He's Almost 10

We are two days away from a very big day in the Smith Family. Our oldest son Jaeden will be turning 10 on August 5th. He now stands very tall and comes to just below my chin. He is a funny kid with a dry sense of humor and a memory as good as an elephants. He is easy going, but has started getting a little more expressive when he does become frustrated with his siblings. His best friend is still...and probably always will be...his little brother Brandon. They do everything together. Jaeden has always been shy...even when he was a little baby. Who am I kidding, the boy was never little. He arrived on this earth weighing almost 10 pounds. The sweet little newborn outfit I bought him to go home in wouldn't button around his chunky neck. He was so young when we brought Brandon home from the hospital, but I so believe God knew what he was doing when he blessed Jaeden with a little brother.

I am grateful that God blessed our family with Jaeden. He reminds me to stop and appreciate all the great things in life.....like airplanes. He loves airplanes just like his Dad. He tells us often that he wants to be an air traffic controller. He knows the names of more planes than his Dad and that is saying a lot. I can't believe he is 10. I will never forget the day he joined our family. We don't have a video of that moment.....I don't need one. I remember every detail and replay it often. I can't wait to see what the next 10 years of Jaeden's life will bring about. I hope he always knows how special and wonderful our family thinks he is.

The Last Plane has Left.............

and my husband was not on it. It all seems a little surreal really. Keith was cleared to go...he had papers in hand that were stamped "cleared to deploy". He headed over to the med clinic to pick up Maleria pills that he'd forgotten and when the pharmacist pulled up his file there was a flag on it. His file was flagged because of a medication he takes for blood pressure. They told him they'd have to submit a waiver for him to deploy with that medication and told him it'd be back in the morning. When he went to get the waiver it came back DENIED. But not because of his blood pressure medication....it was his back. Most of Keith's friends know he's suffered from a back injury for about 8 years not and it was the elephant in the room that no one in his unit wanted to talk about because they needed him in Afghanistan. We were worried and we thought for a couple of days they would force him to medically retire due to his non-deployable status. I don't think the Army would let him off that easy....seems Keith is non-deployable to Afghanistan, but he is still deployable to other places in the world. Needless to say we were excited to hear he didn't have to go, but Keith had to battle with the emotional demons that told him he should be there with his men....for a soldier I don't think those ever go away. I too felt a little guilty at rejoicing that he didn't have to go when so many men did. But we would soon discover what God and the Army had in store for Keith.

Five days after finding out he was staying state side, Keith was chosen to take over the rear detachment company and will serve as First Sergeant for the year. I had forgotten how big of a responsibility that really was....Keith hadn't had a first sergeant in 7 years. Being responsible for 180 soldiers and the families of those that are overseas serving has turned out to be a huge job, but one Keith is absolutely up for. He has worked long hours, sat at the side of a spouse whose husband was dying, delivered news to children of Charlie Simmons that their dad was very sick, he remembered to deliver that coin to Charlie's son and a saber necklace to his daughter, he's helped a young soldier of 19 who didn't quite know where to turn, helped a soldier that had been written off as no good. I don't know what kind of difference Keith would have made over in Afghanistan....I'm sure it would have been immense. Here at Fort Hood, he's making a difference and we're only 2 months in. I'm anxious to see how this year will go while he serves in this capacity. As he would say, he's busier than a one armed paper hanger with an itchy nose. I am so very proud of him.

I wish you could have seen Jaeden's face when Keith told him he didn't have to leave. He had a pretty rough year...that ended great. But I was worried with Dad gone, he might have another rough start to the school year. I don't know why God chose to leave Keith with us, but we're not asking questions.....we intend to make this year COUNT!!!

June 15th, 2011 - Getting Ready for Dad's Deployment

This time last year, we were wrapping up our four and a half years in Budapest, Hungary. I never imagined then that we'd be in the position of getting ready for a year long deployment. I don't know why.......I am married to a soldier. However, for the past 6 years Keith has belonged to a specific section of the Army that only deployed to war zones 2 or 3 months at a time. I think I got a little too comfortable in that part of the Army.

