Busy Bees!

We've been a couple of busy bees these last few weeks ... and thus haven't been able to post in a while. Here's a little update on what we've been up to:

Work has been keeping Cam VERY busy between different training courses, prepping ranges, making inventories, and all the usual paperwork that comes with being a platoon leader. After work, he's been diligently prepping and finishing painting our master bedroom and bath. Here's an "in-process" shot:
We'll post some "after" shots once all the clean-up and proper "pretty" staging is done!

While I don't have a job to keep me busy, I find my days filled with dog walking/entertaining, household chores, errands and various activities on Post that I'm involved in. Plus, I always have time to spare for a coffee get-together with girlfriends! I've also been working away at diminishing my fabric stash before Baby Billy Bob arrives. I know once he/she is here, I won't have time to do as much quilting, so in order to build up my Project Linus stash (so that I have things do donate after his/her entrance) AND clean out the craft closet, I'm sewing my fingers to the bone. I've managed to finish 3 quilts (the Mystery Quilt was started waaaay back in March) in the last 2 weeks and have another on the sewing machine awaiting binding.

A mystery quilt done with the Ft. Bliss Blissful Stitchers. It's a little "scrappy" for my taste, but hopefully some lil' kid will love it!

A panel that I just added the black and blue borders and a backing to. I also tried my hand at a little more free-motion quilting on this one.

A panel of four Suzy Zoo prints that I just added the red and yellow borders and a backing to. I quilted the inner and outer square of the red border and did a little more free-motion quilting over the Suzy design.

Athena's also been a busy little dog, trying to be underfoot no matter what we are doing. She's tolerating her mange treatment and the spot seems to be improving. We have to take her back to the vet in a week to get another skin scraping to test for mite production. Keep your fingers crossed that she gets a clean bill of health!

Sleeping in

Memorial Day Weekend, Part Dos

As I mentioned below, Cam and I made a hurried 4-day trek up to Portland, OR/Vancouver, WA for a much needed trip to visit a few friends and a whole lot of family! We also learned a few interesting things along the way...

Driving to the El Paso airport on Friday morning before the sun came out, we noted the temperature gauge in the truck read: 65 deg F. Upon landing in Portland, our pilot cheerfully announced that we arrived into overcast skies with scatter showers and a high of 55 deg F. Welcome home!

We spent the day on Friday with Cam's dad, which included a "quick" trip south (Thanks, Portland traffic!) to the Shane Company for a few ring cleanings and inspections, before finally heading home to Vancouver (with a quick pit stop at the original Burgerville! YUM!) In all our driving around that afternoon, all I could do was marvel at how green and lush everything was. I had forgotten how I missed seeing an actual river every day or looking out a window at a hillside covered in green trees or how beautifully colorful spring flowers can be!

After a short nap for all of us, we rendezvoused at the FABULOUS Dragon King Chinese Restaurant in Hazel Dell with some great friends from high school: Kevin, Wes and Ben. Dinner was as deliciously greasy as we remembered it and it was great to catch up with old friends!

Despite the fact that Wes attended Eastern Washington University (located approximately 70 miles north of WSU), he was kind enough to bring us a baby present - a little stuffed HUSKY! Wes decided the dog was the cutest one in Toys R' Us and therefore, we couldn't live without it. (ATTN All Coug Friends: We need a little stuffed COUG to teach our kid the difference between GOOD and EVIL...)

On Saturday, we spent the entire day with Cam's brother, Jason, and his family. We did a little shopping with the girls (Kristy, Angie-the-S-I-L, and Alyssa-the-niece) headed to JoAnn Fabrics, while the boys (Cam, Jason, and Andrew-the-nephew) dinked around Sportsman's Warehouse; we played a few games, including chess, 4-player chess and Life!

Before long, it was time to pack up and head to Cam's grandparents' house for a "surprise" Baby Shower/Family Gathering. There was, as usual, WAAAAY too much food, great company, and a wonderful slew of games to play. Angie did an amazing job as Baby Shower hostess, entertaining us with the "Candy-Bar/Dirty Diaper Game" (FYI - Bruce, the stepfather-in-law and Angie's dad can gut a fish with the best of them, but couldn't stomach being in the same room with "dirty" diapers. Wussies!!!), a super cute "Match Game" and "The Price is Right". Thanks, Angie for all your hard work! We had sooooo much fun!!!

Enjoying our Baby Shower

Angie, the beautiful hostess of The Match Game
Doesn't she look like Vanna White?

Very Studious Participants in The Price is Right
(L to R) Karen (Angie's mom), Andrew (nephew), Sarah (sis), Dave (dad), Tish (Dave's girlfriend)

On Sunday, my parents graciously drove the 3 1/2 hours west from West Richland to visit with us in Vancouver. The four of us had an early breakfast at a favorite greasy spoon before making the rounds to see old Leber family friends. We stopped by our old neighborhood to visit the Barkers (our "upstairs" neighbors) to catch up ... and spy on our old house. We trekked out to Battle Ground for a BBQ in our honor at our "Aunt" Jan and "Uncle" Ron's house, where we were joined by our other GREAT family friends, Dave and Helen Alt and their son, David and his family. It was wonderful to spend some time with people who watched my brothers and me grow up.

