O Christmas Tree

I can remember the first Christmas tree Jordan and I bought as a married couple.  Jordan found it at the Peddler's Mall in Murray, KY and it still had lights on it!  I'm almost positive the lights were from the 1980's, but it didn't matter.  It was our first tree for our first Christmas together.  Fours years later, I look at our tree and smile because not only is it pretty, but because it truly reflects who we are as a family.  Many of the ornaments have special memories associated with them that tell pieces of our family story.

I will always put these ornaments on the tree.  A couple on their wedding day in 2009 and an ornament Jordan and I bought during our Honeymoon in Cancun, Mexico.  Both represent a couple just starting out with memories of first dates, compromises, adventures, lots of prayers and pina coladas on the beach.



The little blue baby shoes are for baby Shadow.  When we found out we were going to have a little boy, my mom found this ornament for us to put on the tree.  It's so hard to believe that his feet were once that little!  Now he is three, and these ornaments really represent how much he has grown.  Out little guy might wear bigger shoes now, but he will always remain a little baby in my heart.  Shadow is a big fan of superheros so Superman and Batman are proudly represented on our tree.

The cowardly lion is my favorite character from the Wizard of Oz.  I love how we went to ask the Wizard for courage when he truly had it all along. Being from Kansas, you didn't really have a choice to not be a fan of the film.  I also have an obsession with Paris France.  You don't have to look hard to find Eiffel Towers in our home.  My family was so lucky to get to visit while my uncle lived there and I want to take Jordan to see the real Eiffel Tower some day.  

 The Lucy and Desi ornament reminds me that Jordan is an old soul, which is one of the things I love about him. We often joke that we should have been born in the 1950's.  He also has a heart for adventure and a crazy imagination at times which is why the Indiana Jones ornament is perfect for him. Shadow discovered that it will play the theme song from the movie, so we often hear it playing.  A lot.




Probably the first thing you might notice about our tree is all of the Disney ornaments.  Jordan and I are both kids at heart which not only makes us perfect for each other, but makes being parents so much fun. Shadow loves all the Disney characters and movies too, and we have spent many family movie nights on our couch thoroughly enjoying the adventures of Peter Pan, Belle, Alice, and others.





I love my family and I love our tree!  I am excited to see what our tree will look like next year, and many years after that.  

An Update

One of my favorite months of the year is upon us.  Sweet November.  Basketball season is underway, the leaves still have their color, my mom and I celebrate our birthdays, Jordan and I celebrate our anniversary, Thanksgiving, Oscar movies start to make their appearance, boots! It is fantastic.  It is also far away from May, which was my last post.  So, I need to update you all on what the Smith's have been up to since then.

A collage of our beach pics!

June: The highlight of June was our vacation to Rodanthe, NC.  Rodanthe is a quiet and serene part of the Outer Banks.  Cute houses in a variety of sherbet colors decorate the beaches and several shapes and sizes of kites float around in the sky.  Jordan's mom was nice enough to rent a house for the week that was just steps from the beach.  It was a much needed escape from reality.

Holiday World

July:  The majority of July was spent at home.  Jordan worked and I spent time looking for jobs as I watched Shadow and our friends children.  We went to the park, played around with bubbles and the sprinkler, and watched Super Friends every day during quiet time. . We also picked the hottest day of the month to visit Holiday World in Santa Claus, IN with my mom and Bobby.  But, it was worth it to see how much Shadow enjoyed the little rides.

August:  Prayers were answered in August as I started a new teaching position at The Frankfort Christian Academy in Frankfort, KY.  The commute to work is shorter than it was when I was working in Lexington and Shadow goes to Pre-School there.  I just love seeing my little man during the day.

We took a weekend trip to Nashville to visit my sister and, at the end of the month, Jordan had a dream come true when we went and saw Loretta Lynn in concert at her ranch in Hurricane Mills, TN.  The Coal Miner's Daughter did not disappoint!

Charleston, WV

September:  School was well underway in September and Shadow and I were adjusting to our new school.  We took a weekend trip to Charleston, WV to see some friends and they took us on a tour of the capitol building and downtown area.

Before the show

October:  Shadow and I spent our fall break taking a trip to Branson, MO to meet up with my dad and Lorna.  Jordan couldn't come with us because of work so we made sure to have enough fun for him too.  We took a day to see Silver Dollar City and went to Dixie Stampede one night.  Shadow loved this show!
  He couldn't get enough of the horses and, if I am going to be honest, I am ready to do this again soon.  They feed you an enormous meal that could easily feed two people. Keeneland has it's fall meet in October here in Lexington, so we took in the races one weekend too.

The paddock at Keeneland

So now this brings us to November.   I'm celebrating my last year in my twenties, four wonderful years with my husband, and anticipating the time off from work to spend with family and significant amounts of food.  We are blessed! :)

Natural Bridge

Jordan and I have had many talks about why we love living in Kentucky.  We enjoy living in Lexington because we don't lack for things to do, but we also enjoy all the sites and towns around us.  You could drive an hour in any direction and  find something interesting to see or do.  Our friends had suggested driving out to Natural Bridge State Park which is just about an hour east of Lexington in the Daniel Boone National Forest.  Jordan and I had never been so we didn't hesitate to go. 

This is a picture of the natural wonder itself.  I couldn't really get a picture of what the bridge looked like so Google search helped me out with this one.

We took the sky lift up to the bridge.  It's the fastest and most relaxing way to get up there.  You don't hear anything except the trees and the creeks that surround you.  You get to take in lovely views of the forest as you get farther from the ground and the death grip on your toddler gets tighter.

 

Once you reach the top you can walk out to the bridge.  There are not fences so next time we will probably bring a leash for Shadow.  He was very interested in seeing exactly how high up we were and insisted on running along the trails at his typical daredevil speed.  The view at the top is remarkable and you can't help but feel really small compared to the greatness around you.  It's at times like these where you realize God truly is an artist.

 

 

Once we were at the top we took a hiking trail all the way back down to the bottom.  The weather was great, it wasn't too hot and the rain held of for most of the trip.  This place is probably a geologists dream come true because of all the different rock formations, but I just enjoyed looking at the colors and the trees (while also trying to make sure Shadow was still on the trail and not rolling down one of the slopes).  Once we reached the bottom we hiked back up to the top which was quite the workout! 

 

We went back up to the top because we all had paid for a round trip ticket on the sky lift.  So we walked across the bridge one more time and got onto the lift for the ride down.  The breeze on your face and the views as you are coming back down are a great reward to a fun day of hiking and sightseeing.

 

So, the Smith's put their seal of approval on the park and have already bragged about it to our families so they will be convinced to come here on their next visit.  We honestly just want to ride the sky lift again! :)

 

You can read more about Natural Bridge State Park here http://parks.ky.gov/parks/resortparks/natural-bridge/history.aspx

 

3

As of late, our lives have consisted of four things: Work, Eat, Sleep, Play.  But our little Shadow recently turned three so we enjoyed the break of the monotony to sit back and reflect.  Which made me think of this.

One of our first dates out on Kentucky Lake. 

And then this,  Shadow's first day!

 Our first family picture.

 And then I thought of his first birthday.

 And his 2nd birthday.

 Here he is, three years old!! He is such a blessing and I am so proud to be his Mommy.  Every day is something new.  It might be a new word, a new laugh, a new obsession....every day is new.  And it is a true joy because these things get to be new to me all over again.  Time has truly gone by very fast.

 Which made me think he will be wanting a car like this very soon.







But we will probably get him something safer like this.