It's A Boy!

We have known for some time there is a little baby Smith due in March. As a Christmas present to the families Kimberly and Tillman told everyone that they are expecting a little boy. His name will be Bennett Roenfeldt Smith. I might have been the happiest person to finally!! know what they are having. The last time they didn't find out the gender and they didn't tell any names. I'm not sure Tripp realizes how his life will change when the new baby arrives...

Merry Christmas!

All Dressed Up and No Place To Go

Well that's not really true. We had wedding to go to tonight so I thought we needed a new photo. Since we were both in the picture I had to put on the timer and set the camera on top of the fridge, a tall enough place to get the top of DJ's head. Hope you all have a wonderful weekend and you have your Christmas shopping complete.

A Trip to the Beauty Parlor

Today Trice made a trip to the Beauty Parlor (aka - groomer). She loves to ride in the car so it's not hard to convince her to hop in the back of the car. She gets to ride all sorts of places - the vet, the river, Mimi & Papa's, Charleston, Iowa. When we pulled into the parking lot she started to whine - noises of excitement. I'm not sure if it's the other dogs, the other smells or the staff. She loves the vet's office and we do too! [Notice the Santa scarf...it came immediately off after the photo :)]

Early Christmas

Christmas came early for Trice. I finished wrapping presents yesterday and decided Trice could open her present from DJ's parents. It meant one less present that I'd have to wrap and Trice loves her new squirrel. This is her first squirrel. She has quite the collection of ducks but has taken to this new toy/animal. AHHH what a spoiled life she leads!

70 Degrees

Yes Midwesterners and Northerners you read this correctly...it was 70 degrees today in Columbia, SC. A little overcast and drizzling but no sleet, snow or ice. It will be a little cooler tomorrow - expected high 56 degrees. We wish you were here to enjoy the nice temps - especially you Casey! Weather.com says the temp in Minneapolis is 9 degrees but feels like negative 1 degree and snow expected tomorrow!!

Going Green

When we were in Iowa a couple weeks ago we saw lots of these windmills between Des Moines and Omaha. They are windmills that collect energy. In these big groups they are called wind farms. Farmers can lease their land to the power companies or they can purchase these

$40k windmills to provide their own electricity or at least cut their costs. There are currently over 600 of these in Iowa that create enough power for 140,000 homes. The ones in northern Iowa cannot be more than 100 feet tall but I'm not sure how big these were. I found this photo online. You can see how little the cars appear to be - so they have to be huge! We all need to find at least a few things we can do to be more environmentally friendly...I'm on the hunt for a few things we can do!

More Football

We received our Christmas photo cards on Thursday and I am procrastinating. I need to write our annual Christmas letter and address them - but instead I am sitting on the couch watching another football game. We watched the Florida vs Alabama game this afternoon with my parents and brother-in-law - GO GATORS and Coach McCarney! Now we are watching the Big 12 Championship game - not sure who I want to win this one. While my parents were here we took a photo of them for their Christmas cards...at least we are ahead of them! I think their picture is pretty good, if I do say so myself.

We're Home and Settling Back In

We made it home safe and sound Saturday mid-afternoon. Unfortunately in time to see the end of the USC vs Clemson football game - it didn't end favorably for us! We enjoyed spending Thanksgiving in Iowa but are happy to be home. We haven't unpacked all of the luggage, maybe by the end of the week. But we did get all of the Christmas decorations down from the attic, put the holiday wreath on the door and put up the Christmas tree. DJ helped assemble the tree but left the hanging the ornaments to me. I hope to get the garland on the banister by the end of the week.

I'm posting several pictures from our IA trip...

First Hotel Stay

Our little princess had her first overnight stay in a hotel. Her daddy didn't pick out a La Quinta Inn or even a Hampton Inn (OK, no pets at the Hampton Inn) but he picked the Loews Vanderbilt Hotel. We found a pretty useful website for those of you that might travel with pets www.bringfido.com. This one had good reviews so we decided to shell out the extra $$ for a good night sleep in a king sized bed! Trice has met several new friends - human and other 4 legged ones. She even met a family from Columbia. We got to Nashville about 6:30pm, checked into the hotel and walked down West End to find something for dinner. DJ was happy to see a Five Guys and I opted for Jason's Deli, favorite we don't have in Columbia. We plan to hit the road at a decent hour but not 6am like this morning. There's a chance of rain all over the southeast tomorrow so we're planning to head straight east toward Knoxville, then south. We hope to be home by mid-afternoon!

Happy Birthday Dad!

This year my dad's birthday happens to fall on Thanksgiving. Nothing like having duck for your birthday dinner!

Trice's Namesake

Jack Trice, Iowa State’s first black athlete, was also the first athlete to die for Iowa State. On the night of his first football game, October 5, 1923, Jack wrote in a letter on some hotel stationery, “My thoughts just before the first real college game of my life: The honor of my race, family & self is at stake. Everyone is expecting me to do big things. I will. My whole body and soul are to be thrown recklessly about the field tomorrow. Every time the ball is snapped, I will be trying to do more than my part. On all defensive plays I must break thru the opponents' line and stop the play in their territory. Beware of mass interference. Fight low, with your eyes open and toward the play. Watch out for crossbucks and reverse end runs. Be on your toes every minute if you expect to make good.” During the first half of the game he had so anticipated, Trice suffered a broken collarbone. He continued to play during the third quarter, until he was thrown on his back and trampled by three Minnesota players. He died three days later. Four thousand students and faculty members attended his funeral service on central campus.

This is from a recent ESPN article about ISU only I-A school to honor African-American in stadium name.