I'm so glad that my parents were able to drive over to see us. I talk to one of them at least 3 times a week, but I had forgotten how much I missed seeing my parents in the flesh ... especially since moving to El Paso and not being able to make quick trips to and fro across Washington.

Parents- and Grandparents-To-Be

With "Uncle" Ronnie (AKA The Sugar Booger Man) and Jan

More old family friends, the Alts

Sunday night found us back in Oregon at Cam's mom's house for another BBQ. We were joined by Cam's sister, Sarah, her boyfriend, and Jason, Angie and the kids. We had such fun eating MORE, playing cut-throat Team Sequence and spending more time with family.

The Smith Siblings

Nuttiness runs in the family?
(with our niece and nephew)

Unfortunately, our trip was a short one and as always, there is never enough time to see everyone we hoped we could. Thankfully, we're planning another trip north for the Great Baby Tour of 2010. Look for our tour dates around the end of November, early December.

Until then: Thanks a million to all the family members that made our trip a success!

Memorial Day Weekend, Part Uno

Cam and I made a hurried 4-day trek up to Portland, OR/Vancouver, WA to see some family before it gets too late for me to fly. While we were away, Athena the Wonder Pup stayed with our good friends, Charla and Jason, and their new puppy, Rembrandt. Remy is about 3 months younger than Athena, but the two of them were bosom buddies (and both EXHAUSTED) by the time the weekend was over. Charla and Jason said that they just played and played and played all weekend - to the point where they couldn't even go to sleep and had to be separated for anyone in the household to get some rest.

Charla managed to capture some of their playtime! (FYI - Athena is the bigger of the two dogs)


More stories and pictures will follow in a couple days ... so hold your horses! :D

11th ADA Brigade - Spring Gala

Last night, Cam and I attended the 2010 11th ADA Brigade Welcome Home Gala, our first formal event with his new Brigade. It was held at a very swanky hotel downtown (which isn't so swanky to drive through ... yikes!) in its ballroom with HUGE crystal chandeliers. The ADA colors (red and yellow) were the decorating scheme which made for a very bright and festive atmosphere. We had a lot of fun and got to see several of Cam's new co-workers and former classmates all dressed up and looking snazzy!

Prior to the Gala, I spent the day with Charla Welch trying to get our nails done (too bad the place we had an appointment was closed), having a long leisurely lunch, accessory shopping and finally getting our "hairs did" together by our favorite stylist, John. In the end, we were two gorgeous gals that just needed our dresses!

We ended up carpooling together with our next-door neighbors, Sgt. Wengler and his wife, Heather. Heather had such a good night that she even came home with the Wii door price! Unfortunately, the price for a ride to and from home did not equal the Wii in her mind! :D

Here are some pictures from our super fun evening:

All spiffed up and ready to go!
(Prom-style photo! He-he!)

2LT Smith and 2LT Welch showing off their required red socks

With our good friends, Jason and Charla

Next-door neighbors and carpool buddies for the evening, Darrell and Heather

Aren't we gorgeous?!?

Easter Adventures

To celebrate Easter 2010, we invited our very good friends, Jason and Charla Welch, over for a little egg-dying fun. Charla and I had found a Camo dye kit and decided that our Army boys needed to try it out!

Unfortunately, the kit was a big disappointment. The colors were not very colorful, the stickers that were supposed to be used did not stick very well, and to achieve a desired look almost all the camo stickers were required. Oh well! I think we all had fun ... and had some yummy hard-boiled eggs to enjoy afterward.

The egg dying gang

Concentration required!!!

Cam's one camo egg

Jason's camo egg progression
(R to L: The Good, the Bad & the Ugly)

The Smiths' contributions

As for actual Easter, Cam and I attended a local Lutheran church that we found a few weeks ago. (While it's not perfect, it might just have to do until we decide we want to keep looking at other local churches.) We were dressed in our Sunday best ... including Cam looking very handsome in his Army Dress Blues. Unfortunately, we were in such a rush to get changed so that Athena couldn't: 1) get Cam's uniform dirty and 2) snag my nylons that we forgot that we were going to take pictures of us all snazzed up ... so please enjoy this artist rendering!

Artist Rendering:
Sunday Best

We were invited to join Susan, our realtor, and her husband and friends for Easter dinner. The food was delicious and we got to meet a few more new Army people that have moved to the El Paso area. It was a great way to cap off the day.

We hope that you enjoyed your Easter and were able to get together with friends, family and loved ones to celebrate this joyful time. Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!!!

