Little things from January

A few little things I don't want to forget...
*The kids and their rainboots. We got them a week or so ago when the weather here was rainy and cold. They have loved wearing them around.  Especially Ella.  Hers are a little big on her, but they were the smallest ones I could find.  She trips practically every time she tries to walk in them, but wants them on anyway!  haha.  She will bring them to me and yell 'boots peez!"  wanting me to put them on.  Here they are stylin in their PJs and boots reading bedtime stories together.   They didn't want to take them off.

*Ella is quite the little climber!  At church she just wants to climb all over the chairs, and at the grocery store she can't sit in the front of the cart anymore because she finds ways to get out of the seat belt and climb around.  I've turned around from grabbing something off of the shelf and caught her a few times just standing up in the front of the cart... yikes!!  I find her all the time on the top of the dining room table, on the bathroom counter top, and lately I find her sitting on the piano bench.  I can never sit down and play unless she's strapped in her highchair or something because she climbs up on my lap and wants to do it herself.

Caught in the act... 

* We took a trip to the 'dinosaur' park last week to feed the ducks.  It had been cold so apparently the ducks hadn't been getting their bread from park visitors.  They were CRAZY!!   From the second we got out of the car they started walking over to the parking lot for food.  Luke would throw a piece and then fifty birds would attack each other trying to get to it first.  Then they saw that Luke had a hand full and started chasing him around... it was funny!  We learned our lesson... best to go to the duck park on nice days when the birds aren't starved!  I didn't dare let Ella down because I thought they'd get her for sure!  Haha

* Luke says the funniest things and I actually thought to write some of them down lately.

In church his class was talking about why it is important to choose the right.  Luke blurted out after his teacher told them that they 'always need to choose the right'  "Or, you can choose left!"

This morning Luke came walking downstairs with a calculator in his underwear (sick).  He was just wearing his unders and a t-shirt.  I asked him what in the world he was doing and he said "MOM!  It has a weiner pocket!  Don't you know that you put stuff in pockets??"   (btw, why do they put those little openings in boys underwear??  Like they are really coordinated enough to use them....) 

We were getting out of the car and I was still singing some song that had been on the radio.  Anyway, Luke told me "Mom, stop singing. It will scare all of the spiders away."  Nice manners buddy.

Another one was "Hey, will you get me some popcorn??  If you do, I will get you a surprise..."  Hmm.... Sounds like I should stop bribing him to do things for me.

Thunderbirds

Jake and his fellow AEGD residents went to check out the Thunderbirds this past week.  It's a tradition that the residents do every year, and they get a big group picture by the planes.  Nellis AFB is the "Home of the Thunderbirds."   You could say the Thunderbirds are the rock stars of the Air Force.  There are eight planes (only six perform at a time) and eight pilots, and they constanly travel to bases throughout the year doing air shows.  It's really quite amazing to watch them do their stuff!  Luke told me that he is going to be a Thunderbird Pilot when he gets big because "They are fast and have red on them.  My favorite color is red."   Anyway, you should check them out when they're in your town. 

Here are the AEGD residents with the Thunderbirds in the background...

Drs. Zabrowski, Smith, Olson, Lee, Quilao, and Jones. 

We've enjoyed getting to know the other residents and their families.  They are truly awesome.  Good thing too since Jake has to be with them more then he's with us during this program!  Dr. Olson and Dr. Jones have cute wives and little kids about the same age as ours, so it's good times when we all get together.  

Ahhh, I just love my guy in uniform.  H.O.T   :)

More of the T-Birds...

And to quote Jake, this is the "sweetest fighter jet around."  The F22 Raptor....

I can't believe our time in Vegas is halfway over.  Jake has learned quite a bit and says he's glad that he decided to do the AEGD.  He shows me pictures of what he's been working on every now and then... good to see that he is really learning and working when he's away!  Here are some pictures of the comprehensive patient he has been seeing.  I figure maybe he'll want to see these in the blog book a few years from now!  Haha.  There's no name or face on these, so I'm thinking it's okay...
Before dental work:

He had to take off the super old temporary crowns she had on... those were her teeth underneath.  And no, these aren't "glow in the dark" teeth.  I guess the flash was bright??
Most recent appt:

These are just her temporary crowns too.  Already looking so much better!!  She still has quite a few things that need to be fixed before the end of the year, but she's come a long way! 
It was the most difficult comprehensive case they had for the residents and they gave her to Jake.  They were thinking that he probably would not be able to finish everything she needs this year but would be a good challenge for him.  He's determined to finish everything she needed though!
Good work Dr. Smith  :)

Two more inches please.

Seems like every dress that fits me really well is always two inches too short.  I ordered this dress

online from Shabby Apple and returned it because it was too short on me too.  Didn't really surprise me but it was annoying.  Boo!  The joy of long legs... nothing fits and jeans are super expensive.  I came across The Vintage Hem website this morning and ordered a slip to try it out.  Here's to hoping these solve my dress/skirt problem!  Have you tried an extendor slip before?  What did you think? 

