Canaan is so amazing. I love to see the interaction between he and Ezra and am so proud of Canaan as his big brother. The other day while Canaan was getting dressed, he said out of the blue, "if Ezra ever throws me in a dungeon and I have to go live at a palace, I will forgive him." That may sound weird unless you are familiar with the story from the Bible about Joseph. Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers. They threw him into a hole and he ended up living in a palace many years later. Joseph ended up forgiving his brothers. Anyhow, Canaan must have really been processing that story! I love how he applied it to himself.

The Story of Mike and the Tree Branch.....
One day the Smiths went camping. It was an exciting time. They were hosting 11 college students from their church for a weekend at Danny's 300 acre farm. They arrived hours ahead of everyone else in preperation. Alex, Mike's brother joined them to help set up camp. Upon arrival, Mike, Canaan and Alex, set out to collect fire wood. Not to chop or to saw any wood, just collect. Off they drove through the woods while Megan and Ezra stayed back at camp to get things set up.
Minutes later, they were back. Back and bloody. Mike was in the passengers seat covered from chin to knees in blood. Blood? But they had only left to collect firewood minutes before! How could there be such an accident?
Thats when Mike told the story of he and the tree branch. He was loading sticks into the back of the car and one was quite long and needed to be broken to fit. He wedged it between 2 logs and began trying to break the limb. Broke it did. Just in the wrong place. It broke and came flying back up into his face where it cut him so badly he ended up needing 30 stitches and 4 suchers in his nose, jawbone, and cheek.
Thankfully the pain was not too unbearable and he was able to enjoy the rest of the weekend.

Why we love the fair
(dedicated to our beloved friend Shane)

Who can't love the fair? Once a year take a trip up to Columbus, Ohio for the wonderful, most amazing, truly beyond words, Ohio State Fair. Ok, not everyone shares our sentiments but truly, it is one of the highlights of our years.
Our day starts out around 9. We'd like to get there earlier but somehow it never happens. Anyhow, at 9am we enter the gates and anxiously await the arrival of the State Fair band that comes to play. Then we make our way through the fair. Building by building, barn by barn, food stall after food stall..... you get the point. 12 hours later we stagger out of the gate. Our feet are numb, legs are tingling, belly's are full, and we look forward to the next year.
This year our highlights were Canaan catching his first fish at the Ranger Natural Resource Center. This is a gorgeous part of the fair grounds. Acres of trees, grass, ponds, an amplitheater, etc... We saw a lumberjack show, Canaan shot bow and arrow and actually hit the target twice!
We had our yearly Schmidts Bahama Mama sausage and kraut and warm potato salad. YUMMMM. There was also ribbon fries, state fair fries with vinegar (a must), snow cones, ice cream, and so much more that I won't mention.
Anyhow, so thats our 2007 trip to the fair! Wish you were there!

At the Clarks farm

We went last night to Ty and Sondra's land for a cookout. Here are some pics of the boys playing in the woods....
The picture of they boy resembling Canaan is his cousin, Maxwell.
The hairy 4 legged boy is neither Max nor Canaan....its Winn :)

Things in the Smith household are always full of laughter and good times. We have made a move across town recently. We are in a new neighborhood and thankfully a house with central AC! We miss the charm of our early 1900's home but don't miss the immense amount of heat it produced in the summer and the outrageous heating bills in the winter.
But gone is our big front porch with a swing, a large backyard with a hammock, high ceilings, and pocket doors. No more creaky hardwood floors or large molding around the windows. Ahhhh.....those were the days.
But we are making the best of our new place. It has its own new construction "charm" I guess....
The summer has been flying by. Canaan has had a chance to spend a couple of weeks at nan's house in the mountains which he absolutely loves. Ezra is almost walking and celebrated his 1 year birthday last month.
I'll post pictures when I get a chance. My computer doesn't seem to be in the mood to cooperate at the moment.

I just love this picture of little Ezra. He had just been out playing in the rain puddles with Canaan and was naked and thirsty. So beautiful!!

HAPPY EASTER!
We just got back from Florida last weekend and after a blur of a week are already gone again to my mom's house in east Ky. it looks like we will be hiding the easter eggs without coloring them. oh what fun! so far there is about an inch on the ground and yet to be determined if we will still get more.
our trip to florida was great! we got to visit tons of friends and family and enjoyed the great weather. we will put up some pics from the trip later. thats all for now im off to eat a yum country breakfast..

