A LONG Christmas post!

We pray that you, our friends and family, had a joyous Christmas weekend, celebrating the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!

We had quite the weekend of events - from here to there, there to here, tired and overly spoiled (yet grateful) children and parents...
Thanks to all who made it such a wonderful celebration - We appreciate you all greatly!

The kids had their first Christmas show (at least the first that they all stayed on stage for) at church. Here's all 3 cousins next to one another...And of course there is the infamous opening of presents... Each kid opened in a different way...

Josh chose to eat instead of open presents!

Josh and cousin Lily.

Daddy's new outfit... looks good doesn't it?

Our strong girl...

My handsome wino hubby!Anyone heard the vaseline story???

Merry Christmas from the Smith's!

Christine is a citizen!

This morning we had our readoption ceremonies at the Baltimore County Courthouse. Judge Hennegan presided over the case, making Christine's new name official and giving her permanent citizenship in the United States. It was short and sweet - I had more trouble getting the 2 younger kids up into the room and back to the van (along with the THREE new teddy bears that we received)! Pictures are blurry - but they capture the moment.

As you can tell, Christine is thrilled by her new status! :)

Snow... a great way to start off December

The kids had a GREAT time in the snow today. They all looked too cute bundled up so tightly!

Ryan's favorite part was eating the snow.
Josh making snow angels...

On the 1st, we went to my mom's for a Christmas Cookie and Decorating day. This was our attempt at a cousins picture...

Cookie baking was a sprinkle disaster!!!

Ms. powdered donut lips!

Thanksgiving/Christmas with the Smith's

We celebrated Thanksgiving with a trip to the Laurel Race Track. Scott generously gave each team $20 to bet with. Following are the teams... and their outcomes...

TEAM 1 - Steve and Ryan

walked away with $2.00

TEAM 2 - Scott and Jessica

walked away with $4.00 TEAM 3 - Andy and Barb

unfortunately, they walked away with nothing...

TEAM 4 - the BIG WINNERS!

walked away with $16.00 (i think...)

Watch out Scott - someone else is taking over!

The boys enjoyed cheering on the horses!

Go #3! $2.00 is at stake!

Does Uncle Steve have someone on his shoulders again???

Then comes the inevitable Christmas pictures in front of the tree...

We weren't sure if the kids picture would EVER turn out.

There is always time for fun...
This shot almost looks too real (no pun intended...). Great acting Uncle Pete!

Thanks for a fun Thanksgiving/Christmas Smith family!

Disneyworld 2007

Ok... so I have a LOT of pictures. Over 1,000 to be exact. We didn't go cheap on pictures! Disney World was AWESOME! We had a fabulous time and can't wait to go back.

Our first day at Epcot!

Breakfast with Mickey! The boys did great with the characters - hugs, kisses and pictures galore!The favorite character of the past year and a half...

Woo-hoo! Sexy men...

See Princess Aurora in the backround??? Those are her lips...

Dinner with Pooh, Piglet, Eeyore and Tigger...

Can you see my high score??? Oh you can't???

I guess you'll just have to trust that I totally whooped Zurg's butt!

Christine wasn't thrilled with the characters... she just put up with them!

Grandad and the family in Germany! Yeah tall German's!

Smith Christmas in Disney World! THANK YOU DADDY!!!!

Punta Gorda, FL

We have had a wonderful time here in Punta Gorda, FL visiting with Andy's Uncle John and Aunt Marcia. They've been extremely hostpitable and taken us to beautiful places! It's been a great start to our vacation... :)

Andy enjoyed a crab leg meal in downtown Punta Gorda. Bib and all...

Uncle John and Aunt Marcia have a great pool that the kids enjoyed! While the outdoor temps could reach the 80's during the day, the water was very cool!

Monday was spent at Boca Grande beach. The President visits here during Christmas week. It's a beautiful beach and we had a wonderful day!

Double take???
They enjoyed building and digging in the sand.

Ryan's shorts were a little too big... Hope this isn't a sign of things to come. :)

Christine had a blast in the water. Her beautiful smile was seen all day long!

A family photo on the beach! (with the sun in our eyes...)We also visited Uncle John's new office in Punta Gorda. The children's room was decorated by Aunt Marcia in a Disney theme. The kids loved the room. Here is a pic of all of us in that office with Uncle John!

Thanks to Uncle John and Aunt Marcia for a WONDERFUL visit!