One Smith Day

November

2016-11-30T16:12:00.000-06:00

Whew! Only four months left to catch up on! I can do this!! Hope you're hanging in there with me.

Let's grab some pictures from November!

Luke kept on growing in there - I was getting bigger and bigger.

Gracie and I made some Christmas cookies for the freezer.

James voted in the presidential election (or any election) for the first time.

Guess who we voted for. Guess.

I was still taking Alyssa to LSU for classes.

Jon and I messed around at Target while picking up groceries.

I called Brian from Albertson's to verify that we won't dress in the exact same shirt when we get older. We both agreed we won't.

I saw a car that was sewn together.

We had Thanksgiving dinner together.

We decorated for Christmas.

Including a nice tree.

And a Matthew ornament.

December up next!

October

2016-10-31T16:05:00.000-05:00

And here we are in October already. Time sure flies when you're trying to catch up on blog posts.

Let me grab some photos because, honestly, I don't really remember October . . .

It looks like we went to "the walking park" which is the big, open park by our house. We like to go there in the evenings sometimes.

There is a big sundial in the middle of the park where you can tell time by your shadow, but the sun was too far down for it to work this day.

We also went to a picnic at the church pavilion for Salvation Station workers.

Grace had a lot on her plate that day.

Matthew was there in October.

Grace graduated from something amazing.

Looks like it was cookie school. Not really, she's wearing Matthew's cap from graduating from Sunday School.

Matthew and Grace got ready for the cold weather that wasn't coming.

We took the kids to LSU to see a volleyball game.

Because Mike The Tiger had recently died, there were lots of pictures and cards stuck on his enclosure.

We had a fun time inside the PMAC cheering on the Tigers.

We saw Mike inside, but Gracie wasn't getting too close.

Selfie at the PMAC

Very soon after that, Brian took me to my very first LSU football game in Death Valley!

It was so much walking from the car and up into the stadium, but the excitement of the crowds and the people there was a lot of fun!

And we'll end with Gracie!

September

2016-09-30T15:37:00.000-05:00

I know, I know, but I'm trying to update this blog and hopefully I can get all these posts done today.

So, here is what we did in September!

I failed my glucose tolerance test with Baby Luke so I had to return to the lab and spend THREE HOURS drink a horrible sugar drink and get stuck in the arm 52 times. (it was only 3 or 4 but it felt like 52)

James texted me this photo from the gas station wondering if he should swipe his card in a gas pump where the card swipe thing was completely tampered with. I told him no - but it was too late.

He then changed his pin number at my urging.

James headed to LSU to pick up Alyssa from class and took this photo for memories.

Brian and I went out to dinner again :)

We ate at Firehouse Subs (I think) and then went across the street for a turtle sundae at Fredies.

Because Yum!

We got groceries in September once or twice - or maybe 5 times.

We took Andrew out for a Smith Burger at Burgersmith.

And those were some of the highlights from September!

October to come!

August 2016

2016-08-31T15:09:00.000-05:00

So, remember I said I was gonna post a whole bunch of catch up posts? Well, I always do what I say - unless I don't, which is not what we're talking about here, right?

So, August was another busy month for us. Let me go find some photos to share with ya . . . .

Andrew and I did a fantastic hotdog and strawberry puzzle. It's not easy taking a selfie with a puzzle.

Gracie got some letters to make - kind of a craft/learning thing, but she wanted to do them all fast so it didn't quite work out the way I planned.

But she was really cute holding her A for Alligator.

Brian and I went out to Albasha to celebrate our 20 year anniversary and eat my favorite food in BR.
Schwarma and gyro!!!

And I got a big bouquet of my favorite flowers!!

And then, like the next day, it started to rain and rain and rain, and lots of our city flooded. Some of our friends were rescued from their homes in the middle of the night by kind hearted citizens called the Cajun Navy. Lots of people lost everything. Thankfully, we were safe and dry in our house.

This is a flooded apartment complex just north of our house.

Also during this time the Rio olympics were going strong. We loved watching the events together and cheering for the USA. The olympic hype carried over into James' room as well. (aka the green room) Some of the kids were reenacting olympic events and the wall took damage.

No, it wasn't Usain Bolt who did this to the wall, it was this guy.

Usain Smith

We also celebrated Jon's 11th birthday - Can't find any pictures of him with his cake, but I know they are somewhere.

The kids took selfies with my phone.

A rare and unusual sighting of the girls there.

Alyssa started LSU which meant that we had to drive her to class.