This is a pillow that I made this week. Canaan had drawn an adorable picture of an octopus. I then transfered it to the fabric and stitched it. It turned out so fun!! He is so proud to have his artwork displayed this way as well!
Check out my (Megan's) blog at http://hiphome.blogspot.com as well.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CANAAN!
Its so hard to believe our little boy is 4 years old. He is such a joy in our lives. We are so blessed.

I seriously can't get enough of watching Canaan create. Whether it is painting, tinker toys, cooking, or digging in the dirt. It is so facinating. This morning he has been painting while watching a Johnny Cash DVD my parents sent a while back. So it has been some strokes of paint and a bit of dancing to the Man in Black.

so here is the new 'go listen to' web site
http://www.philwickham.com/
the player is at the bottom of the page and it will start playing automatically. i might suggest that you load it up in the background while you surf the web..

Canaan's Art and Coral from the Sea

Here are a couple pics from the home today. I love when Canaan paints. He likes to paint and I think that his little paper towel blotting pad is so precious.
I also took a picture of some of the fun things we found in the ocean (literally) on our cruise. They were IN the ocean. Mike dove down and picked them up off the ocean floor. The water was so crystal clear that he could see them and then dive down.

It is so stinkin cold out these days.... Canaan pulled a typical kid thing and exclaimed that he wanted to go play in the snow! So of course we spent 30 minutes digging in the closet to find his snow pants, boots, mittens, etc...... and FINALLY he was ready for the snow----
only to come back in 5 minutes later because it was too cold. Oh well. For those brief 5 minutes he did bring in a cup of snow to make a milkshake.
Things in the Smith world are good. We are still suffering from a bit of travelling depression after returning from our cruise. Oh to be sailing the ocean again with the warm sun on our faces and eating yummy food all day long....
But we're back in the "real world" again. Not a bad real world considering the world that many live in today. We are so blessed to have a nice home in a great neighborhood. Canaan goes to a nice school with a wonderful teacher. Mike has a job that he enjoys with a boss that likes him. And we all have our health, which we should never take for granted. In recent months we have found a wonderful church body that we have been longing for now for over 2 years. We are making friends and getting involved as time allows.
Still our hearts yearn for full time ministry again. We pray continually that God makes us content here but not too content that we aren't willing and ready to go when He says Go! It is scary to see so many people around us (including Christians)who are complacent and only having earthly goals. Yikes!!! I want to say " Wake up!! We aren't on this Earth to fulfill our own goals." As Randy Wood, one of our dear friends always says, "Its not about you!" Indeed, it isn't about us afterall!
Ok, I am off my soapbox now.
So that wraps it up from here. Keep in touch.

More cruise pics
Here are some more pics...if you aren't on our Shutterfly list let us know and we'll add you.
The fuzzy one is a picture that Canaan took of David Crowder. The other night Canaan prayed for David Crowder and his pretty songs :)

Our Dreamy Vacation

I don't have time to sit down and write now, but just wanted to say that we are home from an absolutely out of this world vacation. I will post more pics and more ramblings about it soon.

We head out on a cruise on Sunday. We never have considered ourselves "cruise" people but we won this 5 day Carribean cruise on a radio giveaway. So hear we go!! We are so excited to be taking our first official family vacation. A vacation for the sole purpose of relaxation and fun.
We hope to post while on the cruise but if we can't we will definately post when we return.

i can't believe it has been a month since we put the last post up the last post. it feels like the last month has elapsed in little over a week.
i will see how many pictures i can stick up but here is a run down of the last month:
ezra tried and refused any form of solid food, the lamp is there because as he saw us coming with the bowl he grabbed the lamp by the cord, pulled it off the stand and tried to swat us with it. after we pried it from his tight little fist he then would only take the food in and hold it on his tongue with his mouth hanging open, refusing to swallow.





canaan got to put the star on the christmas tree; canaan was super excited to help decorate the tree and put the star on top. if we can get a good picture you will see how nearly all the ornaments are congregated in a 3 x 3 square just about his head height.






i, mike, graduated college!! again, kindof. after 2 years of university, then 3 years of bible, theology, missions, etc. [which i kindof graduated from but not with a bachelors] and still another 2 years of business management i am finally done. with a mere total of nearly 200 credit hours!







we made another trip back to east ky to visit mike's mom, breath the clean air, and enjoy christmas, but i dont have any pics from chistmas loaded yet so another day.

thanksgiving has finally come and we are in the beautiful appalachian mountains at my mom's house. it is turning out to be a perfect thanksgiving weekend. the mountains are beautiful, the weather is great [65 degrees and sunny, that's somewhere in the neighborhood of 15 celcius if you are in the rest of the world] we had thanksgiving lunch at my grandma's yesterday, then semi-thanksgiving with my mom last night and today, friday, we are having the 'real' thanksgiving at my mom's with my sister and her whole family as well!
here are some pics from our trip so far. have a great weekend!
mike

We are slacking on our blog as of late. Things are going well here. Mike graduates in December---hooray!!!! Megan's Ebay business hit 1000 feedbacks last week ---another hooray!! And our boys are doing fantastic!!

