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.