new year's fun

After Christmas we flew to St. George to spend a couple weeks with Sam's family. It was so good to see friends, spend time with family, and do plenty of relaxing!

China Town Las VegasVisiting Molly and Wayne...and their new baby Samuel. Landon was so sweet with him and didn't want to put him down. Let's hope he feels the same way when his little brother arrives!The men attempted to go hunting and got stuck for hours instead.Another man outing, ice fishing! Jumping Jack's with cousins Another snow day!Hot chocolate to warm us up after sledding. Landon's first time shootingJack Shumway is a pro with his BB gun, let's hope Sam doesn't think 4 is a good age for a first gun.Jack Lambert and Landon waiting for their turn to shoot the BB gun.

Back in Connecticut, here's the welcome home we received...actually, thanks to awesome friends out here, our car was cleaned off and apartment warmed up by the time we got home.

Smithmas '10

For Christmas this year Landon and I flew to AZ a couple weeks early. The 70+ degree weather was a wonderful treat! Sam joined us right before the holiday and we had a blast at the many celebrations.

Regan's Ugly Sweater Christmas party. I'm not sure why but we all look incredibly 80's.The "Elves" made these special bowling pants for Christmas Eve- Landon wore them once and now refuses to touch them. Maybe this mama elf needs to brush up on her sewing... Smith family talent showLandon singing Jingle BellsChristmas morning!Sisters quilt for my mom. We each contributed squares and came up with this little number.

We are so lucky to have such a great family. It's always fun to celebrate the holidays together, even if it means hauling Christmas for 3 people across the country!

cinco

Sam and I were separated by roughly 2500 miles on our actual anniversary. So when Sam finally finished his finals and met me in AZ we celebrated by stuffing our faces with delicious food. 5 years down... 5 billion to go!

traditions

If you recognize the woman in the above picture, you hold a special place in my heart. If you too were sweet talked into buying her magical potion, you top my list. My family has many Christmas traditions and for as long as I can remember our family has ventured to the Mesa Swap Meet in search of Christmas treasures. If you dig through the mountains of turquoise, dream catchers, and other southwestern paraphernalia you can actually find some neat stuff. As an added bonus there is a snack bar with live entertainment! If you've never been, I encourage you to visit.

announ... announce... ANNOUNCEMENT!

It's been a secret for long enough! We decided to wait till we visited our parents this Christmas to spill the beans. In case they couldn't tell by my protruding belly, I made this shirt for Landon to clarify the news.

shumway family christmas tree

A classmate of Sam's grew up on a Christmas tree farm in the Berkshires in Massachusetts. After Thanksgiving she invited a few families from class up to the farm to pick out and cut down a tree. Sam has been dreaming of doing this for as long as I can remember. Since we've never lived anywhere near a real tree farm I pushed it to the back of my mind and to Sam's dismay purchased a pre-lit gem on clearance one year. It was SO COLD, and even though I honestly think my eyes froze we had a great time. Our hosts were beyond gracious and not only let Landon drive the tractor pulling us and all our trees, they also fed us lunch, cookies, and hot cocoa! We are amazed at how blessed we have been here to meet and make such great friends.

When we got home that evening I realized I was outnumbered and gave up trying to have a beautiful tree. Sam and Landon took over the decorating- colored lights and all! Landon's favorite new activity is to turn off all the house lights, roll under the Christmas tree, and stare at the colorful lights.

thanksgiving

A few of the young families around here got together this year to celebrate Thanksgiving since our extended families all live in other states. This was especially nice because we had a fantastic meal and none of us had to do ALL the cooking. I broke-in my new Kitchen Aid mixer (best bday gift ever!) and whipped up a couple batches of my mom's rolls, and a chocolate chip cheesecake. I was also in charge of the mashed potatoes. About 20 people were at the dinner so I was eternally grateful when Sam volunteered to peel all the potatoes. Since our hostess' oven quit working Thanksgiving morning I also had the turkey in my oven all day. Our house smelled like heaven with all that food cooking. We loaded up the car and headed to the Shepard's for the feast. I'm so thankful for the great friends we've made here, they certainly made our holiday more full. And what's Thanksgiving without Black Friday?!Don't worry mom, I braved Joann's at the break of dawn to load up on our year's supply of flannel.