It seems that the wars in both Iraq and Afghanistan are drawing down (that is atleast what our President is saying). I am not kidding myself though, he's going to a dangerous place that is full of people who do not want him there and don't like him simply because he is an American. I think many soldiers going these days wonder what the heck are we doing there. Regardless of why we are there.....there is where my husband has orders to report to. We passed a truck the other day with the words - Welcome Home Daddy....we missed you! In midsentence Keith stopped and said to me, "that's why I'm going Holly...so some other guy whose spent a year away from his family can come home".

Things have definitely changed though since the last time Keith was deployed almost 11 years ago. Our communication will be much more frequent. We have skype, email and he can even have a phone on him. With our itouch and ipad we can do face time whenever we are near wifi. Believe it or not...that's available on the base Keith will be on. He assured me last night that if something as simple as a broken leg happens I'll probably know within hours and will probably be contacted by him. Keith has more than once exclaimed to me his top priority is to keep him and his younger soldiers safe and return them to their families. I will cling to that statement.

Three hundred and sixty four days ago we returned from overseas. It feels like time has flown since that day we stepped off of the plane. I am praying that the next 364 days (starting next weekend) will go by just as fast. In that time we will celebrate one 15th wedding anniversary, four kids birthdays, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter and the end of another school year. I love my soldier so very much. His safety will be my first prayer in the morning and my last prayer in the evening. I'm hoping to use this blog both as a place for me to make sense of my days and for Keith to read about our days while we are here in Texas...........................................

Waiting on Our Soldier.

Jenny Paige's 3rd Birthday Week.

We of course had our family celebration. She enjoyed having all of the attention on her. We sang happy birthday and she opened her family gifts.

She is one of the happiest little girls I know.

We see this smile all of the time.

The Party room is ready. I had so much fun planning this party.

It was a lot of work, but all of the little fairies had a great time.

Mommy and her tiny fairy Jenny Paige

She truly is the sweetest

Jenny's big birthday party went off without a hitch. The girls arrived, we made wands, played games and had a great little lunch together. My friend Marion told a wonderful story of fairies in her great British accent. We were exhausted by the end of the day, but all the work was well worth it.

Our Little Fairy Jenny Paige

has turned in for the night.

Another Great Vacation with the Bobbitts.

Another Bobbitt-Smith Trip to Edelweiss Lodge and Resort

In Beautiful Garmisch Germany.

On March 17th we left Budapest for another great trip to the Bavarian Alps. Garmisch, Germany was our destination and Mary was so excited because she would be strapping on some skis again this year. The drive there was made much easier because of some amazing technology. What did our parents do without this stuff when we were kids.....I remember Chris and I having stare out contests, hand slap and an occasional game of find the license plate....yawn! No, my kids had a dual screen dvd player, there were 3 ipods in the car (all video capable) and Jaeden had his PSP that he and B shared during the trip. Yeah, I guess we could have been having wonderful conversations with our kids, but instead we had a very quiet trip and Keith and I had some great conversations....when does that ever happen.

Jenny with one of the many forms of media

essential for an 8 hour drive to Germany.

We're almost there because there are those

beautiful mountains.


The ladies lounging in the lobby
after a great dinner.

Mary had two whole days of private instruction and she finished the week off with her instructor deeming her an intermediate skiier. She had a great time with Peyton and Avery learning some

new skills. I got to see her scream down a large slope. Scared me to death watching her, but she obviously had a handle on the slope and loved every minute of it.

Here are some great shots of Mary on the slopes of the

Hausburg Mountain.

There they go!!!!!!!!

And here they come.



Our little snow bunny.

Brandon and Jaeden were happy to spend their time in the heated indoor pool at the Edelweiss Resort. For that matter...so was I. The big kids enjoyed getting in the outdoor hot tub, but what a cold walk back inside.


The picture below was the view outside

the back of our suite. Can't beat waking up to

this in the morning. We had some great weather

while we were there.

We had an awesome time on our vacation with the Bobbitts. We've been able to spend our last three spring breaks with them because our children all attend GGIS. We're grateful that the Bobbitts will be spending a couple more years here in Budapest now that Mike is the new head guy at the Task Force. They've truly been that little extra thing that has made Budapest such a great place to live for the past 3 years. We have one more year left and I'm already not looking forward to the goodbyes that will surely be hard to say when it comes our time to leave. But we have made some amazing memories here in Budapest and in the many vacations we have taken to some amazing places.

