My Boys...

These are my boys, loves of my life. They have been keeping me quite busy lately and quite entertained. They chase and wrestle one another and hug and cuddle. Judah thinks he is older than he is and therefore is constantly pushing the limits of his safety. Just this week he learned to "fall" in and out of his crib. Fortunately, he has yet to do it in the middle of the night. Jonah is literally growing up before my eyes. In less than a week, he actually begins preschool. He is completely potty-trained, drinks from big boy cups, wants to help make meals, has adult conversations, and now he is starting school. Boy, sometimes I desire for time to slow down and at other times, I am quite content with the new stages we are entering. I have recently comes to terms with the thought that our family is growing up and I kind of like it. It is nice to not have to plan as much around nap times and to know that I will not have to carry my kids as while if we go on an outing. Love today and Live today. I have always known that and I think I am understanding it more and more.

The Second Century Ride...

On Saturday, August 14, David, Danny and his dad rode their second 103 mile bike ride together. Their starting and stopping points were the same but they took a little different route this time to get to Grandpa and Grandma Smiths house. Nichole and I and the kids, along with my friends, Jami and Mike, greeted David, Danny and Al as they rounded the corner before the lake house. With burning legs and half smiles on their faces, the boys dismounted their bikes and quickly found their way to the chairs overlooking the lake. It was one of streak of 90 degree days we had this summer but fortunately the overcast sky protected them a bit from the heat. We spent the afternoon relaxing by the lake, taking boat rides, and watching the kids play in the water. I am continually amazed at how much more comfortable Jonah is this year compared to last summer when he would barely get his knees wet. Judah, he has been daring from the start. He badly wants to swim but just doesn't have the skills yet. We are working on them.

2010 Smith Wenger Michigan Vacation...

July 31 - August 7, 2010, Al and Karen treated their kids and grand kids to a vacation at Lake Michigan. Their were 18 of us and it was our first vacation together. We had so much fun enjoying the beach and the lake which happened to be the warmest it had been in twenty some years. Most days we followed the same routine...beach in the morning, pool in the afternoon, dinner together outside, beach after dinner, kids to bed, adults play cards until lights out...wake up and repeat with slight variations. I love routine so it was perfect for this gal.

I could share thousands of pictures from our vacation, but I will just share these few. I literally do have thousands however. My sister-in-law, Kristen, has an amazing camera, one that I someday hope to have once mine bites the dust. I LOVE photos. I LOVE memories and I believe that photos are such a great way to capture memories and pull them from your subconscious as you get older. I hope that this will prove true for my boys.

Whether it be pictures of Judah after his first bee sting, Jonah and Judah playing around in the sand at the beach in Michigan, watching the sunset in my lap, wearing daddy's swim caps and watching he and Uncle Danny train for their next triathlon in Lake Michigan...each memories is captured in these photos. I realize how much photos mean to me when I recognize that (besides my kids) the one thing that I would want to get out of my house if a fire were to occur would be the back up disks of all of my pictures. I am certain that pictures became more valuable to me after losing Zoe and Micah. I can look at my photo books of them and vividly imagine my time with them and those moments of connecting with those memories are incredibly special to me. So, I will keep taking pictures and keep asking my kids to smile at times when they would rather stick their hands in front of their faces...just for the sake of capturing memories.

12 years ago and 12 years later...

A week ago, I pulled up this picture of what David and I were doing 12 years ago. It is almost hard to imagine but 12 years ago, David and I were standing in the front of Calvary Evangelical Church in Van Wert, OH declaring our love and commitment to each other. The fire didn't stop that from happening and it definitely made the day more memorable for everyone there, not just me and David. As you'd guess, the safety policy for candles changed after our wedding. I would say that David and I have had numerous unpredictable events happen in our lives since that day. Not all bad, though we have definitely had our share of unpredictable tragedies. Two of the greatest unpredictable joys are definitely the two little boys that grace our lives every day. They are amazing.

On our anniversary weekend, David and I had the opportunity to celebrate family...my extended Saylor family, Jonah and Judah, and then just the two of us. I rarely have the opportunity to visit with my Grandma Saylor, Aunt Betty and Uncle Ron. My Saylor family is fairly small, especially compared to my Shindeldecker family, and they have lived a good distance from me most of my life. So, on Saturday when David and I had the opportunity to see them, we decided to make the trip to Ohio to visit for a while.

Later that evening, David and I took the boys to Fort Wayne. Last year on vacation, one of my favorite memories was staying in the hotel room on the way home. I had sort of forgotten that Judah was only 7 months at that time and a lot easier to manage in 1 room than he is at 20 months. Nonetheless, he and Jonah loved the pool and jumping on the king sized bed. They also enjoyed daddy pushing them around on the luggage cart. After a surprisingly restful and long nights sleep, we spent most of the next day at the Fort Wayne Children's Zoo. Besides Judah falling into a camouflaged pile of peacock poop, it was a smooth and enjoyable day.

On the evening of our anniversary, David and I dropped the kids off at Danny and Nichole's house. I was pretty ready for some time away from the boys by then. Especially after (in the short stop at our house) they managed to close the garage door while the trunk of my parents van (which we had borrowed) was up, resulting in a couple of scuffs on their trunk and a garage door that came off the track. Somehow David managed to get the garage door working again and the scuffs on my parents' van were minor. David and I went to the neighborhood pool just the two of us. It seemed like our own private pool as there were less than 20 people there. We came home and enjoyed a quiet meal again just the two of us. Getting to talk without being interrupted by the boys is a true gift and a reminder that we need to find time to do this often...not just at the end of the day when we are exhausted. It was wonderful to spend time reminscing about our year, reflecting on our wedding day, talking about our future goals, and just connecting. On days like this, it is a true gift to be reminded of the person with whom I fell in love...and to realize that my husband is still that same person.

Smith Family Walks...

I am sure that when we make our way through the neighborhood we are quite the spectacle. Nonetheless, Smith family walks are the best. There are always running races occuring, someone is generally on someone else's shoulders, and memories are surely being made.