And then we had to pick her up as well.

Brian and I went out again and had dinner in front of a chicken rotisserie.

It was good.

And, finally, James and Faith got together for a photo.

Stay tuned for September. :)

July 2016

2016-07-31T14:50:00.000-05:00

Since I'm so very far behind on this blog, I'm going to publish a whole bunch of "catch up" posts. July was a fun month for us.

Here are some of the highlights from July.

We hired some guys to take down a very large palm tree in our backyard.

After the tree came down, a few bats flew out of the mess.

The boys were thrilled at their new playground.

I kept getting bigger and bigger with baby Luke.

We played lots of one of our favorite games - Catan!

Brian and I went to the Birth Center to have an ultrasound and see Baby Luke for the first time.

We went shopping for a new washing machine after ours gave up on us after nine years. The nerve, right??

Jon took my phone to IYC youth conference at church. We got some interesting shots out of it

Peter lost his two front teeth and, in the middle of that, looked a bit like a hillbilly.

And that was July - Stay tuned for more!

We Went to Tiger Stadium

2016-07-19T13:15:00.002-05:00

We descended on the campus of LSU this morning to visit Tiger Stadium for a field trip.

We watched a short highlight film and then had a tour of the game day facilities.

There was a helmet room where the helmets of NFL teams are displayed with the names of Tiger players who were drafted by those teams.

Then we moved on to another room where trophies were displayed.

Next it was time to visit the locker room.

The jerseys are hung before every game and it takes 2-3 hours for the staff to prepare the uniforms for the players before each game. The locker room recently underwent a renovation and now each locker is equipped with charging stations for phones and other devices during the game. There are no lockable areas for the players to leave anything but the room is only used pre and post game and security guards are posted at the doors as well.

Then it was time to move on.

We also visited a room where the Tigers come in during half time.

This is the same area where press conferences are held. The floor is covered with purple turf because the wear and tear from cleats was too hard on carpet.

After our moment with the press we headed out to the field - making sure to touch the "Win Bar" before leaving the building.

We had a great tour guide and finished our visit by saying "Hi" to Mike the Tiger!

Catching up!

2016-06-16T12:56:00.006-05:00

The end of May and June are very busy around here - so here's a little catch-up post to keep you all up to date on what we've been up to.

We had a backyard campfire for Memorial Day

See those banana slices? They're for the s'mores. YUM!!

Gracie enjoyed her s'mores.

We met Brian at the park one weekday for a fruit picnic!

So yummy - highly recommended.

Then Andrew's birthday rolled around really fast. We all got up at 6AM on Saturday morning to drive an hour to the blueberry farm.

After the long drive including some close-ups with cows along the tiny road leading to the farm, we got to work with our buckets.

Everybody's picking!

Gracie had a blast and did a really good job getting the ripe berries.

Brian tied his bucket around his neck.

Tired, but working.

We brought home about 16 pounds of blueberries.

And wasted no time baking muffins!

Then we celebrated Andrew's birthday.

He got a certificate for football practice this fall. He's excited - even though it's hard to tell in this picture.

Faith and Gracie baked more blueberry muffins!

Then James' birthday was upon us. We celebrated that evening by taking James out to Texas de Brazil (aka The Meat Buffet) for his first time.

Here is my plate from the salad bar as I waited for the meat to start arriving.

We had a great dinner.

That night IKC (International Kids Conference) started at church.

The next morning I dropped off some campers at church.

That week I went to several of the services.

My small rose bush also bloomed -

despite James chopping it down with the weed whipper a few weeks before.

My view as my tummy grows!

I had the three littlest kids at home that week - and Alyssa too.

We took them to the park to play in the sprinklers. They had a great time.

Gracie helped me make sweet and sour chicken by playing in the corn starch.

She also got a new dress and wore it to church that week.

Nice!

Finally, we had a chance to celebrate James' birthday on Sunday afternoon.

Grace wants cake!!

Then he opened up the letters from family from his first birthday party.

Pretty cool - so glad we did this for him so long ago.

Stay tuned for more from this summer!

Orange Beach May 2016

2016-05-19T15:20:00.000-05:00

We left home after church on Sunday and hit up Taco Bell for lunch.

The drive was long, but we only made one stop for a bathroom break before Gulf Shores - so that was good.

We stopped off at Target to load up on groceries for our stay and then headed to the condo.

Not long after we settled in, the Blue Angels gave us a nice fly by as a welcome!