Time to Go Home :(

So..this is what a quiet weekend is like. Our family was kind of forced to take it easy this weekend. Keith is recovering from a pretty bad sinus infection and Sunday morning we
awoke to hear the boys coughing and sniffling in their rooms.

Saturday we took a quick trip to Decathlon to get a tennis racquet for Mom and we went
straight back home. Sunday we decided not to take the boys to church and get other people
sick. So we've literally taken it easy this weekend. In the middle of the quiet...while watching
on of the many documentaries available on Hungarian cable, I said to Keith that these kind
of days are the best.

The boys played in their room, Jenny played in hers and Mary watched a movie. We slowly tidied up the house for Iren tomorrow and caught up on our laundry now that we have all
three washers and dryers back. I hope that we have many more days like this in the coming
months. Looking at the calendar there is not much chance of a quiet weekend happening too
often. But when I can see one coming...I think I'll welcome it.

Mary's birthday celebrations.

Our family of course celebrated Mary's birthday on Wednesday the 18th. She received flowers from mom and dad ( I asked the florist for a kisci bouquet and this is what I got). Oh well, Mary loved them. Along with her wii that she loves she received a teddy bear, an Itunes card, a snow globe, angel ornaments to add to her collection and a teen magazine from America.

Her big gift was coming on Friday when I would be taking Mary and her friends to Aquaworld and then a slumber party. I'm pretty sure Mary felt very special and enjoyed all of her friends. She received very thoughtful gifts from her friends and had a blast staying up late with them. I think Aquaworld tuckered them out because they all fell asleep before midnight.

Sally, Ha Eun, Peyton, Adie, Mary and Hunter

Fun in the Sun....Kind Of.

Mary Melissa.....about 5 hours old.

Tomorrow our little Mary, who is not so little, will be turning 11. I remember when Keith and I would say to one another, "I can't believe she'll be three, five, nine and now eleven. She has surpassed any expectations that we could have dreamt up ourselves. Being the oldest of four, she is mature beyond her age. She has a grace and poise about her that surprises most she meets and it takes them by surprise to learn that she is only 10...well 11 tomorrow.

In the days following our discovery of Mary's impending arrival, we were terrified. We, two bumbling 22 year olds, were going to be responsible for one little life. I'll never forget the day we found out we were expecting a girl. As we drove past the pacific ocean in Monterey, California, we found ourselves almost giddy with the news. I couldn't wait to go and buy the first pink something that would go in her room. We picked up my mom on Valentines Day in San Fransisco, California and four days later we headed to the hospital at midnight. I remember being so calm and collected on the outside, but truly scared on the inside. And then she was here. A sweet, blonde-headed little girl. The feelings a woman feels when they first hold their baby is an amazing one. We didn't film Mary's birth...I didn't need to. I can remember everything. Fast forward to today with three additions to the family, 4 moves and a different country later, she's flourishing as a young lady.

Mary embraces the new experiences that she has had here in a different country while always appreciating our family in America. She thinks about them and asks often...when can they come see us or when can we go home. Words can not describe the pride that Keith and I both feel when we think of our Mary. She's the push that we needed at such a young age when we were unsure which direction to take a step. She's brought unimaginable joy to our lives. We wonder where has the time gone and remind ourselves often that this time we have with her is fleeting.

We can't wait to see what the next couple of years hold for Mary. We know she'll meet what ever comes her way in a way only she can.

Mary Summer 2008 at Gulf Shores

The following is one of those questionnaires from Facebook or MySpace. It's all about your first born and how much you remember so I thought I'd post it here.

All About Mary.

1. WAS YOUR FIRST PREGNANCY PLANNED? Not at all. Keith and I got married when we were 21 after dating for 4years. The plan was to have our first at 27. Little did we know an angel was headed our way.

2. WHAT WERE YOUR REACTIONS? Let's see...I think I ran the whole gamet of emotions. I was shocked, excited, scared, bewildered and just plain stunned. After it sank in..I was elated.

