My Little Girl

Words cannot express how much I love this little girl. I love her teethy grin, her chubby cheeks, her wispy hair, and everything about her. I love how much she loves her daddy and her papa and her nona and how she interacts and plays with them. I love that she copies everything we do because I can see how much she is learning. I love how she points at her eyes, ear, nose, mouth, teeth, cheeks, hair, toes, hands, and belly button when we ask her where they are. I love that she loves animals and gets so excited whenever she sees them and tries to coax them to her by clicking her tongue and "feeding" them rocks. I love that she recognizes everyday things and is starting to say words that make sense. I love that she loves playing with her cousins and knows who they are when we point to their picture. She is turning into a little toddler and I am sad that my baby girl is growing up but I am also excited for every new day and what she will do that puts a smile on my face. She brings me so much joy and I can't imagine my life without her. I love you Paige Canova Smith!

Our Favorite Pasttime

 At least once a week we go to the lake to either throw rocks in the water or feed the ducks. Yesterday we decided to do both.

Paige thought she was funny that she was eating the bread that we were going to give to the ducks.

She had so much fun throwing the bread to the ducks and would laugh and get very excited when they would eat it.

The last few pieces of bread got thrown on the ground and Paige decided that she was hungry and ate them off the ground. I guess dirt covered bread was tasty enough to eat.

We then went over to the lake and threw rocks in the water and played in the sand. Paige thinks that animals like rocks and that they will think it is food and come to her so she was trying to feed rocks to the ducks and a dog that was playing near us.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=EbJpnaagZ_Y

Dale and Margaret Smith Family Reunion

 This past weekend we had our family reunion that we have been looking forward to for months. We left Kent Thursday and our first stop was in Aberdeen to get a few things, eat lunch, and to stop at this sweet Star Wars shop.

 It was packed full of everything Star Wars and it was very ironic that I found out the owner is from Rigby, ID.....small world.

 Then we made it to our destination on Lake Quinault.

Here is our home for the weekend- it was awesome!

The house was big enough for our needs and had this huge yard to enjoy right on the lake.

There was even a pond on the property that had some beavers in it. There was quite a few trees down and you could hear them chomping away on the wood.

 Thursday was my birthday so I made a big birthday cake and we had a fun little party for me. It was very nice and enjoyable.

 I asked Anna for a big piece and boy did she give me a HUGE piece which I enjoyed very much. :)

 Every night we enjoyed a campfire right on the lake. It was fun to roast marshmallows and the smoke kept the mosquitoes away.

 It was so nice having the lake right there. The kids loved throwing rocks in it and a few people also enjoyed swimming.

 On Friday we spent the day at the ocean. Our first ocean stop was at Ruby Beach. It was a rocky beach that had a lot of smooth rocks that were great for skipping.

 Also since the rocks were so smooth there was a ton of these small rock stacks all around. Some of us even made our own stacks to add to the collection.

 Lounging on the beach with Papa.

 On our way to the second beach for the day we made a quick stop to see a very large cedar tree.

 Then we went to Beach 4. This beach was my favorite. It had a ton of tide pools and so many sea creatures. I loved it!

 Paige fell asleep on the way to this beach and she slept in my arms and then Papa's arms for awhile. It was nice to hold her while she slept because it never happens.

 Brothers

 Pointing out the starfish.

 Looking for aggots.

 On Saturday we took a couple of hikes in the rain forest. It was so green and everything was covered in moss.

 Our first hike of the day was to an old homestead.

We decided here was a great time to take some family pictures.

 Then we hiked up to another huge cedar tree and then walked around the lake for awhile.

 Aaron and Nate had fun throwing the biggest rocks that they could pick up into the lake because where we were it dropped off really fast so they would get some big splashes.

 Everyone got to cross the tree that was over the stream.

 This was our lineup of drinks to taste test for this year.

 Then Sunday we packed up and cleaned up and on our way out we stopped and did a short hike up to a small waterfall.

It was a great reunion and I can't wait until next time!