Trinity Tiger Football 2012...

Lately

Here's some of what the Smiths have been up to so far this Summer:

Helping in the kitchen (and enjoying watermelon goodness!)

Birthday Parties (Mandy, the newest member to the '30' club!!)

Saying goodbye to good friends (and meeting new ones!)

Popsicles on the porch 

Mowing the Tiger football field with Daddy (3 times a week!)

Graduation ~ congrats to Jenae & the Yoe class of 2012 :)

Blowing bubbles!!

This little beach babe turned five-and-a-half (on 6/11/12)!  How can that be?!

Painting yard lines (there is a first time for everything!)

We can't believe June is almost over and July will be here soon!  We hope that you all are staying cool :)

VBS 2012 ~ Amazing Aviation Wonders

This week Emma took part in two different Vacation Bible School programs at a couple of local churches.  One was in the morning and the other was in the evening.  She thrives on keeping active and involved so she definitely enjoyed her busy week!  I hope perhaps that she met some little friends her age so that she might recognize some familiar faces at school.  Tonight was family night and we enjoyed watching her perform a few songs.

The aviation theme was too cute!  The snacks, music and crafts centered around it and Emma had a blast :)

Of course Owen thought he needed to be in some of the pics :)

Emma definitely learned a lot this week and returned home every day with new thoughts and questions.  There is no greater joy she will find than Jesus and I'm so glad she loves learning more about Him!  She says she looks forward to sharing all about Him with her Kindergarten friends!  She learned that God is in control, He can do things people cannot do and He always provides. These are certainly great reminders for all of us :)  

"Our Lord is great, vast in power; His understanding is infinite." ~Psalm 147:5

Father's Day 2012

Happy Father's Day Daddy!  You are the BEST :)

Thanks for letting us mow (even though it takes a little longer when we "help"!)

Thanks for teaching us how a lady should be treated and how a gentleman should act.

Thank you for protecting us always.

Thank you for taking us to Aggie games (and for letting us wear green & gold some too!)

Thanks for being silly :)

Thanks for always motivating us to do our very best...

Thanks for playing airplane....even when you come home totally exhausted!

Most of all, thanks for being such a wonderful example.  We are so lucky to call you ours!!

Love,

Emma and Owen

Since Daddy will be spending LOTS of time in his office we gave him this frame and a new comfy leather chair for his desk:

"All about Daddy" by Emma:

My Dad is 32 years old.

His hair is brown and his eyes are brown.

My dad likes to wear his aggie shirt.

He loves to eat peanut butter.

He is smart because he knows nothing.

My dad works hard at working.

Daddy always tells me he loves me.

It makes my Dad happy when he hugs me.

If he could go on a trip, he would go to Louisiana and he would take his black shirt.

I really love it when my Dad takes me to football.

If I could give my daddy anything it would be a bracelet.

My favorite thing about my Dad is he took me to the park.

"My father didn't tell me how to live; he lived and let me watch him do it." ~Clarence Kelland

Ladybug Trophy

Emma was super excited to add another trophy to her collection over the weekend!  Since the move she has  asked about that trophy many times :)

Waiting patiently to be announced

So proud of our Ladybug #6!!

She has really missed playing t ball with her team and was thrilled to be back for a quick visit:)

Ladybugs won first in their division and proceed to playoffs next month.  We wish them the BEST of luck!!

Me: "Emma, how do you get a trophy?"

Emma: "Oh, you just have to play hard!"

Home Sweet (East Texas) Home

Hello from the piney woods of East Texas!  We have now been here together for almost three weeks.  Unpacking has been such a long process....mostly because we are working with less living space.  Maybe everything will be in its place by Christmas!  We are trying to get settled into our new routine, although it will completely change again once school (and football season!) start.  Along with any move comes establishing new everything: church, bank, favorite restaurants, grocery store, radio station, activities for kids, doctors, dentist, hair salon and circle of friends.  The list goes on and on.  Fortunately, the kids have adjusted quite well.  Despite the many recent changes Owen is still a champion napper!  

Things are definitely different in this part of the country.  We live way out here.  In fact, I had a very challenging time finding reliable internet service (mostly for work!), had to establish weekly trash pick up (not through the city!) and our next door neighbor warned me to watch out for snakes ("the big ones").  Life is an adventure!

We were so blessed to find this rent house.  Our new area is very quiet and beautiful.  I can't get over the tall  pine trees everywhere!  Our house is approximately 5 miles from the town of Trinity, 18 miles from Huntsville and less than half a mile from the lake.  This is the view out our front door:

This is the first year Coach Smith has worked through the whole Summer.  We are happy to have him home on Fridays :)  He has long days and there just aren't enough hours!  Some of the things keeping him busy this Summer include hiring new coaches to complete his staff, leading weight room workouts for athletes, attending meetings, regularly mowing/watering the football field, remodeling the locker rooms and preparing for the upcoming school year.  He even recruited me to help him paint the field this week (there's certainly a first for everything!).  His football players are participating in 7 on 7 tournaments most weekends and they are doing a great job!

Only 11 more weeks until we dress in TIGER ORANGE and sit under the Friday night lights!!

Corpus Christi Adventures

On our last full day of vacation we headed for Corpus Christi.  Our group enjoyed lunch at Snoopy's, a yummy restaurant that we visited annually during childhood.  I love trying out different crab cake dishes at seafood restaurants and this one did not disappoint!

After lunch we visited the nearby Texas State Aquarium.    

It took her awhile but she finally warmed up to this giant dolphin!

After the dolphin show the kids saw tons of fish, reptiles and amazing sea creatures.

Petting the stingrays!

Owen's Paleo Park - of course we needed a pic :)

A day at the beach

During our family vacation we spent one morning at the beach.  We took the ferry over to Port Aransas and enjoyed some sunshine, sea breeze and putting our toes in the sand!

Our favorite little beach babe mostly chased the beach ball and built sand castles.  

Owen seemed to love the beach a lot more than the past couple of Summers.  He enjoyed jumping the waves and destroying his sister's sand castle creations.  

Take a look at our past beach trips 2011, 2010 and 2009.  

Barrett Beach Bash 2012

Each June my parents treat us to a trip down to the coast.  Over the past several years we have stayed at the same fun beach house in Galveston.  However, this year we decided to try something different.  My dad found a house on a canal in Rockport.  We could literally fish and kayak right outside the back door.  The view was beautiful, especially at sunset.

The kids stayed in their life jackets most of the time :)

It didn't take Emma long at all to catch her very first fish!  Of course she didn't want to get too close and wasn't exactly sure why we had to throw her tiny fish back in.  Within minutes of her rod going back into the water she caught another!  By the time we left, she had developed impressive casting skills (almost completely across the canal!)

Sweet Owen loved fishing but his casting area was a danger zone ;)

The kids couldn't wait for Uncle Joseph to take them riding around on the kayaks!  Emma had a blast and even wanted to paddle some.  

Owen also enjoyed his turn but was very timid and remained very still the entire time.  

The kids got to go with daddy the next day :)

We made fun lifelong memories and can't wail til the next trip!