3. HOW OLD WERE YOU? We were 22 when we got pregnant and Mary arrived 2 months after I turned 23.

4. HOW DID YOU FIND OUT YOU WERE PREGNANT? Well my mom asked me when I complained of some soreness...(you ladies know where). It didn't even dawn on me that I'd missed until I looked at a calendar.

5. WHO DID YOU TELL FIRST? Keith. I drove to the hospital where he was working as an OR tech and handed him the test on his lunch break. The look on his face was priceless. He'll admittingly tell you today he was scared.

6. DID YOU WANT TO FIND OUT THE SEX? We found out the first chance we got.

7. DUE DATE? February 20th

8. DID YOU HAVE MORNING SICKNESS? Yes

9. WHAT DID YOU CRAVE? Not anything out of the ordinary

10. WHO/WHAT IRRITATED YOU THE MOST? Well Keith could get on my last nerve.

11. WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST CHILD'S SEX? a girl

12. DID YOU WISH YOU HAD THE OPPOSITE SEX OF WHAT YOU WERE GETTING? We had talked about how we hoped our first was a boy, but what did we know. As soon as they said it was a girl we just melted.

13. HOW MANY POUNDS DID YOU GAIN THROUGHOUT THE PREGNANCY? I think about 40

14. DID YOU HAVE A BABY SHOWER? Yes. We had just moved to Monterey, CA. When we went home for Christmas my maid of honor Susan gave me a sweet baby shower.

15. WAS IT A SURPRISE OR DID YOU KNOW? I knew.

16. DID YOU HAVE ANY COMPLICATIONS DURING YOUR PREGNANCY? None, I think I might have been anemic

17. WHERE DID YOU GIVE BIRTH? California

18. HOW MANY HOURS WERE YOU IN LABOR? We went in at midnight. I think Mary arrived around 6:00 pm.

19. WHO DROVE YOU TO THE HOSPITAL? Keith and my Mom.

20. WHO WATCHED YOU GIVE BIRTH? Keith, my mom, Celia (our nurse) and Lydia (our other nurse).

21. WAS IT NATURAL OR C-SECTION? Natural

22. DID YOU TAKE MEDICINE TO EASE THE PAIN? Epidural, but only after some wise nurses talked me into getting one.

23. HOW MUCH DID YOUR CHILD WEIGH? 7 lbs. 12 oz.

24. WHEN WAS YOUR CHILD ACTUALLY BORN ? February 18th 1998

25. WHAT DID YOU NAME HIM/HER? Mary Melissa Smith....when we told the nurses her name they stopped and asked us did we say Mary. When we said yes they said....we haven't had a Mary here for a long time what a beautiful name. Mary was born with a head full of blonde hair. All of the other nurses on duty kept coming in to see the new little blonde in the maternity ward. She was beautiful and really she is what started us on the path that we are on today. Thank you Mary.

What a Great Weekend

My younger brother Matt and me.

One of the newest and greatest things about living in Europe these days is the fact that my younger brother and his family now live in Grafenwheor Germany which is about 450 miles away from here. Sure it is a 7 hour drive, but considering we've been separated by thousands of miles for many years now. We'll take the seven hour drive. We visited on Valentine's Day weekend and it just so happens that the Army had VTCs set up for the families. So while we were in Graf we got to SEEEEE Matt. We visited with him for what was surely not enough time. He was not feeling well. I have to admit I got a little teary eyed seeing him. When I think of Matt I see a 3 year old blonde headed little boy with freckles who followed my everywhere. Now my little brother is a husband, a father and a soldier. He looked great but the fact remains that we want him close to his family...close to our family. We are proud of him and think he's done an amazing job at all of those things that he is now. We pray for protection over him and ALL of the soldiers who are in Iraq.

Kimberly, Christian and Matt "together"

on Valentine's Day

We really enjoyed spending time in Graf with Kimberly, Christian and Jackie. It was fun watching all of the cousins play and really get to know one another. Christian turns 2 on February 27th and it's hard to believe he's that age already. It's comforting knowing that for the next couple of years we will be close enough to Matt & Kimberly to spend birthdays together, celebrate holidays together and go on vacations together.

Jenny & Christian playing in the playroom.

