my family

My Girl is 8!

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It is unbelievable to me that she is so old. I remember the days when we would walk to the park each day after nap time. I would push her in the stroller to the tot lot. We would often smell the Indian restaurant getting ready for dinner. Ahhh, those were the days.
Now we are trying to get in a habit of riding bikes to school. At pick up she is often ready to go home, but her little brothers need some time to get their wiggles out. Most of the time she is patient and will wait. Typically she will eventually have fun with friends after only a bit of complaining.
All in all India is a sweet girl. She is always concerned for her friends, making sure they feel included. After living here for 3 years she has finally found her niche. Not to say she hasn’t fit in, but now I can say she has a good group of friends who care for her as she does for them. Lots came to support her on her birthday when she was baptized.

Citrus in Menton

Every February this village on the boarder of France and Italy hosts a citrus festival. They make structures out of lemons and oranges. This year each depicted either a movie genre or scene from a film. There is also a parade, but we missed that. Zach did see a posse of Cowboys and Indians twirling ropes and riding horses. Welcome to France. He says the French love westerns.



Zach bought a crepe and I bought a hot lemonade (it was cold out) along with some orange shaped candy to take home to the kids.

After seeing the citrus we wandered through the streets until we came to the Mediterranean. There were some pretty crazy signs and the sea was beautiful.



The sign with the alien wind surfer cracked me up.

That night we ate pizza, seeing as we were so close to Italy. There we were, 4 adults and 6 kids in a little restaurant with only one who can (more easily than some) speak French. We were enjoying each others company while the staff watched us intently. Then a large group of what looked like a middle aged soccer/rugby team came in. I thought for sure they would be louder than us. Nope. Not a word passed between them. Were they listening to us? Do Europeans not speak while eating with friends? What gives? I imagine that after we left they continued on with their lives. Which included speaking while eating together.

Spring Has Sprung


Our crab apple trees have finally bloomed. I mean to say, bloomed for the first time in the 3 years we have lived here. It’s sad we have missed this beautiful display each year because of late freezes. I think the first spring we arrived the trees bloomed (we didn’t live in this house). But coming from lush Maryland this high desert spring couldn’t compare with the one we had left behind. Our yard is quite beautiful in its spring glory.
Some new developments in the Smith home. Zed is walking and Ezra finally decided to play with the counting game I made him for Christmas.



1st Cake

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Really? Well, probably not really his first cake. He is the third child after all.


Our friends who live in the neighborhood made these shirts for Zed and I. This was their maiden voyage.


This one is our brown baby. Brown hair, eyes and skin. I’d like to get a shot of all three kids to compare skin tone. Maybe this summer.


Not only is he brown, but he eats just about anything you put in front of him. Green being his favorite color to eat. How cool is that?
FYI, I do not recommend the Safe Sippy (which Zed is holding). It leaks on the floor, leaks in the bag. It leaks, leaks, leaks! They include a plug which can be inserted while traveling, but you have to unscrew the lid, dripping liquid everywhere to unplug the thing. That doesn’t help at all when child throws it to the ground. I’m a sucker for BPA free stuff, but let me be the only sucker who buys this thing!
Ok, just read that they will replace my leaky sippy. Maybe now I can really have a safe sippy that will keep me safely sane!

The Street Where we Stayed

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This is the street where we stayed our week in France. Atop this hill was an old ruin dating back some 800 years. The streets were so narrow, it was hard to believe any cars drove it at all. Our first time driving up the hill, we missed this street entirely since a car was parked at it’s head. I thought it was a driveway, Zach new it was a street… the street. Tells you who has driven in France before.

As we walk down the hill to our safely parked cars we passed two fountains…

one in a little cobble stone square with this on it’s edge…

As we head down the hill the road widens enough to allow some parking. Love the French cars. So tiny.

This is the wall in the parking lot. I wanted to photograph the family here, but every time we were in the lot we were off to some destination… wearing heavy coats. Oh the weather! Too cold!

This is Mary’s favorite door. Was it really that blue? I can’t remember. We may need to collaborate to get the right color balance.