After we took a nice walk on the beach, we found some games and a puzzle in the cabinet and had some delicious subs for dinner.

The next morning we had our usual bagels and cream cheese for breakfast on the balcony and then sun-screened-up and headed for the surf.

Brian and I relaxed in these chairs

The kids played in the ocean

And in the sand.

Our condo building.

Grace had a great time running up and down the beach chasing birds.

and getting her legs buried in the sand.

It was a beautiful day!

Because they said rain for Tuesday, we decided to get our pictures done on Monday.

Family photo

Brian and I

Then we fed the seagulls some popcorn.

Feed the birds, tuppence a bag.

And grabbed some more pictures of the kids in those great chairs.

After dark we headed out for our usual nighttime crab hunt and glowstick walk.

Once again, we were the coolest family out there!

The beach is awesome after dark.

The next day we took an early morning walk on the beach and then spent some time shopping for souvenirs.

The kids went swimming in the pool and we had some rain showers. I mostly took video this day - which you'll have to stay tuned for.

In the evening we headed back to the beach to play in the sand and the water one more time before heading home in the morning.

After packing up and checking out we headed north to Foley, AL to stop at the famous Lambert's Cafe - Home of the Throwed Rolls.

Ready to have some rolls throwed at them.

Gracie putting her own butter on.

You order a meal and then rolls are thrown at you and also sides like fried potatoes and fried okra are brought around. There was also a lady bringing apple butter and molasses for the rolls.

One of the kids missed a roll that was thrown. I won't name any names . . .

Chicken strips and french fries.

Baked rolls as big as her face. She had a ball.

The waitress was kind enough to snap a picture of all of us after our meal. The table sat all of us comfortably and had built-in paper towel holders. Our kind of table!

Stuffed to the gills and filled with rolls we headed home to Louisiana.

Bye, bye beach! Hope to see you soon!!

Hats, Jury Duty and Banana Bread

2016-05-05T14:23:00.005-05:00

We took a girls only trip to Target to look for purses and the hats were RIGHT THERE so we had to try a couple on.

I got another summons for jury duty - lucky me. I had to report on Monday to the courthouse downtown.

Excited to fulfill my civic duty. Ha!

I waited in a room with nearly 300 other people for four hours.

Then I was told I could go to lunch - but I couldn't leave the building.

Good thing there is a cafeteria in the courthouse - although the menu had no prices.

I paid $7.50 for a burger/fries/drink and set myself up by the window.

When I finished I noticed that some folks had arrived.

I waited two more hours in the courthouse only to be told to return on Wednesday.

Thankfully, on Tuesday afternoon, they called to tell me that the case had been settled and I was done! Yeesss!

Two more years of exemption - I'll probably have another summons in a few years . . . it being random and all of that.

This morning Grace and I got together and made banana bread!

She peeled the bananas.

We devoured two loaves at lunchtime. It was soo good!

James Graduates!

2016-05-02T20:56:00.001-05:00

James completed his first year at Bible College and he graduated last weekend.

The parents were invited to a special luncheon to honor the graduating class.

Afterward we grabbed some photos of James with his professors.

David Borg

Mike Muzzerall

Bob and Sharon Cornell

Loren Larson

And at least one with some friends.

It had rained pretty much the whole time we were gone and we returned to a flooded street in the neighborhood.

The next morning the graduates walked during Sunday service.

We got a few pictures of James in his cap and gown.

And one of the whole gang.

Congratulations James!

Peter Turns 7

2016-04-27T11:33:00.003-05:00

We celebrated Peter's 7th birthday last week.

He opened lots of presents -

"A sink? For me?" he asked disappointingly.

But it all turned out okay when inside was not a faucet - but a trip to the theater to see The Jungle Book in 3D!

He chose a dirt cake this year.

Love this wild kid!

Happy Birthday Peter!

Matthew Turns 5

2016-03-29T15:06:00.000-05:00

We celebrated Matthew's fifth birthday last weekend. He chose to have a monster party.

Grace ate the blue number 5 on the cake plate so I had to replace it with a green one.

James showed up to the party as well.

Matthew wanted a piece with an eye on it.

After cake he opened presents!

Thanks for the cards/gifts!

Then we had a fun time busting the pinata and eating candy. It was a good day!

Happy Birthday, Matthew!

Grace Turns 2!

2016-02-29T09:30:00.000-06:00

We celebrated Grace's birthday on the Sunday before her actual birthday. It's just nicer because we're all home and we can celebrate together without rushing around.