We also realized something during our trip. We have definitely outgrown Old Faithful....for those of you who don't know Old Faithful...she's our Trooper that just keeps on a truckin. She didn't even hiccup on our trip. However, having the extra seat in the back has been great for the past couple of years, but Jaeden's legs have pretty much outgrown the seat. So Brandon is left to sit in the back by himself while Jenny, Mary and Jaeden sit in the middle row. This pretty much means we will be on the hunt soon for a bigger vehicle in the coming months. We'll be keeping "Old Faithful" though until the "doors fall off". She's been a good car to have in a country with pot holes every few feet and people who smack your car while driving down narrow streets in the city. Mary has said that she'd like to have the Trooper when she drives. I don't know if it'll still be running, but I wouldn't be surprised.

This weekend was busy. First the almost impossible to see in English Bolt that the kids really enjoyed. Well Keith and I actually enjoyed it as well. Sunday was a busy day for us because we were attending Jaeden's blue and gold banquet for Boy Scouts. We had a great time visiting witht the other scouts and their families. All of the boys received their advancements and the Dad's got turn their sons.

We also had a cake contest where all of the boys brought

their boy scout themed cakes. They were very impressive

and the winner was.......Car Der Car. Take a look at some

some of these impressive cakes.

FINALLY

We finally got to take th kids to see the movie Bolt. Although here in Budapest it was advertised as VOLT!. Apparently in Hungarian Bolt is the word for store, but Volt actually means was. So I guess they used the word that was the least confusing. Anyway, the kids really enjoyed the movie.

All is well in the Smith Family Household

Well we are all back to our old selves today. We were actually able to make it church this morning. I know our friends were beginning to wonder where on earth we have been.

Keith was home with us until Wednesday getting over his illness. Mary and Brandon were
both out of school for the entire week. I have to admit..it was very easy getting only Jaeden
off to school everyday. Unbelievably, Jenny and Jaeden never came down with what the other
three had.



So my kids have been dying to see the new movie BOLT. In America, the movie came out on November 21st and we thought for sure it would be here too. Many American movies have come out here even before they came out in America. Okay so we wait until January 29th. We found out from a movie clerk that's when it would be here. We woke up on the 29th ready to go and alllllll of the movie theaters were showing BOLT in only hungarian....WHAT? I had to go to the movie theater myself to investigate. These boys have been patient enough.
Well as luck would have it, BOLT's release coincided with Hungarian Film Week. Now you say, "Bolt is an American Movie". Yes, yes I know this. Still my patient little boys will be waiting until this coming Saturday when they will actually show this movie HERE.



Life will hopefully go back to normal this week with all three children back at school, 10 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches made for the week, 3 lunch boxes readied every morning and getting them out the door. It's tiring to think about, but that's our life.

Three for the price of one.

Last evening health in the Smith house deteriorated quickly. Starting with Keith, then Brandon and then Mary. All of them have high fevers and feel lousy. Brandon fell asleep on his own last night (something he never does) and Mary fell asleep wrapped up in two blankets and socks on her feet (something she never does). So starts our day. I sent poor little healthy Jaeden off to school today alone. He didn't really like it that everyone was staying home but him. I tried to make it sound good with a cheery, "Well everyone else has to stay in bed, and you get to go and have fun with your friends." I didn't get a smile, but more of a yeah right mom.

On top of all of this, the cleaning lady usually comes today. Will she clean around them? There's too many of them. All I know is that I do get a break today from playing nurse when I go to Hungarian language class. Maybe tomorrow things will turn around for everyone, but as for right now we're nursing 100+ temps, achy bodies and headaches......yay me.

Happy Birthday Brandon Paul Smith.

It's All Mine!

So Brandon's birthday dinner wish was really "hard" for us to fulfill. The kid just wanted McDonalds chicken nuggets, french fries with a side of lots of new Transformers. So his

wish was our command. We had a great birthday dinner listening to all the kids tell us about their day at school. We kept teasing Brandon, telling him he was only 5 not six. He was emphatic that he was 6. Can't believe 6 years have gone by since he entered our family, but we're so grateful that he did.

A Good Time Inside at the Beach

Jae & Brandon racing

Well who'd have thunk it. Budapest now has an amazing, modern, clean and convenient indoor water park. The kids were off school yesterday, so Keith took the day off and we headed off to Aquaworld that some of our friends had told us about. Low and behold, it was inexpensive (for a family of six that is) and definitely gave us all of the bang for our buck.