Maybe I'll re-order my dress if I can get a little more length with these.   

Swimming

Swimming started again this week!  Luke really likes his teacher, Ms. Dominique, and was excited to see her again.  The last session ended Dec. 18, so we got a bit of a break.  Here's Luke's progress report from last session. Can't wait to see what he can do in April when this session ends!

Of BaRFiNg and Beautiful SunSeTs

Here is Ella right before church last Sunday.  She was so cute playing all by herself in the toy room that I had to take a picture.   I don't know why she is chewing on a thermometer, but it's quite fitting this day that she would be.     

At church she was being fussy in sacrament meeting and wouldn't hold still.  I decided to take her out, and we had just walked into the foyer when she threw up everywhere.  Aaaa!  So gross.  Barf was in my hair, all over my clothes, and all over Ella.  Poor girl!  So, she and I headed home and Jake and Luke stayed for the rest of church.  Luke went to his Sunbeams class (Woo hoo!) and really seemed to like his teachers, so that was good news for the day!

Little Ella started feeling better on Monday, and other then a bad case of D seemed to be herself again.  **Note to self:  NEVER cheap out and buy a case of Luvs diapers again.  Totally worth the extra couple of bucks to get the usual and much more absorbant Pampers or Huggies.**  Since Ella seemed better, Monday night we decided to go to Circus Circus for a fun FHE activity.  Luke had been wanting to ride the planes again at the Adventuredome and we had ride tickets left from our previous trip there.

We found out when we arrived that the Adventuredome is closed on Mondays this time of year.  Dang.  Our bummed little guy just walked around with us and looked at things.  We went into the gift shop to check things out, and while I was paying for a sweet Vegas 2010 calendar, Luke came over and told me his tummy hurt.  I hadn't finished the transaction before he threw up.  A lot.  I feel bad for whoever had to clean up the mac-n-cheese barf on the carpet.  So, the rest of the night I was up holding a bowl for him.

 Tuesday morning I started feeling sick and by noon I had the full-on flu too.

 We lounged around and watched episode after episode of The UpsideDown Show (Luke's FAV.. so we record it. It's normally on at 8 and 8:30 pm on Noggin/Nick Jr if you have yet to check it out!), Jungle Junction, and other kid shows.  When the kids both fell asleep I watched Julie & Julia.  Such a good movie.  Made me want to be a more adventurous cook!  By Wednesday afternoon we were all feeling pretty good again.  It's so not fun to be the mom when your family is sick.  Oh, and to the flu shots we got this year, you SUCK!  Haha.  Weeks like this remind me that I'm grateful my kids aren't sick very often.  Jake had another presentation this week at work, so he missed out on most of the puking action.  He wasn't feeling so great yesterday but for the most part, he's been able to dodge this bug.  Knock on wood...

We had lots more park and outside action on Thursday and Friday!  Luke requested that we play hopscotch one day.  I don't know where he got the idea and would never have thought to show him, but he was really good at it!  Ella thought that she was pretty awesome jumping around on the squares we made too. 

We have had some amazing sunsets lately that cover the whole sky.  Thursday night I busted out the camera to get some pictures!  Luke wanted to take some too, so some of these are his work .  He's got skills.  

Some from the back yard...           

and here are some we got from the front!

So, I'm glad it's Saturday now!  Glad the week is over.  Glad Jake is home.  Glad that I get to go for a run outside now and do some school work!

**Update... It's Saturday around 2 now, and I think I must have jinxed away Jake's good health.  He's sick.   =(

The Leid Museum, Warm Winter Days, and a SuNBeAm

The kids and I wanted to get out and do something a couple of days ago (hard to come home from a long vacation and get back to routine) so we headed off to the Leid Childrens Discovery Museum.  It's a fun and educational place to kill a few hours! 

They have an area where you can make all kinds of bubbles.  You can even stand inside of a bubble. 

I love watching Luke's facial expressions when he's making them!   

Luke was scared that the big bubble making contraption thing would fall on him or something.  Haha.

 It makes a really loud noise when you let go of the rope to make a bubble. 

Ella loved the bubbles too, but I had to hold her so she wouldn't splash in all the tubs holding the soap solution stuff.  She would go for a swim if she could.  I let her run free in the music section. 

She is quite the little harp player. 

  They have a make-believe town with a grocery store, bank, mechanic shop, an airport, and a few other things.  We spent a long time in the airport again this trip.

We like watching the experiments.  Last time we made ice cream with liquid nitrogen and the kids learned about cold things.  This visit, the experiments were on different gasses and liquids, and whether or not they are flamable.  They asked Luke if he wanted to help and he told them no.  After we left he told me in the car

"mom, sometimes I'm just a little shy."  Love that little boy!

