The Smith Family

Heidi Marie (our newest addition)

2011-12-11T12:18:00.002-07:00

We are so excited to have our Heidi home. The kids were so excited to see what she was going to look like. She has been a great baby. She is very mellow. But hey she is only a week old now. I'm sure things will change. She smiles and laughs a ton in her sleep. We are all are so in love. Here are a couple of pictures of Heidi. This picture below she was a week and one day old. This one was a week old.

They gave us a stocking because she was born in Dec. The kids were dieing to see her in it. This is the day we brought her home. She has grown so much.

The McDonalds come for a visit

2011-11-28T20:07:00.004-07:00

My parents, my brother Jason and his lovely wife Sarah and their youngest boy James(from Australia). We had them for a nice long week. It was awesome. We kept it low key. Here are just a few highlights from their trip. We also went to temple square but i can't seem to find those pictures right now. Cheesy quote, but, "All because 2 people fell in love" and another huge one is, All because these 2 decided to join The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I can't imagine where i would be with out the gospel. Thanks Mom and Dad!

Jason and Sarah and James, missing 3 kids. It was so great having them here with us.

My good looking crew. With one on the way.

The boys went 4-wheeling

We went to the pumpkin patch..always fun. And amazing weather!!

Thanks for coming mom, dad, Jason, Sarah and James(missing--Brooklyn, Jacob, Charlotte). We love you guys and miss you!

9 years

2011-11-21T14:07:00.004-07:00

For our 9 year anniversary, we went on an over night, back in September. I got this awesome deal on a hotel. Its crazy to think 9 years and almost 4 kids later. I'm still crazy for this kid. We all have our ups and downs, but we have also grown so much. He is my best friend. I'm so grateful for him and our relationship. One thing, we take pride in..is our ability to talk about everything with each other. You name it, we probably have talked about it. I'm so blessed to have him. We were celebrating his birthday and anniversary. We tried to do somethings that we did when we dated. We went lots of drives; Utah has some beautiful scenic drives. We went to Bridal Vail falls. We walked around SLC. It was so enjoyable and relaxing. Especially being pregnant i didn't want to do anything crazy(I was 28 weeks pregnant). In SLC, we sat and listened to some guy play the bag pipes on the corner and people watched. We had an amazing time!

back tracking, Claytons Birthday

2011-11-20T11:09:00.002-07:00

Clayton had his Birthday September 1st...I realized I'm behind, so one post a day should catch me up with out feeling overwhelmed. Crazy enough, i found this shirt at walmart. Clayton thought it was the coolest thing ever. These are Clayton's 2 best friends at Clayton's party. I babysit both of them. They get a long so well. We had family and some neighbor kids come over for cake and ice cream.

Clayton opening presents.

Cousins.

And of course the cake. Sometimes i make them and sometimes, you just have to buy them :)

Bridal Bouquet

2011-09-15T23:05:00.002-06:00

Today was a lot of fun!! I got to do a bouquet for a good friend of mine. She had bridal pictures today. I love working with flowers, its my happy place. Hope you like them mom and dad.

creepy crawly

2011-09-07T11:54:00.002-06:00

Its getting that time, its starting to cool off and we get a little bit more rain. And start to come out in the sun to stay warm. So we get tons of frogs and the tarantulas.(tarantulas stay mostly in the canyon and come on the road to get warm. We saw this one on Sunday up the canyon. 52 frogs from some window wells. The kids had so much fun with them, and we than let them go.

I sure miss these kids!!

2011-08-22T12:45:00.002-06:00

Today is the first day of school. They were so excited! Mom not so much. I miss them so much, I can't imagine how I'm going to feel when they leave the nest. For the next two weeks, I'm swamped with babysitting kids until they go to kindergarten and preschool. So that will keep my mind off things. I'm looking forward to spending one on one time with Clayton. He could really use it.
It was neat last night, all the kids had their back to school blessings...even Clayton and i had one too, i sure needed it. I'm so grateful that Josh is worthy to hold the priesthood. What a blessing it is to have the priesthood in our home.

I don't want to grow up!

2011-08-20T12:54:00.003-06:00

Last night our dear sweet Clayton had a break down. We were talking about families and how they will grow up and we would become grandma and grandpa. Oh did the tears start coming. "I want to stay a kid. I want you to stay my mom and dad to stay my dad. And Hailey and Wyatt to stay kids too" It was so sweet, Clayton was stroking my face saying i don't want you to be a grandma, your my mom. I had tears of laughter and tears of sorrow.(must be this pregnancy) He was still so sad, no matter what i said, i couldn't make it better. So we changed the subject to talking about his birthday. He is turning 4 in about a week and a half. That cheered him up. We love our Clay Clay!

Casket spray

2011-08-08T15:51:00.002-06:00

Josh's lovely grandma great past away and i was luckily enough to do her casket spray. It turned our beautiful. I LOVE working with flowers. Its so much fun and I'm able to bring beauty to someone. It was a lovely graveside funeral. About a 100 or more came.

4th of july fun

2011-08-08T15:45:00.002-06:00

We went to some 4Th of July celebrations. Wyatt got to the first bag on the slick pole. He did awesome. He is normally a shy boy, I did know he could climb, but to do it in front of everyone, he surprised me. I love watching him in action. Wyatt is a great kid. We enjoyed some hamburgers and listen to some bands play. Haily got a star on her cheek and some stars in her hair from one of the booths. Fun times.

Snake anyone?

2011-08-08T15:39:00.002-06:00

We found this snake between our house and our neighbors. I was proud of the kids they did what they are suppose to do and run and come and tell us. Luckily it was just a garter snake. We kept it for a while, but it wasn't eating so we took it up the canyon and let it go. It was a pretty big one. Fun time for the boys, horned toads than a snake.

Bryce and Zions getway

2011-08-08T13:37:00.008-06:00

Of course i always do the pictures out of order. We went to Bryce and Zions with my parents and my brother David and his family. It was a lot of fun. So this was our very last hike of the week. The kids did great, but Clayton gave up on this hike. It was SO funny! Josh was working with the boys with some carving. They thought that was cool, but probably not as cool as them catching 5 horned toads.

We took one home, and just this past weekend took it up our canyon to let it go.

Lunch after the toughest hike we did. My mom even finished it...yeah mom! It was one of the most funniest hikes ever, because we all wore matching shirts..that the Chinese people thought it was so cool. And they were amazing by how many kids we had. They kept taking pictures of us.

Camp fire time!

Junior Ranger program. We did one at Bryce and Zions

Another hike we did.

Fun in the the mud and stream by our cabin.

Some wide life

The weeping rock..i think that's what its called..it was pretty cool.

Our Cabin.

Junior Ranger fun!

Our first hike.

3 + 3 = Crazy

2011-07-18T12:52:00.002-06:00

We have been way busy, especially now. I don't even know why I'm taking time to post this. There are so many things being neglected...but not the kids...just house stuff. The kids are having a blast. We took on 3 more kids for about 10 days. It is fun and crazy at the same time. I still haven't completely unload groceries from this morning...lol. I have a new respect for ladies that have babies super close together. 6 kids under 7 is a crazy experience. Love them lots! I'm loving caffeine and candy this week too. Time for quite time! Maybe?!?

PJ Party!

2011-07-05T12:57:00.002-06:00

Hailey turned 6 this year. For her birthday she wanted to do a pajama party. We had so much fun doing hair and nails and playing games. She got a new bike for her birthday. And she had some of her best friends come. Two girls weren't able to come, but they were missed. Hailey is growing up so fast.

Graduation time

2011-06-02T15:39:00.002-06:00

Hailey graduated from Kindergarten. This is her teacher, Mrs. Wride. She is wonderful, she was Wyatt's kindergarten teacher too.

