Happy New Year

Happy New Year Year!

I can't believe that Christmas has come and gone and the New Year is just 2 days away. 2005 flew right by. As they say "Time flies when your having fun".

The whole month of December busy. Carrigan was busy at school making projects and getting ready for her holiday party. Unfortuntaley - Alan was sick again but he seems to be doing alot better now. Thanks to his breathing treatments and medicine and his wonderful doctor - it didn't last the entire month like it did a year ago.

My friend and neighbor Renee (long lost cousin - just ask and I'll tell you the story - it's really funny how we figured this out) hosted a cookie exchange the middle of December and it was alot of fun. Beware friends and family - we're doing it again next year and everyone is invited!!!!

The kids had their picture made with Santa. Alan wasn't real happy with Santa as you can see in the picture. Carrigan was a big help to Alan - she told Santa exactly what he wanted. Santa was a little shocked when Carrigan told him that she emailed him and that he emailed her back. Needless to say - Santa didn't know what to say about that! Santa came early Christmas Eve to our house. Rusty had to work on Christmas Day so Santa decided to came while we were at Renee's house. Rusty got to enjoy the kids and their new presents the night before he had to work. It worked out perfectly!!!! Carrigan was shocked when we got home and found the presents under the tree. She also couldn't believe that Santa came down the chimney and not through the front door. We told her that Santa didn't have the code to the alarm system so he decided to go down the chimney instead. The first thing that Alan did was go and sit on the 4-wheeler. Santa did very good this year picking out the things for the kids!

Christmas was alot of fun. We celebrated with Rusty's family the weekend before Christmas at our house. We have a new holiday drink that we tried - White Hot Chocolate - it was yummy yummy!!!! Maybe it will be a new tradition!!! Christmas Eve Day mom, Kristi, Pat and Hunter came over to the house and we all exchanged gifts. Thank you to everyone for all of our wonderful gifts. Kandis and Matt you were missed. Hopefully you will be able to come over next year!!!!

We hope that everyone has a safe and happy new year!

Here are a couple of pictures of the kids with some of their presents:

Kim, Rusty, Carrigan and Alan

Happy Holiday's

Hi Everyone ~

It's been a long time since I have updated the Blog. Things have been really busy for us the last couple of months.

October was a month full of different things to do. I went on a field trip with Carrigan and her school to Ison's Farm. She had a great time on the hayride. We also went to 2 birthday parties this month. Carrigan's best friend Aniston turned 4 and our new next door neighbor Logyn turned 10. Both parties were a lot of fun. Halloween was a lot of fun this year with Carrigan. For some reason she could not decide what she wanted to be. She started off being a Barbie Princess. Then she was a Flower Fairy and then on Halloween night she decided that she wanted to be Ariel. Alan dressed up at the church's Fall Festival as a Lion (thank you Aunt Kati for letting him borrow it) but he did not dress up Halloween night. It was a little bit too cold for him and he wasn't feeling very well that night. Halloween night in the neighborhood was a lot of fun. Instead of Carrigan having to walk from house to house (the houses in our neighborhood are pretty spread out) Rusty decided that I would drive the truck and pull the trailer behind with he and the kids. One of our neighbors, Jimmy and Jennifer hopped on with their 2 kids and it worked out great. Next year we are going to decorate the trailer and invite more people to join us.

The beginning of November Rusty and I celebrated our wedding anniversary and my birthday in Las Vegas. We had a great time. Thank you mom for coming over and watching the kids for us!!!!!!! Troy and his girlfriend Lisa joined us out there. It was wonderful seeing Troy. We haven't seen him since he moved back to South Dakota in January. The 4 of us had a wonderful time. Of course we went shopping, went to see Mystere and then did some gambling. Mr. Wynn got most of our money. Rusty says that he at least paid for one of the light bills - LOL!!!! Rusty had a lot of fun playing poker and I enjoyed watching him play. Troy and Lisa went home a day earlier than us so on the last day we went to the PRCA Rodeo Finals. It was awesome!!!! We were so lucky to get tickets at the last minute. Troy & Lisa

