Excited x 25!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This evening I took a trip to the grocery store with Kai and was reminded of a few things.

• Kai loves people...I mean loves them. Every single person we passed in the store got a "hi" followed by a "hi, hi, hi, hi, hi". He apparently never gets tired of saying hi, but I'm pretty sure the people got tired of responding:)
• His vocabulary is growing every day. Almost everything I put in the cart he named-- apples, bananas, cereal, milk, eggs, cheese, grapes, fish (goldfish), crackers...the list goes on but I was impressed.
• He knows people in his life and associates things and places with them. On the way home from the store he sang a little song "dada, mama, tt, boppa (gramma), ba (pa), wik (vic), mimi (melissa), deek (Jake). Anytime I say we are going to school or church he shouts out "Deek, Deek!". He has a little friend named Jake in his class and he loves him and I hear his name numerous times a day. His first little friend I think:) He also asks TT? and peeks his head into the laptop every time it is out asking to talk to TT (Taryn who is in Spain and we Skype with). Then he proceeds to ask for Gramma & Pa...it is too funny. Also, there are not many blonds in his life so every time he sees one he shouts out "Mimi"...which is what he calls Melissa (she has blond hair).
• And I was again reminded of what a little joy our son is. He has this contagious personality and is so excited about everything. Everything he says is exaggerated and excited like it should have 25 exclamation points after it. Tiring, yes, sometimes...but I love his energy and am incredibly thankful for him

Thank you Kai for bringing such joy to not only your daddy and I but to everyone around you. We love you son!

Peru Blog!

We decided to start a new blog for Peru...eventually this one may go quiet when our life is Peru...but for now, we will keep both. We wanted a place for people to go to learn specifically about what we will be doing in Peru, how they can partner with us, pray for us and how preparations are going. Later it will keep you all updated on our ministry, adventures and prayer needs as we are on the field. Check it out:

http://smithfamilyperu.blogspot.com/

Giving Thanks...

I am incredibly blessed and thought I would post just a few things I am thankful for:

• I am thankful that although I fall short over and over again, I have a Savior that covers my weaknesses.


• I am thankful I feel like I am scrambling to get everything accomplished by February, because I get to see the way the Lord takes care of us again and again.


• I am thankful we have to sell our possessions because it means we can re-focus and serve the Lord in a bold way.


• I am thankful for shoes in the middle of the room because it means my hubby is home.


• I am thankful for my lack of energy because it means I have been chasing my ever energetic boy.


• I am thankful for dirty dishes because it means we have full bellies.


• I am thankful I don't have time to finish this list because it means I have an amazing husband let me come relax at the coffee shop that I now get to go home to.
• I am also thankful that I don't know that this list could ever be complete...I am blessed beyond words.

Thanksgiving

We spent Thanksgiving with my family in California. Love you family and I am thankful for our time together... My camera had a dead battery but my sis documented for us:)

Kai with his Uncle Cecil

Kisses for Grandma

My with my bro & sis

Kai with his cousin Jaylee

Family pic

This is the view from my parents house...I always forget what a great view of Mt. Shasta they have.

Behind...

I have been a slacker at blogging lately so below you will find me doing a little catch up...and yes, I dated the blogs like I actually did them in a timely manner...I'm over it:)

Holiday Shopping Affair

The Saturday after we got back from Idaho we had our Holiday Shopping Affair. We set up a little show at Melissa's and had 6 of us selling things. It went pretty well and it was all in all a fun time. Here are a few pictures of some of the stuff and of some of us that were selling (Abby had left before we remembered to take a pic). Thanks girls for a fun time and thanks to all that attended!

This last Sunday Tyson & I headed to Idaho for a training for Peru with our friends Daniel & Abby. We had three days of training...cross cultural training and a seminar on raising supporters for our ministry. It was a full three days with my mind desperately trying to take everything in. I don't know if I left feeling more prepared or just more aware of how difficult it will be. Well, I don't know that I will process it all right here but all in all it was a great few days. On our way over to Idaho we met up with Tyson's parents and they took Kai home with them for three days so we could focus on our training. A huge blessing to us on many levels but especially knowing he was getting some quality time with Gramma & Pa. Here are a few pictures of him having a grand old time in the hot tub with Pa. I think he must have been getting some swimming lessons because he came home laying on his back in the tub with water up to his cheeks with no hesitation and kicking his legs the correct way. Way to go Pa!

Uncle Kent & Aunt Peggy

This weekend we were so blessed when Tyson's uncle & aunt decided to come down from Washington for a little visit. We love seeing them even though it doesn't happen nearly enough. We had not seen them since last Christmas so it was so great to catch up. They were able to check out the museum with Tyson and Kai and I joined them for a little while and then enjoyed catching up over dinner. Kent & Peggy are the kind of people you find yourself immediately relaxed around and are really just a joy. Thank you Uncle Kent & Aunt Peggy for making the trip down...we hope to see you again soon:)

Blessed!

This last Sunday we were so blessed to be able to be able to go in front of our church with the Duran's and get to tell a little about what we are doing in Peru in all three services. After we went up front we went to the altar to be prayed for. It was an overwhelming day. Overwhelming in a good way and in hard ways. I felt overwhelmed with the love and support we felt. I also felt overwhelmed at the thought of leaving our church family. They have been our family here with our families so far away. They have loved and supported us through our dating, our wedding, our marriage, our pregnancy and the birth of Kai. We dedicated Kai there and so many have been surrogate aunts, uncles, grandmas and grandpas to him. It is going to be hard to leave. BUT, it does make leaving so much sweeter knowing that we have a church families behind us, supporting us, and being our partners back home. It was one of those wonderfully exhausting days and one I left feeling amazingly blessed.
On top of the love, support and prayers they also took an offering which ended up covering the cost of our flights. Blessed. We are truly blessed. Thank you friends, thank you.