I got to do some funeral flowers for Josh's grandpa's sister. I love the purple and yellow together.

Wyatt had his first grade program too. He did a great job, he is growing up so fast.

Fun in April

2011-06-02T14:57:00.005-06:00

We have been staying busy. Here are just a few things we have been up too. We made nests. A friend of mine did this with her kids and i thought it was so cute. It did take my kids like 2 days to eat them. It was way fun.

Jake and Zack(Josh's twin brothers) came home from their missions. Here is the clan waiting for them...it was a LONG wait. Plus we got pulled over that night...LOL.

We did our first fishing of the season. Clayton caught the first fish, on his little fishing pole. Our friends the Biglers came with us.

Of course we had an Easter egg hunt in Grandma and Grandpa Smiths back yard. It was a lot of fun, but a little cold.

SILHOUETTE MACHINE GIVEAWAY!!!!

2011-05-17T14:24:00.001-06:00

Oh i hope i can win this! Oh what fun i would have!

SILHOUETTE MACHINE GIVEAWAY!!!!

Nap time, of course!!!

2011-05-16T11:12:00.002-06:00

I have some blogging to catch up on...but for now, this is what i have been up to. Boy have i been tired! I think more so than with the last 3, but i don't remember. And the baby is actually due Dec 7th..i have no idea where i got November. So, I'm almost 11 weeks. I have a long ways to go. But I do hope the tiredness will pass soon. Plus, I'm getting a little rounder faster..but that is to be expected this is my 4th. So, i will catch up some more in the next few days. I can't wait for summer..time with my kids and not babysitting...YES!

Out of the mouths of babes!

2011-04-19T12:29:00.003-06:00

Today, Clayton proceeded to tell one of the little girls i babysit that I'm pregnant.
"My mom has a baby in her tummy and she didn't even eat it"
So cute! Love you Clayton!

Cute isn't it?

2011-04-19T10:51:00.002-06:00

So we have really cute kids, its amazing that babies start out looking like this and become something so much more appealing...LOL. So this is what my baby looks like right now at 7 weeks. Isn't it cute!?! But there is definitely a sweet spirit growing there! Can't wait. So we will have a November baby, hopefully as long as everything goes well(there is always a little worry) I have a hard time keeping it a secret for a long time.
The kids are so excited! So here is to 7 weeks...may i not get nauseated at night and i will get plenty of rest...lol.

Band aids anyone!

2011-04-04T13:20:00.002-06:00

So Wyatt in the last 5 days has had; a busted lip, a cracked head(no stitches required), some rode rash, and a cut finger. I think he is following in his dads foot steps. There are always war wounds from playing outside. Good thing it doesn't stop him from going right back out there.

Say Cheese

2011-03-22T13:12:00.003-06:00

My brother David and his family came for a visit this past weekend. What a great time to do some family pictures. We borrowed Josh's brothers wicked nice camera. for the job. They turned out great. Now i wish i knew how to touch them up with photoshop. We have the program, now i just need to start reading up on it and playing with it.

Wyatt's pictures

2011-03-22T12:20:00.002-06:00

So Wyatt really started opening up and loved getting his pictures taken.

Hailey's pictures

2011-03-22T11:50:00.004-06:00

My beautiful Hailey! She loves getting her pictures taken.

Pictures of Clayton

2011-03-22T11:31:00.003-06:00

Clayton is such a ham...its really hard to get a good picture of him. He is so stinkin cute, actually he is handsome. He says cute is for girls. Handsome is for boys. If you ever ask him, he will correct you.

An old friend

2011-03-01T19:46:00.002-07:00

Today i thought i was suppose to begin my morning spin class for March, I have been going at night. But i had to change it up. It was a beautiful morning! Unfortunately when i got there, I come to find out that its Monday and Wednesday not Tuesday and Thursday...LOL. So instead of wasting a perfectly good morning. I came home and got my I pod and went for a run. Its been about a month since i ran....and a couple months since i have ran outside. OH i missed my old friend. I love running outside so much more than inside on a track! I hope the weather stays nice so that i can get out more often. I'm so excited for spring and summer!!

Birthday Boy!

2011-02-15T15:34:00.003-07:00

Wyatt just had a birthday on the 4th of this month. He turned 7. I can't believe it. He is growing up so fast. He is such a neat boy. He is a good listener and a great problem solver. He works hard at all he does. He is also my sensitive boy( he gets worried and nervous) But he has grown so much since he started school. He has made so many friends. He loves playing with legos, so this year he wanted a lego birthday. But also this year i have decided to do away from themed birthdays and just get together and play any games. So we had the wii going and a bunch of boys playing legos too. It was so much easier and less stressful. And the kids had a blast! My attempt at making a lego cake. My frosting was to soft...oh well.

Wyatt and his friends. They are such a great bunch!!

This is how the birthday boy sleeps..he made his own tent. We could not stop cracking up when we were trying to take the picture. We almost woke him up.

Ice Skating and The car show

2011-01-29T13:56:00.003-07:00

Our mortgage company had a free Ice Skating night. So we jumped on the opportunity. It was the kids first time. And they were scared. I think it took like 20minutes to go around the rink one time...but by the second time..they were feeling more confident and didn't want to give up. I'm glad they didn't want to give up. They were doing great until Wyatt fell and re twisted his ankle. He twisted it two weeks ago. After ice skating we were able to have some donuts and hot chocolate. Thank you rocky mountain mortgage. Clayton did get tired..it was harder for him.

We also went to the car show. Its always fun to see all the fancy cars. Hailey fell in love with this car..i think it was more the color. And out of no where she started modeling...LOL. She is pretty photogenic.

The kids love the Jeep.

This is a pretty sweet car!

Christmas shots.

2011-01-13T10:24:00.003-07:00

We only got a couple of shots from Christmas. We video taped the rest. We had a wonderful Christmas. It always seems a bit of a rush, so next year I'm going to change some things up. I hope everyone had an lovely Christmas.

Ps. I'm down 37 pounds. Still working hard and watching what i'm eatting. Which is hard, after the holidays. I did gain 2 pounds over the holidays. So i have to get back on track. Doing pretty good this week.

Birthday flowers and LOTS of snow

2010-12-30T08:02:00.004-07:00

For my sister in law Camille's birthday, her hubby wanted me to make a birthday bouquet. It turned out great. Last Tuesday we got like 2 feet of snow. It was crazy. It was heavy wet snow and it wasn't freezing. It was perfect weather to be out in the snow. And boy did we take advantage of it. I think we were out in the snow pretty much all day.

I even got to go snowshoeing. Josh got us snowshoes for our first Christmas, I haven't had a chance to use them until now. It was amazing!! I don't know if you can see but in the picture below is deer hopping around in the snow. Snowshoeing is a great workout!

My friend Sarah and I.

Wyatts Christmas concert.

2010-12-29T13:42:00.004-07:00

Wyatt's 1st grade Christmas concert. It was so cute!! Wyatt is on the top row, He is the 6 kids from the left starting at his teachers head.

December Snapshots.

2010-12-29T13:34:00.002-07:00

We borrowed my Sister in laws dogs. We played pet show. The dogs got their nails painted and got all dressed up. The girls had so much fun. (no dogs were harmed in the dog show)

Happy belated Thanksgiving

2010-12-29T12:49:00.005-07:00

For Thanksgiving we had the opportunity to head to Colorado to be with my family and some of our amazing friends. The weather was not the best when we left, but from the forecast it was suppose to clear up half through Wyoming. That didn't happen. In fact it got worse. But we kept moving forward. We had snow, slush, rain, fog, and some blizzard like conditions...oh and ICE. Oh, and half way through our trip our 4-wheel drive went out. We thought something was serious wrong, but thankful it wasn't. Here are the kids in the car. They were troopers. They are pretty amazing!!! This was a pretty serious accident. It was quite the pile up. Before this we had Semi trucks zooming past us..it was ice on the road...we were just saying they need to slow down. Well after they saw this accident, they slowed down and turned their blinkers on. It was kind of funny.

