Redfish Lake

happy kids

having fun in the sun

building a castle

discovering new life

"playing" in the water

trying to wake up

early morning fishing

beautiful mountain lakes

dancing

watching

singing

reflecting

Smith Family Reunion 2010.

Summer Rewind

Blogging has fallen by the wayside this summer. Although I am not working nearly as much as I was last summer, I have not wanted to spend time in front of the computer when I am home. It is easier to sit here when there are 10 inches of snow on the ground, but when it is warm outside, there is fun to be had!

I am not sure why Ryan has not been blogging this summer. I know you were all expecting him to write, I know I was. I have to admit I miss his funny stories and adventures without me. Lets face it, he has a great way of putting a spin on everyday monotony that I have yet to capture.

Having said that, I wanted to add some pictures that got missed...for posterity's sake.

Clark learned to hate being confined. Carseats, strollers, even jackets and shoes drive him crazy!

This is the girls last day of school. Ally was excited to wear her "Stand Out" competition outfit since dance was finally over.

Luke and his favortie cousin Yogs with their matching T-shirts. Yes, Ryan bought them both.

Me and Birdie.




Emma on the Bounce house slide. My cousin owns a gym and brought this with her to our family picnic in Smithfield. It was a HIT!




Annual family picture in Smithfield, Utah.

Lukes last soccer game.


Clark enjoying the soccer game.

LAGOON!

We went to Lagoon on Wednesday for a fun family day. Our IF cousins and our SLC cousins joined us there for the day. It was cloudy and overcast all day, with even a few sprinkles here and there in the early afternoon...It was perfect weather for an amusement park. It was a "first" for the boys. The last time we went to Lagoon I was pregnant with Luke and the girls were too young to remember it.

Here are some highlights from our fun day!

Our IF cousins and us posing at the beginning of our day.

The first ride of the day...Bulgy the Whale.

Luke "Why did you make us go on a baby ride first?"

Ryan "So Clark could go on one too."

Little did he know, he was two inches short to ride much more than baby rides and it made him sad all day long. Next summer...we hope.

Clark was not sure what to think about the rides. He loved it though because everytime we asked if he wanted to ride he said "yeah" and tried to get out of the stroller.

Ryan getting sick on the Jumping Dragon...basically just spins in a circle really fast.

Wicked is a crazy ride that shoots you straight up..then straight down. No pausing to scream. It is a bit disorienting and freaky...Emma is still in shock in this picture. I went on it twice in a row. Still not sure why I did that.

Hanging out at Lagoon-A-Beach, trying to cool off a little bit. The extra child is Dexter. He is our neighbor/babysitter who loves our kids. After graduation he moved to SLC so he joined us for the day. We miss him so it was fun to have him come to the park with us.

The highlight of Clarks day was riding the train. We loved it!

Luke and his SLC cousin hanging out in the cars. They are silly when they get together.

Closer to 2

Clark is cute. Lets face it, we make cute kids. He still has the squeezey cheeks that I just want to pinch every time I see them. He has started pinching my cheeks. Maybe I do it too much.

Now that he is tan and sun bleached, he is even better looking then before. The thing is, no matter how cute he gets on the outside, the fact still remains that he is getting closer and closer to 2 every day. His attitude is showing already. I need to remind myself that I love him so when he throws a fit I will have a written reminder to turn too.

I must admit that his communication skills are improving. He is no Ally, but he can usually get his point across. Usually. For some reason, I am the least versed in "Clark". It makes life difficult sometimes, especially when he and I are the only ones around. I am not sure why I have such a hard time deciphering him. I am around him the most. I never had this much trouble with the others. I must be losing my touch. I am sure the Binky in the mouth 24/7 does not help that cause to much either.

Clark is a wanderer. If there is an open door, he is outside and down the street before you realize he is gone. He has gotten smart about it too. If I bring him inside the front door, he heads straight out the side door without even pausing to take a breath. Almost like herding sheep. We have been the recipients of anonymous neighbors returning him to us wondering if we were missing a little kid on several occasions. He loves to be outside and screams if he gets brought in before he is ready.

He also likes to drag his blanket everywhere with him lately. His poor "beecee" is more gray than blue these days. Yesterday he sat by the dryer and cried while I washed it. He is always anxious to throw it in when I load the washer, but by the time I transfer it to the dryer he wants it back, but not soaking wet. When it finished, he took it outside and dragged it through the oil on the neighbors driveway. It was clean for about 2 minutes.

