Hoping for a Better 2007

We started our New Years taking it easy. We watched all 12 hours of the extended version of the Lord of the Rings over the course of New Years Eve and New Years Day (LKSmemoe family tradition.) Something can be said for watching an epic consequetively. Things make much more sense and one seems to get more emotionally involved with the story.

Lance has been working long hours at the firm, catching up from what he missed over Christmas break. He even worked a 8 a.m. - 6 a.m. shift last Friday. (No, that wasn't a typo. He worked 22 hours straight.) I bought him a computer game for Christmas and he spends the free time he has trying to beat it.

I have returned to my old routine and am working on getting the what few Christmas decorations I put up, down. We have a tradition of leaving our Christmas tree up in honor of the 1. Orthadox Christmas 2. "Wisemen Day" 3. Our procrastinating tendacies. I say it is because of the first two, but secretly I believe it is because of the third.

I feel that change is brewing. Let's see what 2007 holds for our tiny family.

Christmas in Review

We had an enjoyable Christmas in the frozen north. I was still recovering from my surgery when we left so the holidays in MN were not as we expected. Here are some pictures chronicling our holidays.

Goodbye Sofrina! We left Sofi in CA for ten days at the PetSmart Hotel. She posed so adorablelike before we left (literally hugging her stuffed beagle as she dozed off on the carpet.), we almost could not leave her. But, we did, and happily since I was too sore after surgery to chase after her.

The Earl Inn: We stayed with Tom, my brother, Tera, my niece, and her toddler, Adrianna. Tera relinquished her bed for sickie ol' me & Bubba and I can't thank her enough. Adrianna loved having two extra playmates and we spent many a late night playing games and snacking on treats. Adrianna so graciously introduced us to the Teletubbies and Lance and I are still singing the song. (Not sure what a hangover is like, but I am sure having this song stuck in your head is just as bad!) Here she plays video games with Uncle Lance. The picture is so cute it almost convinces me that video games are not evil and good for bonding with children. Notice I said ALMOST.

New Duds: Here is my new Christmas dress, courtesey of Hanna Andersson and Lance. I love this outfit.

Eve of Christmas: I was still feeling very poorly when Christmas Eve rolled around but was able to make a semi-homemade ham dinner with Tera's, Vicki's and Lance's help. While we were doing "women's work," the men did their work. You guessed it - watched a football game.

Smemoe Monopoly: Late Christmas Eve we broke out the Disney Monopoly game so we could honor the Smemoe family tradition. Lance was pretty disappointed because no one in my family is a big monopoly fan and we were pretty lenient with trading.

Our Christmas Miracles: We went to my Dad's for Christmas brunch. Their house was miraculously clean and beautifully decorated. It was almost as though my mom was still there running the Christmas festivities. Jeremy and my dad worked really hard to make a nice Christmas for us. Notice my Grandma Hufnagle's sweater (which I have worn every Christmas day since I was 11 years old) with Lance for our Christmas shot.

Our second miracle was I finally started to feel better Christmas. Sometime let me tell you about my trip on Christmas day to Walgreens and the wonder tonic I had to purchase. Embarrassing tale.

Aunt Titty Tat: Here I am with Baby Alex, David and Vicki's little guy. Can you believe I had invasive surgery not a week before this picture? David and Vicki started calling me Aunt Titty Tat (Gone with the Wind fans will understand) and Lexie Luu sure loved his Auntie. The feeling's mutual, Kid.

Cousin Love: Everyone seemed to love Alex, especially Adrianna. She would rock him in his car seat, pat his head when he cried and her favorite word was "Baybee." Here she tries to burb the baby with David's help.

Friends Again. . . Family Forever: I still wasn't 100% after Christmas and we weren't able to go visit Lance's sister Lisa in Canada. We did manage to visit a few friends and family between my naps and days of rest. We took our Heule friends to the Build-a-Bear Workshop. Lanceypoo is still Tatiana's favorite. (Tatianna is perched on Lance's shoulders in case you couldn't guess which one she was.)