We were so excited to get to Bryant and Heathers house..i could kiss the ground. It was a stressful drive. It was so amazing to see them. It was such a breath of fresh air. What a great family!!!

After a night at our friends house, we headed to my brothers. And the following day my brother Bill and his family came out from Illinois. It was a great time. I don't have to many pictures from that. But on Friday night we got to hop on the train and go downtown Denver to see the lights. It was so fun.

My brother David and his family.

Us.

Clayton and I pretending to sleep on the train.

Yeah for Santa!!!!!

Wyatt our photographer at the Train expo. He got a camera for Christmas.

Enjoying our Subway sandwiches. YUM!

Busy Novemeber

2010-12-15T15:46:00.002-07:00

November was busy for so many reason. The biggest was i was in charge of Super Saturday this year. One of the projects i did was temple pictures. This was so much harder than I thought it would be. I borrowed the idea from poppyseedprojects.com But once everything came together it was amazing.
So first i had to find pictures i can download. It turned out my friend Robin had a friend that had a couple and actually antiqued them. It was such a blessing. I almost gave up on the idea. Thank you Robin!!! So i only had to buy a few downloads. The frame isn't real wood either, its baseboard. Than you have an texture coating you put picture that gives it that canvas look. They turned out beautiful. The actually size of the picture was 20x30. We were able to make the picture for $22. So in November right before Thanksgiving we had our super Saturday. It was actually the day before we left to Colorado for the Holiday.

I got to do another funeral arrangement. It turned out beautiful.

Pumpkins and Halloween

2010-11-06T20:41:00.004-06:00

So we are so lucky! We got to celebrate Halloween for two days. And of course the pictures are in a crazy order. Any ways, Hailey wanted to be a cheerleader this year and Wyatt and Clayton wanted to be Ben 10. We had a lot of fun making Ben 10 shirts. These pictures were on Saturday. We did our Trunker Treating and we got rained out. So we came home and had dinner. The rain cleared up and were were able to go trick or treating. Our neighborhood is awesome.

Oh and this year we had a candy fairy come and whatever candy they left, they got money for it. So they can buy or toy...or Clayton said "buy candy"..not what i was thinking, but its his money...lol

Our annual family party this year was on Sunday...Yes this is my sexy mechanic with a blond wig..to funny!

Baby Kiley with the wig...This is Jesse and Camille's little girl...she is soooo CUTE!!

Hailey with the wig and my beard...YEs i was the bearded women from the circus. It was fun.

The kids back from trick or treating...we were lucky enough to have cousins come join us this year...it was so much fun!

Pumpkin carving! The kids love this.

And here is our only picture we got from picking our pumpkins...our battery died :(

Ps...i still don't have a great picture of my weight loss...but i am down 31 pounds, just in case anyone is wondering. One of these days i will do a before and after...Oh and i can out run my kids...it feels good to keep up with them.

Fall drive.

2010-10-22T10:10:00.006-06:00

So the other day we took this drive, we have been wanting to do this for a while now, but couldn't find the road. It starts in Springville and ends up in Provo canyon. Its about a 3 hour drive..it took a little longer because we got out a couple of times and hiked around. It was beautiful.

I don't like it when josh takes a picture when I'm talking...Thanks honey.

The kids had so much fun. They did so good in the car.

The views were incredible. Just amazing!

Found this camp ground in the Provo Canyon. For those that don't know, my moms name is Hope. Mom we will have to camp here sometime..LOL.

Fun with Cousins!

2010-10-22T09:46:00.003-06:00

We were so lucky to have Rachel and Trevor and their kids for a visit. The kids had such a great time reconnecting, its as if they never left. It was so much fun. We were able to go up the canyon and have a dutch oven dinner...SO delicious. Lynn and Dave to an amazing job at dutch oven cooking. It was amazing! So my in-laws are up to 10 grand kids, with one on the way, but it isn't me..lol Abby and Ryan are going to having their second. You can never get all the kids looking at the same time. Its always something goofy. But had so much fun!

The big family picture, All we are missing is Jake and Zack and they will be back from their missions. What a great family to be a part of.

The kids wanted to spend ever moment together. I hope they always try to keep it together. I don't really know my cousins anymore.

Someone came to visit us.

2010-09-26T21:40:00.002-06:00

( knock, knock)
Josh: Well hello, do you want to come in. Deer: why thank you!

Deer: should i wipe my feet first?

Josh: No, i think its fine? (What do men know, shheesh)

Deer: Thank you kind sir.

Josh: would you like to watch a movie?

Deer: That sounds great! Where should i sit?

Deer: Where are u going?

Josh: I need to get my phone.

Deer: I will come with you.

I was not home for this. And my house was a mess because i just finished babysitting and had to run to the store. This is Belle the neighborhood deer. Our neighbor took it in. And now its gone because they couldn't keep it fenced in anymore. The kids thought the dialogue josh made up was so funny. And the deer did NOT poop in the house, just in case anyone was wondering. And it she was just in our house for like 2 minutes...she is really friendly. The kids miss her.

Clayton is 3

2010-09-26T21:25:00.002-06:00

Clayton turned 3 on Sept 1st. He seems much older than that. He is such a great kid. He has a face that will melt your heart. I have a hard time disciplining him because he is just so cute. Oh and he has such a sweet little voice. He loves his big brother Wyatt. And right now, Wyatt lets Clayton tag along most of the time, unless i say no. He just runs with the big kids. He had such a great birthday surrounded by his family. He loves his fishing pole.

He is such a little stud.

PS. I'm down 24 pounds. Spin class has help out this past week.

First day of school

2010-09-20T09:28:00.003-06:00

The kids started back to school in August. They were so excited. Wyatt is my sensitive boy, but he is doing so well. He has cried a couple of times at school. I think 1 st grade is the hardest because its all day. Its a huge adjustment. But he is doing great. We have SEPs this Friday so it will be neat to see how he is keeping up. He is such a smart, hardworking boy. He always tries to do his best. I'm so proud of him for working so hard and sticky to it. Hailey started Kindergarten. She loves it. She is so much more social than Wyatt. And she is doing well. She has made some new friends. She loves doing her homework. She is already reading. She is on a great start. They grow up so fast. She also has SEPs this week. So it will be great to see how she is doing. She is probably one of the youngest in her class. She just turned 5 in June. So i do hope she is keeping up with it all. Her writing has improved already.

Your probably asking yourself, well what are u doing now, you only have one at home now. I have picked up some babysitting kids. They are great kids and very easy to watch. Clayton gets along with them, most of the time. I only watch 3 extra kids. So i stay pretty busy with them. Along with my calling in the RS presidency and PTA Treasury. Life just keeps going. I'm still working out. I start a spin class tonight. I'm really excited to change it up a bit. I'm down 22 pounds. 25 more to go. So its great!

Feeling a bit Nostologic

2010-08-31T18:23:00.003-06:00

So with the last couple days being so nice outside I took the opportunity to get the ol' Bronco going again. I have had this old beast since I was 15! In fact our first date was in the ol Bronco, with our anniversary comming up, and the cool weather outside, I have been reminiscing about the past. This thing has been everywhere! I know its not much to look at, it used to look brand new! But oh the fun we have had! It has had a tree fall on it in the middle of the forrest, its hit a few trees itself, I have rolled it in Moab and its been wrecked 2 times in high school. 1 was my fault but the other wasnt! The one that was my fault I actually got thrown out and broke 2 bones and shattered 3 more in my left foot, CRAZY!
I have been pulled over in this old beast more times then any other vehicle, it does sound like a race car. I have gotten 1 exibition- street racing ticket, oops!

