Good start to a new year.

So far this new year we are experiencing has been good. We just welcomed a new nephew into the family from my sister Anissa on January 9th. This is their last child, and their first son. She already has 3 girls so this birth was pretty exciting. This is also the first grandson for my parents. They named him Noah Thomas Elias Smith. He is named after Noah's grandfather, and after himself. I haven't met the little guy yet but I am looking forward to seeing him for his blessing next month.

Last Friday Daniel and I took a little trip to L.A. My mom and Amber were both flying out of the Long Beach airport so we decided that since we were up there we would make the most of it. We first decided to find the house that was used in the movie "Father of the Bride", and we found it in Pasadena, CA.

It is such a beautiful house! Daniel says that's the kind of house he wants someday. After we walked around the neighborhood we decided to stop by to see the Rose Bowl. After turning around a few times thanks to the ever so reliable directions from google map, we finally found the place.

It was in a pretty open location and it was a popular spot for people to go running and to walk their dogs. After our little driving adventure we decided to go to UCLA's campus. However by the time we got their it was dark so we didn't see very much. Then we went home which took us a total of 3 hours thanks to L.A. traffic. Probably won't take any more trips up their soon, but it was a fun day none the less.

Something pretty exciting is that Daniel and I will be taking a trip out to the East side. I just booked our trip yesterday. We are flying into Raleigh, NC to spend some time in Chapel Hill and Durham, visit his Aunt and Uncle in Greensboro, NC then we will head to Charlotte, NC and Fort Mill, SC so I can see where Daniel grew up. After that we are going to Frederick, MD to spend time with Daniel's family as well as attend his younger sister's, Amanda, baptism. And of course while we are there we will be spending a couple of days in D.C. to enjoy the museums. It will be a very busy trip, but I look forward to spending time with Daniel, seeing his family and meeting new family members. I'm just hoping the weather will cooperate with us the last week of March so that our flights won't get canceled.