St. Jacobs

Today we drove to St. Jacobs, which is near Waterloo. It is a very nice, small town. We had the most delicious lunch at a restaurant in town. It was decorated beautifully for the holidays! It was a buffet and Chad and I ate like we hadn't been fed in a month! Here is Chad and Matthew waiting in the lobby for our seats.

Matthew really enjoyed his lunch...and here he is being very silly as usual!

The town was quite lovely. All the stores had Christmas decorations up.

We went to the visitor's centre where they have "The Menonite Story" - an exhibit where you learn about the Menonites. Here is Matty and Chad in a replica of a cave where the Menonites would hide to avoid persecusion.

Wow! I'm 15 Months Old

Here is me walking (I look pretty menacing, but I was just racing to get to Mom while she was holding the camera). I don't walk everywhere yet, but I takes lots of steps. I'll probably be running very soon!

This is me in the King Chair. It is where I have my milk and cheerios.

I had lasanga for supper tonight. I always seem to eat messy pasta when Dad isn't home. It took Mom a long time to clean me up and I was not very cooperative.

I'm really strong - look at me lifting up my chair. I'm just about to throw it - in fact, I throw just about everything these days. Balls are my favorite things to throw! I'll probably play basketball some day.

I LOVE my dog Riley - we are best buds and play all the time. Mom is always asking Riley to stop kissing me, but I love it and he listens to me more than Mom. Us brothers have to stick together!

In this corner...

...weighing in at 25 lbs (guess...will find out in a week) - Matthew "giggle face" Smith. In the other corner, weighing in at 75 lbs - Riley "the buddy" Smith. Prepare to watch the two brothers face off in their first wrestling match! Matthew was giggling the entire time and Riley seemed to love all the attention - he doesn't care that the touches are a bit rough, he's just happy to be playing with Matthew.

Matthew appears to be dominating early on and starts off with the head lock...

...and then goes it for the early pin

Riley recovers - this match is far from over...

Riley gives Matthew a lickin, but he keeps coming back for more...


Has Matthew been pinned? You can hardly tell the two golden heads apart. I think this match ended in a draw :-)

Happy Birthday Dad!

Thursday is my Dad's birthday so Mom thought she should take pictures tonight, so Dad can see the pictures on his birthday. He is in Denver right now, in very important meetings. Uncle Paul put my truck together so I've been busy pushing it all around the house. I tend to get a little goofy when Mom brings out the camera and think everything is funny. If you are wondering what is on my face, it's roast beef...delicious! Well, happy birthday Dad - love you and miss you!

Butterfly Conservatory

After our visit to the falls and a bite to eat we headed to the butterfly conservatory. Basically you get to walk around a butterfly exhibit with a ton of different butterflies flying all around you. It was pretty neat and Matthew had lots of fun!

Hey Dad look! Butterflies!!

Matty's looking a little sober in this picture.

A butterfly decided to land on Matthew's shirt. He was too busy trying to touch the plants to notice...

All done the tour! Next stop was Niagara on the Lake - but we only had time for a quick visit to the Christmas store and the chocolate store, where we had the most delicious caramel apple!!

Niagara Falls!

A few months afer we were married, Chad and I went to Niagara Falls for a long weekend. It was sort of a honeymoon since we didn't go "away" after we got married (we spent a lovely couple of days at White Point). Five and a half years later we returned with Matthew in tow. It was a spontaneous decision this morning to drive down to Niagara, but we had a very nice day. Matthew really enjoyed it and kept pointing at the falls. It's only an hour away so I'm sure we'll be back!

Mom and Matty at the falls.

Dad and Matty.

Family picture at Niagara - Matthew is wearing his new hat. It's harder for him to get off and keeps him warm, but I have to sneak it onto his head.

It's Beginning To Look Like Christmas!

In classic Smith family tradition, spooky town went away the first weekend in November and the Christmas decorations started to come out! While we have lots of stuff still in NS, we did manage to bring a bunch of our decorations. Here is a sampling...note the snowmen are strategically positioned on the outside of the stairwell...

Our snowmen "village"

Mr. and Mrs. "Norway" Claus...more to come this weekend...

Best Buddies

It seems that every few weeks I post a sequence like this...Matthew and Riley have so much fun together! Riley is so tolerant of Matthew climbing and crawling over him, and happily accepts his rough love. It is fun to watch them together!

Matthew is a broccoli

What a goof!! Who would have thought the broccoli is one of Matty's favorite veggies? This weekend he goobbled it all up and there was broccoli everywhere. Thankfully (or not, depending if the reader is a dog lover...) Riley firmly believes that it is his duty to ensure that Matty is free of any trace of food once he has left the high chair...Riley loves broccoli too!