life is good right now......

Happy Thanksgiving to you all from the Smiths. We had a wonderful day yesterday hosted by Courtney and Pat. Our kids and families, Dorian's sister, Susan and family (Richard, Susan, Chris, Derek, Rachel, Katherine, and Sarah), and two family friends, Tammi and Greg joined us. It was a day full of fun, good times together and of course GREAT food.

We are so thankful for all God has blessed us with..............mostly people who are in our lives.........YOU! We missed Kim and Heather this year, but they were with us in thought.

Hannah and I came down to the kitchen this morning......still sleepy eyed....and Hannah said "Life is good......right now....."......so content. That describes our hearts.....right now. :)

Preparations Wednesday ~ fun

Table is ready.....gorgeous

Courtney's creations.....candles in pumpkins

Paper tablecloths....with turkeys painted on it

Pens on table to write what we are thankful for.

Kid table.......so fun. We still think "our kids"

should be sitting at the kid table....

now it is our kids' kids. Wow!

Susan.....with granddaughter Katherine

and Bailey

Thank you Heather for sending the treasured rolls! Yum.

Wouldn't be complete without the clam dip......thanks Kim!

Chris enjoying Bailey

Pat telling Richard the scoop on "grilling a turkey".....really good!

Pat's specialty.....homemade egg rolls! Wowee!!!!!

It has become the Smith family favorite.

The kids' table ~ yay!!!!!!!!!!

The Smith and Brooks families :)

Fun for the Smith kids to get reaquainted with Tammi

(friend from Colorado in the 80's!)

Thanksgiving wouldn't be complete without some football!

Good catch Steve!

Our host and hostess.........the BEST! Thanks guys!

The ornament exchange begins....:)

Wonderful ornaments!

What a wonderful Thanksgiving..........Happy Thanksgiving to all.

red, yellow, orange and green

Alden and I just spent a wonderful weekend away in Asheville, North Carolina. The drive up and back was just spectacular ~ think about it......fall colors (red, orange, yellow, and green) in mid November in the mountains of North Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia. Just beautiful! It was fun being in three states over the weekend! :)

Alden and I love car time...........to relax, talk, listen to music and simply enjoy the scenery.

We went to a wedding of special family friends. Congratulations Kyle and Jenn! The wedding was beautiful and the time with friends was great. The ceremony was at Montreat (where Billy Graham lives) and what a gorgeous place it was. The ceremony was in a beautiful chapel on the college grounds with high ceilings, stone and dark wood, a huge pipe organ that took up the whole back of the chapel.....at 6:30 in the evening with candlelight. The ceremony was beautiful.....focused on the union of Kyle and Jenn before their Lord. The music was beautiful.........hymns sung and special music that the couple selected. The reception was fun with a live band and wonderful people..............the couple leaving through an archway of sparklers!

To complete our trip we stopped in Richmond on our way home to have dinner with our niece, Heather. What a fun time we had with her. :)

Kyle and Bernie (Kyle's brother and best man and who came home from China for the wedding!)

waiting for the bride to walk down the aisle

Happy and proud parents of the groom.....Bernie and Anne

Kyle with the Burke Station ladies (Gretchen and Ellen)

Archway of sparklers for the new couple ~ Kyle and Jenn

Hannah arrived home last night from college for Thanksgiving ~ we look forward to time with her and all of Dorian's family as we gather on Thanksgiving to give thanks for the blessings of people in our lives.

Happy Thanksgiving to all you dear family and friends.

Fun Fun Fun Weekend

What a fantastic weekend we had with Dorian's two sisters from Richmond, Susan and Kim and our brother in law Richard. We had been wanting to spend some time together and see the World War II Memorial ~ so we combined these two things this weekend.

Our Dad, Ray Staley and Richard's Dad, Roland Brooks were in WWII. We honor these two men ~ their dear wives and families and the many other veterans and families.

Little did we know that there was a big celebration for Veteran's Day on the Mall on Saturday ~ the very day we planned to be there visiting. It made for a very celebretive atmosphere! Our nation's capital added a World War II Memorial a few years back and wow did they do an amazing job with the design and location of it. We even got to see talk to THE nurse of the "World War II couple kissing on Times Square"! Wonderful!

Enjoy the pictures that tell the special story of our weekend together. :)

Lunch together .....beginning of a wonderful day

Sisters at Arlington Cemetery ~Susan, Kim, Dorian

Our favorite men ~ Alden and Richard

Our parents ........ gratitude

World War II Memorial

Cold outside.......but warm in our hearts

Bear with me as I begin a story.......

are you all familiar with the "World War II couple kissing in Times Square" picture?....It was on the Life Magazine cover in August 1945. This precious lady is the nurse in that photo.....and yes we took this picture OF HER at the World War II Memorial yesterday!

What a precious lady she is.

Enjoy the links attached about the "couple"........

http://www.life.com/Life/special/kiss01a.html

Now......Alden and I were recently in San Diego....and saw THE STATUE
of this VERY "couple"......it is amazing. The link below gives details of this statue.

I have fallen in love with the whole.................story.

http://www.navy.mil/search/display.asp?story_id=27774

Precious.......

Laying a wreath

Air Force Memorial

Warming up at Starbucks at Pentagon Row

Gingerbread and Eggnog Lattes ~Yum

Watching ice skaters at Pentagon Row

Our time downtown ended with going to the Washington Monument

to see the city by lights.

We left downtown to go to dinner at our favorite restaurant, Mike's

More fun was had by all and of course, delicious food. :)

We ended the evening in the family room relaxing, sipping cider and visiting some MORE!

This morning we had breakfast at home, visited yet some more......

and then had to bid these dear people goodbye.....until the next time!

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. Content. It is wonderful to have best friends in the family!