Holiday Highlights

Here are a few random highlights from the Smith's Christmas/New Years season:

#1: Graduate from BOLC III with honors:
During the BOLC III Graduation Ceremony, Cam was awarded the BG Mellnik Leadership Award, as voted on by his classmates and approved by the Cadre, and the Army Communication Skills Award for his superior grades on his Cultural Awareness Paper, Battle Analysis and Operation Order. As the leadership award recipient, he also led his classmates in the Soldier's Creed during the graduation ceremony.


#2: Drive non-stop north through the western US states:
After the graduation ceremony, we packed up the truck and headed out for a 24+ hour trip north through New Mexico, Arizona, and California to Washington and Oregon to spend time with our families. We spent 4 days in the Vancouver/Portland area visiting with Cam's parents, siblings, nieces, nephew, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins... We even squeezed in some time to visit with some of Kristy's family friends while we were in town. On Christmas Eve, we headed to Eastern Washington to spend a few days with Kristy's parents, brothers and grandma.

The Smith/Anderson/Dunphy gang

With Dad Smith and his girlfriend

Twins? Uncle Cam and his nephew

The Smiths, The Lebers and Grandma

#3: Pray for no snow on our drive home:
We took a different route home through Idaho, Colorado, Utah and New Mexico. We were blessed enough to only find a little snow just as we were leaving Utah and saw the most beautiful sunrise in New Mexico.

#4: Finish unpacking and organizing our NEW house:
After arriving home safely after a 20+ hour drive, we set to work unpacking our remaining boxes and organizing everything! We ended up with a HUGE garage sale pile (We'll drag it all to our friends' house on Post for the Spring Post-Wide Garage sale) and more space than we know what to do with. On the bright side, both cars fit in the garage with space to spare for our bikes and a work bench for Cam!

#5: Attend the 2009 Sun Bowl:
Our house-inspection guy noticed that we were big football fans (How could he not when we were sporting Coug gear from head to toe when we met him?) and offered us free tickets to watch our Pac-10 brethren Stanford take on the University of Oklahoma. We figured that we'd be safe with either teams' fans if we proudly wore our WSU crimson. While our adopted team didn't win, we had a GREAT time and got to see the Army Knights parachute team deliver the game ball.



#6: Start a new job:
After all the hullabaloo of the holidays, Cam was ready to start his new job with his new command. He is currently a platoon leader for the A-4 THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense) Battery. He is currently spending most days "out in the field" learning the system and meeting his team.

As a final note, we wanted to say a huge THANK YOU to all of our family and friends we visited over the Christmas break!!! You guys went above and beyond for us and we feel so lucky and loved! Until we can visit again, our door is always open and we now have a super comfy Guest Room! :)

Welcome to 2010!

Just a quick note to wish all our family and friends a very Happy and Healthy New Year!

It's been a VERY busy month of December for us. We packed up our dinky apartment on the west side and moved to our NEW home in Northeastern El Paso. We also drove to and from Washington to visit family for the holidays. As soon as we're a little more settled (and can find the camera cord to connect to the computer), we'll get a proper post up.

Until then:
For auld lang syne, my dear,

For auld lang syne,

We'll take a cup of kindness yet,

For auld lang syne.

Thankful for Thanksgiving!

We are so thankful for Thanksgiving this year. Not only were we able to spend it together in our new hometown, but we were able to share our blessings with family and friends!

I was so grateful to have most of my immediate family join us for the big day. My parents drove down from Washington on Wednesday and my youngest brother, Erik, flew in on Thursday morning. Unfortunately, my other brother, Tim, was unable to leave NY and we all missed him terribly.

While the family was in town, we took them sight-seeing around El Paso and Ft. Bliss and even showed them the "mighty" Rio Grande. Despite my father's best efforts, we did NOT tour Juarez, Mexico ... even if we had the ability to be armed to the teeth! We were also able (thanks to our wonderful Realtor) to take them on a tour of our soon-to-be new house!

For the big day, Cam invited a few of the single 2nd Lt in his class for dinner. They, in turn, invited a few more friends, so we had a packed house for dinner. It ended up that we had PLENTY of food and no one went hungry! We even sent leftovers home with the visiting 2nd Lts.

We had a marvelous, if uber-casual and slightly cramped, Thanksgiving! Hope all of you were as lucky as us and able to enjoy the holiday with those you love! Happy Belated Turkey Day!

Cam and his beautiful (and TASTY!) bird

3/4 of our guests

Food-induced coma (Or maybe it was all the football?)

Welcome to the Dirty Thirties!

We decided to really celebrate our entrance into a new decade by taking a weekend trip to San Antonio, TX. (See post below for details and photos.)

However, an occasion such as this also requires a party in town with friends. Therefore, eleven of our friends (and two adorable kids) joined us for a dinner out in El Paso.

The Birthday Kids

Our very good friends, the Welches
(He is in BOLC III with Cam; She is my crafty buddy!)

Leslie is another classmate

The Radcliffes came too!

Miclos is yet another classmate

The cute camera-hog daughter of our friends, the Dubys

The beautiful freeway and power lines