Pierce turns 10!

Well, our little man has turned 10. It is really hard to believe. Pierce has always been a special little guy and he is more amazing each and everyday. For his birthday, we took him to a place called Paradise Island in Cheektowaga (just down the road from us). It is like a tropical version of Chucky Cheese (without the hoardes of demon children). He had a great time. We had to cut it a bit short as we were getting slammed pretty hard with lake effect snow. By the next morning we had nearly 2 feet! Unfortunately, all the pictures from his party and the snow are somewhere on our memory card for the camera and I cannot get them off. I think it is time for a new memory card.

LET'S GO SABRES!!

Pierce and I had a great experience tonight. I won tickets to the Fisher-Price suite at the HSBC Arena in downtown Buffalo to see the Buffalo Sabres play the Ottawa Senators. This was the first professional hockey game we were able to attend and what an experience. Since moving to Buffalo, we have fast become huge hockey fans, especially the Sabres! Although the Sabres lost (5 -3), it was a great game with two great fights. Pierce said it was one of the coolest things he has ever seen. I wish I could have taken the other 2, but I only had 2 tickets so we held a drawing and Pierce won. Whenever the Sabres would make a goal, smoke would come out of the buffalo's nose on the jumbo tron.

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.