My "girls" - cousins Helen, Sheryl, aunt Ruthann, and friend Amber went with me to enjoy lunch at Biaggi's. Four words: White Chocolate Bread Pudding. I love my cousins (Amber is an adoptive cousin as well) and my aunt. They were the medicine I needed.

Home Again, Home Again, Jiggity Jog: And then it was over. We returned the day before New Years Eve, picked up Sofi, and took a LONG nap to recover from our travels. Over all, Christmas was a success even though I wasn't feeling well for most of it.

A Loss at Christmastime

Sofi has proved that she has a sense when something is wrong with her parents. After Kristi had an emergency salpingectomy on Saturday, Sofi has insisted on sleeping right by her feet. Even when Kristi is reclined in the LazyBoy, Sofi will curl up on the end of the footrest. Through this time of sadness, this pup has given us something to laugh about.

We appreciate all of your prayers and are especially grateful to those who have called to check up on Kristi. This was her second ectopic pregnancy and her situation was a little more dangerous than last time. We are so grateful for the advances in science and for a doctor who was willing to act quickly. Kristi is healing well and will be back on her feet in no time.

We are looking forward to the holidays which we will be spending in MN with Kristi's family. Some may think this is an unfortunate time for this to happen. However, we are grateful for the distractions of the holiday season and the chance to spend time with family and friends.

Infertility is for the Dogs

Sofi had her "snipety snip" surgery yesterday and came home with a huge incision, a saucer for her neck and a certificate of sterilization. Yes, sadly she will never know the joys of motherhood. (Ha! Maybe her and I will have that in common.) I actually cried at the vet when they gave me her certificate. I guess I am mourning for the grand puppies she will never bear.

She HATES her saucer and understandably so. (Take note of her downward facing tail. Beagle enthusiasts everywhere will attest that a downward facing tail belongs to a sad, upset dog.) The satellite look-a-like medical device prevents her from her daily scratching and licking and makes it hard to eat her food or play with her toys. At least we can get a few laughts out of it all as she constantly rams into walls and then staggers for the next few minutes as though we slipped a little somethin' somethin' into her water dish. Unlike most dogs who have major surgery, she has as much energy as usual. And we are supposed to keep her "quiet" how????

Back in the Saddle Again

Much to my surprise, I was called to work in Young Womens program again yesterday. I had long ago come to peace that my days of working with youth were over for a season, especially since I had been given two other small jobs in Relief Sociey (for those who are not familiar with the LDS jargon, Relief Soceity is the women's organization in our church.) And, to keep up with tradition, I am working again with the 12-13 yr. old girls as the Beehive Advisor. Teaching comes very easily to me and I am excited to teach lessons every week.

Good news

Lance passed the bar exam.
Whew! Taking it again would not have been very fun.

Newport Beach

Lance and I decided that we need to explore more. Today we drove to Newport Beach, hoping to expose Sofi to the sand and ocean. The temple is in Newport Beach but it is far away from the tourist locations so we haven't seen much of the ocean or the beach. We unfortunately learned that dogs can not be on the beach or boardwalk between the hours of 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. It was about 2:00 p.m. when we went. Sigh. Just our luck!

With our restrictions, all we could really do was walk along the Balboa pier and stop to get a famous "Balboa bar" (an icecream bar, dipped in chocolate and rolled in sprinkles) and a frozen banana (dipped in chocolate and rolled in nuts.) As you can probably already guess, I got the banana, Lance got the Balboa bar. Our camera stayed at home this trip. . .But thanks to the world wide web, I was able to find a picture of this icecream novelty.

Sofi had fun terrorizing the pigeons and charming many of the tourists. She slep, snoring loudly, the whole way home, exhausted from her outing. I am going to finally read the CA book David gave us last Christmas and make a list of places we need to visit.