Tickets!

Last night we bought our tickets for Peru...our one way tickets to Peru! Crazy but so exciting. We will be leaving February 19th...that means we have 97 days, 14 hours and 27 minutes left and so very much to do. Please keep us in prayer during all our preparations! I promise to write more about what we will be doing in Peru soon...

Haircut Please!

This is how Kai woke up from his nap today...needless to say he had a haircut before going to bed tonight...much overdue:)

Holiday Shopping Affair!

A few of us are doing a little holiday shopping affair at the home of one of my friends. It will be open house style so come check us out! I will be getting rid of some of my PartyLite inventory as well as taking orders out of the fall/holiday catalog! And my favorite part is that there will be a whole variety of products for you to start your holiday shopping...candles, cards, jewelry, baby products, cosmetics and more! Hope to see you all there...

Extreme Peru

Really?

He'll hate it later, but I just can't resist...

Thankful

I really can't say this enough but I have the greatest friends! I left this weekend being once again reminded of that. Saturday morning I was blessed to hang with Erin. Not only did she bless me by hanging with me, she blessed me by hanging with Kai while Tys and I met with our realtor. Then she helped me clean somethings that helped me feel just a little less overwhelmed about what I had ahead of me in regards to the house. I know you probably didn't realize it E but you blessed me big time!

That afternoon Tyson headed to the Beavs game with some friends. Another huge blessing...free ticket and some good guy time for Tys! That evening Caitlin and Melissa came over and entertained Kai with popcorn while I cleaned and organized his bedroom (hard to do when he is sleeping or down there with me trying to undo all the putting away I am trying to accomplish). From the looks of the pictures he loved the popcorn and had a super fun time and enjoyed the "popcorn picnic":)

Then Caitlin organized our bedroom closet. It was a disaster and she made it look fabulous! Melis put Kai to bed and help me organize the kitchen to look the most appealing to a buyer. It got us off to a great start and I am happy to say that by midnight (or a little later) Sunday night our house was ready for the market. I still have some work to do in some crammed closets but really everything is looking great. I am amazed by the Lord in so many ways but this weekend I was amazed at how He reached down through friends to love me. Thank you friends for blessing me...again...

On The Horizon...

Many changes lie ahead for our family in the upcoming months...and with that will come changes with this blog. I have kept this blog pretty light, mostly telling stories of Kai for family and friends and mostly for him to later enjoy. I don't write about my deep thoughts or feelings much, if ever, and have resisted talking about the disappointments, unknowns and struggles to know what the Lord has for us over the past many months. I have also not written about the indescribable peace the Lord has given me over these same months, unsure of what His plans for us are, but certain beyond a doubt that He has something bigger and better than the doors He has closed for us. I should have. I wish I had described all along the ways the Lord was guiding us so that you could know how sure we are of what we are heading into now. So, from now on I plan to share a bit more about those sorts of things. Perhaps for you who read, but mostly for me to look back on, and most especially for Kai to look back on and see how the Lord guided us to this adventure that will change us all forever I am sure. With all that said, let me tell you a bit about what is on the horizon for our family.

In February we will be leaving for Peru to serve with an organization Extreme Nazarene for 2 years. They have taken on the mission to plant 120 churches in 3 years in targeted areas in Peru. The group came to our church a month or so ago and we knew instantly sitting there in church that this was the opportunity we had been praying about for the last year. After Tyson spoke with them that Sunday we got a call the following week asking if we would like to meet to learn more. We did and were excited by what we heard. Last weekend we went for an interview in Nampa and received a call this Monday saying they wanted us to join the team and we eagerly accepted! We are also extremely excited because at the same time we were praying and feeling that we should go to Peru our friends Daniel and Abby were doing the same thing. Tyson and Daniel play music together (they are: Chase the Age) and didn't even realize the other was wanting to do this. They too will be leaving for Peru and although we won't be in the same place it is so neat to know they will be there too! There is lots more to tell, what we will be doing, where we will be doing it and all that there is to do before we leave. But, I just this is all I have time for right now....so, we ask for your prayers as we prepare for what the Lord has called us to! Thank you friends!

Da, da, da, daaa...the Pumpkin!

We had a fun little Halloween party of our own last night. Melissa & Caitlin brought some yummy food over and we cooked it up and hung out together. They also brought Kai a costume the night before. They came across it at Goodwill with tags still on and decided it was a must for the Kai guy. I was just fine on passing on Halloween this year seeing that I don't enjoy it all that much and knew Kai would not know the difference, but mostly because I didn't want to stress about what costume to get him or spend any money on it--especially when he would not know or care anyway. But, I was super excited when they came across this great deal and brought it over for Kai. So, we dressed Kai up in his little pumpkin costume and and every time the doorbell rang he would run to Caitlin or Melissa so that they could take him downstairs to answer the door. He had a great time handing out candy...although, we were probably the slowest house in the neighborhood to get candy from since he would get distracted by their costumes and just stare sometimes. But, all in all he did a great job and I was very grateful for Caitlin and Melissa's help in answering the door a zillion times:) Here are some pictures of our little pumpkin

Handing out candy with Caitlin

Showing us the candy he is eating. He had his first candy yesterday (at least the first I have given him) and thoroughly enjoyed it!