New Years cards!

I love getting New Years cards from Japan! Thanks Yuki!

Christmas Morning

Christmas morning was full of presents, breakfast and chatting with family. It was nice and relaxed! We got a 4th stocking this year and Glenn's sister, Blair, decided to label it Deuce since she doesn't know the name of the baby. We'll see if the nickname sticks around!

All of our family members were so generous. Even for this kiddo who hasn't been born yet! He got more clothes than Glenn and I did.

Stella is a big fan of opening presents- I think it comes from all the packages we received in Japan. Many of which, contained a surprise for her as well. She didn't let go of her toy all day and I found her sleeping on it several times!

Christmas family photo! A tradition.



A surprise photo on my camera from Blair and Mike. Thanks. :) Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas as well.

Go Vikes!

When Glenn's family was here over Christmas, we went to Buffalo Wild Wings to watch the game (since if the Cowboys or Redskins are playing, our wonderful midwest teams don't get any air time). Everyone wass decked out in purple for the game so we had to take a picture!

Now I have my very own Smith #22 jersey (thanks Mom and Dad!) to wear for tomorrow's game although it is a little tight this season. I think it will fit better next season. :)

Also, I just noticed that Stella photobombed this picture. :)

Happy New Year!

Hopefully most of you who read this, received our Christmas card this year. If not, please send me your mailing address! 

Part of me thought I should just wait until February and send out Christmas cards/baby announcements, but I just love the tradition of Christmas cards too much. I've taken down all my Christmas decorations except the Christmas cards that line the wall. I like hearing from all my friends and family and seeing their picture hanging on my wall.

I hope you are having a wonderful 2013 so far!

Christmas Parties.

December is always such a fun month- so many Christmas parties and events to attend. It made the month fly by and I just noticed on our baby registry that it says 24 days to go. Holy crap.

The squadron Christmas party is always a lot of fun and full of colorful characters. It is a 500+ person event held at a hotel downtown. A good time to catch up and enjoy the season!

My hubby was looking super cute and had a hard time picking out something to wear because all his clothes are too big! I, on the other hand, am not having that problem. Luckily I chose a festive color for our October baby shower and could wear the dress again.

In mid-December we attended the Moran's annual Ludachristmas party- a tradition that began when we were neighbors in Japan. There, we had the party on Christmas day night since many people stayed in Japan for the holidays since it was so expensive to fly home, but now it is held another weekend. I bought my sweater at Salvation Army for $2.09 and I made my  necklace (although I think my mom had one quite similar circa 1993).

On Christmas Eve, we had Glenn's family in town (his sister, BIL, mom and grandma) and we invited our close friends the Polsons and the Morans to join us. It is always fun to mix our real family and our Navy family and enjoy good food together. It was Glenn's best roast beast to date!

Glenn's sweater was ordered for the Ludachristmas party, but it didn't come on time so he wore it for Christmas eve instead. Perhaps it will make an appearance next year along with those festive red pants (although I think those can be worn all year long!) Side note, we also found out that the Morans are staying in Norfolk for the next 3 years (at least 1.5-2 of which we will be here as well)!

I hope your holiday season was filled with as much fun, family time and relaxing as ours has been. We are looking forward to a busy/crazy/exciting and baby-filled January!

Merry Christmas!

Awkward Family Photo style. :)

This makes me smile

I love Christmas cards!

Christmas Lights

Last week, Glenn helped me haul the boxes of Christmas decorations out of the basement! I love this time of year and I can't believe Christmas is only a couple weeks away!

I found a stocking that matches Glenn and mine on sale this year so I bought it and it hangs nameless this year. Can't wait for next Christmas!

Christmas Eve

It seems that 3 years ago when we were here, everyone disappeared for the holidays. It's funny what a few deployments will do to everyone's need to travel over the holidays. A few of our close friends in Virginia stuck around for the holidays. We invited them over for football and dinner on Christmas eve. What a wonderful evening it was! And what a good excuse it was to get the house put together quickly!

 Glenn made a yummy roast beast for dinner. I think it might be a new Christmas Eve tradition!

I had fun decorating the table and getting to use all of my china that I only bust out 2 or 3 times a year. Still glad I registered for it though!

From L to R: Isabel and Marcy, Chris, Me, Glenn, Zach, Ben, Bridget and Amy (and baby Ella to be). And Marcy's mom Donna is taking the picture.

What a wonderful day to spend the holiday with our Navy "family".

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Party in January

The holidays are such a busy time of year so this year, Glenn's squadron decided to have the holiday party at the end of January. It didn't really feel like the holidays, which takes a lot of the spirit out of events like this, but it was a nice time to relax and have dinner.

Our OSSG group- so tiny this year! Lauren, Christiana, Angelica, Catherine, Kathy, me and Elspeth!

 A night out at the O'Club, but with Bingo and door prizes!

The Liberty Bell ladies! (minus Toni)

Did my dress look familiar? It was an old bridesmaid dress from Annie's wedding in November 2007! I had it cut off (and taken in) last year figuring I would wear it again at some point. I've managed to wear Megan's bridesmaid dress to Badman Ball 2009. The sash from Sarah's dress to Christmas party 2009 and now Annie's dress to Christmas party 2010. I'm getting my money out of these dresses!

The Christmas that lasted 3 days

It all started with this little one. She showed up at the house puking and it was all downhill from there.

We had all of these presents to open (Connor is waiting patiently in his Buzz Lightyear snuggie)

And all of our family members ready to go...

So we started opening a few. It's ok if Christmas was 2 weeks late, at least everyone was here now!

Then Laura disappeared...she was sleep deprived and getting sicker...we lost one, but pressed on.

Smiles and bets from the non-sick family members ensued...

And then the Outbreak Monkey also known as Brooke struck her second victim...Grandma...

And then Christmas was brought to a halt. To be continued the next day, but then Glenn and Adam were sick. Now we've had to send a few family members home...just 5 of us left and we finally finished opening Christmas presents!

All started from you, you little bugger! Good thing you're so cute!

Smith Family Christmas

Glenn and spent the night at Blair's house and the next morning we finally got to meet Mike, Blair's fiance. They are getting married in November and we had never met him. Lucky for him, he seems like a pretty cool guy and we're excited for their wedding.

Glenn's dad arrived on the afternoon of the first and we enjoyed a late Christmas with the whole family. Apparently, I didn't take any other pictures besides Blair's little family- Blair, Mike, Oscar and Larry.

And cake balls. Blair ordered these from the bakery that is making her wedding cake. They were yummy!

We relaxed, watched football, ate dinner and opened Christmas presents. Cheryl got me the cutest shoes that I can't wait to arrive in the mail! It was nice to see the whole family.

We spent the next day relaxing and picking out dresses and tuxes for the wedding in November! It's going to be here quickly!

Happy Burrito Day #2!

Glenn and I ventured in to Tokyo again on Christmas Eve this year to (also) celebrate Burrito Day!

And 12 minutes after we arrived, it was over. I wish it lasted longer, but it's just too good! Check out Frijoles yourself!