Clark loves motorized vehicles. All of them. When he sees a truck he makes the Rmm Rmm noise. Lately he has this thing for trains. Too Too is what he calls them. He loves to go to Maga's house because they are close by and loud and he gets to see one about every 20 minutes. This weekend the Blue Angels from the Navy were in town for an air show. A lot of their practice maneuvers had them flying directly over our house for the past few days. It was really cool. And really loud. We went and sat on a hill near the airport during their show so he could get a closer look. That was really neat to watch. He loved it. We all did.

My baby is not so much a baby anymore. I love his personality. He is so much fun when he wants to be. His sense of humor is already starting to surface. He likes to tease or hide and gets such a giggle out of it. I am looking forward to helping his vocabulary grow. I have a hard time getting him to say much, but if Luke tells him to say a word, he does it. Butt is one of his favorites thanks to the 5 year old potty humor. He also fake farts and burps. And laughs really hard after he does it.

He is a sweet heart. He still snuggles with me everyday. I know that will end sooner than I want, but for now I will take the time to hold him as much as I can.

Frizzy Skittles

Along with a bunch of other super cool stuff, Ally found a big bag of these Skittles Fizzl'd Fruits in one of her birthday gifts. The kids were discussing them at the dinner table the other night. Here are a few choice snipets I had to remember for posterity.

I love the way the frizzy tastes.

My favorite is to suck off the frizz and then chew the skittle up.

The frizz gets all over your hands when you hold them.

Those frizzy skittles are so sour. They make my mouth do this (pucker up here).

BTW in case you were wondering, they do not taste good. So I have heard. I make it a rule to not put things in my mouth that are declared gross by my husband as he is handing it to me.

Frizzy or otherwise.

Update: We went shopping today to look for Fathers Day gifts and Ally saw the Fizzl'd Skittles and said, "I know what we can get Dad...we can get him his OWN BAG of Frizzy Skittles for Fathers Day!" I am sure he will LOVE it!

Happy Birthday Ally!

My baby is 9! Oh how the time flies! She was born 2 weeks shy of our 1st anniversary and we could not have been more excited for our first baby girl! We are super excited for her. She is turning into such a beautiful young lady! I love her so much and really enjoy having her around and part of our family. The other night we went to dinner, just the 3 of us. She choose Texas Roadhouse because her favorite thing to eat in the whole world is steak. Plus she loves the rolls and honey butter they serve. I think she ate 4. Here is a recap of how we spent her day yesterday.


For breakfast we had Hootenanny Pancakes, or "Hoots" as we call them, by request from Al. This was a favorite when I was young made by Grandma Davis. Growing up, Ry knew them as German Pancakes. You blend the eggs with milk and flour then bake in a super hot oven and they puff up real big.


We had a Zooper Birthday Party with her friends and cousins at Tautphaus Park Zoo. They set up a tent and table and chairs for us right in the Children's Zoo area. We ate pizza, watermelon and Boston Cream Pie along with Root Beer floats. All favorites and requests. (Side Note: Eating food 10 feet from a Yak scratching his rear end...not too appetizing) The zoo also provided party games which included Animal Charades and a Scavenger Hunt for information at different exhibits throughout the zoo.





























One of Ally's friends was telling her all about her animal family. She has a hippo for a mom, an elephant for a dad, and she is a is a kitty. Nice. But she also called her tallest friend a giraffe and Clark a baby goat. I love how candid kids are sometimes. (maybe I need to get back to the gym)


After the fun adventure at the zoo we headed home and spent the evening hanging out with our cousins from Pocatello, Dubs and Subee. He loves the trampoline and had fun playing with Luke for a long time outside. He also tried to teach him how to play Mario Kart Wii (one of Ally's gifts, and the best one in Luke's opinion) but he got a little frustrated and was content to just watch.


It was a fun filled day with lots of smiles and laughter.

Piano Recital

With thier piano teacher, Sis. Billman.

Ally and Emma had their first piano recital on Saturday morning. They both did pretty well on 2 out of 3 of their songs. There was one that they both struggled with too. They were not the only performers to make a mistake, but I think it was obvious to most who practiced and which songs they spent the most time on. It was a good learning experience and I think they really enjoyed having the opportunity to learn something new. Ryan is going to keep up on their practicing over the summer so in the fall they won't have to "start over" when lessons begin again. Here's to hoping.