Ella's First Holiday

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving, and while I know that everyone is way past that and on to the Christmas holiday, I'd like to do a little reflecting...

We started off the holiday on Wednesday night at Redemption World Outreach Center, our church. Brandon's parents, brother, and sister-in-law came down and we all attended together after eating at Chili's. The Berrys can put down some chips and salsa, y'all!

After church, we all headed "up the hill" to Hendersonville, NC (about an hour drive). We stayed up talking and playing until late and then settled down for bed. On Thursday, we woke up to Orange Sweet Rolls (a personal favorite of ours) and helped Denice get things ready for the big meal.

As you can see, Ella had on a personalized onesie made by her "Simply Sassy" mama...

She was "Berry Thankful" for a change of clothes after she drooled all over this after only half an hour of wearing it. I need to start making bibs, I guess! She was great with everybody. I am so thankful to have a child that doesn't mind being held by other people because she is a very loved little child and everybody wants a piece of her!

On Friday, we spent the morning packing and driving to Greensboro, NC to visit my parents and extended family. It was a great time of REST and MORE GOOD FOOD. Brandon got to meet my cousins (3 boys who are all pretty cool) and we were able to show Ella off to everyone. Here is Logan with Ella...He's the youngest of the 3 and a Sr. at Appalachian State University.

Back in the Saddle Again

Back in the saddle again!

Grammy and Pappy decided that they were feeling up to a little road trip, and came up to Greenville for a day. We ate, laughed, and enjoyed a little baby therapy.

Pappy was certainly having no problem picking up Ella even though he had had hip surgery two weeks before! It was amazing to see his recovery. He is feeling great, and has been a much better patient this time around than last time he had his hip replaced. We are glad for that because he and Grammy are moving up to Duke soon to get on the list for a double lung transplant, and we need him to be as healthy as possible so he can be a good support.

Speaking of Grammy, she sure did enjoy licking the whisk when Mommy made butter/sugar cookies...See?

Auntie Jodie brought my friend Avery over and this time, I had the better of her. I don't even think she knows what hit her. She probably thinks it was the giraffe on my new jungle gym, but it was....me! This is a picture right before I punched her. Ha! Score's tied, Smith!

Ella 1 Avery 1

I sure do love my Grammy and Pappy!

Weekend Fun

After a few weeks of travelling and being apart for the majority of the time, Brandon and I decided we owed it to ourselves to spend some quality time together last weekend. Brandon took a vacation day on Friday and we spent most of the day in our pajamas before hosting our newlywed couple, Jason and Yolanda, over for grilled porkchops and hang time. It was great getting to know them better and hearing about how wonderful life is as newlyweds!



On Saturday we woke up and donned our purple before heading over to Furman to watch our beloved Paladins take on the 2-time national champs, Appalachian State. While the guys battled hard and made for a good game, we were sad to see they came up short in the points category. But that's okay, cause we made some good memories at the game.





It was Ella's first Furman football game, and since we didn't have any Paladin gear for her yet, we dressed her in brown--she looked like a little football--with her purple Mary Jane socks. LOVE those things! She was, as always, rather adorable. We enjoyed walking around talking to people and tailgating before the game, and then found our way to our seats.

Throughout the game, we found good friends who had also come from afar to see the game...Danny Marshall and his girlfriend, Angela... Mivvi, my college roommate's little sister and also one of Brandon's FCA buddies, Erika, and Shelly, a former tennis standout.

We also saw Stacy Burr and the entire Earle family (Conner is one of Ella's suitors, and boy, is he a cutie!)

On Sunday, after Brandon played his violin at church, we met Danny, Angela, Craig and Brooke for lunch, and then headed to Anderson to celebrate Ashley Shockley's birthday at her lake house! We had such a good time. Rodney and Marla Johnson brought Ethan (another Ella admirer, I think) from Atlanta, and we ate some yummy food and laughed a lot. It is so wonderful to get some down time with people who we are always doing ministry with and working with.

Here are some fun folks at Ashley's house....

...And some beautiful ladies all in a row...

So Brandon and I enjoyed our time together immensly, and recuperated from the busy weekend by sleeping and playing with Ella most of Monday...then we got some Cracker Barrel therapy and called it a night.