It's a Small World...

The happiest (and most crowded) place on earth!

One or two other people had the same idea we did. It truly was a perfect day to visit Mickey.

Space Mountain is always a favorite, even with a 75 minute wait. Notice that I am NOT in any of the photos? I don't do coasters. I really don't mind waiting as the rest o' the family rides all of the up and down rides, as I get to talk to interesting folks as I wait. I met up with several TX people, which I am sure was "pure coincidence." ;-) I'm certain that God knew that I needed a word, or two, or three... of encouragement as we make this big move, so I enjoyed every minute that I waited.

What time is it anyway? Obviously it's still Christmastime.

We're seeing a little hint of what's to come -- Texas!

Is it really a small world after all?

Ooooh! Ahhhh!

Road trippin'!

The park reached its capacity (75,000-80,000 or more...) sometime in the early afternoon. It felt a little too cozy when we first arrived at 10 AM, and it only got cozier. Thankfully, it was a friendly crowd. I actually saw someone I know from Roseville, but they were in the opposite line for Pirates of the Caribbean, and I couldn't get their attention. Okay, so there's that "small world" thing again.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow. Disney magic!

The Smithlings and I barely squeezed our cheeks into this teacup. Either we are getting bigger, or the teacups are getting smaller. Hmmmm. (Mr. Smith waited on the sidelines, as he cannot stomach the round and round rides. See, opposites DO attract!)

Sleepy smiles

Despite the fact that Mr. Smith and I have trained our children to not but their elbows on the dinner table, Millie simply couldn't refrain from putting her head and both elbows down on the restaurant table so she could catch a few winks before her food arrived. It looked like a good plan, but the rest of us managed to stay awake through the meal as we practiced good table manners. (It probably would have been a good idea to have eaten dinner before 9 PM... Right?!)

It was an A-okay day! A red (and white) letter day?

Well, it was better than that -- it was a perfect day! This little side trip was exactly what we needed to make the move from CA to TX a little more bearable. Next stop: AZ

Get a Move on

(Monday, Dec. 28) At 8:15 AM, the big rig (a.k.a. Jim and Phyllis' Homeless Shelter) rolled onto Raleigh Court -- backwards.

The muscles (Steve, Max, and Jeff) arrived by 8:30, and loading began shortly before 9 o'clock.

Max strikes a pose on the makeshift catwalk as he models the latest in moving fashions.

More friends stopped by to say hi and bye.

Liesey and April

Mitchell

Naomi, Liesey, Jenny, and Ruth

Greg, M., and Zach REALLY do not like to have photos taken!

Hide-and-seek proved to be a good diversion for Millie and Syd.

The Love Bros.

The Love Fam. baked and delivered the MOST EXCELLENT sugar cookies. Yum! There was even a longhorn shaped cookie in the batch. Yee-ha!

The kitchen looks soooo empty... :-(

6:30 PM -- The BMW was the last item in the truck. Everything fit, thanks to the creative packing of our amazing loading crew. Our belongings took up every square inch of the 53' trailer, but they were able to shut the door and lock it.

We had to clean the house a little, pack the car, "drug" the cats, and say a final farewell to our neighbors. By 8:30 PM, rain was lightly falling as we loaded into the Q7. Our wonderful Raleigh Court friends stood out in the rain singing, "So long... farewell... auf weidersehen... goodbye..." as we drove away. :-( We love "our" court -- they are the BEST neighbors! We will miss 'em. It was a tearful and painful goodbye. Thankfully, we had something fun to look forward to -- a whirlwind trip to Disneyland!

We drove through rain for hours and hours before finally arriving in Anaheim at 2:30 AM. By the time we got settled into our room with kids and cats, it was 3:30-ish. What a l-o-n-g day and night! There's nothing like getting a good night's rest before spending the day with Mickey and Minnie. And there was nothing like that going on with us. We were somewhat sleep-deprived as we took on a busy day at D-land, but a fun outing was just what we needed. The theme park outing is another post for another day.

Boxing Day

Little did we know that the day we chose to have the packers come to box up our stuff would actually fall on Boxing Day; however, this was no holiday!

At 8 AM three trained "boxing" professionals descended upon our 2300 sq. ft. home. How much could we have crammed into that amount of space in the past decade? Apparently a LOT! It took ten hours for the guys to box up our personal effects. They managed to use:

17 dish pack boxes

18 wardrobe boxes

173 misc. sized boxes

54 paper pads

48 loading blankets

1,500 yards of strapping tape

1 roll of shrink wrap

188 lbs. of packing paper

And a partridge in a pear tree...

We helped with sorting and packing while visiting with friends and neighbors who stopped by.

Jemima and Bartholomew enjoyed checking out all of the boxes.

The girls' room took one poor soul about 5 hours to pack -- this photo represents only about one third of their boxes. Okay, so we might have tooo much stuff!

The master bedroom doesn't look too out of control.

At least we have a place to lay our weary heads -- if only we can get the cat to move.

All of the kitchen utensils were packed, so my husband improvised a little. I wasn't involved in the decision to use the garden shears. I was next door trying to borrow a (more civilized) pizza wheel. Mr. Smith assures me that he thoroughly washed and sanitized the tool before using it.


I'm thinkin' that the "unsanitary" pizza cutting device is responsible for these faces.

Saying goodbye is easier with a dose of SiLLy thrown in for good measure.

Packing complete. Must have sleep.

Christmas 2009

Considering that Mr. Smith & I had to wait to do the bulk of our Christmas shopping until the 24th, it was amazing that the Smithlings had a single present under the tree. Better still -- no gifts have to be returned!

We had an amazing day celebrating the birth of our Savior. We are blessed beyond measure.

We did have to take the Christmas tree & other decorations down early in order to start preparing for the big move. The professional packers are scheduled to arrive at 8 AM tomorrow morning.

Millie's gift to me... I love 'em!

M. unwrapped a "China" and a tambourine for his drum kit along with other percussion items. Millie got a trunk to store AG dolls & accessories -- inside the trunk she found a purple iPod Nano. (Perfect for the upcoming road trip... Yes, that was by design.) Liesey received bedding for her new room in TX. G-ma, G-pa, and AJ made sure there were presents under the tree, so it was a merry morning indeed.

A pile o' Smith Kids

Comfy & Colorful

Mr. Snowman/Mr. Bill?

Oh, Nooooooo...

Parting Shots

The past few weeks have been fun, yet emotional, as we say farewell to our WONDERFUL friends and neighbors. The packers are coming this weekend, and the big rig will be loaded on December 28th.

I am going to share several photos from various functions -- from performances to parties. All of these smiles are precious. We will miss y'all... or rather, all y'all.

"Noel" at Adventure Christian School -- Ballet Rejoice

Liesey & Lauren

"Sister" Sleepover @ Kyla's

Millie and Sydney

Ballet Rejoice Brunch Bunch

Chain gang?

Christmas Caroling with the Pettit Fam.

Katie organized a wonderful gathering of Raleigh Courters as a farewell party for us. It was fun to relive the past ten+ years in the 'hood, but hard to say, "Farewell." :-(

Schellenger Family -- and Jericho!

Jeff, Paula, and Eli

Kim and John

Freemans and Turners

Raleigh Court Kids -- BIG and small!

The guys from M's Bible Study got together for a night of pizza and bowling.

Millie and Haley chilled at the skating rink one morning -- don't they look cool?!

It's oh, so sweet to construct a gingerbread house, but even sweeter to get to eat it!