First attraction...the clean locker rooms.....man were they clean. Second attraction, an indoor wavepool. The kids really enjoyed this. It was shallow enough that all of the kids could really enjoy the pool. Next, the kids section. A pool that was at most 3 feet deep with two kid perfect sized water slides. Even Jenny went down the rainbow slide. The boys had a great time splashing around in this pool because there was plenty to see and they could go anywhere and we could still see them.

Jenny had a great time playing
in the wave pool. The waves made her laugh.

Daddy and Jenny enjoyed playing on the fun slides.

Mary and I both braved the water slide. We got to ride together, but the tube got away from me. So, Mary got to ride all the way down solo and I came down behind...no pun intended but "ouch". Keith and Jaeden decided to go do the same and they had a great time together sliding down and laughed and laughed. Mary and I decided to try this thing they talk about in Europe and swim outside even while it's frigid outside. It was actually quite nice. Mary thought the fog that it created was a little creepy, but was impressed by the automatic door that opened so you could swim outside to the open pool. One of the last attractions we visited was the hot pool. Now that pool was wonderful. It had lounge areas perfect for resting on and had jets on the seating area. Keith enjoyed sitting in this pool with the jets since his back has not been to happy as of late. I was even able to get in some exercise in the lap pool. I'm telling you we were very impressed. 8,120 forints for two adults and four kids. The tickets were for two and a half hours and it was plenty of time for the kids to have fun and we treated them to McDonalds on the way home. So we rate this Budapest outing as one of our favorites so far. Definitely a place to go on a gloomy, cold and rainy day in the Budapest winter.

Even Brandon, ventured out
into the wave pool and enjoyed
playing in the warm water.

So the snow has melted and the sun actually came out today to warm up the city. It was a welcome sight to see. It was still quite cold out, but we still enjoyed the beautiful day resting in our home. Hopefully Mr. Groundhog will not see his shadow and spring will come early in Budapest. It's my favorite season here and I can't wait for it to arrive.

So our Brandon is turning 6

Brandon Paul Smith-January 2003

It's January 20th, 2009. I'm new tothe blog thing so we'll see how this goes.

Have you ever heard the words, " I remember the day you were born". Well in my experience and the day Brandon Paul Smith was born those words couldn't ring more true.

I was a heavy 190 and a couple days over due. Keith and I cautiously drove to the hospital hoping that this was the day....we'd been sent home before. When we arrived I remember a family who delivered in the triage room because she had waited so long to come.....she'd been sent home before too I bet. So it was quick. I was definitely in labor, they took me to a room and we began the loooooong wait for this little one. I was asked if I wanted an epidural and you know what my reply was...load it up. I didn't even feel many contractions in the beginning and then, ah yes and then. Little Brandon, all 9 lbs. 5 oz. of him became stuck. So we sit and wait at 9 centimeters and the last one never comes. So I'm looking down the tunnel of a c-section when a doctor arrives and says, "Mrs. Smith, you don't know me, but I know you. I've been monitoring you all night (yes they left me in that state for 9 hours over night). He worked a little magic and bam 10 centimeters. We pushed for what seemed an eternity, this baby was big.

I almost missed the moment he arrived. My epidural had worn off and I was in the worst pain ever. But there he was with the pediatric doctor standing over him. He never wailed or screamed he simply wimpered a little, something that scared me. He was perfect. He had a head full of black hair, so much that it met his eyebrows at his temples. He started nursing right away and Mom and I noticed he had his Daddy's dimples. Ten fingers, ten toes and he was ours. I think maybe since this was my third I took ths event as just another at the time. Now thinking back to it, I am in awe of all the wonderful things that happened that day.

Keith stayed with me that night while May watched Mary and Jaeden. I stared at him for what seemed like an eternity. God had blessed us with another son and a lifelong buddy for Jaeden.

So here we are 6 years later. We moved to Hungary a month before he turned three and now he's six. He looks at the world with the wonder of a child and when you look at him you can see his wheels are turning about something. He's our Brandon. I'm grateful that I've been blessed with four children. I'm anxious to see what the next year has in store for him.