These are just a few of my favorite memories from Christmas Eve and Christmas Day 2025. Grant was so excited to finally receive his tanker truck from Santa (he had been asking for one for months) and we loved spending time with our whole extended family over all the festivities. Merry Christmas!
2025 Christmas Card Photos
Lora once again perfectly captured our family for our 2025 Christmas card! I’m especially obsessed with all the shots of Grant – you can really see his personality! And we are even more excited to share that our family is growing: Baby Boy Smith #2 is due to arrive in May 2026!
Photography by Lora + Ted
Grant Santa & Mrs. Claus Photo
Grant (after being sick and missing both picture day and makeup picture day) finally posed for this adorable photo baking with Santa and Mrs. Claus at daycare. Thank you to Blush & Vine Photography for this sweet memory, definitely going to frame and set out at Christmases to come!
Photography by Blush & Vine
Huntington Beach, California
Earlier this month Dale, Grant and I headed to Huntington Beach, California to reunite with our Saint Louis “Froends” and celebrate Michael and Joanna’s baby shower! We had the best (and very rainy) couple of days relaxing, playing with trucks on the beach, and spending time catching up with friends. Grant absolutely loved the sand and I am hoping we get another chance to see the ocean (and have the chance to meet the new baby twins) very soon!
September Memories
September was a big month! We started the month with the VERY exciting news that we were expecting baby #2! After that the rest of September included watching a KU game with friends, Adeleinn’s 2nd birthday party, time at Humanette, celebrating Baby Joyce, and attending KC’s AIGA A20. The month ended with a special weekend in Lawrence for the Chi O House’s 100th birthday and a mini Chi-O reunion weekend! It was so special to spend the month with so many wonderful friends!
August & September Home Progress
Over the last few months there have been some big and small updates going on at the house. Number one would be lots of progress in the yard. Dale and I decided to move one section of bricks to replace the crumbling path leading from our garage to back door. We finished just in time for our sprinklers and sod to get installed in the back yard! Inside our dining room table arrived (!!) and I got some samples for the living room/dining room. We also took down the wood built in that was covering part of the windows in the dining room which led to the very beginning of the wallpaper removal in the dining room. Other than that, a small rug arrived for the laundry room and we got the bed frame in what will be Grant’s big-boy room set-up! I can’t wait to see all we will accomplish the rest of the year!
