So it's been over 1/2 a year since we last blogged. Since we last wrote, we have been very busy vacationing, marrying people--our good friends Sunny and Steven on Sept. 29, 2007, and most recently recovering from the holidays. So i'm sending a couple of pics to tide you over for awhile. Abby is getting so big and so much fun. Her new and favorite word is damn it (having a little difficulty getting her to stop because it gets such a "fun" response out of mom and dad) and amazingly she seems to know exactly when to say it. She also thinks it is very funny to cheer about beer--she is her father's daughter!! Abby is a little daredevil, extremely verbal, and very stubborn--go figure. Pics compliments of Darren Poore Photography. See www.darrenpoore.com


And Happy First Anniversary to Lys and Aaron (September 29, 2007)



Holidays were great--Abby loved rearranging the ornaments on the Christmas tree over and over again. Just like her Nona!



That's all for now and Happy 2008!!!

Hey all, sorry for the gaps in publication, now that school is out we really have no excuse. We have had a great summer so far. Abby is growing so fast it is unbelievabe. We went to Durango over Memorial Day to see Leslie Murray graduate, and while there Abby found her new vocation...



Drea and I can't think of anything more rewarding than rock and roll drummer! Abby is also working on her vocabulary everyday, and to our great surprise it doesn't include "no" yet. She is getting the hang of car, outside, ball, walk, hi, Cleo (her BFF--who lives next door) and some others that I am sure she understands but leaves us scratching our heads. Here she expresses her displeasure at our limited intellects...



She is also cooking for her mom and dad now, though the meals are somewhat rudimentary, it is better than cooking ourselves, I honestly don't know where she finds the energy after working in the yard all day...



She is also learning some very important lessons like staying at Nona and Grandad's means more food, less no's and more fun in general. She has them pretty well trained by now...

APRIL 25, 2006
Here is Abby in her first few hours of life outside the womb. She was 7lbs 15oz and 18.5 inches long. She was completely dependent on mom and dad--a wonderful feeling, though slightly overwhelming especially when we left the hospital and the three of us went home alone together. Michael and I looked at each other as if to say, "what do we do now??" Fortunately, it came quite naturally, for we have made it a whole year--healthy, happy, and eating mom and dad out of house and home.




APRIL 25, 2007 HAPPY FIRST BIRTHDAY, ABBY KATE!!!
The year flew by! Now Abby is 21 pounds and 29 inches long. She is eating everything in sight. Our 'lil darling is walking all over the place and getting more and more stable on her feet every day. Abby talks a ton and though it sounds like a foreign language (kind of like a cross between Cantonese and a Smurf's soundtrack), they are the sweetest sounds I've ever heard. As far as personality, she knows what she likes--so far shoes, beads, and balls. She definitely takes after her father as far as her athleticism and innate ability to accessorize. It's a good thing he is going to law school, so we can afford her expensive tastes. The below photo is of Abby with one of her many accessories. This is an Abby original--no help from Mom or Dad.

Hey all, well the holidays are over and we had a wonderful time. We started by initiating a new Smith family tradition of cutting down our own Christmas tree, I was personally pushing for the get dad a new titanium bike tradition, but what are you gonna do! Drea , Abby and I headed out to the Jemez (pronounced hey-mez for my east coasters) to get a permit and find a tree suitable for the place of honor reserved in the den, no easy task.






The area is beautiful as you can see, Drea is quite a photographer as it turns out. It must have been listening to Darren and I drone on and on about it.





Here we are setting off on our quest for the perfect tree, all the while we were out, I had visions of myself as Chevy Chase in a Christmas vacation. If only!



Nice one of me no? As you can tell we were a bit premature in getting Abby in the backpack, and in true form she put up with it amazingly well, even though it pushed her arms up almost over her head. Anyhoo...we finally found a tree that we all liked. The really funny thing is that just as in Christmas vacation, the thing barely fit in our living room. It looked so much smaller in the great outdoors. If you turned sideways you could just get from the living room to the dinning without knocking off all the ornaments.



