My End of The Year going ons....

I guess that over the last few months I have really lacked in writing for my blog. It used to be something that I would do every few weeks and now. Well you guys have seen how long it has been since I have wrote. Sorry about that. I am sure that all of you blog stalkers have missed the updates of the goings on with all us Smith's, but I haven't heard many complaints so I am sure that there are not many people who are actually reading this anyway. It's mainly for ME anyway. It's my own selfish attempt at a journal. It's just more interactive than writing on paper and everyone in the world can read it. It really takes on the meaning of an open book right??

So here is what we have been up to in the last few months.

September went without much going on after Ben's Birthday. We did get him some really cute flowers for the top of his headstone this year. Katy went with me on his birthday to put them there. It was fun to visit him and Nutmeg. The photo is thanks to Katy. Not bad for my 4 year old.

Then it was to the last of the count down for our family cruise with the Grandma! The middle of October was just not coming fast enough for all off us but before we knew it Cruise day was here! We had a short drive to Mobile to pick up Grandma and hop on the Elation!

Here is the view from our room on the morning of our cruise :-)

Waiting for our shuttle to get to the port.

And then we were sailed away from Mobile and found ourselves in Cozumel!!

After another short night on the boat, we found ourselves in Isla Roatan. My most favorite place in the whole world! It was so fun seeing the monkeys and birds. We went to the orphanage to visit with the kids and just had some fun!

Sorry there are no pictures of Hannah with the birds. She wasn't too keen on visiting with that kind of stuff, so we just let her be and were just plain happy that she was with us!

Before we knew it we were off to Belize for our last stop of the week. We were going to go see the Ruins. Something that I have always wanted to do and I was so excited for the opportunity to go see a different set this time with my Mom and kids. It really made the Book of Mormon come alive for our kids. I hope that one day, I will get the opportunity to go back for a week or two and just go around and see the ruins!

Of course we have to end with Hannah and her handstand in Belize! They do them everywhere and anywhere!

Our cruise ended and it was time to tell Grandma good-bye until the next time we see her :-( It was good to get home and before I knew it the days had faded to Halloween. The night was great! Poor Katy had a bag malfunction and lost all her candy while we were out. It was nice to not have so much candy around the house, but man I felt bad for her. Nope. No pictures of Hannah again. She is in this crazy don't take any pictures of me mode right now. Katy had 3 or 4 costumes this year, but that day she ended up as Hannah. She wanted to be her big sister! How cute is that?!?!

So now onto November. It just speeds up from here! Katy tried sushi, a trip to Atlanta, Thanksgiving, decorating, haircuts, and more!

The girls decorated the tree all by themselves this year. This is what they did while we were outside putting up the lights for the house. I am so proud of them!

Hannah's new hair cut. She just wanted her hair cut while we were at the mall and well that is what we got. I can't believe how big she is already!

Ruby's first Thanksgiving lunch at Kitty Stone

And now onto December. We have had something to do almost every day this month so far and it just keeps getting more and more crazy as the days have gone on this month. Steve started bugging me about still having Halloween music on the blog and now that it is almost Christmas it is finally changed. Maybe I will leave it up for a little into the new year. The kids have kept us really busy this month.
Hannah had her state gymnastic meet the first weekend of the month. She placed 7th all around and got 3rd on vault!!! I was so proud of her. She got 5th on bars and had the best meet that she could have had.

Ruby has had us at Christmas programs and dance programs and parties all through the month.

Katy has had us at more parties, programs, and dance stuff too.

I can't keep up with everything that these little people have me going to, but I am so thankful that I am able to attend everything that I need to be at.

Steve has had his birthday this month and we had to go to Katy's Christmas program that night, but we were able to go out to dinner to celebrate before her program. Katy could not keep a secret of what we got Steve for his triple combo present (birthday/anniversary/christmas) so he found out that he was getting a new drill with lots of "umph" as he calls it. I sure hope that he loves it! But he still is getting a really cool present under the tree :-)

Here are a few pictures of what we have been up to this month so far....

Steve had his little "procedure" this month. Of course on the day of my final, so it was a very stressful day for me, but he did awesome!

Yep, look at those big bangs for the PE dance show!

Isn't Hannah rockin' it out?!?!?

Ruby and her BFF at school! Aren't they so cute!

Ruby lost her first tooth while Aunt Emily was here for a jewelry party at the house.

Her new smile :-)

Katy playing dress up with all of Aunt Emily's stuff! Oh I am so worried already!

Katy with her teacher at her Christmas show. She is an official pre-school dropout as of yesterday. She just needed a little bit of extra time at home with us.

Ruby after her dance program! Posing that perfect dance pose for the camera!

Hannah looking great after the show! She did amazing!

This is my favorite picture of the night! Katy was so cute and there is Ru in the back pouting!!

The BEST news of the month came on Monday, December 12th. Totally out of the blue and it's big news for me. I got a call from Mr. Hoffland about nursing school. See I found out that I didn't get into nursing school a few months ago, so I was wondering why he was even calling me. I left the office with a number to another nursing program and a good luck. Well after of what seemed like an eternity, he offered me a spot in this new nursing class! I got into nursing school and if my life wasn't busy already it went into hyperdrive as of that moment! I have already been to CPR class, gotten a physical, filled out lots of paperwork, reserved my books, and so much more in just a few days. I will be graduating with my class and a BSN in April 2014. I can't wait for this adventure to finally get started. Please pray for my husband and family during this adventure of mine for the next 2 1/2 years. We are all going to need it!

Well there is the end of our year in a short entry. I PROMISE to get Christmas pictures up on Sunday afternoon. Until then.....