Bonaire

It's about time I post this... So back in July we went on this amazing scuba trip with Dave's family to a little tiny island off the coast of Venezuela called Bonaire! It was beautiful! It is a place known only for diving, and that's pretty much all there was to do, so it made for a nice, relaxing, no agenda vacation! It was so fantastic! Now that you all are so jealous, here are the pictures. There will be a bunch of separate posts, since I don't know how to do a slide show yet. (I know, I'm pathetic)...

This is the restaurant, with the dock below. We kept all our gear there, so we could easily gear up and jump in. Very nice to not have to haul it to our rooms every day!

This is the view from our room. It is one of 3 pools, and I think this one was the best! The kids spent a lot of time in there! It had a great shallow area that was perfect for Araleigh to walk around in.

Araleigh in the restaurant, which is right on the beach, as you see, it has sand for a floor :) It was rough, eating on the beach 3 meals a day, but, what can ya do? Araleigh is a pro at restaurants now, she will always ask for a "dink of water" and when the waitress takes our orders, she says "I want chicken".

Jaxon just noticed his face is blue... from driftwood painting (I'll tell you about that later)

Jax on the dock, seeing the boats off, and feeding the fish. Fish that were at least 18 inches long would swim right up to the dock, waiting for the restaurant to throw in the leftover bread.


This place was so amazing, and we could dive as much as we wanted. Just grab your gear, get on a boat, and go. Or if there weren't any boats available, just jump in and go! The resort was right on a beautiful reef where we saw some amazing sea life. We saw a huge fat fish that we are still trying to identify, plus several turtles, seahorses, frogfish (a lot cooler than they sound), tarpin (a massive fish that looks like a shark - really creepy!), and sea cucumbers, which I think are pretty neat. We didn't see any sharks :( Oh, well, maybe next time!


Getting ready to dive


Isn't that water gorgeous? It was so blue and clear! It was a perfect diving spot! That must be why it's so popular...

After a dive - don't mind the "mask-faces" :) We had to pose quickly for this one, that gear is really heavy! It's a great workout, hauling it around!

This cliff was a fun spot to visit, because there were hundreds (literally) of little crabs on the side that would run away from us when we got too close. Araleigh still talks about the "baby cabs".

Traeden has become a champion snorkeler!! Jax did ok, but he gets a little freaked out after a few minutes and he doesn't like the salt water. We told him he'd better just get used to it, because in 4 years he'll be learning how to scuba :) He did practice in the pool a lot, so I think he'll get it next time.

Woo-hoo, look at my hottie hubby :) I love that guy!

Bonaire is not really known for it's beaches, it's mostly a big limestone rock, but we did find one that was fun to spend the day at!

Araleigh loved the pool, as always, and it was really hard to keep her out of it!

I just thought this picture was too funny to not post. She has a great smile, doesn't she?


Traeden even lost a tooth and the Bonaire tooth fairy left him Bonaire money under his pillow! About 30 cents in America...

The boys were able to participate in the Kid's Club, which was a lot of fun. They went snorkeling, went to a Donkey Preserve, found "crystals", painted driftwood, and did fun games and activities. After a game in the hot sun, they went to the bar to get some sprite. I thought this picture was cute, they look like little old men watching sports at the bar!

They were pretty much the only kids in the club most of the time, which was fun because they got to have Paul (the director) all to themselves. He was really great with the kids, you could tell he really enjoyed his job!

Six Flags, Eight Birthdays!

To celebrate Traeden's 8th birthday this year we took a little trip up the road to Six Flags. It was fun to be back there! The boys had a lot of fun revisiting all their favorite rides and introducing them to their sister!

We were also pretty exctied to see that they added some new kid rides that were a lot of fun, too! They were excited to prove how much braver they are and go on some big rides. They even got to meet Batman and Green Lantern! The boys were pretty excited to pose with their favorite super heroes!

The new ride this year, "Dark Knight", was their focus all day. They couldn't stop talking about how cool it was going to be, and how excited they were that they were both big enough to ride. Well after waiting in line for 90 min (the only line of the day...) it was finally our turn! Because Dave had to wait with Araleigh, I got on the ride first with Jaxon and Daniel (Dave's little bro), and after the ride, Dave and Traeden took my place and Jax and Daniel got to stay on. Jax was so thrilled, he said "What?!? I have to ride it AGAIN??" If I am able to scan that picture I will definitely add it in, it's classic!!! My poor boys look so terrified! The ride was a little intense for them, but they still liked it. They had a great time, it was such a fun day! We finished off the celebration with a home-made ice cream cake, decorated with 6 flags :)

Brief Editorial...

Well, serves me right for not checking this often enough to notice the most recent post...but finally doing so has prompted this brief appendix that certainly must accompany the previous message. Yes, I had to figure out how to hack into our own blog to do this, but here goes:

Upon receiving our diploma from The Ohio State University, I was quietly alarmed at the apparent typographical error that riddled the text. To the common person, only one name appears on the documented proof and transcripts associated with our completion of coursework at Fisher. I, however, will always see two names and want everyone to know that the name Brandis Leigh Smith deserves to be printed just as much, if not more, than does David Nathaniel Smith in connection with this accomplishment. True, I was the one sitting in the exam room for Advanced Strategic Analysis, but she was the one acing subjects that have real significance - Raising 3 Miraculously Wonderful Children - for example.

My infinitely tolerant, compassionate, and patient wife has completed (by modest estimation) 74, 460 priceless and credit-less hours over the past 8 1/2 years compared with my paltry 220 or so credit hours that have warranted the recognition marked this past June. She both figuratively and literally worked through this experience with me, as evidenced of her willingness to grade papers with me at all hours of the night (yep, she didn't sleep all that much either).

To my wife, who never gets any time off - to say nothing of all the quarter breaks I had over the past few years - I extend my congratulations and eternal love. I absolutely could never have made it through any of this without your love, support, and tireless, selfless service for our family. You're the best, and that drives me to be a better person everyday.

-DNS

Graduation Day!

Well I am so incredibly excited to finally be posting this, after 8 1/2 long years of incredibly hard work and no sleep, Dave has graduated with his MBA!!! Words can't even begin to describe how proud I am! I can't believe how much Dave has accomplished, despite all of the challenges of being an extremely young father. I feel like we did it. We beat the odds. We rose above the life we initially chose and made a better life. I am so grateful that the man I married has been so dedicated to me, to our children, to his career, and to his education. It has been hard, VERY HARD, and there were certainly times where I wasn't sure I could handle another bedtime alone. I don't know how he survived on no sleep all these years, working full time, and school full time, but he has maintained a great GPA (he'll probably be embarassed if I tell you what it is, so just know that it's great!), he has always recieved promotions and awards at work, and his kids and wife still adore him. Good job, hunny, I'm so proud of you! Thank you so much!

These are our friends, Christina and Ryan, whom we spent many fun game nights, dinners, and park outings with. They became our family in Ohio. We love them so much and are really going to miss them! I am glad that with our free flying, we can visit LA and Dallas easily :)


These are our friends Jim and Mallie. They are awesome. Mallie saved my sanity so many times! We had some great shopping trips and fun park days with the kids. I miss her already!!

So anyway, I am so extremely proud of my amazing husband, and I am very excited to enter this new chapter of our lives where he doesn't have papers to write or team projects to work on. I guess now it's finally my turn!