The gas gage has never worked, I cant count the times that we have ran out of gas.... Sometimes we lucked out and coasted to a gas station. I have had a few flats on it too. One time we had to hike like 6 miles out, in the middle of winter in the middle of the desert and luckily ran into someone!

I have been stuck so many times that I cant count that either! The back is chuck full of chains, ropes, straps, cables, come alongs shovels and tons of other stuff! I cant count how many people that I have gotten unstuck either, like the people from california on new years eve up payson canyon playing around in four bay, they might have stayed there all night.

The many Easter Jeep safaris and countless trips to Moab, where we would sqease 5 of my buddies in the bronco and everyone pitched in for gas, that made for a real cheap trip! Then busting the bronco on the dump bump and had to get it fixed to drive home, that one was not so cheap!

The time that I had a blind date with this girl named Marybeth, at first glance, looked a bit stuck up! As the night wore on and we got to know each other a little bit, the first glance wore off and i began to see something else. We went up Santaquin canyon to the privateer mines and went exploring in the mines... something that I have done since a wee lad. Roasted hot dogs and mallow and shot the handguns..... which by the way first glance she thought I was a total redneck! luv u hon

Clayton's art gallery

2010-08-30T10:43:00.003-06:00

We had fun this morning. He was on a role. He thought it was the coolest to put it on the wall for everyone to see. Love that little guy!

The Diamond Castle

2010-08-29T22:06:00.002-06:00

Hailey LOVES the movie Barbie and the diamond castle. Well, she got in her head that she wants one. A REAL diamond castle.

So the other day i guess she asked Josh, and Josh doesn't really remember the conversation. But apparently he said yes. So with excitement she had to tell her BF. And i quote from her BF mom "Oh my gosh! Hailey told Madi yesterday that Josh said she could have one and they both starting screaming with excitement at the top of their lungs. I had to go see if someone was bleeding out the head?! Madi keeps talking about how she can't wait 'til Hailey gets it and they can play with it...not to mention wondering when she'll get her own?! Those two are such girls! :)"

I think its adorable, and i don't have the heart to say "sweetheart, you won't be getting that diamond castle", I hate to break her hopes and dreams. So, i simply told her "When you grow up and save your money you can build that diamond castle"

Well today Wyatt told Hailey "Diamond castles aren't real"(I know he is such a great big brother..lol) Oh the tears just came down so hard. I just reassured her that she can build it if she wants to when she is old enough. We than started talking about how beautiful temples were just like the diamond castle. Hailey is such a big dreamer and head strong, that i know one day she will have that diamond castle. Gosh i love her.

Sympathy arrangement

2010-08-20T19:24:00.003-06:00

Its been forever since i have done an arrangement. I have been having withdrawals. My mother-in-law works for the elementary school and they always need flowers now and again, well, I'm get to do it this year. So, they needed a sympathy arrangement for this weekend.
P.S. I'm down 16 pounds.

Santaquin days

2010-08-18T15:46:00.004-06:00

We love Santaquin days, I'm sad i didn't take more pictures. I forgot my camera on lots of stuff. We went to the car show, the kids love it because of all the cool cars, obviously.

I was going to take a picture with them in front of this huge truck, but they had naked women painted on the top of the hood...not ok..so we did a side picture.

Wyatt did his second bike race. He loves doing it, we need to practice more on ruff roads. there was only a couple of other kids doing it this year, unlike last year. Way to go wyatt.

Here is Clayton and Wyatt having fun on the back of the bronco, and our neighbor Carson. They are always doing something.

This year, i did the 5k here in Santaquin. I did alright, i finished it, so that's good. I did a 5K like 10 years ago, and i beat my time from 10 years ago. Crazy.

P.S. I'm down 15 pounds.

Eating right

2010-08-05T13:43:00.003-06:00

Today, I'm working on consuming enough veggies and fruits for my body to work at its best. So, far so good. So to this day, I'm down 11 pounds. I love running, I love biking. And it the next couple of weeks, I'm going to start swimming. Any tips on swimming let me know. I'm not a swimmer. Loving the challenge! What are u eating?

woman in trainning.

2010-07-23T08:59:00.005-06:00

7 weeks, almost 8 weeks ago i started training for a triathlon. Let me say its a "beginners". I needed to do some changing in my life. I have been wanting to lose weight, but the changes never stuck. I came across the idea of doing a triathlon. My sister in law Danica ask me last year, and i was like NNOOOO way. But it was just the right time to make some changes. So in November, i will be doing a beginners triathlon. This is so new to me. But I'm finally see results. I have lost 9 pounds to this day. I can jog 1.5 miles without stopping now. I have even started working on my biking with my friend Jenny. I haven't gotten in to swimming yet. But very soon. I will be doing my second 5K in two weeks. My first was like 10 years ago..lol. I'm feeling good about my progress. I just started walking and worked my way up.

I will keep you posted of my progress, and i will show pictures. I'm excited about it.

Fun with Grandma and Grandpa McDonald

2010-07-17T16:27:00.007-06:00

In June my parents came for a visit. We all enjoyed our time together! We got to go to the park and feed the ducks. And believe me they have really multiplied since we have been there. Last week I think I counted about 25 baby ducks, give or take a few.

We even got to go camping. I think I'm getting to old to camp on the ground..we need to get some new mattresses. We had fun. We were one of the first people up there since they opened up the canyon. We find out later, that we were sharing our camp site with about 5 bears, from what i heard. The morning after we slept my dad said he saw some fresh bear poop. Its a good thing we know to put ALL of our food away. HELLO, its a canyon, its there home.

We even convinced my mom to sleep out too! Thanks mom!

Nooo innuendo here..nope not at all. My parents crack me up sometimes.

We had to head to bed early because it started to rain. We missed out my dads amazing campfire stories. Its fun to tell stories aroound the fire. Thanks mom and dad for going camping with us.

The kids having fun in the tent. Clayton needed a drink in the middle of the night. That's always fun!

We got to go to the zoo. And it was beautiful weather!! And thanks to my dads GPS, we didn't get lost this time...lol.

First time I have ever seen the bird show. It was awesome! I will never miss it again!!

And we are so grateful for my dad helping us do the electrical in the basement!!!! We are one step closer..one day, it will be done.

Lizards!!

2010-07-17T16:07:00.002-06:00

I always do these backwards. We had the privilege to keep two horned lizards for about a month. Josh and Wyatt went on a little adventure up the canyon on 4-wheelers and went hunting for some toads. Wyatt was so excited to bring them home. The picture below is when we let them go and said our farewells. Cute little guys aren't they..lol. I didn't let them stay in my house, they lived in a cage outside in our garage. I'm not sure how much they ate, it was Wyatt's job to take care of them. I know they had plenty of water.

Wyatt and Clayton LOVED having them. But we had to let them go. They got smaller, because they weren't eating enough. They had so much fun with them. It was a nice little pet.

Below they are hanging on Wyatt's shirt. Side note, in Kindergarten Wyatt did a report on Horned lizards. He is such a fun kid.

Amazing decor!!

2010-06-13T20:24:00.005-06:00

So, before the amazing decor. I wanted to quick show you some of the arrangements i did for a recent wedding for a friend. It was a lot of fun. We spray painted these Gerbers. These are the center pieces. Here is her wedding bouquet. I need more practice. It wasn't exactly how i wanted it, but it turned out nice. Gerber's are such sensitive flowers..they are really hard to work with. But it turned out great!

OK, on Saturday i had a great opportunity to help out my good friend Alisha. She was planning an amazing dinner for her mom that retired from teaching. Her moms favorite flowers are Daisies, which was great, because they are such a hardy flower. So, we came up with the flower balls, which i have been dieing to learn to do..its becoming so popular. They turned out amazing!!! I love them!

