The Tale of the Snowman

Once upon a time there was a snowman.  The world was dark, little snow on the ground, but there was hope as long as the snowman stood.

Then the rain came, and the earth warmed and the rain drizzled the snowman until he was no more.  In that day there was wailing.  It was a sackcloth and ashes season.

Do not despair in the night for there is joy in the morning!  For the world became white as snow, and behold he was alive!  He had come back from the depths of the earth to bring hope to all.

He lives so that others also may have life and have it abundantly!

Does it not amaze you how a simple true story of a snowman at the beginning of Winter can focus us all on the birth, sacrifice, and hope of Christ?

Smith Basement Makeover!

After 2 months, we have finally completed the basement renovations.  When I say completed, I really mean the two rooms are ready to be lived in!  Aside from the few odd and ends to completely finish this project we now have a completely new basement.  The "dungeon" now contains a large "neutral zone" (game room), and 2 small dorm like bedrooms that the boys each share.  Even though Caleb is but 2 I love the way that this situation looks like a College dorm, though it is cleaner!

The "little" boys: Andrew & Caleb have a soft floor, bunk bed, and 2 very bright windows.  This room gets the most light in the morning.  It is probably the best basement bedroom I have ever seen.

The big boys only have 1 window, but it faces South and brings in some of the greatest afternoon light.  They love having a spot where they can save their toys from the others. 

Eli & Si also get the area under the stairs.  The ingenuity of Tyler was great as he constructed a door that connects the big and small boys' rooms from under the stairs.  For a while, the boys made every visitor go through the tunnel!

Happy Birthday Josiah James!

He may be short, but rest assured Josiah is 5 years old in every way.  He is learning to read, adding, and working more and more everyday.  It certainly makes us feel old to see that our little "turtle head" Josiah is a whole hand!

He received his new orange vest just in time for hunting season.

Christmas Card Creating: Long, stressful, and generally unproductive

But hey, At least we get some great shots of the boys, right??

I know, I know, this doesn't sound like me.  I love taking pictures, especially of the boys.  I also happen to think that I do a fairly good job at it.  Unfortunately, I have found that attempting to get 4 young boys to stay still, pay attention, and smile while operating the manual controls on a camera can be nothing short of frustrating. 

 Fortunately, I have a great husband who helped me with the second photo shoot, but by my standards it wasn't much better. The sun was so bright and genius Lori was wearing her tinted glasses so it was impossible to fully see the camera's settings.  To make a long story short, I tried my hardest to adjust the camera multiple times to guarantee getting at least one that was 1 stop overexposed while attempting to get the boys to look good.  Looking back, I see there was probably a 1 in 20 chance that all of these factors would prove successful and I should be happy that we were able to capture what we did. 

Oh well, maybe next year I will be able to find someone to help me get a whole family picture who will do more than just click the button.  If you are curious as to which one I spent 2 hours with putting on a Christmas card then you are just going to have to wait until your card arrives in the good ole' snail mail.