REVIEW of 2013!

Collin and Frederick are going out on a date and little Hattie Hat is snoozing in my lap, so I'm going to spend a few moments reflecting on our year. I always like doing this because it reminds me of all the great times we've had and the many many many ways we've been blessed.

Collin, Mommy, and Frederick, New Years Eve 2012

First off, here's a list of goals I made for this year. I give myself 8 points (on a scale that doesn't make sense). Pretty okay. Not great, but okay.

Now let's look at.....

smith top twelve in 2011

1. JANUARY

we went to the White House with Anne Costa.

we made life-changing decisions at each of our jobs and ran away to Pitman 

we found out we were PREGNANT with a little Skittlecore, though we didn't tell anyone till March

Montgomery the kitty got neutered

2. FEBRUARY

celebrated another excellent Valentines Day with my two loves

we survived another winter in DC and harness trained Monte

I was EXHAUSTED and couldn't eat anything with flavor

3. MARCH

had another great Iron Chef with best buddies in Rockville

my mom and Joe came to visit for their spring break

I turned 27 years old!

Collin turned 30 YEARS OLD!

4. APRIL

I spent three weeks away from my collin and monte in FL and UT with the smiths

Collin got a job in AZ!! we were going to move!!!

my tummy started to grow

I returned home to beautiful blossoms

we spent Easter in Rockville with friends then packed up and had to say goodbye

5. MAY

we MOVED across the country

collin started work and we had fun living with the moneys

celebrated mothers day

we got a new smith, DOT

6. JUNE

we found Blossom Birth Center, where we'd be having our child, and had our first appointment

we weren't finding out the sex of our baby

father's day!

7. JULY

we had another ultrasound! s(he) was doing great!

we started hypnobirthing class

Collin almost died of neumonia

went to a reading and book signing for Laurie Notaro, my hero

we moved to central Phoenix!!

8. AUGUST

Montgomery Jack-o-lantern Gentleman Farmer TURNED 1  

my dad survived the first of two heart surgeries and many miracles happened in our family

9. SEPTEMBER

Dottie got spayed, poor cute girl and DAD's SECOND surgery was a success!

so close to having our babe!

really enjoying living where we live

I got Bell's Palsy

Thunder Football games

And.......I GAVE BIRTH to Frederick Ian!!

10. OCTOBER

we adjusted to being parents

HALLOWEEN

kept busy with work, life, family

11. NOVEMBER

loving my baby and breastfeeding

Thunder won the Regional Championship! Next up Florida for the National Championship!

Elder David Money returned from serving 2 years in the Dominican Republic

mom and dad Smith came into town 

Collin and I celebrated our third wedding anniversary

we celebrated Thanksgiving

and Collin Blessed Freddie!

12. DECEMBER

the Thunder won the NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP for jr. midget football

Christmas festivities

Christmas time at the Moneys

It's been QUITE A YEAR! old jobs, new jobs, new home, adding family members, and celebrating; we hold to each other and the gospel. we're happy. we're humble. we're simple. we're more in love than ever. We're excited for 2012!

MoneySmiths 2010.

January-we packed up our lives, said goodbye to family and friends and moved across the COUNTRY!

February-we found ourselves in a new town, buried under a ton of snow, with heart-shaped pancakes. Most of all, we loved being in our new city and loved seeing all the new exciting sights & art around town. We had our first house guests, the Ahpings, before we had any FURNITURE!

March-We painted our apartment, enjoyed stake conference in the DC Temple Visitor's Center (and church across from the temple every week), and it was both of our birthdays!

April-The Smiths came to visit from Florida, the blossoms were gorgeous, we had Easter, General Conference, and early morning walks to work. Oh! And I got called to the nursery at church!!

 May-A visit to Charlottesville, VA, for our cousins' daughter's baby blessing. Cute Maebel! Then to Pitman, New Jersey, for more cousins and John's famous burgers at the Memorial Day BBQ. Don't forget our wonderful Mothers and talking to Elder Money in the DR on Mother's Day. 

 June-was celebrating fathers and FUTURE Fathers everywhere. I love my hot future dad. I also was a leader at Girls' Camp.

July-The Money family clan + tons of Nesbits came to visit! We celebrated the 4th of July in DC for the first time, watching the fireworks at the Washington Monument, sang patriotic songs on a crowded subway, went to Hershey Park and perfected our pizza recipe.

  

 August-We said goodbye to good friends, Jill, Brian and Cedric, went to a patriotic rally, and enjoyed the last days of summer. (Not too much though...it was a HUMID ONE!)

 September- saw another inspiring exhibit, planned a bachelorette party, and saw my best friend, Morgan Cummard marry Tom Skeen for ALL ETERNITY in the house of God. It was beautiful and made me so grateful that I'll be with my own sweet, Collin, FOR FOREVER!

  

October-Road trip to Martinsburg, West Virginia, where we saw AJ Money's place of residence on his mission, and picked up a cute little souviner--the newest member of the MoneySmith family, Montgomery Jack-O-Lantern Smith. There was an excellent trip to Florida and a very memorable Halloween.

 November-was a jam-packed month. The leaves were changing and gorgeous, the weather was perfect, we visited the Temple visitor's center with good friend, Yi, and saw my favorite band, Azure Ray, play together for the first time in 6 years. Monte had his first plane ride adventure, we were in Phx for less than 24 hours, Collin and I celebrated our 2 years of marriage at the happiest place on earth (besides Hershey Park), saw lots of family, and had a really delicious Thanksgiving. Then..we had to say goodbye.

 December-Collin's sister, Kendra, got married, Monte got bigger and cuter, we had a taste of Mongolian culture, I made ornaments, we went to a really fun sing-along, Montgomery made a new best friend, Shadow, and we spent a WONDERFUL Christmas with the Smiths in Kentucky.

And this is just scratching the surface of 2010. What can we say? It's been a good year. And this one has already gotten even BETTER.