We have to watch the news and see the rest of the country freezing for it to seem like winter around here!  It has been so warm and sunny.  We've been playing at the park and riding bikes every day this past week.   

Luke's poor little butt has been sore from riding his bike so much.  Haha. 

  Last but not least, check out my little sunbeam! 

 No more nursery for this kid.  Last week was supposed to be his first day in primary at church.  He refused to go though and ended up coming to our Sunday school class. 

Hopefully he will be more enthused about going this week!  I may be sitting in there with him for a while.    

I don't think I want randoms checking out my family online.

So, I decided to go private with the blog. Hopefully it won't be too annoying for you guys to see what we're up to! :)

Part 2: Smith Christmas in Sedona

We took so many pictures over 8 days in Sedona that I think it's easiest to do a top 20 post here. Lists make things easier for me! So, here we go. Christmas in Sedona... top 20 countdown!

20. Sedona is simply gorgeous!

19. Hiking! Daniel and Rick took the kids along on some hikes. It's one of Luke's favorite things to do, so thanks guys for taking him along! :)

18. Nerf Gun Wars. Rick and Sherry got all the grand kids Nerf guns and they all had fun blasting each other during our stay!

17. SNOW!! My little San Antonio/Vegas babies got to see it snow for the first time! We ran outside when we saw that it was coming down and the kids had fun just standing there while it fell. Luke opened his mouth to catch some snowflakes and told me that they "taste like snowballs." Haha.

16. Playing in the snow and blasting each other with snow balls!! It continued snowing through the night and we woke up to this!

Gunnar pegged Luke in the face, and then after a little retaliating Luke got Seth pretty good. Pay it forward I guess :)

I like this picture of Collin and Ethan! Cute guys.

Ella didn't know what to think of all the snow. She hated that it got into her shoes and made her fingers cold, but didn't want to miss out on anything.

Luckily she had Jake to carry her around.

15. Building a snowman! Melanie and Joe helped the kids, and I think it turned out super cute!

14. Swimming! Crazy that we could build a snow man AND swim during our stay! It did help that the pools there are so warm.

13. Treats. And food. Uncle Joe made delicious chocolate chip cookies, Melanie helped the kids make snowman sugar cookies (Logan rocked his!), we all made cake pops together, and the adults indulged in late night ice cream. Wouldn't be a holiday without junk food! I'm glad Kristen and I got a few runs in so I didn't gain fifty pounds! Each couple took a turn making dinner and everyone did a fabulous job on their night. Ben and Hailey made pork salad, Aaron and Kristen made chicken courdon blue, Mel and Joe pizza, Booner made lasagna, Davey rice and pork chops, and Rick and Sherry the delicious Christmas Eve dinner, and Jake and I made Jake's 'Boo-ya' chile.

12. Girls day out! I love hanging out with my sis-in-laws. I lucked out when I married into the family because these girls are the best. We missed you this time around Jenni! We went to Red Chopsticks and shopped around the outlet mall one day while the guys stayed home with the kids.

11. Games!! We stayed up late playing Family Feud, Scattegories, Trivial Pursuit, Anybodys Guess, and Hand and Foot.

10. Non-stop cousin fun! I love that the kids have so many cousins to play with. Luke says they are all his favorite friends. Gunnar and Luke were attached at the hip this time around and even stayed up until after midnight one night playing marbles together. He really wishes that Gunnar still lived down the street from us.

9. Matching PJs. Probably my favorite pictures from each Smith Christmas!

Pictures are oh, so painful for the kids! Haha. One day we'll get a good picture of the grand kids. One day.

And the 3 year olds together.

8. Silly string fight!! Still makes me laugh just thinking about it.

7. Shredded paper and prizes in the bag game. Does this have a name?? It's always funny to see what everyone ends up with. I think Lily's prize(s) were the most hilarious this year. She pulled out a pregnancy test (wanted to keep it)and power puff girl underwear. Go Lily! haha.


6. Lots of chatting and good laughs!

5. Christmas Eve Program

4. Christmas morning and presents! The kids were all so anxious to see what Santa brought. It made it all the more fun for us big people. Luke and Ella got what they had been wanting from Santa, and Jake and I made out pretty good this year too!

Christmas morning kiddos!

Luke, Collin, and Kate all got new wheels that they had to try out outside. Luckily the snow was gone by Christmas morning and it was actually pretty warm outside!

Ella unwrapping her things all by herself this year...

3. Rick's challenge to read The Peacegiver as couples. Jake and I finished it on our drive back home. It was really good.. who wants it next??

2. Family pictures after church. Always entertaining! Here's the big shot of everybody.

1. Celebrating the birth of the Savior together. So fun to be with everyone! Well, almost everyone. We missed Josh and Jenni's family!

Countdown is on for David's wedding in march!