Christmas 2007

We had a great Christmas this year. The boys got everything (almost) they wanted. We had a great dinner consisting of smoked ham, sweet potatoe casserole, green bean casserole, croisants, salad and shrimp cocktail. We spent the rest of the day having a Guitar Hero Marathon, and yes... Dad does ROCK!

Welcome to Buffalo!!

We had heard that there was a little snow in Buffalo... Until today, we were not too sure the stories were for real!

I put a yard stick in the ground last night before the snow started. We had 3 inches on the ground as of last night. We woke-up to lot's of white stuff. I have been taking pictures throughout the day of the accumulation. At 4:00, we had close to 9 inches on the ground and the storm is just getting started.

The roads were covered with a sheet of freezing rain before the snow started which shut everything down (including Church). The boys and Tania had a great time playing in the snow. Tania even tried her hand at shoveling the sidewalk. I know this is not a ton of snow, but for us, for not having seen more than a couple of inches for the past 10 years, it is incredible! I will take one more picture tomorrow morning once the storm is over to show the total accumulation.

UPDATE: We got a few more inches over night. a total of 13 inches fell yesterday. Amazing.

2 little monkeys

Pierce and Brendon got into trouble the other night. We sent them to bed early. I guess we needed to be more specific. They ended up in our bed. We couldn't decide to be mad or snuggle with them.

Temple Trip

Austin had the opportunity to go to the Palmyra Temple for baptisms for the dead this morning. For those of you who do not know, the Temple sits on the original site of the Smith Family Farm and is directly across from the Sacred Grove and Hill Cummorah. This was the first time he was able to participate. He said it was a "special experience" and that the Temple was "all nice and the font room was very nice". He added that he "felt good while he was in there". The pictures are of the Alden Branch (our Branch) Deacon's and the Young Men/Young Women from the Branch.

1st Snow Fall

We recently had our first lake effect snow storm. It was pretty strange. The snow was coming down in globs. There was lightening mixed in and it rained alot. All in all, we did not get alot of snow. It ended up being a giant Slushy outside, but the boys had a great time. The first couple of pictures show the cloud development over Lake Erie.

Halloween Party

This evening, we were invited to attend a Halloween Party at the home of my boss. We had a great time. We decided to do the theme costume thing. I was Marc Antony, Tania was Cleopatra, and the boys were Roman Legionaires.

Baptism

Today was a special day for us. Pierce and Brendon were both baptized. They looked very handsome in their shirts that Grandma Bringhurst sent them. The baptism itself was very special and the Spirit was strong. For such a small branch, there were many members in attendance. The other 3 members in Tania's class also came. It was good to get to know them and their families. The Sister missionaries sang a beautiful song. Austin gave a talk on what it means to be baptized. After the baptism and confirmation, we had a great dinner in the Cultural Hall which consisted of fried chicken, ham, potato salad, and of course a HUGE bowl of delectable FROG EYE SALAD! No LDS gathering can be complete without either frog eye salad or funeral potatos! There were also tons of deserts. It was a special experience.

First Day of School

The boys started school today here in Lancaster. It was the first time that they all went to different schools. They only have 3 grades per school here. Believe it or not, Austin is in 7th grade this year.

Niagara Falls

Yesterday we went to Niagara Falls. We heard that the Canadian side was much better than the U.S. side, so we drove an extra 5 minutes and went to Canada. We did not realize how close we actually live. It took less than 20 minutes to get to the border and about 10 more to cross the border. Words cannot describe how beautiful the falls are. We walked from the rapids area down to were we boarded the Maid of the Mist. The boat takes you past the American Falls to the point where we were directly in front of Horseshoe Falls. The power of the water coming over the falls was incredible. The boat we going from side to side. I find it hard to believe that people actually put themselves in barrells and went over the falls. After seeing the sites, we drove out of the main tourist area to a little cafe and had a traditional Candadian meal of fries with gravy. It was a day that we will never forget and look forward to taking our family and friends to see this incredible place.