7 States, 1200 Miles and about 19 hours later...

We're in Ames and there is a dusting of snow on the ground!

New Friends, and Old Ones Too

We stayed with our friends in Murray, Kentucky last night, it was our half way point. Trice joined us on our road trip to Iowa and made a new friend, Miss E. It was good to see Ryan, Crystal and Simmons again. It was hard for us all believe it was 10 years ago that I did my internship at Murray State University. It was such a great experience for me and I made great friends! Thanks for letting us visit and your hospitality Ryan and Crystal!!

Happy Birthday Little Sis!

The blog birthday wishes are a little late, but we definitely have a good reason - nine hours in the car! We are glad you had a good birthday celebrating with some of your friends. Enjoy the last year of your 20's!!

Bad Dog, Bad Bad Dog!

We both left work today right at 5 so we could take Trice on a walk before it was pitch black outside, because that is what good parents do. This is what we found when we got home. Some time between lunch (because we also come home for lunch almost everyday to let her out) and shortly after 5 Trice decided to destroy my US Weekly magazine I was saving for our road trip. Bad dog...

Twas the Night Before Christmas...

Well not exactly the night before Christmas...but we are traveling to Iowa for Thanksgiving and are taking our Christmas presents with us so they don't have to be shipped back to Iowa. We have a couple more presents to buy and then we'll be finished. If I can finish this

weekend this might be the first time I've ever finished Christmas shopping before December 1st! The second photo is from my favorite art shop in Ames, IA. The lucky recipient already has an item or two from the Octagon Center for the Arts. I always visit the shop when we are back in Ames, and usually find a little something for myself too.

We will keep you updated on our travels...we are driving and taking Trice!

Florida Bound

DJ's brother flew down from the Twin Cities Wednesday. We went to Charlotte to pick him up and had to make a quick detour to Nordstrom on the way home. It's the closest store to Columbia and they carry shoes big enough for DJ to actually try on. (They carry up to size a 20!) He found two pair - one will be a Christmas present and he's already worn the other. The boys headed to Gainesville Friday for the USC vs Florida football game on Saturday. They are staying at the same hotel as the Gator football team. DJ got to see and speak to Coach McCarney Saturday morning as they were leaving the hotel. We try to keep up with former coaches and players we've worked with and always hope they do well...but today we're cheering for the Gamecocks!

Happy 2nd Birthday Trice!

I Be A Builder

Happy Halloween! This was Tripp's first Halloween trick-or-treating. Although he preferred to say "Boo" when people answered the door. And he really liked ringing the door bell the best until he realized some people were handing out suckers!

Yee Haw

I am traveling this weekend with our Equestrian team. We are in Texas...where everything is bigger or do they think it's better?!?! We competed against TCU on Friday and were victorious. Today we were in Waco against Baylor and didn't have the same result. Tomorrow back to TCU...Go Cocks! I'll be happy to be at home in SC tomorrow night!

Where Are They Now?

Tonight I was digging under the guest bed looking for wrapping paper - Yes, I've already started Christmas shopping and was starting to wrap gifts - and came across a box of old photos. I looked through all the old photos in the box - some where childhood pictures with family but most were from high school and college. There are lot of people I have lost touch with over the years and I wonder where they are and what they are doing... I have done a better job of keeping in touch with people since I've graduated but I could always do better. Where are they now - LJ, Rico, Saffer, Mastin, Brune, Blundy, Jen, Liz...

Happy 2nd Birthday Tripp!

A Favorite View

The other morning I took a different route into the office. I had to make a detour through 5 Points to check our work PO Box and swing by Admissions. I don't take the detour too often but everytime I do, I love this view heading into downtown. As I drive down Devine I can see the Cupola of the South Carolina State Capitol building peeking through the trees amidst the shops and restaurants that line the busy street. The view always makes me smile...ah the little things.

(The photo doesn't do the actual view any justice...DJ was driving as I was trying to take the picture.)

Welcome to the World

Our friends had their baby yesterday. What an exciting time for them... We went to visit them today in the hospital and took a few pictures. What a tiny little miracle - he weighed 5 lbs 10 oz. We wish them the best in the coming weeks and hope they manage to get a little sleep!

Chimes

The last week our temperatures have been very pleasant - highs of 80 - and today very breezy. Our little four-legged princess prefers for us to leave the sliding glass door open when it's a little cooler outside so she can come and go as she pleases.

The advantage for us leaving the back door or any window in the house open is we enjoy the sounds from the wind chimes hanging just below the deck. It's such a calm, soothing, tranquil sound...thanks Heath!

Aunt KK turns 31...

A couple weeks ago I celebrated my 31st birthday...only a few more months until DJ joins the "thirties".

The birthday weekend was a pretty good one. We had friends in town from Auburn for the football game (we lost to Georgia). And enjoyed birthday brunch Sunday with some Georgia friends and family. All week Tripp (our nephew) had been singing Happy Birthday but he would not perform for us on Sunday. Although he was willing to wear the party hat and help Aunt KK blow out the candle. His 2nd birthday is in a few weeks maybe he'll be up for signing Happy Birthday to himself.

Why Not?

I have been a blog reader for the last year or so - thank you Mike & Cathy, Jeff & Allison, Mandy & Artie and Megan & Russell... Although I think the ladies are behind most of the blogs. I have finally mustered up the courage to create our own blog - so here goes nothing... We hope this is an easy way for our family and friends to keep up with us and what we are doing down here Below the Mason-Dixie Line as DJ refers to it. Yes we both know it's really Dixon.