Thanksgiving...

This past week has been soo nice! Jake has had a break from school... aaahhh... so great. Seems like he's at school so much lately. We got just about all of our Christmas shopping done... in record time for us!! There were some killer deals at the stores Friday. I love sales! Also, Jake's brothers came to spend Turkey Day with us. We had lots of fun. Luke loved having his uncles around to tease and play with him! Big thanks to Daniel and David for making the long drive to TX! It wouldn't have been the same without you guys! Aaron and Kristen and kiddos joined us for our Thanksgiving dinner too, so it was a fun little group.

Luke and Uncle Boon

MMm... Yep, we're good cooks ;)

Smith guys seem to gather around TVs and computers...

Luke was impressed with Davey's tower building skillz...

Yeah!! Sweater weather finally came to Texas...

Downtown Running :)

This morning I ran my first official half marathon. Woo hoo! Ya, maybe that's bad to do on Sunday but that's the only time marathons are held outside of Utah.... or at least I haven't found another state other then Utah that holds them on Saturday. Ha. I love running with lots of people. The energy is so awesome, and there are so many great runners. It's inspiring, really. There were over 3000 other people running. The majority of them were running the half marathon and others continued on for the full marathon. We started at the Alamo and ended at the Alamodome. The course took us through different missions and historical sites. I was planning on running it in under two hours and everything was going perfect until the end of mile 6. My back started hurting, and looking back I probably should have stopped. Hopefully it's not messed up for a long time now! I've NEVER had a problem with my back. Ever. Even on the long runs I've been doing over the last few months. So, this was weird and new to me! Well, to make a long story short my back spasms continued getting worse through the end of the race and I had to slow down a lot. I finished in around two hours and twenty minutes. Ugh... so frustrating to feel great and have annoying pains slow ya down! Oh well.. I'm glad I know now what these events are like. Next time will be better! :)

Sunny Day...

Elmo and his friends came to Texas! We took Luke to see Sesame Street Live "Elmo Makes Music" on Saturday morning. It was so fun. Jake and I even liked it. Luke has loved Elmo since he was tiny. Elmo's world on Sesame Street was the only thing for so long that he would watch on TV.
The show was a couple of hours long and I think it's the best behaved Luke has been in public in a long time. :) He was so excited to see all the characters. There was even an "Elmo's World" segment with Mr. Noodle. Funny!

Almost Halloween...

Tonight we dressed up for the annual trunk-or-treat.... after washing my hair 4 times to get this pink stuff out, I think I'm done dressing up till next year!

Who's that hot bald guy with horns?


Little linebacker...

Our "trick-or-treating goblin" jack-o-lantern made it throught the nights events! Our other pumpkin fell apart... :(

So, I'm it.

I was tagged by my sis-in-law Jenni (http://hootieshowl.blogspot.com/) ...very crafty and fun blog!! Anyhow, now I get to tag 7 people on their blogs ...

So, here are 7 fabulous facts about me:
1. I love to sit and look at things that are arranged by color! Weird? Like when you go to a store and see containers full of coordinating Jelly Bellys, ribbon on the wall, or folded T-shirts at Gap... stacked according to color of course, shelves of paper (like at a scrapbook store or Kinko's) , towels at BBB, how crayons are arranged in the box when you first open them... you know, those kinds of things! :)

2. I fall up the stairs more often then down... super clumsy. I'm sooo glad we don't have stairs in our house right now so I don't have to experience this very frequently. Ask my little bro Dak... he's seen me do this a lot! haha

3. I'm very unlucky when it comes to cars. In high school, a car I was in was completely totaled. While I was at BYU my car was hit twice while parked in parking lots. Another time, a drunk driver hit and severely damaged my car while it was parked in front of my grandparents house. In yet another car incident an old lady ran a red light and into the side of my car. Talk about bad luck... poor cars. At least I come out of the scene unscathed!

4. I was a cheerleader in high school... Ya, I can be loud! ... most people think I'm always quiet...

5. I want to run a marathon!!!
... would be more fun with a running partner... Jake's not up to it... anyone else? :)

6. I snack all the time so I'm never really hungry for meals.

7. I get sucked into kids TV shows and movies... and you thought that Blues Clues was on for Luke...

Here's who I tag:

1. Karalee http://chrisandkaralee.blogspot.com/
2. Kajsa http://www.kipnielsonfamily.blogspot.com/
3. Melissa ... well, there are a couple Melissas... you both should do it! :) http://www.jessopadventures.blogspot.com/ http://melis-aaron-life.blogspot.com/
4. Michelle http://www.measton.blogspot.com/
5. Joe ...I guess this is your "welcome to the blogging community" initiation :)
http://flavor-of-the-day.blogspot.com/
6. Shauna http://whowouldntwannabeshauna.blogspot.com/
7. Lyssa http://joe-lyssa.blogspot.com/

1-Link to your tagger (like I did with Jenni) , and also post these rules on your blog
2-Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird
3-Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs
4- Let them know they are TAGGED by leaving a comment on their blog

I love October!

