Smith Family Year in Review

What a great year 2010 proved to be for the Smith's! I can't even begin to remember every detail, but I am going to try.

In 2010...

We celebrated our 4th anniversary of marriage and Xzayvier's 7th birthday in January, Mekyla's 7th birthday in March, Rob's 36th birthday in May, Kreid's 2nd birthday in July and my 20-something birthday in September. ;) We watched our first-graders become second-graders and our baby become a toddler. It has been a blast watching them grow up, but sometimes it's hard to think so much has changed.

We fell even more in love with Jesus in 2010. I could not be more proud of my man for letting go of "stuff" and grabbing on TIGHT to our Savior and carrying us with him. It's been a roller coaster of giving up and giving in, letting go and grabbing on, feeling weak and being carried, submitting, sewing, reaping and all together letting God have the controls back while we simply enjoy the ride.

We quickly found out that Xzayvier LOVES to read this year. He was the top first grade reader in his school at the end of the school year. He started second grade off with a bang too! They have a point system to track their reading. The second grade goal for the YEAR is 50 points and by winter break, Xzayvier already had 75!!! So I don't even have to tell you that he makes all A's and B's in school. He is definitely our little brainiac. He's such a smart boy. He played baseball for the first summer and had a lot of fun with that. He was pretty good too. Xzayvier still has a smile that can light up any room. I can't wait to meet the lucky lady who gets to marry him in.... 25 years or so. ;)

Mekyla is growing into such a GIRL! I was still playing in mud and wearing jeans with holes in the knees at her age. She, on the other hand is super girly, loves crafts, doing her hair and wearing play make up. She's so much fun though. One thing we do have in common is she is a complete Daddy's Girl. She LOVES her daddy! She also started playing soccer this year. She loved it and she's really good. Mekyla is almost always in good spirits, laughs all the time, and has eyes that sparkle like gems. She doesn't love school, but she does her best. She maintains good grades too, all A's and B's. She loves attention and even more than that, she loves to talk. See, I told you, SUCH a girl.

Kreid is a little ball of energy. His vocabulary has blossomed like nothing else this year. He says some of the cutest, funniest, silliest things I've heard. He loves his big brother and sister and thinks they are the coolest thing...well almost. There is one thing cooler and that's his daddy! Kreid and Rob are like Mutt and Jeff. I crack up every time I hear Kreid say something ridiculous and think to myself, "hmmmm I wonder who taught you that?!" Some of his favorite things are orange juice, cheese sticks, grapes, singing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and his ABC's. He keeps me on my feet every day, but OH he's so much fun to be around.


This year Rob deployed twice. That was NO fun, but God's timing was perfect both times...even if I freaked out a little. The first deployment, Rob was expected to leave early in the year, but then was asked to leave a month later, which meant he and Mekyla could go to the Purity Ball (which we were really sad to know that they were going to miss). This ended up being such a pivotal moment in both of their lives. They were even featured in the local newspaper. What a fun night for them. Click here to check out the cuteness. The timing worked out on the tail end of the first deployment too. While he was gone, I was able to plan a surprise birthday party for his 36th birthday. He LOVES barbecue and loves the show Throwdown with Bobby Flay, so I had a surprise barbecue throwdown for his birthday just a few weeks after his return. It was a complete surprise and so much fun. I had a blast planning it and spending time with so many of our favorite people. To check out all the fun, you can click here. THEN, the second deployment got delayed too, which on the front end is always nice. It's always great to put off his departure date. But it's easy to forget that a late departure means a late return. It wound up getting a little close to our (already paid for) vacation dates and started freaking me out a little. Thankfully, he returned home three days before we were scheduled to leave and away we went on our first real vacation; a cruise to Cozumel and Grand Cayman. Now THAT was fun!

This summer proved to be the busiest part of our year and the most fun. Rob started helping out with the church's youth group and I saw a light in him I've never seen before. He went on a local mission with the teens in July and came back so thirsty for the Word and wanting to make an impact in those teens' lives. It blew my mind.