She dressed up for church in her little sweater dress and we headed outside to take some pictures.

After church she hammed it up in the parking lot with James.

And held hands with Matthew on the ride home.

We had pizza for lunch and then it was cake time.

She was so happy after she blew out the candles.

Then it was time for presents where she laid on the floor to open each one.

Then we grabbed some pictures of her with just Brian and I.

After cake and presents she put on her new clothes and we headed to the park!

Happy 2nd birthday Baby Girl!

Cones, A Park and a Baby Sister

2016-02-22T11:24:00.000-06:00

This past week was interesting. We came home from somewhere to find a ginormous pine cone in the driveway. We set it on the table as a decoration and the next day the kids scoured the backyard for all the regular-sized pine cones they could find.

One of these pine cones is doing its own thing.

We met Daddy at our favorite park for a picnic lunch and some running around a couple of times.

Pretty nice looking February out there! Grace loves it.

The boys brought along a couple of home-made kites to fly as well.

Gracie and Andrew at the park.

On Saturday the girls decided to sleep in - or they were too tired to get up - so I brought this crew to the grocery store with me to stock up for the week.

Because we have a special birthday coming up as well, we had some other shopping to do.

They wanted me to buy a dancing toilet paper card for Grace - but I went with a puppy one instead.

Then we headed to the toy aisles where they died.

They're not used to or fond of hanging in the "girl" aisles.

After successfully loading up the cart we headed home.

On Sunday we woke up to homemade sticky buns courtesy of Faith.

And Gracie dressed up for church so I grabbed some pictures of her.

So cute in her sweater dress.

She was hamming it up in the parking lot with James.

And Holding Matthew's hand on the way home.

Stay tuned for more!

A Girl and a Gun

2016-02-11T14:08:00.001-06:00

So, I have a problem. It's actually a good problem, I just have to learn how to control it. I have two great cameras. My Canon super-de-duper I'm a photog camera and my Nokia "my cell phone camera can beat up your cell phone camera" camera. I love them both. But I have a hard time remembering to take the pictures off of them and so, when I come to blog, I'm scrambling to find photos.

Anyway, I took the memory card out of the Canon and I'm going to see if there's anything worth sharing.

Wait for it . . .

Ah, good. I found a couple. Brian took the kids out back to do some target practice with the BB gun.

You might not wanna mess with her.

More later!

January is Gone

2016-02-02T10:03:00.002-06:00

January was a busy month - hence no posting :( But I'm planning to try and get back to this little blog because we like it so much.

We had visitors from MN - Brian's parents came down for New Year's again this year.

We made The Lasagna

And went to the park!

This was back when Gracie was too afraid to slide down the baby slides.

Peter wasn't afraid though.

One of Grace's favorite things at the park is the baby swing.

I think she could literally stay in there for an hour or so.

We also practiced our selfies.

We went to Family Night at Chick fil a and got our faces painted.

We put on our shoes and sweatshirts and took walks around the block.

We had muffins for breakfast!

We did school half dressed (like all homeschoolers do)

We did a lot of walking together at the park near our home.

Grace wore the dress she got for Christmas. Even though I didn't get a photo of her before Alyssa took her to the Crazy Hair Place (aka the sink)

We shopped for chips.

Peter Sweeter finally lost his first tooth. He was very excited to join the ranks of toothless kids in the family.

He got a crispy $1 bill from the Tooth Parent.

And our girl Alyssa got glasses in January too.

Not me. Not yet. I'm just trying on frames for support. (and so I won't be shocked when I get them in 10 years - baby steps)

2015 Comes to an End

2015-12-31T00:52:00.000-06:00

We rounded out December by baking cookies for Christmas.

Not pictured are the ever-lovely spritz cookies!

Brian and Alyssa celebrated their 41st and 15th birthdays.

They went to lunch together at our favorite Greek and Lebanese restaurant, Albasha!

A couple of days later I took Brian to Texas de Brazil.

Where we were interrupted by a phone call letting us know that Peter was locked in the bathroom. A similar thing had happened to a different door several months ago. James removed the handle but it still wouldn't open. So he got to kick in the door and rescue Peter.

All was well.

And I replaced the handle - although Matthew thought it was cooler without . . .

It is pretty cool!

Grace got herself a blanket just for her.

And then we celebrated Christmas.

With Games

And walks around the block together.

And Christmas Eve Dinner.

In the morning we had presents!

And so much fun that we spilled out into the hallway after bedtime.

It's been a great year - can't wait for 2016!

