We Finally Caught Up

For those that regularly check our blog, you know that we often let months on end pass without posting an update to the blog.  So, you realize that it is nearly a miracle that we have completely caught up with our postings.  Hopefully with the new year we can keep our momentum going and not get so far behind that it seems like a chore to sit down and post.

It should be noted that Becca has just about the best husband in the world for working some late nights to get us up to date.  It should also be noted that Becca's parents deserve extra special double thanks for getting us our new toy that makes posting so much quicker and easier.

Now that we are caught up, Dave is tempted to start posting an occasional text only blog where he aimlessly discusses whatever is on his mind.  Most of you probably really don't care about the random thoughts that he has, so be forewarned that if you don't see pictures you can just scroll past Dave's thoughts and get to the good stuff.

Our Little Chef

I'm not sure if I mentioned it, but Genevieve loves to do whatever Mommy does.  Fortunately for Daddy, Mommy cooks really good meals.  Even more fortunately for Genevieve, Mommy and Daddy decided to get her an extra Christmas surprise.  While Dave was back early from the New Year's trip he stayed up late one night to put together a kid sized kitchen set for Genevieve to develop her cooking prowess.  She loves it!!  It is awesome to watch her mimic her mom as she pulls out dishes, puts them in the oven presses the buttons and then pick up the phone while her entree bakes.

New Year's Eve

Last year we were introduced to New Year's Eve the right way when Tom and Carolyn Crawford invited us to come sing karaoke at their house to ring in the new year.  Lucky for us, the tradition continued this year.  Genevieve got in on the action by eating the microphone and dancing up a storm.  For the second consecutive year we were treated by Becca's grandma to a stunning rendition of "Downtown" like only she can deliver. 

The night was a blast once again, though proved brutal for Dave's ego when his father-in-law informed him that Dave's singing was less than average.  As a little payback, I have posted a picture of him looking like a total clown.  Would you buy a surgical robot from this guy?  In Dave's defense, the musical selections didn't play to his strengths.  If only they had Air Supply's "Lost in Love".  Then tears of happiness would have been filling the room as Dave belted out that beautiful falsetto ballad.

Thank you Crawfords!!!  If you are already accepting RSVPs for next year's event, consider us in.

New Year's Vacation

After our Christmas adventures in CA were done, we got to spend some time in Park City with some of Becca's family.  It is a new year tradition that we can't get enough of.  

Along with the great company, it is always nice to get some skiing with family in.  Dave was lucky enough to ski in 22" of fresh Utah powder on New Year's Eve with two brothers-in-law that put his skiing to shame.  We also got to spend some time with Dave's sister Sue and her family in SLC.  Genevieve was exposed to video games for the first time as we played Rock Band with Sue's family.  As an added bonus, Dave's parents came up from the Provo area (they are there helping out with Dave's sister Julie's kids).  It was great to spend some time with them!!

The trip was great!  Genevieve got to play in the snow a little bit, do some sledding, play with her cousins from Texas and the Smith family was able to get in a rare ski day when the whole family got on the mountain.  Thank you to Dave's nieces Cheryl and Rachel for watching the kids.

Christmas in CA

This year we got to go visit Grandma and Grandpa Smith in CA for Christmas.  It was a great week with three of Becca's four siblings there with all of their kids.  Genevieve loved having four other kids to play with.

What a difference a year makes.  Last year Genevieve was just learning to sit up on her own at Christmas and showed little interest in her gifts, not even the business calculator that her dad got her.  I mean come on, who doesn't get excited about a toy that calculates the time value of money for you.  This year was a different story and loads of fun.  Genevieve loved playing with her toys.  She really likes anything that allows her to do things that mommy does.  Hence the fact that we almost couldn't get her to put down her new broom and dustpan.  She also is all girl in that she loves dolls and dress-up.  Her favorite doll got an outfit, which is nice seeing as how her dad has such a fear of nudity around the house.  She also got some great dress-up outfits from her angelic cousin Sarah.

All in all it was a great holiday for the whole family!  We probably spoil our daughter a bit much, but are crossing our fingers that she stays so sweet and doesn't end up being a total terror as a teenager.  That said, we all feel so spoiled and are extremely grateful for all that we have.  Thank you to the whole Smith clan, especially Grandma and Grandpa!!

Who's 18 Months Old?

The other day was a special event in our house.  Genevieve turned 18!!!  She now officially thinks she is an adult and has taken up some very adult activities.  She basically has given up all kid foods and refuses to use the tray on her high chair.  With the event, she knows that she has now earned a place at the table with her parents and can feed herself.  She actually has been feeding herself for quite sometime now, but now she properly uses her utensils (most of the time anyways).  She also thinks that it is time to start walking down the stairs instead of scooting down backwards on her belly, which is a little scary seeing as how she still has trouble negotiating flat ground every now and then.

At her latest check up she measured at 75-90 percentile for weight and 90-95 percentile for height.  As you can see from the way she closes her eyes to savor every bit of chocolate, we anticipate that she will keep up the impressive growth.

In other news Dave still loves chocolate too and is afraid of the picture that an adult growth chart might show for his weight.  In yet even more news, Becca is still devilishly sexy!

Anyways...Congratulations on an exciting first 18 months Genevieve.

I Love Where We Live

I know what you are thinking... After two months of not posting, why have we not posted any new pictures of Genevieve. Rest assured, we will do a real update in the next couple of days. Becca got a new toy yesterday that should help her keep the blog a little more up to date. (She also cleaned my office yesterday, which was an awesome surprise and took a huge load off of my shoulders.)  Update:  We have began to catch up and are backdating some posts and adding them from Halloween forward.  So scroll down if you want to catch up.

Anyways, as I was about to go to work this morning, Becca pointed out that there were some elk in the backyard. We've seen lots of huge herds in and around the neighborhood, but today was first time that they took over our yard. It was cool to see them so close and to see how many had made beds in the yard overnight.