I ended up in Honduras again this summer (the same week Rob was on his trip, subsequently), after writing that off all together. I thought God told me to stay home because Rob was going to be on his trip but it turns out, God had other plans. Either I was oblivious to begin with or He was just rewarding my obedience. Either way, He rocked my world again in Honduras and you can check previous posts for details about that. Start here and select Newer Post at the bottom of each for all the nitty gritty on THAT chapter of the Smith Year in Review.

We were able to plan a special vacation this summer too and Rob, Mekyla, Kreid and I (Zay was with his mother for the summer) hit the road and visited family and friends in Milwaukee and Cincinnati. We had such a great time and it was wonderful to see so many of our favorite people along the way. It was especially great to visit with Rob's brother Calvin. And one major blessing was getting to spend time with Rob's Aunt Dee Dee, who unfortunately suffered a stroke the day we left and later died as a result...definitely a low point of our year.

One REALLY special part of our summer, was spending time with Charley, Rob's daughter. Rob and Charley reconnected this year after a (much too long) break in communication. Charley's stepdad is stationed in California, so we weren't sure when we would be able to see her, but to our surprise, she came to Tennessee to visit family this summer, so we were able to spend time with her. What a blessing! She is such a sweet girl and we are excited to have her back in our lives.


Some other random happenings this year were...

This fall, Rob started a new job. He stayed with the same unit but made a big change from flying regularly to being an inspector. It's a great move for him, career-wise, but I know he misses the old job. And to be honest, so do I. While I don't miss his busy schedule and all the time away from home, I will miss our "family". I was the company FRG Co-Leader, so when he left, that meant I had to as well. For our non-military readers, the FRG, or Family Readiness Group is a group of family members - mostly wives - of all the soldiers in the company. Being the co-leader was a lot of volunteer time, but more so, a lot of fellowship with some amazing ladies! Although we're still in the same area, it's different because I won't see them on a monthly basis at meetings or have to call them with updates and what-not. By complete surprise, my co-leader and I became great (life-long) friends. Michelle is amazing and I am so thankful for the time we had to "grow up" as Army wives together. I will definitely miss those ladies, probably as much as Rob misses flying.

We also decided to move on post this year. For those not familiar with the military, we decided to move into the Army Family Housing. We LOVE the new house and the neighborhood. We're certain it was a great move for our family and we are looking forward to the next few years in our new home.


Some of our greatest friends welcomed sweet new members to their families and I don't want to forget how great these little additions have been. We are blessed to call them friends and we are so excited to see what the world has in store for all of these very blessed children (to have such awesome parents!). With that, welcome James F. (late 2009, but he was due in Jan. haha), Elijah P., January, Brooklynn M., August, and Mercy B., adoption in progress. Our best friends, Tabitha and Eric also shared super-exciting news with us this year, that they were going to welcome a sweet baby boy early 2011. We couldn't be more excited for them as we are literally waiting each day on a phone call to go to the hospital.


When asked, the Smith family reported this to be their most memorable moment(s) of 2010:

Rob's most memorable moments of 2010 were dancing to Miley Cyrus' Party in the USA with Mekyla at the Father-Daughter Purity Ball and getting to hang out with Charley this summer. He also insisted that I share with everyone that he learned how to cook ribs this year. That was his "2010 accomplishment" when I asked him. Ha! What a joker.

Mekyla said that the Father-Daughter Purity Ball was her most memorable moment of 2010.

Xzayvier said that his most memorable moment was having a sleepover with his best friend, Samuel.

When Kreid was asked, he said, "Ummm ummm ummm mac'n cheese and orange juice" (very appropriate for him).

And my most memorable moments...gosh, I can't narrow it down. I think it would have to be my last-minute, unplanned trip to Honduras, only because I saw God more than ever, our summer trip to Milwaukee and Cincinnati and our cruise, since it was our first real vacation with just the two of us.


We have seen many blessings in 2010. A lot of those blessings we consider to be you, our family and friends. We love you, pray for you and wish you all the best in 2011. Let's pray 2011 is MUCH more of a roller coaster and that God has great things in store for the Smith family and your family too.

Don't forget to love the little things. God has richly blessed us, let's remember every detail we can.

Love,
The Smiths