Alisha sister brought the other balls, It turned out amazing!!

And her table turned out amazing!!! It looks like it came straight out of a page in Better Homes and Gardens. Alisha has this amazing talent of decorating. I'm so grateful to be a part of it. Thanks again Alisha!!

To my beautiful Hailey girl!

2010-06-11T14:54:00.004-06:00

My beautiful Hailey girl just turned 5. I'm so grateful for her. She is just amazing. She is so loving, caring, kind, friendly....she is just amazing! We had lots of fun for her birthday. Her birthday fell on a Thursday so we had a little party for her on Thursday. She also got her ears pieced. She was amazing! She didn't flinch or cry. She is so brave!

On Saturday we had some of her friends come over for birthday party. Since we don't have grass yet(this is the year by the way, we are finally going to finish our yard) my sister in law let us use her backyard. Thanks so much Camille! The kids already started having fun even before friends got there.

We just had a big water party, I think it turned out so much fun.

There are horses in the back field behind our houses. The kids think its the coolest! Some of the girls were trying to feed it.

We had such a fun time. Hailey has such some amazing friends. They are great examples for each other. I hope she can keep good friends close to her, this will help her as she is growing up. We love you Hailey girl!!

funny times

2010-06-10T08:29:00.002-06:00

This is me and Hailey's conversation we had yesterday when she saw a pink knife in Josh's magazine.
Hailey: ooohhh a pink knife, i want one.
Me: what would you do with a pink knife?
Hailey: I would kill a bear with it.
There are so many things wrong with this statement..but sooo funny.

Fun times with a cousin

2010-06-09T13:40:00.004-06:00

graduation!

2010-06-09T13:22:00.002-06:00

Graduation time...well last month..lol. Wyatt for the first time sang his little heart out. At preschool graduation he was so shy. But he is finally is starting to come out of his little shell. He did so well in kindergarten and he is reading really well. I can't wait for 1st grade to see what kind of adventures come up.

Hailey did so well in preschool. She is even reading now, and she just turned 5 last week. (she is the 4th kid from the left) I'm excited to see how she does in kindergarten. She is excited for new teachers and friends.

Here is Hailey and her teacher Mrs. Jesse.

Backtracking

2010-05-27T20:39:00.007-06:00

So I'm going way back, well at least to the first week in April. We had an opportunity to head to Illinois for a couple of days. We stopped in Colorado for a couple of days to visit my brother and his wonderful wife and kids. I think we inspired to come the time we did. My sister in law had issues with her gall bladder and was recovering from that. So we were able to help out.

We were able to go to the zoo too. It was so much fun!

We headed to Illinois after Colorado. We were able to hang out with my brother Bill and his wonderful wife and kids. Jeremy and I were able take some time to fly a kite. We had a good time until it got stuck up in the tree.

We went to a cute little town in Wisconsin. Its called New Glarus. http://www.swisstown.com/

It reminded me of Midway a bit. It had such yummy food. Oh and cows, the kids thought that was awesome.

My dad, josh and Wyatt, went on a little road trip. They got to see some awesome stuff.

They also went for a nice walk..I love Illinois for that, there are sooo many walking trails.

It was an amazing time! The kids had fun reconnecting with their cousins!!

Cutie?

2010-05-12T15:56:00.003-06:00

Cutie? Of course we think so, but so does he! I did my weekly grocery shopping today and as i was going through the check out register I let Clayton go play over at the arcade..Don't judge, i could still see him..lol.
There were a bunch of little 3 and 4 year old girls playing over there too. When i was done at the register, i went and got Clayton and we headed to the car.
When we got there, he said "those girls think I'm cute"
and i said "really?"
Clayton laughed and replied "yes!, its cute"
and of course i was laughing too. He really is full of himself..lol.

Ode to Wyatts pants

2010-05-06T14:51:00.005-06:00

Dear Wyatt's pants,

Why oh why do you not last,

Is if from the running around,

or maybe the wrestling,

Oh maybe its from all of the falling down.

Why won't you last,

3months is not long enough,

Do you like him getting a cool breeze now and then,

Or maybe its the feel of looking cool, that you like

But you don't stop there do you, you continue to rip and tear

now i find you in the rear end,

Did your mother not teach you to be modest

So now your worn down,
But Wyatt still loves you and cares for you,

There is no way of even making you into shorts,

So when its nice and hot,

We will fold you up and place you nicely in the trash,

And bid you farewell.

Good by Wyatt's pants, and good riddance.

Spring Cleaning

2010-05-03T22:16:00.004-06:00

If only I looked that good when i was doing my spring cleaning. Today i had a my basketball shorts and my dirty black tee...very feminine I might add...lol. If i dressed better while cleaning, I wouldn't feel so uncomfortable going outside to throw trash away.

You know if i just kept up on some of this stuff, it wouldn't be such a big deal, but who cleans out the back of their cabinets on a daily basics. So I'm working my way down my list in hopes that I can keep on top of some of this stuff better. A clean slate. Ha ha, a clean slate when you have kids in the house....does that even exist. As I was wiping down my cabinets today, a little boy decided it would be great to wipe his sticky otter pop hands on my clean cabinet. Why oh why did i not just get that boy a wash cloth and have him help me out. Instead I shood him to go play.

Oh, and on a side note, i should be writing about our fun road trip we took to Illinois back in April. It will come sometime, even if its 3 months later.

So I will continue my mission on cleaning and decluttering my house tomorrow. Maybe if i wear a dress, it might help out. She looks happy in the picture, don't you think. But in all reality, I am happy with what i accomplished today. It looks tons better. So yeah for cleaning.

Help us help a friend!

2010-04-20T12:49:00.004-06:00

This is the Jackson Family. They are an amazing family, especially Amy! Like any mom, they are the back bone of the family. I was privilege to work with her in Young Women's at church. And to get to know her through the years. She always smiling, laughing and listening. She is always helping someone else out, especially the youth.

So many people have been touched by her in one way or another and we have all been devastated with the crushing news her family received just last week.

Amy has been diagnosed with Adenoid Cystic Carcinoma. The doctors stopped counting the lesions on her brain at 33, even though there are more. She has a large tumor on her lungs (site of origin), her sacrum...it's everywhere. She hasn't been given very good odds of survival, but we're all praying and fasting for a miracle.

Originally Amy was told she only had a few weeks to live, the latest news is that with treatment she could possibly live up to six months. Hopefully after treatment her life expectancy will be even longer...miracles happen every day! Prayers and fasting would be much appreciated.

Now we, as a community, are hoping to raise money to help with the inevitable mountain of medical bills they will have as they fight for more time, and to allow them some funds to make some wonderful memories together with the time they do have.

Most of all...if you could spread the word to anyone in the surrounding areas so we can get a great turnout at the Fundraiser, here are the specifics:

Fundraiser/Bake Sale/Yard Sale
for Amy(Reed)Jackson
Friday, April 23 and Saturday April 24
from 8:00am until evening
270 East Main in Santaquin (at EAGALA )
across from Subway

It would be so wonderful to be able to help out this amazing family in such a difficult time. Please come out and support them!!!

Outdoors show

2010-03-27T21:39:00.003-06:00

The other week, we went to the Outdoors expo. It was so much fun! They had so many things going on. They had "dock dogs", dogs that jump off docks. Lots of stuffed animals, and FREE stuff for the kids. The kids got to do some fishing too. Wyatt is awfully sad because he didn't catch a fish. With the touch of mom, I was able to help Hailey and Clayton catch a fish.

Clayton, had such a good time. Especially, when he caught a fish.

We tried to get a picture of the flopping fish...lol.

Hailey was on cloud 9 knowing that she got a fish.

Sweet whispering

2010-03-25T08:14:00.002-06:00

I woke up to Hailey going to the bathroom at 6:15 this morning. Clayton came out and those two were talking. Clayton had his library book from yesterday. This was their conversation. All in whispering voices.