Yesterday, we went with Aaron and Kristen and the kids to Love Creek Apple Orchard. It's such a fun place to go for fall festivities! We went on a hayride, the kids ran around in pumpkins and got to hang out with farm animals, we ate apple ice cream, and participated in a crazy cowboy sing-a-long thing. Fun times!

Our little cowboy!
Cute Gunnar on the hayride...

He wants a donkey for Christmas... hint to the cousin who drew his name ;)

little chick...

Friday night... Luke went on his first ride at Sea World!

Robbing the dead...

The mess can go!!... for now :)

I posted some scrap layouts in April and said that my goal was to be caught up by Luke's first birthday.... Well, that didn't happen. However, thanks to BYU taking forever to grade my last few projects, I have had time for two marathon scrapbook sessions over the past couple of months. Caught up... for now! Scrapping is really a never ending project, but I can at least put everything away and pull it all out for another marathon in another few months! Ha. Thanks Jake for putting up with my junk all over the table! We've been eating dinner on the couch for the last few nights while my stuff has been everywhere. What great dinner etiquette. ;) Just a few pages....

Luke and my dad last Dec.
Luke meeting my little bro for the first time...

Little stinker in Utah this past summer... the paper really is all white in the background... I guess my scanner had issues with this one. haha

Having fun with Grandpa Smith...

4 Generations...

At the cabin!
With Great Grams...

First b-day!!

PuMpkiN PaTCh

This morning I took Luke to the pumpkin patch. He loved it. Last year I took him just to sit in the pumpkins and get some cute pictures. This year, he would have none of that! No sitting still this time! He seemed bound and determined to find a pumpkin that he could carry around. At first he was trying to lift pumpkins that were way to big... so frustrating to be little! haha. Eventually he started grabbing the little ones. Funny kid!

...An airplane flew by... much more exciting then pumpkins!!
A long walk for little legs!

... We liked this one.... so many warts!!

Hmm... this one is just my size...

might not be able to lift it, but i can roll it! ha!

so much fun to climb over pumpkins...

The only picture that he looked and smiled at the camera...

Fun morning! Other Luke news... yesterday he went to the Dr. for a late 15 mo. check up. He got his shots and he weighed 25 1/2 lbs... 32 inches long. Lost a pound over the last few months! haha. Last Christmas he was 6 mo. old and 24 lbs.... funny to think that he's just a pound and a half heavier now... he was such a chunk!

MMmmmm

For all other ice cream lovers out there... the Nielsons just introduced us to Ben and Jerry's Creme Brulee ice cream. SOooo good. It even has yummy little sugar crystals in it.

Go get some :)

Just for fun...

I saw this on my sis in law Jenni's blog...kind of fun! Do it!

1. YOUR ROCK STAR NAME: (first pet & current car): Spike Protege

2.YOUR GANGSTA NAME: (fave ice cream flavor, favorite cookie): Banana Chocolate Chip

3. YOUR “FLY Guy/Girl” NAME: (first initial of first name, first three letters of your last name): E-Smi

4. YOUR DETECTIVE NAME: (favorite color, favorite animal): Pink dog

5. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, city where you were born): Gift Ogden...
(k Jenni, yours sounded much better!)

6. YOUR STAR WARS NAME: (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first): Smi-Er

7. SUPERHERO NAME: (”The” + 2nd favorite color, favorite drink): The Yellow Lime Rickey

8. NASCAR NAME: (the first names of your grandfathers): John Arnold

9. STRIPPER NAME: ( the name of your favorite perfume/cologne/scent, favorite candy):
Pearberry Sour Patch

10.WITNESS PROTECTION NAME: (mother’s & father’s middle names ): If maiden names count as a middle name... Paul Allen

11. TV WEATHER ANCHOR NAME: (Your 5th grade teacher’s last name, a major city that starts with the same letter): Barney Boston

12. SPY NAME: (your favorite season/holiday, flower): Spring Daisy

13. CARTOON NAME: (favorite fruit, article of clothing you’re wearing right now + “ie” or “y”): Strawberry Striped PJ Bottoms

14. HIPPY NAME: (What you ate for breakfast, your favorite tree): Eggo Lodgepoll Pine

15. YOUR ROCKSTAR TOUR NAME: (”The” + Your fave hobby/craft, fave weather element + “Tour”): The Scrapbooking Snow "Tour"

