Wow it has been awhile

Wow, I can't believe it has been so long since I have made a post.  Things are going well for the Smith family. We have been busy with life and adventures. More to come

Still Here

Wow looking over this blog makes me want to go on another adventure.. Stay tuned :)

Christmas Cruise

Group Shot

 My family has been planning this Family Christmas Cruise for a long time. With a little work we were able to take the time off to join my family. We left on Saturday, December 17th and headed to Orange County. We stayed with my brother Kerry and his family (actually all 17 of us were there that night). Then the next morning 2 9 passenger vans came and picked us up. We head off on  the Carnival Splendor for a 7 day cruise to Mexico. We had a great time playing games, reading and hanging out with my family.  Our port stops were Cabo San Lucas and Puerto Vallarta.  In Cabo we wandered around and saw some sites. Matthew and Isaac were not feeling well on the trip so we headed back to the boat to rest and hang out.  In Puerto Vallarta, we went and swam with the dolphins. It was so much fun there were 16 of us and we had so much fun. We ate yummy food and had a great day at port. Even with the boys not feeling well we had a great time with family. We got back to Long Beach on Christmas Eve. We all headed back to my brothers house to celebrate. My family has fondue on Christmas eve for as long as I can remember. It was great to do this again. We have missed the last two due to being in China.  Nothing is better then spending time with family. ( I will post dolphin pictures when I get them.)

My Amazing Brothers

Ensenada Mexico..life changing

We have been waiting forever to go on our Mexico mission trip. It finally has come and sadly is over. When our home group from church talked about going to Mexico to build a house through Homes for Hope. We knew we were going for sure.  It truly was an amazing adventure.  We left the day after Thanksgiving and headed to San Deigo, California.  There was 28 of us, 9 were children. We met our host from Youth With a Mission and headed over the boarder. Okay first we did stop for an In and Out burger. 

It was funny our bus driver was named Jesus, the man who went through our stuff was named Jesus and the little boy who's house we built was Jesus.  We all thought that was perfect. We stayed at the YWAM base in Ensenada. They took great care of us.

 Our first day on the job we were welcomed by the Veronica (Mother) and Ashely (5) and Jesus (3). Her husband works for the military as a chef and could not get the time off.  Ashely was so excited to see us. She said about time you are here. They helped us paint and work on the house. For 28 people working on the house we all worked so well together and created even closer bonds then we had before.   The first day we had most of the house built and some of the inside done. We went back to the base for dinner and hung out as a team.


A Godly moment.... we asked Veronica if there was anything that she and her family needed. She said they could use some blankets.. We just looked at each other and smiled.(okay a few tears too)  One of our team members brought with her two large bags of donated quilts that a friend had made for the family.  It was exactly what they needed. God is good!!!

The next day I got the opportunity to take Veronica shopping. She had NO idea that we were going to do this. It was a bit overwhelming for all. She would go and pick out a small container of something and I would put it back and get the biggest container for her. She could not believe that we were going to buy her groceries. It was wonderful. Her smile got bigger and bigger.When we got to the check out she could not watch as things were being rung up, it was just too overwhelming.

We had asked our builder what we should get them when we were shopping. He said if we could afford it a refrigerator and a washer would be a HUGE blessing. So we asked her which she would prefer... well she just put her hands over her face and shook her head. She told us that she was blessed just to get the house and now this.  It was amazing.. We were able to go and get a used washer and refrigerator. Little did she know what while we were gone the rest of the team was putting together the furniture packet that we were able to raise money for.

After shopping we came back to the family cooking the team Carne Asada. YUMMY... It was delicious.

We put together the last touches on the house and someone from the base went and got her husband. He was able to take an hour off to come for the key ceremony.  Roberto took one look at the house and wept. Imagine leaving for work and coming back to a home. 
We all stood in a circle and blessed the house and the family. Then they were able to go into their own home and see it. Well SURPRISE.. it was full of items we bought, brought and made.  The kids were so excited. They kept saying Grande and screaming.

Just to put it into perspective the house we build was about the size of our living room about 12 X 20. There is no plumbing (they are saving their money for this). It is now furnished with a bunk bed for the family, a kitchen table and chairs, refrigerator, range, and some storage bins. It is perfect for them. They were just so thankful. The husband told us that we was telling his friends at work about it and they laughed. Why would someone build you a house. He said he was going to have them over and show them God's love.

This trip was eye opening is many ways. We grew as a team and indivduals. We are looking at what we really need this holiday season and we have that. A home and friends and family that love us. 

If you ever get the opportuinity to do this GO FOR IT...

Life at the Smith house has been a bit busy. Now with soccer over, we hope to be able to get caught up. We are heading to Mexico soon for a Missions trip "Homes for Hope". We are so excited and will post more when we get back.

We have been in touch with our friends in China so that has been making the transition back a bit easier. We loved the simple life and have been trying hard to keep that going. We have been able to go to a few football games and hang out with our families. We are loving that. We continue to grow as individuals and as a family. The boys still talk about where we are going next. Makes us smile. My hope is to keep up with our blog.

Isaac as Darth Maul

Our caveman :)

Isaac on a field trip.. learning about our home town

The boys and I got creative and made these for their classmates. Forgot to take pictures of the witches shoes we made for the teachers.

what have we been up too

School, soccer, more school and more soccer :) more to come next week