Where have the days gone?

Sorry its been awhile since our last post. The past two weeks have flown by. Last week we made a whirlwind trip to Dallas to see Jeff's brother Justin, get baptized. Justin recommitted his life to Christ a month ago his baptism was a public demonstration of his commitment to follow where the Lord leads. I love Jeff's family because they always support each other - more than 20 of them made it up/over/down to Dallas for this special day. Here are a few pictures from the day:

This is the actual Smith Family. Eric and Amy and their 5 kids (David, Catherine, twins Deborah and Ellen and their newest addition Benjamin), Justin and his daughter Cheyenne and Mama Li and Pop Smith. What a great group! Jeff is the only Ellis Smith son without kids. After spending the weekend with 6 kids we've decided everyone might have to wait a little longer:) Don't get me wrong, our nieces and nephews are very cute and well-behaved, but we're obviously not in any hurry to get started here. When the inevitable observation is made that Eric has 5 kids and we have 0, somehow it always comes back to "You do know where they come from right?" to which my reply is "I guess the stork gave up after flying all the way to AK and then LA to find us."



Aunt Pam and Benjamin

Aunt Jan, Robbie and Avery

Happy Benjamin

David and Katherine

I didn't get a picture of everyone, but there were plenty of Smith's and Petty's in attendance. Again I say, what a great group!

On the way to and from Dallas we got to spend some quality time with my family in Mississippi. We especially enjoyed visiting with our niece Paige, who will be coming to live with my sister Lana and her new husband Eddie for good this summer. We also got to visit with Granny and Poppa before they make the trek back up to Alaska for the summer. We'll be seeing them again before too long when we head up there ourselves for my 10 year High School Reunion in June.

Me and Paige

Me, Grandpa and Paige

Granny

Lana and Eddie

Paige thought Jeff was the funniest thing. She kept taking pictures of him, and got particularly tickled over this one. We're not really sure why - but when he looked at her and said "what are you looking at" she fell on the floor laughing. And once Jeff has an audience, watch out! They were quite the pair.

My dad is just a little smitten with Paige, who thinks he's the greatest thing too. I think she got a little jealous when I sat down beside him because she hopped in his lap right after that:)

And I didn't get a picture of my mom from this trip, but here is one from Christmas. Mom was an excellent host as always, she always cooks us delicious meals.

I also got to grab a bit to eat with two of my favorite ladies, Melissa and Lauren. Melissa is due to have Baby Bellah next month, and Lauren was in town from Nashville for a weekend break.

This weekend has been pretty busy, as Jeff flew back to Dallas to help Justin out with some things, and I've been busy hanging out with some of my friends. I also chopped my hair off yesterday, and Jeff doesn't know yet. It's been nearly a year since my last haircut, and I've been wanting to try something new for awhile. I probably should have waited until after my 10 year reunion in June, but you know I'm not one for putting things off once I get an idea in my head. I haven't had bangs since my junior year of college 7 years ago. I hope Jeff likes them!