BeAch BuMs

A week ago our beach trip was postponed because of bad weather, so we decided to go yesterday with some friends. It was fun! Our first trip to the TX coast since we've lived here. Ya, we're slow! haha. We will definitely be going more often now. For some reason I always thought that the beach was further away! I was pleasantly surprised at how nice it was! We went to South Padre. The water was soo warm and the weather was perfect! Luke had fun watching Maddie and little Hallie run around. A wave knocked him over when we first got there, so he insisted on holding our hands while walking on sand the rest of the day. Little stinker! Thanks Travis and Janine for the fun idea! Here are a few pics....

Luke's new move...

So we haven't figured out if Luke is trying to be Jackie Chan, a break dancer, or a gymnast but this is what he does when he's excited now. Sometimes it's a full five or six minutes of this action and he will start at one end of the living room and end up at the other. Haha. Check it out.

Other news... Luke and I just got back from another trip to AZ. It really has been our second home this summer! I went to help my sister with some school stuff, and we had tons of fun. Saw my bro play some football, swam a little, and did statistics problems. Woo hoo! We got to see the Smith fam for a little bit, and I went to see one of my best friends sealed to her hubbie. So awesome! Luke wasn't as good on the plane as he usually is on the way home... such a nightmare flying in the middle of the day! I like the early morning flights because he goes back to sleep. Anyway, thank heavens for nice people that don't get upset when the baby next to them crawls all over their lap, throws books at them, and screams for a good half an hour at a time. :) Serously, the lady and her husband that sat next to us were the nicest people ever. Another fun trip, but it's so good to be home... we both missed Jake! A couple pics...

Dak and Luke
Me and Abby

If our family were on the Simpsons...

Jake

erin

luke

This is fun! Go to http://simpsonizeme.com/# I came accross my old roomie's blog and she had pics of her simpsonized fam too. Thanks for the idea Launi!

August so far….

Just a few great things about August so far….

1. I get to read the third book in Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight series! Woo hoo!!! It has just been released and I have been waiting for so long to see what happens between Bella and Edward! I have read Twilight and New Moon this summer… if you haven’t, you should. Very entertaining and addicting if I may say so! I’ll keep ya posted on whether Eclipse is as good as the first two books…

2. Luke has learned his animal sounds, and it is pretty much the cutest thing ever. His version of an elephant is my favorite!… he pretends that his arm is a trunk and flings it up in the air as he makes his elephant noise. Cutie! His version of snake noises is funny too, and he has decided that bees and spiders also make a hissing sound. Anyway, it is very entertaining watching TV or looking at books since he wants to make noises of whatever he sees. Haha. Oh, and he’s learned his body parts and has been saying “O Oh!”… whenever something falls or spills. I love this stage.

3. Just got a book in the mail to start another independent study class! I should be done with school in the spring! FINALLY!!!

4. Our neighbor’s dog barked and cried non-stop in their backyard for a week straight. Luckily for our sanity, the owners just returned, so he’s back in the house where we can’t hear him. I really like dogs… just not listening to them bark ALL the time! haha. Such a relief.

5. Jake is back into the swing of things at school… with patients every day now, so I guess they really are learning stuff! haha. Hopefully this year passes as quickly as the last two!

Little Artist :)

We're stranded today! No car, and the stroller is in the trunk of the car while Jake takes the first part of the boards exam. Usually Luke and I go somewhere every day... not always a super exciting place, but at the very least a walk around the neighborhood! The two of us get so restless sitting around here! So without a car and stoller, I decided to try something a little different today. Luke loved it! A couple of months ago I gave him some crayons and put paper in front of him to see what he would do... he just wanted to eat the crayons! haha. But, today was different. He actually put them on the paper and colored. Here is his first masterpiece!

Check out the dots from the banging action!

Chunky little hands have mad drawing skills...

Ok mom... it has been almost 20 minutes and I am definitely done! ... notice the crayons and his paper on the floor now. :)

FiNalLy! :)

So, we have been home since July 6 and I am finally getting around to putting some pictures on here! These are from the Smith trip to Zion Natl. Park, and our time back in AZ! My sis-in-laws posted others at http://4yourconsideration.blogspot.com/ or http://hootieshowl.blogspot.com/.

Zion Natl. Park :)

Jake's brothers & sister

Smith ladies!

Ethan & Luke

cousins!

Trip to the Grand Canyon :)

Luke with Grandpa Smith!

Baby bumper cars! 6 babies + 5 big kids and their moms and dads in the pool.. fun!