Although not a new game in the Smith arsenal, Grams and Pa gave Brenner a new set for Christmas, complete with the train items and we have done nothing but play the entire month of January. It seems every weekend we are playing with someone.
Mia started it all off with dancing as an angel in the nutcracker. She did a great job and we think it was worth all the money for costume, recital fees and the extra ticket (as it only came with one) in the end! She truly danced like an angel!
Mommy and her little angel.
As soon as the recital was over we hopped in the packed car and headed south to Florida, stopping at Calaway Gardens to see the lights. As we had skipped last year, this was alot of fun, but cold!
At the beach! Mommy and Mia and their sand castle.
Daddy and the boys sand castle.
Cayden found a turtle at the new mall area. We spent time walking the stores, eating of course, had some ice cream and found a Christmas ornament for our tree! The last night we went to the Olive Garden and Mommy and Brenner went to see Harry Potter while Daddy stayed back at the house with Cayden and Mia and watched a red box.
Back at home and the cousin gift swap. We also all opened jamies and had a pajama parade.
Christmas morning and Cayden found the pickle hid in the tree, letting him open the first gift.
Santa Came!
Brenner and his bow and arrow.
Cayden and his Legos.
And Mia and her littlest pet shop.
There was breakfast pizza and home made orange juice and a nap for Mommy and Daddy.
Christmas evening we got what we thought would never come, a White Christmas! Grorgia has not seen snow on Christmas day since 1882, thats right, 128 years ago. The kids played in it for a bit and came in for some hot chocolate!
We had a great Christmas!
Here is the picture of the kids sleeping under the Christmas Tree!
He had a red velvet cake and got what elts ........ Books of course! We went to Chillis, His favorite, and had a relaxing dinner with just the family. 10 year olds are great!
On Sunday He shared the cake with his cousin Abby as is becoming a tradition. It is so much fun with the two of them so close in age! They opened cards and collected money! Again, 10 is great! Although He is going to save most of it, He did spend some on a new soccer game for his Wii.
This is a picture of Him and His trophy for His undefeated season this year! As you can tell, we can't brag enough about our Brenner!
Yes it has been two more years since the family photo above the fire place has been changed, and it was time! We always go with the best photographer around- Patrick Douglas of Douglas Photography of course! He always makes us look great!
The Girls
The Boys
Family #1
Family #2
Family #3
Family #4
Family #5
Mia's close-up
Cayden's happy face
And GQ Brenner
Halloween seemed to go on and on this year as it fell on Sunday and I think all desired to make up for it on another day. We had the kids school Trunk-r-Treat on Thursday night and Nikki and Mimi went to the school with the kids to decorate the trunk and hand out lots of candy. Then on to the Monroe Ward Halloween party on Friday night with a chili and cornbread cook-off and another Trunk-r-Treat, again, Nikki won best trunk! Saturday, after Brenner's last soccer game (finishing off an undefeated season), we had the Tara Halloween pizza party and Sunday was spent with family, more great chili, bubbly root beer and the end of the Halloween Fun.
As Nikki saw this as her last year for a theme of some kind, the only thing that most could agree on was "Ghost Busters", as you can imagine, Mia was the hold out and not interested in being a ghost! She wanted to be a princess! She did get her wish at the school party, and she did wear her "ghost" costume with pink bows for short periods of time, but never liked it!
The Smith family as Ghosts and Ghost Busters 2010
Spooky Mummy Dogs, orange Cheetos and bubbly root beer.
Granddaddy borrowed the Chase Bank mascot and surprised all the kids as a big blue dog. A hit with the bigger kids, the smaller kids wanted nothing to do with such a large stuffed animal! Mia is not in the picture, as she was sulking in the house because we tried to get her in her ghost costume one more time.
And what would Halloween be with out the last of the dry-ice pushed into a 2-liter bottle with some water and a tight fitting lid? Not a complete one for sure!
This post may seem strange to many, but most friends and family know of the one extremely picky eater in our family. 
What to do when the kids have a long weekend off for Fall Break? Head to the Mountains of course!!!
Lounging on the sand at the lake.
Nikki and Brenner cooking dinner-
Daddy and Brenner waiting for the tinfoil dinners to finish cooking. 
The Kid Crew at the beach
Much to Dad's dismay, the Scooter Crew- "Here comes a car, get out of the road" and "Someone is going to get hurt" were said countless times. Luckily all survived- Dangerous Razors!!!