We are working on The Smith Collection Volume 2 CD that we will be sending out to friends and family this Christmas. Last Christmas we sent out volume one. If you didn't get in on the first volume you missed out! Let us know if you'd like to be added to the list for volume 2. The CD is essentially a compilation of our favorite music from the past year.
This year Canaan will have his first CD compilation as well. He is a big music buff and he'll be sending out his favorite music to all of his little friends near and far.

My little monthly recipe swap, "Gourmet Gals", is starting up again. I absolutely love to cook and love trying out new recipes. This group is a fun way for me to keep in touch with my girlfriends and learn new recipes.
Things at the homefront are good. We are headed into Fall and loving it! My sister and her fiance are coming to town this weekend. We are going apple and pear picking at the annual Reed Valley Orchard apple festival. Next weekend we are headed out camping somewhere around the state, and the 3rd weekend of October we are going to Chicago to meet up with our friends Michael and Rachel...can't wait!
Canaan is on his first field trip this morning. His little class of 3 year olds are headed to the pumpkin patch. He is growing up so fast! Ezra is a little gem. He is such a joy in our lives. Smiles all the time and has the biggest laugh of any little baby. Of course he thinks I hung the moon, which I love!
Mike is still plugging away with school. Never ending it seems but the end is in sight. We are hoping for a December graduation!
I am busy yet not frazzled. Ebay is going great. Been having fun decorating for the fall season and doing some fall cleaning and organizing.
Thats about it. More to come.....

i dont know about the rest of the world but i love listening to new music. no, not the new top 40. just new to me. tonight i am being graced with kind voice and easy guitar of jose gonzalez. his voice almost sounds like james taylor but the music is much more natural. it makes me want to get in the car and drive across the country with my windows down. drinking iced tea and smiling at my beautiful wife as my crazy son tells me some random comment as he did tonight, "dad, we can hang the planet from my ceiling like a comet." to which i responded, "why do you know what a comet is?" from which he replied, "it is a rock that flies thru outerspace, dad. but it would hurt you if it came down."
why does my son know what a comet is much less what it is made out of? i dont know but i presume it is the same reason that he remembers the names of most everyone that has even come to our house for dinner in the last year. tonight he said, "mom, do you remember when mandy came and brought the gummies and potato crisp?"
anyway, i will live you with a link to listen to jose gonzalez on npr.org. it is an entire set that lasts about 50 minutes. you can listen on real player or windows media. so grab a drink sit back and enjoy!
jose gonzalez in concert
if anyone has any suggestions on how i can just have the player built into the blog so you can play it from here i would be happy to hear from you.

here is a nice picture of the two boys. canaan's face is healing well. i will try to put some updated pictures on soon.

china's great divide

with nearly 1.5 billion people, after 50 years of communism, china now has the world's greatest divide between urban rich and rural poor. china also has one of the greatest needs for a true gospel witness. steeped in ancient tradition and mystic buddism, china alone may hold more than 15% of the lost souls in our world today.

how will you spend your summer?

this is a short video highlighting a summer missions trip. mostly photos set to music.

things with real eternal values

a short promo video challenging people to take a look at what they place value on and encouraging them to take a short-term mission trip and find out what missionary life is really like.

welcome to my weekend


canaan v. #1 gravel
check it out theface.shutterfly.com


megan clocked in at about 103 degree temperature on and off for the last 3 days



and little ezra was just a good little baby. which means he sleeps good for 3-4 hours at a time and only wakes up 2-3 times a night. i will admit that poor megan does most of the work and is awake with him most of the time but i am putting in a little snippet of work.

canaan didn't have to get any stitches but got super glued in 2-3 places. to the best of my knowledge, he was visiting my grandma with my sister and her kids, he was just out being a kid and playing with my sisters kids and my aunts kids when he felt compelled to do some what of a swan dive unto the gravel which had only been put down a day or two before. something to do with treasure hunting, running, & falling over annie's back. the treasure hunt was evidently successful. he did find a coin!
anyway more later, i'm on baby duty and he seems to run out of interest for ben harper or alexi murdoch.
mike