Happy Birthday, Anastasiya

Anastasiya Antonovna Smith is 5 years old today! She was born in San Antonio, Texas. Ana loves to dance, to sing, to play the piano, to talk on the phone and to entertain in general. If music is going , her hips, shoulders and hands are going to the beat. She is so cute when she laughs because she puts her hands up in front of her mouth. Hope your birthday is a big one and you have a lot of fun, Ana!!!

We love you, Granny & Grandad

p.s. I was corrected---Ana was born in AUSTIN, not San Antonio!

Gone to the Dogs

Tony & Elena & Ana & Nikita & Kowboy came up to visit this weekend. We all had a great time--but I think the two Golden Retrievers had an even better time! Sandy has been asleep ever since they left this morning. Kowboy had a big time with all of Sandy's toys, but he especially liked the stuffed goose and duck. He even managed to carry both of them around in his mouth so Sandy couldn't get them from him.


We took them both to the lake yesterday morning for a swim and then to the park to run a while. They both love the water and jumped in and out and chased sticks like crazy. Here they are---both bringing in the same stick to shore! Once Kowboy just dunked Sandy's head under the water so he could get the stick. They were fun to watch. It was hard to tell which one was which with the wet hair. Sandy has been tuckered out since Kowboy left. David even took him outside, just so he could see that Kowboy wasn't in the backyard, that he was really gone. He misses his buddy.


I had to take some pictures while we were at the park.

By Any Other Name

Phone call from Ana (4 1/2 years) on Thursday:

Granny, did you see the Olympics?

No, what did you see?

We watched the gymnastics and she won, she won! She's so pretty. She won the gold medal.

Oh, you mean Nastia (pronounced 'NAWS-T-AH)?

No, I mean 'ANA'!

Our 4 /12 year old Ana's given name is Anastasiya Antonovna Smith, she is called Ana (AHH-NA) or Nastia (NAWS-T-AH). Her middle name comes from the Russian female version of her dad Tony's name. So I looked up some info on the 18 year old Nastia. So our Ana figured that the other Nastia was called Ana, too!

Liukin was born in Moscow of the former Soviet Union and goes by Nastia, the Russian diminutive of Anastasia. Liukin is fluent in Russian and English, speaks some Spanish and would like to learn French. Nastia's parents are products of the Soviet gymnastics machine. Nastia's father, Valeri Liukin, was a double gold medalist (team, high bar) at the 1988 Seoul Games, and her mother, Anna Kochneva Liukin, was the 1987 rhythmic world champion with clubs. Citing their personal experiences (in wedding photos, Valeri is sporting a cast), Valeri and Anna were reluctant to let Nastia begin formal training. But since they could not afford a babysitter, Nastia tagged along to the gym. From the sidelines, Nastia began imitating the moves of gymnasts she watched and was soon outperforming them. Unable to ignore their four-year-old's natural talent, Valeri and Anna relented. Nastia Liukin captured the Olympic gold medal in the all-around competition at the 2008 Beijing Olympics defeating teammate Shawn Johnson who finished in second. She added this medal to the family's trophy case exactly twenty years after her father captured two golds at the 1988 Seoul Olympics. A rising freshman at Southern Methodist University in Texas, Liukin plans to study international business.

Strawberry Ice Cream & Jesus

This is an email we got from Tony this week. Simple and eloquent as only a child could view things:

Yesterday Elena went to the store with Nikita and Nastya. They must have been exceptionally good children because they each came home with their own individual container of ice cream. Nikita had Blue Bell Cookies and Cream. Nastya had Haagen Dahz Strawberry ice cream. Cookies and Cream is always a safe choice for good ice cream. Nikita really enjoyed it. The Strawberry...now that was good ice cream. In fact, it was so good that Nastya described it in this way...

"This tastes so good! This tastes soooo good. Just like Jesus!"

So, for a little glimpse of Heaven, everybody needs to run out to your local grocery store and pick up a container of Haagen Dahz Strawberry ice cream. It may be a little pricey, but what's a few dollars for a chance to taste Jesus! Some people wait their whole lives to experience Jesus. My daughter finds Jesus in a carton of ice cream.

Locks of Love

Ana, our 4 and nearly 1/2 year old granddaughter has a new hairdo. Ana had her first dance recital on May 10 and wanted to have long hair for that. But last week she got her hair cut and donated it to "Locks of Love" for kids who are going through treatments like chemo and have lost their hair. They use the human hair and make wigs for these special kids. Your hair has to be at least 10 inches long to donate it and she was there. What a neat thing to do! I understand about the no-hair situation and for kids that has to be really a bummer. Here Ana is prior to the haircut and here she is after.... Too cute!!!

She is thrilled with her new hairdo. She looks more like her mom now. We're proud of you, Ana, for your donation! But wait! You look about 3 years older now. Reckon we could just glue some hair back on you?

Ana's Dance Recital

Ana had her first dance recital Saturday night for Brooke Lowden's School of Dance in Kyle. Ana did so good! She knew her routine without having to look over at the teachers on the sides of the stage. She's in the middle here with her little tuxedo outfit on during the balleria song, "Born to Entertain."

Elena & I took her to rehearsal, while the other kids went to Nikita's soccer game. We laughed so hard during the rehearsal. Those little kids, aged 3 & up, would do some of the funniest things. One little girl threw a shoe and caused a major traffic jam as the rest of her troupe was supposed to be in a row following each other and she wasn't doing anything without her shoe!

Well, that night during the show, the same thing happened to another little girl. She tried to bend down and put it back on with no success. She reaches down, grabs the shoe and runs over to the side of the stage where the teachers were behind the curtains. She puts the shoe down and with much fanfair, motions down to her foot & shoe as if to say "Put this thing back on me!" The teacher did, and she ran back onstage to finish the dance. It was a hoot!

Here she is with her teacher, Kristina. They were big buddies. Flowers were in order for the dancer and the teacher. Ana even got to wear makeup and glittery spray on her hair and shoulders. She was just gorgeous.

The auditorium was full, there were people standing up because it was so full. Kelly's 5 oldest girls were there with us to see the dance. It was so much fun to have them there. They were all into the dances----especially when Ana danced and when one group did a "Pirates" dance to the music from "Pirates of the Carribean." That was a real hit, as they had swords and were dressed like pirates. We won't even talk about the amount of money in the auditorium spent on costumes. But the fun and self-confidence this brought to these young ladies is priceless!

Bella Ballerina

Anastasiya is taking dance classes, specifically, tap dance classes. She has new shoes and a new outfit in the picture that Tony sent us.

We're going to see her dance recital in May. She is all about dance. If there's music going, Ana is moving.