"Clayton, do you want me to read that book to you." Hailey asked.
"Yes." Clayton said.
Hailey finished up in the bathroom and headed to her room. "Do you want to read it on my bed?" she asked.
"no." Clayton said "to many books on your bed."
"Do you want to read it on your bed?" Hailey asked.
"Yes." Clayton said.
And they proceeded to go into the bedroom and sit on Clayton's bed and read his book.

I love it when the kids are so sweet with each other. It definitely makes up for those moments they are not so sweet. I tried out curlers on Hailey's hair, I know she already has curly hair, but I thought it would give a tighter curl. Didn't work out like i thought, i will have to try it again sometime.

Tricking Wyatt

2010-03-24T10:44:00.002-06:00

Slacker Mom.

2010-03-24T09:12:00.002-06:00

Happy Belated Birthday to Wyatt!!

(His birthday was back in Feb) Life has gotten away from me, and now I'm gaining control. This past Feb we had Wyatt's birthday. We were only going to a family party, but Wyatt had other ideas. He wanted a friend party so he told me when he turned 6.5 that he would have a party. So I said ok. We had 3 other boys come and we played Wyatt's grandparents Wii game system. They had so much fun playing star wars. We had an Indian Jonas cake per Wyatt's request.

Wyatt has grown up so fast. I can't believe he is 6. He loves school, and does very well. Just this past week we had parent, teacher and student conference, and he is doing great! His reading has progressed really well. And he has "excellent classroom behavior". We are proud of his hard work. He is still my outdoor kid, even when its freezing. Oh, and he loves cleaning he told me, just not picking up toys...lol. Its better than nothing right?! We love our Wyatt.

He is always full of surprises. I love that he feels comfortable to tell us stuff he hears at school, even though I don't always like what i hear. Wyatt told me the other day "girls go to Jupiter to get more stupider and boys go to mars to get more candy bars" I remember that one when i was a kid. He is such a great kid. I guess I'm biased because I'm his mother.

Haileys sweetness

2010-02-11T21:17:00.003-07:00

This is what my sweet Hailey said to me today
"I can't stop loving you"

I feel the same way I can't stop loving her and my other two.

Happy and sad times!

2010-02-11T20:22:00.002-07:00

A couple of weeks ago, there was a funeral and i got to do a funeral arrangement. And with the left over I was able to do a little birthday arrangement for a really good friend of mine. It was a lot of fun. I had not done a funeral arrangement since my class. But i think it turned out great! Except, most of my flowers were not bloomed yet. So i got some tips from the warehouse on how to get them to open. First I put them in pretty warm water, than I got my trusty blow dryer out. And for over an hour, on and off, I used my blow dryer on my flowers....lol. They actually started to open up a bit. Not completely, but I actually watch my flowers bloom.

Which was actually really cool!!! The flowers didn't know it wasn't sunny, they felt it. They felt it by the warm water and the blow dryer. They automatically know what to do. They opened up and they flourish. So I kind of relate this to our testimonies. When we know the gospel is true, we feel it. And our spirits automatically know what to do. We begin to open up and we flourish. And than Christ can use us as a tool in his ultimate plan.

I wish I was able to see it in complete bloom. I guess that's what the savior can see in us. He knows the end from the beginning. What do you want to look like when you are completely bloomed?

Training our kids to be Ninjas or Nachos

2010-02-11T20:09:00.002-07:00

Kids just being kids! We have been training are kids to be cage fighters..lol..no just kidding. The kids were just having fun with our mask we got from their uncle Zack from Mexico.

Clayton makes the cutest little ninja.

Notice the gloves(socks) they are wearing

Jumpin Jacks

2010-01-19T17:59:00.002-07:00

We went to Jumpin Jacks in springville. The kids love it! They had such a blast! We did go on a friday and when there was no school. The place was so packed. I think they need to have an age limit also. The older kids where running over the younger ones, it was a bit crazy!!

Wyatt and Clayton going down the biggest slide.....they had sooo much fun!

Clayton even climbed to the top of the biggest one! He is now prepared to climb the mountains of life! The other kids were a little impatient though!

Ice Castles at the Zermatt Resort

2010-01-16T09:40:00.003-07:00

We had quite an adventure yesterday. We headed up to Midway to see the Ice Castle. It was amazing. It was really hard to look at it..very blinding. We should of went at night..they light it all up. And it was a cloudy day too so that made it a little hard for the pictures to show up. But he has a blog that have amazing pictures in different lights.
http://brentsicecastle.blogspot.com/ Check out his blog.

We weren't planning on going up, so I didn't bring a coat. It was much colder in Midway. So I improvised. Its funny I always prepare for my kids, but not for me. They all had their winter coats. Than we ate our picnic lunch that we packed. It was a lot of fun.

The Bean Museum

2010-01-15T21:12:00.005-07:00

We had the opportunity to go to the bean museum today. The kids loved it! We had a good time looking at all the different kinds of animals. Josh was able to come too. We went up to Midway too, to see the Ice Castles at the Zermatt resort. Then we went to jumping jacks in springville. We rounded the day off by sleeping over at Grandma and Grandpas house(they are in Florida). So we had to crash there house and have a big pizza party and watched holes and hoodwinked. Tons of fun! More pictures to come!

This is a liger"its my favorite"

We had an Awesome day!!

Our adventure and Wyatts hunting

2010-01-12T13:43:00.005-07:00

So during Christmas break we decided to go for a drive. So we went and Josh's brother and his wife and my in laws. It was a lot of fun and a lot of snow. I got freaked out a bit. But Josh is an amazing driver, especially in the snow. I need to break down and learn how to drive well in the snow but i just let him do all the driving. Thanks Hun. It was beautiful. We even helped some one get unstuck. An old truck they found. The snow was pretty deep.

This is an old mine bunker.

Josh got stuck, apparently there was some kind of rock monument..who knew under all that snow..lol

We saw lots of cows.

The kids had a lot of fun in the car

Wyatt went hunting with josh, grandpa, and his two great uncles. They were hunting rabbits. I was so amazed how much they hiked in the crusty snow. He is a tuff kid. I think they went about 3 miles. They did get one rabbit. And I'm so glad i didn't have to cook it or eat it. He loves hunting and being out with the guys.

NNAAACCCHHHHHOOOOO Christmas party!!!

2009-12-26T16:56:00.002-07:00

We had our annual Smith Christmas party. Its always so much fun. We do a white elephant exchange and than the grand kids exchange. We came home with a huge Garfield and a computer mouse(cat and mouse..lol) And some Disney movies. It was so much fun and so much food! Jake and Zack are serving their missions in Mexico somewhere(I don't know the names of the cities) they sent over masks for all the boys..it was so fun!

Two of them went off and changed into some wrestling outfits and gave us a show..lol. It was so funny!

The night before Christmas and all through the house not a creature was stirring not even a mouse. Josh loves setting up for Christmas. Santa leaves treats all over and sparkling cider. It was a nice Christmas.

We are so grateful for all that we have. We have been blessed! We have had our ups and downs this year. But we grew and learned through our experiences. We are happy and healthy and truly grateful for the gospel in our lives. We are grateful for our Savior Jesus Christ. We love and appreciate our families. They are so loving and supportive! We think of all of you often and pray for everyone in their own trials. We are also grateful for great friends.

