School Pictures

I cannot believe how big my babies look in these new school photos.
They do pictures twice a year at Daycare/Preschool, and I always swear that I am not going to buy any, but then I see them, and....well, my heart melts. How can a parent not buy photos of their children--all dressed up and looking so darn cute? These photo companies have us SO figured out!

Erica Rae at 2 years, 3 months

Hayden Jonathan at 4 years, 8 months

Happy 30th Birthday Jonathan!!

For Jonathan's 30th Birthday, I decided to see if I could pull off a surprise party for him, and unbelievably...IT WORKED!!

On the morning of his birthday (May 17th) we let him sleep in until about 9:00, and then I sent the kids to wake him up singing the Happy Birthday song. He came down to the kitchen where we had a hot cup of coffee and caramel rolls right out of the oven waiting for him. I had also helped the kids to make a birthday card for him, and we had a few gifts for him to open, as well.

We worked around the house that day, and then around 5:15 Nana Sharpe arrived to babysit Hayden and Erica. Jon thought that I had a date night planned for the two of us, and knew that we had dinner reservations somewhere at 6pm. We took off and headed toward NE Mpls, and he was so excited when I pulled into the parking lot at the German restaurant, Gastof Zur Gemutlichkeit, as this is one of his favorite places in North East.

What Jonathan didn't know is that I had been working with an event planner at Gastof's for over a month to get a surprise party/dinner all lined up, and 12 of our closest friends were waiting to surprise him. He was surprised alright--as the waitress was bringing us to our table to seat us, all of our friends threw their hands up in the air, and shouted "Surprise" and it actually took Jon a minute to figure out what was going on. He was speechless for a bit, and even got a little red. Mostly he was just so touched that everyone had gotten babysitters, and come to celebrate his birthday with him. He still swears to this day that he had no idea, which is very hard to believe, but so AWESOME that finally I was able to pull the wool over his eyes!! :)

Above is the whole crew--incredibly full on weinerschnitzel and sauerkraut, birthday cake, and HUGE beers. Way top is Jon about to blow out his 30 candles on the cake that Tanya made for him. Below is just a glimpse of the ambiance that you experience while dining at the Gastof's--let's just say it is not a quiet, romantic setting!! (yes, I know it is sideways--can't rotate it unfortunately)

Finally we have the Birthday Boy enjoying a Greenie at Tony Jaro's.....sitting down, I might add (if that gives you any idea of how the night went). It was a great time had by all, but we definitely paid for it in the morning. Let me tell ya, we just can't party like we used to, although we did our best!!

Happy Birthday, Jon--we love you so much and are so proud of the man, husband, and father that you are. You are amazing, and we feel so blessed to have you in our lives. T, H & E

Our T-Ball Star

We decided it was due time to get Hayden into his first team sport--because as most of you know, Jon and I aren't the sportiest people in the world--therefore, Hayden doesn't get much exposure to sports from either of us. We figured that he may have an easier time in Gym class (and avoid some ridicule) if he can distinguish between a baseball/basketball/soccer ball, etc.

A friend of Hayden's from Preschool named Alex (pictured above and below) was going to be playing T-ball on Saturday mornings through the YMCA, so we went ahead and got him signed up on the same team. I just love this photo of the two of them on the field chatting and fielding the ball.

He caught on very quickly, but could still stand to make a few improvements! :) We had a ball watching all of the kids learning how to play--not watching the ball, not being able to hit the ball, not being able to catch the ball, being distracted, not knowing to run to base after they hit the ball, running the wrong way around the bases, wanting to go home, etc, etc, etc. It was all very hilarious, actually!

Here is Hayden--up to bat! So far, his favorite part of this whole experience has
been wearing the batting helmet...who knew?

Finally we have Erica, our aspiring T-ball player, who wants to do whatever her big brother is doing. We had a hard time trying to keep her off the field, and on the sidelines....that is until she saw a baby to play with!

Great News about Papa Smith!!

As many of you know, my beloved dad (aka..Papa Smith), has been battling kidney cancer (renal cell carcinoma) since August of 2004. He had two surgeries early on to remove his cancerous left kidney, as well as other areas of tumor growth. More recently, though (January 2007), his cancer recurred in his abdomen, and was deemed "inoperable." Since then he has been doing experimental chemotherapy's, first by IV therapy, and most recently by oral intake. The first IV chemo he tried had very few side effects, which was great, but proved to not be doing much to stop or inhibit tumor growth. It was then decided that he would try an oral chemo (pill formation) that he would take for 4 weeks, and then take 2 weeks off, and repeat. He has needed this 2 weeks off, as he has not felt well on this new chemo. He has struggled with fluid retention, nausea, mouth sores, & extreme fatigue. All of these things are rough on a die hard Harley-rider, or anyone for that matter. Not to mention how hard this has been on us, his loving family, to watch him go through this.

Moving on to the good news!! Last night I got a call from my mom (who has been a saint through this whole ordeal), telling us that my dad's latest CT scan showed no new tumor growth, and actually some of the tumors on his previous CT scans have shrunk in size, and other areas that were questionable have cleared up completely. I could've cried--we have been waiting for some good news for a while now, and FINALLY that is what we got!! All of this chemo and suffering is actually doing something, and even bigger than that--I like to believe that all of the prayers are working.

We love you so much, Papa Smith, and are beyond thrilled to hear the GREAT news.
We are looking forward to many more unforgettable years with you in our lives, as there a lot more memories to be made.

Above is my Mom and Dad on their 35th wedding Anniversary in June 2005,
and below (& way top) are photos from Mission Beach on our Smith family
vacation to San Diego in February 2007