Remembering Allyson Smith - Portland Day One

After a late night (2 am!) on Wednesday wrapping up some work stuff, getting the house picked-up for the out of town trip, and getting all the bags packed for Cadence and I, we started the day bright and early when Cadence woke up at 4:30! Yikes...my gratious father arrived at 5:30 to take us to the airport. This is the first time I have travelled with Cadence alone and she was a trooper. She napped on the flight allowing me a little shut-eye and we even shared a read of the Skymall magazine. We even made it to the rental car place, to the hotel, and to the Smith residence without a complete meltdown.

Washing hands/playing on the floor on the airplane!

Once we arrived at the Smith residence, we were greeted by Carey, the Froehle's (Mandi, Ryan, Reiley, and Mason), the other Smith family (Kristina, Danny, Nachelle, Maddy, and Abby), and Allyson's sister June. The early part of the day consisted primarily of introductions/catching up and watching the kids get to know each other and playing. The nieces are lovely little ladies overflowing with affection. The nephews were adorable as always! Reiley is getting so big and handsome! And I met Mason, the 6 month old with a smile you get lost in. Holding him and seeing him with Mandi reminded me of the journey we are about to embark in this summer with Brody. I feel so unprepared! Baby Mason with Papa Carey on the left.

In the afternoon the lot of us trooped out to the flower shop to pick flowers for the services. I'll let you use your imagination, but picture six somewhat restless, napless kids in a stripmall flower shop while the parents look at flower choices...we survived and nothing was broken and Mandi and Danny selected some lovely flowers for the casket.

Then, we headed next door to Safeway to load up on groceries for ourselves and to help Carey stock up on everything we noticed he was missing! By the end of the outing, we were all so exhausted, Cadence and I headed back to the hotel for a nap. We rested up and had a nice visit from the Froehle family until the wee smalls.

Mandi & Ryan are already planning to move the family to Arizona and Kristina and Danny were also talking about it yesterday. Coming from a small family, the chaos of a large family makes me warm and happy. I am counting the days until Ryan and Mandi become members of the AZ Smith crew and would love if the rest of the family would join them too!

Today we are anxiously awaiting the arrival of Ben and Chloe to complete our family too!

See what I mean about the SMILE!

Cadence playing with Mason at the flower shop.