Winter weddings and christmas wishes

2009-12-20T10:03:00.004-07:00

So last night i did some arrangements for a reception. They are definitely different. You know what, I have no idea what kind of flower it is. I wanted to say an Iris but I googled it and it doesn't look the same. So if any one knows please tell me. The wedding planner picked up all stuff for the arrangement.
Its such a simple arrangement. I struggled with how to work with the cranberries. I liked to say I came up with the idea, but i could say the flower did. The stem on this thing is huge..big enough to hold some of the cranberries down. Figured this out when i was on to my second arrangement and trying to get this flower to stay in place. We ran out of lemon leave towards the end and ended up taping a ton of the bear grass to it. It actually turned out cute. Josh didn't get those pictures. Oh and this was the first time i made them at the reception center, It was hard to focus with so many people coming and going preparing for the wedding. It turned out great though.

Merry Christmas from the Smiths..Clayton says it all! He is such a cute kid!

Being more Christlike

2009-12-18T21:30:00.001-07:00

My sister in law sent this to me and I thought i would share. It was perfect!

Christmas Thoughts

2009-12-16T16:30:00.002-07:00

http://www.santasearch.org/texts.asp?Do=4&TextID=1046 (click on the link)

Enjoy, I thought this poem was cute. I shared it with my kids.

Some december fun

2009-12-16T14:58:00.004-07:00

Last night we went to visit Josh's grandma up in Salt Lake. We always have fun at Grandma Greats house. We also went to Temple square and got this amazing parking spot..like that ever happens but we did this time. So enjoy the pictures. The weather was great!

Grandma great in her new pjs. I'm so glad she like them.

Dad having some fun with the kids.

Clayton the Cowboy!

Hailey will be such a great babysitter when she grows up. This is Payden one of the little boys I babysit..he is such a sweet heart.

And Oh the snow we got last week. We got at least 20 inches. It was so fun!

Me and Hailey made a snow cave. no worries, we were being save. Its a small hole. She had so much fun!

Christmas is coming

2009-12-06T21:29:00.004-07:00

The kids favorite past time now is looking at all the toys in the ads and cutting them out in hopes that Santa will get them for them. But recently Mom informed them that Santa only can bring 5 gifts. So now they are saving the rest, they say for next year. ( To clarify, the kids get 2 gifts from Santa, one from grandma and grandpa McDonald, and two from us this year)

Crazy Weather

2009-12-06T21:19:00.002-07:00

Our weather has been crazy. I think we are finially settling into winter! We went from snow to really nice days at the duck pond to now snow and cold.

Deal or no deal...that is the question

2009-12-06T20:40:00.004-07:00

This is an addition to my previous blog on NEVER, ever. Now for the past four months I have been jumping on the bandwagon on saving money when I grocery shop. And believe me, I have been doing pretty well. My food expenses have not increased but, I'm bringing home so much more food. I actually have food storage with out spending more. Anyways, I'm always up for a good deal. So, when black Friday presented itself, I thought hey I'll try that. Stores and toys are one big fat LIE! I really believe they hike up the prices before hand, than it looks like your getting a wicked awesome deal. OK
Example....(I'm glad Wyatt can't read really well yet, because I'm revealing his gift.) We got him a remote controlled Jeep. Looked pretty cool. The deal sounded awesome. Its original price was 69.99 on sale black Friday for 34.99. WOW that is an amazing deal. I was pretty happy with that purchase until I got the last Toys r us ad this past week. LOL. Same toy, original price 41.00 on sale for 26.00. I was like WHAT!! you have to be kidding me. Oh well. It is what it is. I did try the black Friday and I have my own experience to say NEVER EVER!!!!

NEVER, ever...

2009-11-27T01:07:00.003-07:00

Oh do I wish I had my camera tonight. Tonight was the start of The Black Friday, I thought it would be a great idea to save some money, boy was I wrong. I got to Toys r us about 10 minutes before they opened, I thought that would be good enough. I guess I have never really talked to someone that actually shopped the black Fridays. I swear there were at least 600 people waiting for toys r us to open. I drove 20 minutes just to turn around. When I got home I thought I would check to see if I can order some of the items on line. I did some research earlier and I couldn't, but with a hopeful heart I checked again. And walla I could. Ahhh the awesomeness. So I will NEVER EVER in a million years go out to wait in a line just to save me 50 bucks. Now I have to go to bed just to wake up again about 3am to order the killer items for my family's present to my mother in law.

FREE Christmas cards!!!!

2009-11-14T12:14:00.002-07:00

Pinching your Pennies has awesome holiday stuff.

Get 50 5x7 or 4x8 photo cards with free shipping.
coupon code freebies4mom-1109
expires November 30th

http://www.seehere.com/proOverview.do?cm_mmc=CJ-_-1416931-_-1495814-_-SeeHere+Logo+with+URL

Its official we have.......

2009-10-31T08:04:00.002-06:00

the H1N1 strain in our home. Funny thing is Josh was the one who brought it home, not the kids. Josh went to the doctor and said he has one of the many strains of the H1N1. They didn't test him, i don't know why. Crazy, I figured our time was coming because like half our neighborhood has it. Fevers started last night for all of the kids. At least they are all getting it at the same time. Any tips or home remedies would be great. So life moves on.

Some wedding arrangements and some treats

2009-10-30T20:14:00.002-06:00

I love fall time! Especially the yummy treats! These are the Oreo eyeballs. Its just a package of Oreos and a package of cream cheese. Just grind up the oreos and mix up it up with the cream cheese. Make little balls dip in almond bark, decorate as you like. mmmm, sooo good. These turned out soo cute. And I stressed about it so much. I was so worried that I wouldn't have enough flowers, especially the big vases. But it turned out very cute!

Pumpkin Patch Time

2009-10-30T12:11:00.004-06:00

Its that time of year again, where we go out and find the perfect pumpkin. And as always, the pictures are not in order. We went out on a Saturday morning before the rush. And I'm so glad we did because there was quite a line when we got back.
This one of Clayton was after we found our pumpkins but it cracks me up. He was in deep thought of how he wanted to crave his pumpkin this year.

Creative ideas.

2009-10-19T09:49:00.002-06:00

So we have been doing a little creative decorating. We did some painting. Which added some great color to our house. We love this color! So our entryway has some character. We have wood on the ceiling, some red and than our brown, or whatever color you would call it.

I also had the opportunity to do some wedding centerpieces. I love them, they turned out so cute.

Fun with Grocery smarts!!

2009-10-08T23:31:00.002-06:00

I LOVE grocery shopping. I guess I should say, I love grocerysmarts.com !!!! I think I might have said something about this in the past. I went shopping today. My budget is usually a 100 a week. I'm in the stock up mode right now. Which means I'm spending the same, but I'm getting soo much more. We finally have food storage with out spending extra. So last week there really weren't any good sales so I just spent 50 on some odds and ends. I'm so glad I did because it gave me an extra 50 for this week. So, the grand total of grocery bill was 139.65(This includes shampoo and cleaning supplies, not just food). This DOES include all my price matching and coupons. But this is the fun part. 268.15 was the total if I DID NOT price match or use any coupons.

MMMM.....ketchup

2009-10-03T10:32:00.002-06:00

This post reminded me of a story of my little brother David. We dared David to do a lot of things. And one time we dared him to eat a ton of ketchup packets. I actually think he did this more than once..lol. Clayton got some ketchup packets the other day and had them in his pocket. He really wanted to eat it..it cracked us up. We also cut Claytons hair. I didn't mean to cut all the curls off...he looks like a little boy now. It will grow back right..?!?!

Grouse Hunting

2009-10-03T10:07:00.002-06:00

Josh took Wyatt and Kayden grouse hunting the other day! They had so much fun. And of course they caught something. Just always laughs when i say did you catch something...I guess you really don't catch it. The boys loved hiking around and they were the ones to spot the grouse first.

We wanted to share this picture. Our neighbors did it with their bike trailer. It was fun. The kids thought it was awesome.

The big 3 0!

