Christmas Family Photos 2012

Tuesday, December 25, 2012


We had so much fun with this years family photo shoot, well we actually have a lot of fun each year... anyways, the theme was "Going to the Fair" and yes the AZ State Fair would have been an awesome place for this but 1) The ONE & ONLY date that would work for ALL OF US was of course not during the dates that the fair was scheduled to be in town. 2) With TWO newborn babies, not such a great environment either. 3) It would have probably been way to many people around and on the rides to get this done. So I set my mind to finding an alternative "fair environment."
CHECK LIST:

  • Chose the date - CHECK
  • Set the time - CHECK
  • Called to confirm that the location would be open for our day & their hours of operation - CHECK
  • Told the kids to be there one hour earlier than our actual start time. TIP - this is the only way to get such a large group anywhere and on time. Most of them haven't figure out yet that I do this, haha - CHECK
Everything was planned to perfection, what could possibly go wrong?  Hmmmm, keep reading and you'll see.
So, it's the day of and we all meet in the parking lot of Castles -n- Coasters, unload multiple vehicles, strollers, purses, jackets, not to mention the photographers stuff and we go inside S-C-R-E-E-C-H! only to find out that the amusement ride side of the park is not open on Thursday's.  WHAT? but your hours are listed as... well none of that mattered since we're standing at the locked gates with a crew of people and stuff...
Now, let me tell you how God works miracles in ALL situations, that's right even with our family photo day, nothing is impossible for Him.  As we are walking back to the entrance, tugging along behind us everything we had drug inside, a manager walks up to us and pretty much knew what we were there trying to do.  I simply explain to him that we had plan to take our family photo in the amusement park area and how this was the only day that would work etc, etc, etc.  He told us to follow him... he took us through a back entrance to the park and told us to have fun.  YES, he called together his crew and they opened the entire amusement park side of Castle -n- Coasters for us to take all the pictures we wanted.  He even had his crew uncover the merry-go-round so that we could use it.  They went over and beyond to accommodate us and told us just to let them know if we needed anything else.  Then they left and we had the park to ourselves. WOW! AMAZING! An entire amusement park to ourselves!  There is simply nothing else to say except that this is how God works and it's not always that BIG physical thing (which is the way our minds tend to think it has to be), sometimes it's just.... well SIMPLE!  I hope you all enjoy our annual family photo session and know how thankful we are that you have stop by to visit us.  MERRY CHRISTMAS!



Baby LOLA!

Baby RJ!
There is someone extra in this family shot, whom we were all trying to imitate, can you find him? 

Our fabulous photographers this year were the sweetest couple from BLUBIRDPICS, Geoffrey & Lindsay Stephens - a husband and wife team who have truly made an imprint on our lives and we thank God for bringing us together.  Don't you love when He does that?  If you are ever blessed to meet them, I promise that your life will be touched as well.  Thank you Geoffrey & Lindsay for these wonderful pictures, we will treasure them always.  the Smith's!

Santa & the Grands

Sunday, December 23, 2012


Our grandbabies with Santa Claus...
  • Trey (4 yrs)
  • Boston (2 yrs)
  • Malaysia (1 yr)
  • Lola (3 mths)
  • RJ (1 mth) 
 
 
 





Weekend in Williams, AZ

Friday, December 21, 2012


Snowflakes, snow forts, snowballs, snow lanterns, snow angels!  Snow is fun and beautiful, but what makes snow so special?  FAMILY!  Playing in the snow is something that you're never too old to enjoy and for us it was a low-key, fun-filled day that our family enjoyed together.  Shannon & Mark2 (click here to see their post) invited us along this year to share their annual trip to Williams for a day, to enjoy the snow and to ride the Polar Express to the North Pole.  This is going to be a longggggg post of pictures because they were just too good and too cute not to showcase them all, so bundle up and hang on while we go sledding thru each one...

First, my collages... I LOVE making these!
FUN IN THE SUN oops, I meant SNOW!
Do you see the size of that snowball?  They couldn't just make them the size of their hands, no way it was all out WAR between these boys...

...and they showed no mercy for our little guys!

Ooooh, Ken really got Reggie good with this one, hahahaha - didn't I just say that "you're never to old to play in the snow."

I told you they had NO MERCY at all for the little ones, look at poor Trey's face, he was terrified!

It was FRE-EEEZING!
Malaysia was cold and took a break in the truck to play on the iPhone.

This was Sabriya getting hit with all the snow on the sleigh you see here in Reggie's hand.
POLAR EXPRESS TRAIN RIDE

NOW for the highlight of our little family get away... Come with us and experience the magic of The Polar Express (the classic children's book written by Chris Van Allsburg).  The story came to life when  the Grand Canyon Railway's Polar Express train departed the Depot in Williams, AZ.   It took us on a journey through the dark and quiet wilderness for a special visit to the "North Pole." We enjoyed hot chocolate and cookies while listening to the magical story. It was so much fun to watch the joy on our grand babies faces when the train arrived at the North Pole... and guess who was waiting for us?  Santa Claus and his reindeer!
Malaysia & Trey with Mrs. Claus!

PaPa with his grandGIRLS!



Arriving at the North Pole!



Santa handing out his special Jingle Bells!

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