The Latest

2015-12-07T10:13:00.000-06:00

We had our annual Thanksgiving Day Sequence Tournament again this year and Alyssa was the winner!

Congratulations Alyssa!

Gracie got to try our cheese ball for the first time. I think she liked it.

James went shopping for some new duds for church/school/work.

Faith and I helped him pick out some things.

He ultimately chose the above combinations. And added a pair of grey dress pants as well.

After Thanksgiving Brian took the boys to Lowe's to get the Christmas tree. We set it up and decorated it that night.

By the next night Grace had taken off a majority of the decorations to play with on the floor.

Brian and I had a lunch meeting at Zoe's Kitchen over by his work. We met and had lunch. It's always awesome to have a lunch meeting!

The shopping has begun - and Gracie is a big girl who likes to pick out fuzzy sweaters and hug the Target dog.

The six (!!) big kids had a Christmas party to go to at church so we took the two littles out for dinner at Chick Fil A.

Where Matthew is always surprised that he can't have a burger.

Gracie likes the french fries.

And Brian got me a peppermint shake - YUM!

The stockings were hung in the kitchen with care and we headed off to another Christmas party

Where this was the scene before the play even started.

So the two of us ended up out in the lobby so as to not disturb all the other people there with our cuteness.

After awhile I tag-teamed with Jon and headed back inside for the singing portion of the program.

Where Peter was sleeping on Brian

And James was falling asleep - not really.

Then I took these goofballs out shopping for more Christmas presents.

And you get to see TWO pictures of Faith this post! Yay!!

Stay tuned for more mayhem as we get closer to Christmas!!

November

2015-11-26T16:49:00.000-06:00

I'm not even going to tell you that we've been busy - because you already know that! If you've been paying attention on FB or the public blog you've seen we've been up to a lot of things including cooking and shopping with the kids, Matthew's tonsillectomy and now Thanksgiving is upon us already.

Here's what we've been up to:

In an effort to recover the "lost" contact lenses that Brian ordered way back in June, we headed out to the eye doctor and then stopped off at Taco Bell for dinner.

She doesn't like to wait for her tacos.

But she did do a little dancing while she ate.

The day before Thanksgiving is prep day. We bake pies, put the stuffing and potatoes together and prep the turkey.

Grace's first pumpkin pie making session. Start 'em young I always say (not really!)

Matthew is pretty much an expert by now :)

After our prep was done, Gracie hung out on the couch with Daddy.

I went to bed but forgot to put the turkey in the roaster. Thankfully I remembered and got it in.

After Thanksgiving lunch we started our annual Sequence tournament.

And did some more hanging out together!

Happy Thanksgiving!

From this little turkey!!

Tonsils Part II

2015-10-19T17:23:00.002-05:00

Today is day 6 following Matthew's tonsillectomy and adenoid removal surgery.

Here's an update. . .

We skipped breakfast and headed out to the surgery center early Wednesday morning.

We waited patiently to get checked in.

We got matching bracelets at check-in. Last time that happened was when Matthew was born!

Yay, bracelets!

They also gave us a pager that would let us know when it was our turn to head to the staging area for surgery.

Soon it was our turn and we headed back to get a new outfit.

He looks good. I told him he looked like a doctor.

Still smiling! Watching cartoons while waiting to be brought back for surgery.

Soon we parted ways. I had to return to the waiting room where I called Brian to give him an update.

And then I headed to the gift shop to buy Matthew some balloons.

About 1/2 hour later the pager went off and I saw the surgeon who said Matthew had done great! A few minutes later it went off again and I got to see him in recovery.

Poor buddy was a bit sad while trying to wake up. I held him in the rocker until he felt a bit better. Pretty soon he wanted to go home and see Daddy.

We made it home where Brian picked him up out of the car and placed him on the couch for his first of many bowls of ice cream.

This week Matthew has spent a lot of time on the couch.

We set him up with a little bell to ding when he needs something.

He dings it a lot - but Grace does too!

Chocolate ice cream and his buddy make him happy.

His other favorite soft food is macaroni and cheese.

A typical lunch this week: Apple juice, mac n cheese and a pudding cup.

He has been doing really well. The difference between his breathing at night before and after surgery is amazing. He has been handling the pain well and he's on an antibiotic to avoid infection.

He has a post-op checkup with the surgeon on Thursday morning. :)

Matthew's Surgery

2015-10-13T14:34:00.003-05:00

Matthew sailed through his pre-op appointment yesterday.

