Tuesday, December 25, 2012

Merry Christmas and Goodbye Gladney

We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Our latest adoption news includes an official goodbye to the Gladney Center for Adoption as our adoption agency.  We've been with Gladney for almost 3 years, and after coming home from Africa this summer God made it very clear to us that it was His time for us to move on (my time would have been much sooner, but we believe that His ways are higher than our ways).  To make a very long story short, we had to redo all of our paperwork, and once our new dossier was ready to go we said goodbye Gladney and hello to a new agency...

And we are happy to announce...


Christmas in Ethiopia is celebrated on January 7th, 2013...please pray with us for our referrals for our boys by Christmas!!!


Thursday, December 20, 2012

Thanksgiving 2012

This Thanksgiving we convinced most of Isaac's family to come to FL for the holiday.  Everybody in the stateside family minus one in-law was able to make it down for the long weekend.  We had a full house and had a blast.

Unfortunately, Thanksgiving Eve Isaac started to come down with a stomach bug.  At first, we thought it was a one-time freak bathroom incident because he felt "fine".  I woke him up Thanksgiving morning to get the turkeys going (yes, plural-one for the oven, one for the Green Egg) and he sat up straight in bed, launched out of bed and into the bathroom for round #2.  Suffice it to say, it. was. ugly.  Isaac had to miss the golf outing he had planned with his brothers and stayed home in bed with Gracie and Shadow.  He managed in between trips to the bathroom to start the Green Egg.  I got the turkeys in the oven and on the grill while finishing up the side dishes with the help of the ladies and tending to Isaac.  Thankfully, the bug only lasted 24 hours and no one else got sick!!!

Isaac firing up the grill
The Green Egg and the turkey ready to be smoked.
Family hanging out
Abby and Donna
Jan with the grandsons, Caleb and Daniel
Playing cornhole while waiting for the turkey to finish
Daniel and Donna with Jack
Gabe and Sammy
Isaac and Alyse
The delicious smoked turkey...it definitely won the turkey contest! 
Eating Thanksgiving Dinner
Aaron with child, Kyle, Katie, and Isaac playing Euchre
Pumpkin Cheesecake
Isaac feeling much better and loading up on leftovers!
The day after Thanksgiving we had planned on going to the beach but it was just too cool.  Daniel told us that he had never seen a manatee before and we knew just the place to take him to change that.  We all went down to the Manatee Viewing Center at the Big Bend Power Plant for a manatee adventure.

Manatee Daniel with Manatee Isaac
Daniel and Abby
Kyle and Isaac 
Gabe and Donna
Sammy and Alyse
Aaron and Katie
Isaac and Daniel checking out the manatees
Daniel learning all about Manatees and the way that God created them. 
After the manatees, we took the family to Circles for lunch, one of our favorite restaurants when we lived near Apollo Beach.  We enjoyed their awesome crab and spinach dip and grouper bites-yum!

Caleb and Kyle chillin' on the bay 
Donna, Sammy, and Alyse
Alyse, Katie, Aaron, Daniel
Katie and Aaron with cutey Caleb 
Jan enjoying her grandbaby

Thanksgiving was a great time spent with family.  We hope to have everyone down to FL again soon!

Monday, December 10, 2012

Neale & Kari's Wedding Week

For once, my brother Neale had a brilliant idea...get married to Kari in the Dominican Republic!  We were totally on-board for attending this destination wedding...as if we would miss my brother's wedding no matter where it was taking place...but we were really looking forward to a vacation on a gorgeous island.  We were not disappointed!  Here's the wedding week in photos...enjoy!

View of the resort from our room
Awesome gift bags Kari prepared for us!
Out to dinner
Perry (my baby brother) and I
Kari's family ladies...NaNee, Chris, April & Kari
Josh and Perry take bowling very seriously.
High five...love it.
My husband is an amazing bowler...well, compared to me;)
Perry riding the flying eagle...you just had to be there...
I napped and my camera got hacked by Isaac and Neale,
and now I know that I'm no sleeping beauty.
Last day as singles...Neale & Kari
Neale, Perry, and the masked Joey
Isaac and I on the ATV adventure
Hidden beach...could be a postcard
Tres Amigos
Brothers smoking cigars...
...so I joined in too.
Chip and Perry..."Chip" was my dad's cover name in the Dominican-walmart
Isaac cannon-balled it into a cave pool
Neale & Kari at their rehearsal dinner
Me & my Mama
Mom & Dad with Me & Isaac
Neale, Kari, Chris, John, April, & Mr. Kyle
Bachelorette
Megan, Kari, April, and Kyle 
Dad and Neale getting ready for the wedding.
Perry & Mom getting ready to walk down the aisle.
Love this pic.
Notice the armed guard between my parents' heads...
Perry looks like their body guard.
Kari & Neale getting married.
Mom and Chris after the ceremony.
Dad and John after the ceremony.
...notice the contrast between the moms and dads!
Toasting to our new family member!
Isaac and Perry 
Mom and Dad...toasting to Neale getting married off!

One big happy Smeesh Family!
Wedding dinner.
Wedding dancing.
Here are a few of the professional pictures...

Beautiful Bride Kari




Mr. Kyle walking Kari down the aisle

The wedding week was awesome!  I may be biased, but Neale and Kari's wedding was the most beautiful wedding I've ever been to...God blessed them with a gorgeous day and family and friends to share it with, and a lifetime to share together.  We love you, Neale & Kari!