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