The day before Thanksgiving we went to Birmingham to celebrate Thanksgiving with mom, Kandis and Matt. We had a great time. Kristi, Pat and Hunter and Hunter's friend Mitchell met us over there. The food was wonderful and the kids had a great time. Hunter and Mitchell took Carrigan up the mountain and they walked on the ridge. Thanks Hunter for saving Carrigan's life - LOL!!!! I don't think that Carrigan will want to do that again anytime soon!!!
Alan got in here all by himself - he even took his own shirt off!!!
December has been busy for us as well. Between taking Carrigan to school, Rusty working every day and Alan being sick again - it's been crazy. Not to mention between all of that - trying to get ready for Santa. Carrigan is getting really excited. She has been doing the countdown for the last week. Alan is just as busy as ever. Trying to get him to sit still for his Christmas picture was almost impossible. He didn't do very well with Santa either. If I remember correctly - Carrigan didn't like Santa at this age either!

We hope that everyone has a Happy and Safe Holiday Season!!! Happy New Year!!!!!


Love to all - Kim, Rusty, Carrigan and Alan

WHAT'S NEW WITH THE SMITH'S

Hello Everyone,

I thought that this would be a great way to keep everyone informed on what the Smith household has been up to.

Most of you know that Carrigan started Pre-K this year. She loves it. Every morning she gets excited when I tell her that it is a school day and she needs to get up and get ready. She loves her school - New Hope South in Fayetteville. She also loves her teachers - Miss Cathy and Miss Sandy. Her favorite subjects are Spanish, Music Class and playing on the playground.

Alan just had his first birthday on September 8th. Can you believe he is already a year old. Time sure does fly by. I took him to the firestation so that his daddy could see him on his birthday just like I did for his big sister when she turned a year old. We had a party on Saturday, September 10th with mostly family and some friends that had kids about the same age. Alan didn't know what to do with himself. He had never had so many people pay so much attention to him all at the same time.


This picture is a little bit blurry - he would not sit still.
This is Alan at the firestation eating his very first McDonalds Happy Meal.

Rusty is doing great. He loves his job as a firefighter/paramedic. He really likes the medical side of his job and is talking about going to PA (Physician's Assistant) School and/or Nursing School. Right now I think the Nursing School is looking much better than PA school. PA School requires you to attend full-time and we are just not in a place for him to be able to do that right now so he will probably start Nursing School in the near future. He still does the fence job as well as sometimes working for an ambulance company. Most if not all firefighters have 2-3 jobs!!!! Alan and his daddy on the firetruck!

I'm doing great as well. I will have to admit that staying at home with the kids has been quite an adjustment. I think that I have finally caught on to a routine. For those of you that do not know - I quit my job at the Police Department the end of last year to stay at home with the kids. There is never a dull moment around here. Carrigan cracks me up on a daily basis with her sayings and singing and dancing all around the house. Alan keeps me busy just trying to keep up with him. If you turn your back on him for a second - he's gone. I love being at home with the kids and witnessing some of their firsts - especially Alans.

We love our new house. It seems like every weekend that Rusty is home (he is only home both days every 3rd weekend) there is always some sort of home project to do. I guess that is the joy of building your own house. He finished the black vinyl fence last weekend. All he has left to do is the double-drive gate at the top of the hill. Dixie (the dog) is going to have so much fun running around. She will have close to an acre that she can run free in. That leaves about 1.7 acres for us to work on. The next big project will be the privacy fence off the back corners of the house and meeting up with the vinyl fence. I can't wait for that to happen. The kids will have so much fun playing in the back yard and I won't have to worry about them wondering off anywhere.

Rusty and I are looking forward to our trip to Las Vegas in November. Happy Anniversary to us and Happy Birthday to me. Rusty's best friend Troy and his girlfriend Lisa are going to meet us out there. We are going to have lots of fun - I can't wait! We are also going to Ft. Lauderdale/Miami the end of April for a wedding. One of my oldest and dearest friends - Denise is getting married. I am looking forward to this trip to show Rusty South Florida. He has never been there and I'm sure that he will enjoy it. He is already talking about going deep sea fishing.

I hope that you have enjoyed the updates. Please check back periodically for any new and upcoming news!


XOXO,

Kim, Rusty, Carrigan and Alan