December-January

Well, 2 months has flown by (the holidays seem to do that) and we're back to our normal routine...at least for now. Here's a recap of the last couple months - with a smothering of pictures!



Sneaking in a Thanksgiving pic - we met my parents at a family reunion for Thanksgiving in Texas


Callie loved all of the Christmas decorations


She loved them so much she became a tree hugger :)


Just a funny pic of how she ended up sleeping. Worn out little girl!


This was the pic we used for our Christmas cards this year.


Callie and Leah are best cousins! Jason loves them too!


I know we weren't this good this year but shhhh...don't tell anyone!


Callie with the tree when we celebrated with the Jarrell Family


The boys and their daughters


Opening gifts!



My in-laws and the grandkids


Now we've made it to Aztec for Christmas with the Kleins. Callie was a big help opening gifts!


She had fun playing the piano with Nana. Nana also had a lot of cool dancing Christmas decorations which Callie loved to play over and over and over.


It didn't snow while we were visiting but we found some to walk through when we went to Durango one day.


We had gorgeous weather on Martin Luther King Jr. day this year so we went to spend time at the park. Callie loved to slide and swing!!!





Callie helps mom sort laundry...well, kinda...


At Smith Christmas this past weekend, Callie was entertained by Granddaddy's shoes. I'm not sure how many times she un-did the velco on his shoes.


Jason with Leah and Drew


Granny and Granddaddy with their Great Grandkids - 2 are missing from this picture and there are 2 more on the way this year!


We had a surprise graduation party for my mother in law who finished her bachelors degree. She was surprised!

Even better was the secret friendship quilt we had made her. Her mother-in-law, before she passed away, would make quilts for us kids when we graduated and got married. So, my sister in law and I (with the help of Grandma and Great Aunt Vena) carried that tradition on and made her a quilt.


Proud of our accomplishments in our surprise party!

Until next time....

October-November

Seems like bi-monthly updates are how it's gonna be so I'm not gonna bore you with too many words. Just fun pictures! Fall in our house revolves around football. We haven't done to much traveling over the last couple months - saving it for the holidays - so our weekends consist of doing things around the house until the OSU football game comes on. We went to Jason's parents this past weekend but for the most part, have stayed home. Here's some pictures from the last couple of months.


Callie helping Dad while he grills outside



Enjoying a visit from Callie's Aunt, Uncle and cousins. Callie loves to give kisses to Leah and just hangs out with Connor!


Enjoying Jacob's first birthday party with our friends Amber and Paisley



Playing with the latest in toy innovations - a shoe box. Then, taking it to the next level and accessorizing with a shoe, and awesome blue plastic leg ring! Only the most up to date fashions here.



Helping mom carve the pumpkin. She sorta got into the goopy pumpkin guts but was much more facinated with the bar code sticker on the pumpkin.




Callie likes to help in the kitchen as well. She deals with traffic contol by running patrol with her walker. Then, it's an organizing mission for the pantry followed by a drawer search for the perfect lid.





Finally, we get to this past weekend's visit to Nonie and Papaw's. Callie had fun seeing the "ducks" and "puppies" cause she sure wouldn't say Cow for anybody. Then it's helping Papaw mow followed by whipping up something in the kitchen. Last but not least, food tester for our dessert!

Birthday Bash!

Callie had an awesome 1st birthday celebration with lots of family and friends, presents, and fun! We did a tailgate party since we love college football so we decorated in orange and black (for our alma mater OSU) and had people wear their favorite team colors to the party! We had a great time, Callie hammed it up as usual and it seemed our party goers enjoyed themselves too. So, here's some shots from that day. I really don't have many pics because I was busy with everything but here's a few of the highlights.

Some of the spread - we grilled hamburgers, hotdogs and jalapeno poppers and had a snack stadium with salsa, guacamole (as the field) and fiesta dip.


Closer look at Callie's birthday banner


Digging into her orange and black cake. She was quite dainty as she ate so didn't really get it all over her.


The party goers watching Callie eat her cake. OSU and OU were well represented at this party but also had UT and Eastern NM University




We had fun and look forward to all the things Callie will learn as she ventures toward her 2nd birthday!

3 months and counting....

Well the counting stops now. I'm updating this thing FINALLY!!! I hope to keep up better but I said that last time and you see where that got me. Here's hoping again.
So, quick recap over the last few months:

May 2011 - Callie turned 8 months old and is still as cute as ever. She got her bottom teeth in and figured out the whole crawling business. It's amazing how fast she can be crawling! We met up with my parents in Amarillo for Memorial day weekend. There, we visited the zoo and tried to swim in the pool. I say try because it was freezing and Callie didn't want anything to do with that and I really didn't either.





June 2011 - We didn't have too much going in June. We went to Stillwater to see family and also had Nonie, Papaw, Uncle Jeremy, Aunt Andrea, and Connor visit at some point. Callie continues to crawl and pulls up on everything!



July 2011 - Callie celebrated her first 4th of July. She didn't mind the fireworks but wasn't all that impressed either. We went to Nonie and Papaws for that weekend too. Then, we went to see Pops and Nana and spent a week with them in the middle of July. While visiting, we went jeeping in Colorado, visited friends, and went to the Bar D Chuckwagon. Callie liked being in the mountains and enjoyed the music of the Bar D. Then, at the end of the month, we welcome our Niece/Cousin Leah!




August 2011 - Callie attended her first Smith Family Reunion the first weekend of August. Then, we took our 1st family vacation to Chicago. I had a conference to go to but we made it into a vacation while there. We visited the Willis Tower (formerly the Sears Tower), Shedd Aquarium, Navy Pier, Museum of Science and Industry, Art Institute, and took a tour of Wrigly Field. We had a lot of fun and Callie is an awesome traveler.




And that brings us to September. We went to Oklahoma State's home football opener this past weekend and enjoyed the game. Then, we had a good Labor Day at Jason's parents where we celebrated our nephew's 4th birthday. Still no walking yet but I'm sure that'll come sooner than I want...could be any day now the way she's going. We're looking forward to celebrating Callie's 1st birthday in 2 weekends! Can't believe it's been a year. I'll be sure to report on all of those festivities! And I'm sure we'll have some time at the State Fair coming up too! Can't wait!