I've always been better for having done things His way.