2009-10-02T22:52:00.002-06:00

Josh turned the big 30 this last week. We didn't do to much on his birthday but I did make a yummy French Silk pie...mmmmm pie so yummy!! The kids wondered why we didn't put 30 candles on the pie. Well we told them we didn't want to start a fire and it would ruin the pie. So we just stuck with one candle. We played the game Hot and cold for him to find his present. We got him some new dress pants and shirts. But the real present was on Saturday. We went to the Killers concert. It was awesome. That will be for another post. Even though its a late post for his birthday, I wanted to say that I love him and love and appriecate all the hard work he does for me and our little family. He is a wonderful hubby and daddy. And everything in between.

"mmmm...pie. It was so good!" Wyatt said.

The Salamander Pond

2009-10-02T22:21:00.003-06:00

We took a Saturday and went up the canyon to the salamander pond. Its about a 45 minute drive up the canyon. It was so pretty leaves were starting to change. It was a pretty eventful. Everyone got dirty!! And of course like always I put them in backwards. So we will start at the end of my lovely story..lol. We brought a picnic lunch up the canyon. And it was to cold so the kids sat in the car to stay warm.

Wyatt was the last one to get get stuck in the mud. And he was really upset about it because he thought he was being careful.

This is Clayton's flip flop stuck in the mud..it was so funny.

Josh trying to wash his foot off in the water.

Hailey was the first one to get dirty.

Josh washing her foot off. She was crying so much..it was so sad but yet so funny.

This is the salamander pond. And yes, it did have salamanders in it. but all around the edges of the pond is mud. And there were a ton of cows in a grove of trees by the pond. Even though the kids got really dirty. They all had fun and want to go back. Wyatt said he is going to wear his cowboy boots so he can get dirty...because with cowboy boots your invincible...lol. And just a side note. Wyatt loves to wear his cowboy boots to school with his pants tuck inside of them. It cracks me up. I will have to get a picture of that.

And of course the beautiful mountains.

Bad hair day??!?

2009-09-19T16:19:00.001-06:00

You know its time to get your hair done when your two year old points to your hair and says "Dog, Dog, Dog"!

Hailey starts preschool

2009-09-11T21:06:00.002-06:00

This past Wednesday Hailey started preschool. She was so excited to finally go to school. Wyatt has been prepping her all week. He was telling her all the exciting things you get to do in preschool. So she was pumped up to go. She did amazing! No tears and all fun! Wyatt and Hailey are 16months and so different, but they love and support one another. So 3 days a week I only have Clayton and that is so weird. I guess its time to start thinking about number 4...lol.

Just a couple of flowers arrangements from my last day of class. I want to do an advanced class soon. We did two funeral arrangements. They are so fun to do! This one I got to take home and took to Josh's grandmas grave. It was to huge for it to stay in my house.

Both of these arrangements would have a lot more flowers..but we are were really working on the shape of each arrangement.

Clayton through the years.

2009-09-09T21:13:00.005-06:00

On Sept 1st we celebrated Clayton's 2nd birthday! He had such a wonderful day and such wonderful family that love him very much. We are so blessed to have Clayton in our family. He is such a sweet heart yet very aggressive. He loves to wrestle with anyone that wants to rough house. He looks up to his brother and sister so much. He loves being with them. And on top of that, he has great hair...lol. We love you Clayton!! He loves horses! There isn't a day goes by when he doesn't play with his horses, I think we have over 25 horses...lol

Clayton is always helpful.

This picture is from Clayton's 1st birthday! He had such an awesome day.

He was so worried about the horse on the cupcake. He was relieved to know that the horse didn't get burnt.

Happy 7th Anniversery

2009-09-06T09:51:00.004-06:00

Happy Anniversery MaryBeth! I am thankfull for you sweetheart! I cant believe that the time has flown by so fast. You are such a good example to me. Thanks for all that you do for our family! You are amazing! Thanks for all your support! Thanks for being a great mother to our children! Im so greatful for you in my life! Thanks MaryBeth! Thanks for all the good times that we have shared! Im looking forward to a lot more too!

Wyatts first day of kindergarten

2009-08-27T15:08:00.003-06:00

This is Wyatt on the first day of preschool. He was very excited. This is Wyatt waiting for the bus on Wednesday. He was soo excited. And very brave. Our little Wyatt is very sensitive, so anything out of his comfort zone scares him. But he was not at all scared. He did receive a blessing the night before. And I truly believe it helped. My dad would always give us blessing. I learned at an early age how important it is to have the priesthood in our home. So we have had a great start for the year. I just hope it stays this way.

Wyatt is such a wonderful addition to our family. We love you Wyatt.

Some more lovely arrangements

2009-08-27T14:56:00.003-06:00

I loved how this corsage turned out. We worked with wire and glue. It is one of my favorite way to do corsages. I did this on Tuesday night. Its called a Topary. It is one of my favorite centerpieces. I love them. My lilies would be taller, but the stems where broken. It really is suppose to be taller.

This one below is my first official Wedding centerpiece. They are artifical flowers. But they turned out so wonderful. I'm waiting on some really pictures from the wedding. Hopefully they got some shots of my centerpieces.

This one I did last week. I love the country look. Its beautiful.

Julie & Julia

2009-08-15T17:41:00.002-06:00

I went and saw this movie the other night and it was wonderful. Meryl Streep did such a wonderful job...oh she just cracked me up. I did walk away from the movie feeling very motivated to cook and blog..and not just cook 20 minute meals but really really cook. Like to night we are just throwing some Brats on the grill..yum. Not a lot of thought that went into it..but really they are so yummy! Anyways, loved the movie.

Frozen in Motion

2009-08-15T14:24:00.004-06:00

Some days I wish I could freeze time. Or I want it to go in slow motion to really enjoy the time we have together. Yesterday was one of those days. It was a lot of fun yesterday. We went to Josh's parents house and stayed the night. They are out of town right now. And we had some of the family come hang out too. We put the sprinkler under the trampoline that was a lot of fun. We took a lot of pictures of them in the air..that was so fun.

We also had the privilege of having a bat stay the night in our garage. We have no idea when it came it, but we found it yesterday afternoon. And today when we came home it was gone. I just hope I won't find it in our house.

Some of the arrangements I worked on, on Thursday. They turned out great!

"Mommy look what I can do"

2009-08-12T08:56:00.003-06:00

This picture is for my good friend Heather. I hope you don't mind that i posted it. It was just so cute..she loved the the sloppy joes...and this is why they call them sloppy joes. "Nice and sloppy" You have such sweet kids Heather. Stuff I did last night.

My cascade bouquet turned out so cute..its a crescent shape. It would have lots more flowers, we were just getting the shape down first. At the beginning of every class we make corsages. And I keep forgetting to take pictures of those. I will have to remember next time.

This arrangement is more contemporary. Very simple. I love it. I love the vase too.

More flowers

2009-08-03T13:45:00.002-06:00

Well, its officially, our cutie Clayton doesn't like his pictures taken anymore. So dreams of getting him into modeling is gone..lol. On a more important note. I love, love, love, my floral class!!!!! Hey did i tell you that I love it. Thanks again Josh for watching the kids. I love you too, definitely more than the flowers...lol.
This was our mini bouquet with just roses. We will soon add more flowers!

And our beautiful corsage to go with. It turned out so pretty. I would of thought a professional did this. Love the class.

Parade time

2009-08-03T13:34:00.002-06:00

I never put these in order. Oh well. Saturday was such a fun day. We were also luck to watch some cousins, so they enjoyed they day with us. These are pictures from the car show. Josh took the older kids so I could put the other two down for a nap. Josh said it was awful this year. There weren't many cars. But this huge tracker. Us at the parade, and are good friends sat next to us. It was hot. But we do have one of the best small town parades.

This picture is from the childrens parade. We biked down to ride in it. It was a nice ride. Boy we are sure getting into this biking thing. Danica, I might take you up on that triatholon.