Here is our family photo with our proud new tree.For all those in New York, the white stuff behind us is snow, you may have fond memories of it from childhood.



Here is one from Xmas morning, more coming soon. Sadly there are only pictures of Abby getting presents, even though Drea and I did manage a couple ourselves.

hi all, well as you might have guessed from our "spotty" updating, it has been a rather busy fall. As I write this I should be studying for my criminal law exam tommorow. Drea and I can't beleive how fast Abby is growing. She had her first big trip in November when she and Mom went to Hawaii for a friends first birthday. Abby's aunt Lys got married on September 29.It was a beautiful ceremony in an amazing setting.






Drea and I also got out to enjoy some of the wonderful New Mexico fall weather.No, thats not me its our friend Darren Heinze, but I didn't have one of the two of us.



Drea and Abby also went to Hawaii to celebrate our good friend Lea's sons first B-day. Must be nice, dad got to stay home and read. Abby had a great time and was a champ on the plane!




Where's dad?!





Bath time!

Hi all, as you may have guessed, law school has started, hence the blog stall. My sincere appologies, here is a bit to tide you all over. Abby is growing like crazy, it doesn't seem possible that dhe is five months old today!


In our quest to get ready for school to start, Abby and I have misplaced our cable that connects the camera to the computer, maddening! So thank Nona and Grampa for these shots.


Abby gets more fun everyday! She is very vocal and talks and laughs a bunch. Most mornings we will hear her in her crib having what I assume to be a very profound conversation with herself. Drea and I love to lie there and listen as she talks away with all sortss of inflection and mood.



School is going well though it is an astonishing amount of work, who knew. Drea is great and we are both loking forward to Aunt Lys getting married this Friday! Fun fun!!!

Hope everyone is well,
Abby, Drea and Michael

Happy Bastille Day a little late! We had another birthday celebration last night. Aunt Lys turned 30! Wow she doesn't look it does she. Drea and I made fresh pasta for she and Aaron and Mom and Dad. It was delicious if I do say so myself.

Lys has the magic touch with Abby...



Everyone enjoyed the sweltering heat in the backyard until dinner was served. In a related development, Drea and I have postponed our European vacation in order to have a pool installed for Abby. Everyone is very happy with the decision...



Hope everyone is well.
Michael Drea and Abby

I am pleased to report that Abby and her mom and dad survived her first immunizations, although it was touch and go for a bit. I am now convinced that the debate over which sex is the strongest has now been answered once and for all. Abby took her shots with barely a whimper, I wish I could say the same for myself. After the soreness set in you could tell she didn't feel 100% but came around like a real champ.

Drea has started working a few hours a week so Abby and I get to spend some quality time together. First we watch the tour and then we go for our morning run. Here is she is hetting ready to go.


This usually induces a bit of a nap so dad can get some stuff done.


That's all the news for now, hope everyone is having a great summer! We are off to the park.

Happy 4th of July. We were at Nona and Grampa's for a barbecue and thought we would share a picture of Abby in her July 4th outfit.

IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America

When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hatshownwn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.

Link

http://www.ushistory.org/Declaration/document/index.htm

It seems appropriate to remember what we are celebrationg in the first place. Above is a link to the complete text. If you haven't read it in a while, do yourself a solid and do so. It is amazing stuff.

We had a very busy weekend, Grampa had a birthday, athough due to confdentiality agreements we can't disclose which one. Lys and Aaron made a great dinner and big fun was had by all. As you can see by the photos, Grampa is pretty proud of his first grandchild.

Saturday included quarterfinal worldcup games and the tour! Whew. You can see by Abby's reaction that she can't believe France beat Brazil. She and Mom are also very happy that I will be cooking tonight.

Thats all for now, Abby and I are exhausted! See you all soon.