Our Eldest is FOUR!!!

Noah turned four a couple of weeks ago and we had a ton of fun celebrating his birthday! He took "dirt cups" to school to share with his classmates and that was a hit! On the night of birthday, he and Daddy went camping, just the two of them, over at Boyd Lake State Park (a quarter-mile from the house)! They made marshmallows for snack, pancakes for breakfast, and caught bugs in Noah's bug finder. Noah wanted to be sure to take the "Me and My Dad" book since it was going to be just him and his dad! What a special event! The next day, we had a baseball party (his choice, not ours or it would have been football!) and he sure enjoyed being at the center of attention! Jakie was so considerate of this and slept through the entire thing until the last few minutes! Ryleigh's favorite part was, of course, eating the ice cream!

Grandma and Grandpa from Ohio Come to Visit!!

Ryan's mom and dad came over Labor Day to meet their newest grandson (their fifth grandkid in less than four years!) and to spend time with Noah and Ryleigh. We started by introducing them to the Buckeye alumni bar and grill in Denver where we sometimes go to watch the games with hundreds of crazed fans of like-mind! We also spent some time in Estes Park and a short time out on the water in our new boat (before it was beached by a couple of wind gusts!) Another highlight was making homeade ice cream using Ryan's new hand crank ice cream maker--wow, is that good!

The First Day of School

Noah started real preschool this year--he's in the four year-old class three times a week and doing fantastic! He really likes learning to write all of his letters and practicing his numbers, but most of all, he likes to pack (and eat!) his snack each day. Yesterday, they went on their first field trip to the pumpkin patch and he got to ride the school bus like a big kid! Jakie and I joined him for the event!

Another Attempt at the Blog Idea

Sorry it has been almost a year since we last updated our blog!! So much for us keeping in touch better with everyone. Anyway, here is our new vow to do better, especially for those of you who are dying to see pictures of the kids. I'll start today by adding in lots of pictures and stories of the last two months. . . .starting with the birth of the third Smith kid! Jacob Ryan Smith has been a real blessing and a reminder of how much work infants actually take! I think Ryleigh spoiled us a bit with her easy-going infancy--you could park her in a safe place for a very long time and she wouldn't make a peep while her big brother wrecked havoc. Now, we have two older ones plotting together on how to make things tough for Mom and Dad--I think I preferred the man-to-man defense instead of this zone stuff!

A Day of Christmas Fun

Poor Daddy was at a basketball tournament all day with his eight grade boys team. Meanwhile, my mom and I took the two kids to downtown Fort Collins for their holiday festivities. They had free horse drawn wagon rides and a chance to see Santa. They ended up cancelling the Tuba Christmas performance, so Noah was a little disappointed not to see the band like the "Buckeyes". He did enjoy Santa this year, as opposed to last year when he took one look at him and screamed. He walked right up to him and said, " I want a noisy drum!" I guess that is what Santa will bring him this year, since that is all he has really said he wanted over and over again. It's not like it will get any noisier around here. Ryleigh and Noah make plenty of noise with their own voices! Ryleigh would have nothing to do with Santa as expected, but maybe next year. She does enjoy trying to sing Christmas songs and playing Daddy's harmonica.

A Day with Baby Audrey

We spent a fun-filled day showing Baby Audrey (my brother's daughter) around Denver. We went to the downtown aquarium and ate lunch right next to a tank with at least five foot sharks. We then went to Denver Bronco stadium to look around. Noah sure likes his cousin and is much gentler with her than his own sister. In fact, he said he wants a baby brother just like her!!

A New House

My (Heidi) mom is building a new house just up the road from my childhood home. We spent a lot of time this summer packing her up to move her to a rental, and now, it finally seems like a reality that she is moving on to a better house! The new house is completely framed, sided and the roof is on. Everything is supposed to be done by New Year's Eve so perhaps we will get to watch the Buckeyes in the National Championship on her new plasma TV! It has been fun to show Noah the building process--he especially liked the big diggers making a big hole in the ground. He also likes to have his picture taken in the new "toy" room. Ryan is really exicted too--this means that he won't have to do his numerous duties at her house like cleaning out gutters, pruning extremely overgrown trees, handy man work, etc.