We are all stocked up on ice cream, pudding and Carnation instant breakfasts.

Tonsils Be Gone!

Surgery Wed morning at 8:15am.

Will let you know!

We're Back!

2015-10-02T20:42:00.004-05:00

We've been MIA for quite awhile - working on a few new projects and generally so very, very busy with everything.

We, unfortunately, had to say goodbye to our super smart, cute and cuddly Lincoln.

I am just now able to look at these pictures without crying and missing him like crazy.

This was the day we said goodbye.

We had him for almost 3 months and in that time Matthew started having trouble breathing at night. It was to the point of sleep apnea even which is very frightening. Brian and I started getting little sleep because we had Matthew in our room and we spent lots of time just making sure he was breathing.

Three trips to the doctor, 10 days of a hard antibiotic and a recommended surgery lead us to make a decision to remove the one thing that changed in his environment before the onset of symptoms.

We returned Lincoln to the adoption house we had got him from and he spent a few days with a foster family before being adopted by another family.

That same day we washed all the bedding at the laundry mat and cleaned the house from top to bottom. That night Matthew's breathing improved by about 90% and has since gotten better and better - no more episodes of sleep apnea although he occasionally snores a bit still.

He may still, at some point, need surgery, but not now and even though we miss Lincoln, we're so happy to have Matthew breathing easy.

In other news . . .

We've been shopping - which is not at all unusual.

But who we saw . . .

And how we did it . . .

was a little unique.

We got a selfie stick

And took a whole family picture.

Gracie napped

Matthew did school

And we prepared for the coming winter.

HA!

And a whole bunch of other things.

Jon's Tenth Birthday

2015-08-20T10:46:00.000-05:00

Jon had his big TENTH birthday last this week. We celebrated ahead of time because he wanted a sleepover with a few friends.

First we headed out to the local bowling alley.

Bowling is fun! The boys had a good time.

Then we headed home for pizza, presents and cake.

Faith and I made a bowling-themed cake for Jon.

The boys played tag in the dark backyard and slept in the living room that night.

The next morning Brian made mancakes and sausage for everyone.

And then there was an epic Nerf war in the backyard.

Jon picked up his new favorite shirt with some of his birthday money.

Thanks everyone for the cards and gifts for Jon.

Stay tuned for more!

**PS** I plan to keep updating this private One Smith Day with more personal things about the family, which you should still get in your email inboxes. The public One Smith Day will contain less personal stories and recipes for everyone. I want to keep them both because we use this private one as a journal of sorts and enjoy looking back through the years at ourselves and how the kids have grown.

Baby Girl

2015-07-16T12:56:00.000-05:00

This girl . . .

She's nearly 17 months old already.

She's talking a lot now. Instead of "yes" she says "okay".

Her favorite pastime of late is telling Lincoln to "get down, drop it and go away".

She also likes to read stories.

She still takes some naps.

And she has perfected the "duck face".

Who knows what she'll be up to next. Stay tuned to find out!

Burgersmith AKA Third Time's a Charm

2015-07-15T16:17:00.000-05:00

More than a year ago Brian and I attempted to go to Burgersmith over by LSU. He and James had gone there and had nothing but good things to say about it.

However, the wait time was outrageous so we decided to go somewhere else that night for dinner.

A few weeks ago a new Burgersmith opened just down the road.

We went a couple of weeks ago but just as we sat down we were told it would be a 45 min wait for our burgers.

No deal.

So we walked out again.

On the weekend of the 4th we drove by there, hoping to stop on the way to pick up some fireworks. But the parking lot was jammed and people were parking in the empty lot next door so we didn't even stop.

Bummer.

Finally we visited last Saturday just after they opened, found the parking lot just starting to fill up and quickly made our way inside (my third time inside. Will I get a burger this time?).

Beautiful day for a Smith Burger.

As we were seated our waiter asked if we had ever been to Burgersmith.

I had to laugh . . .

Lemon ice water.

Looks like I'm gonna get me a Smith Burger.

We both had Smith Burgers and we shared a (huge) order of fries.

Brian suggested I get the mustard on the side in order to not interfere with the Smith Sauce.

Good call as I didn't even use the mustard.

Smiths

The burger was great. Perfectly cooked and very tasty. I didn't turn flips over the cooked onions so I removed them and Brian quickly acquired them from my plate. The fries were fabulous - just a tad bit spicy. There are a couple of things on the menu that Brian wants to try - a Buffalo Burger to name one - so I'm sure we'll be back.