Smith Family

Saturday, June 9, 2012

Taron's New Love

The Wii is starting to feel a little jealous these days. Sorry, Mario Kart.

There were a few days after a painful crash where the poor bike was neglected, but today he's back on it.

Wednesday, June 6, 2012

The boys' baseball season is winding down, I think they are about as ready to be done as I am... 4 games a week gets old fast for me, especially when it always seems to be at the same time as someone else's dance rehearsal, or crew practice, or scouts, or another game... always running back and forth... but now crew is over, the big dance recital is this weekend, and only a few games left... I can see the light at the end of the tunnel! It'll be nice to make it back to "home plate" for a season.

Where's Waldo

I know I'm posting a little late for Easter, but it's been a busy spring. We don't paint our eggs with the traditional food coloring, acrylics are much more fun. Find Waldo yet?

Sunday, June 3, 2012

Morning Glory

I've been spoiled. My morning walks are like a visit to the garden of Eden this time of year. I'm gonna miss them.

I start out before the sun, and follow the winding paths...

Sometimes the path disappears and I am left to choose my own route

The tranquil waters of Walden Lake paint their version of the sky

Even the port-a-potties have a wonderful view

Along with the beautiful homes that line the course

The blue heron, deer, beaver and other wildlife I spied were too fleeting for my camera, but the resident family of swans didn't escape it's eye

It must be love.

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Moving on...

I thought I'd post a quick note here, for those of you who aren't on my facebook... We are still in Michigan, getting ready to move to Utah, and have decided to build on a lot we found. I'm actually getting excited, I love the location, a cultisac in a little ravine near a stream, with tree forts and an awesome rope swing across the creek, it brings back memories of walking in our Minnesota woods. We were also able to design our own house plans, with some handy features like a laundry chute, drinking fountain, mud room lockers for each kid, homework and bill centers... a mom's dream! This is my photoshopped estimate of how it may look when it's done (photo was originally of a similar model but I've altered it quite a bit).

I am feeling a combination of great gratitude for such a wonderful opportunity, and overwhelming exhaustion from all the stress of designing a house in such short time, while keeping our current house clean for showings and running kids back and forth to about 3-4 after school activities every night, and all this without a hubby to help (he is in Utah already). Running on 4 hours of sleep per night and skipping most meals has become my norm lately... But as I said, I do feel very blessed.

Speaking of sleep, I think I'll try to go catch some while I can... Goodnight all!

Friday, February 3, 2012

Come Again?

They say history repeats itself.

I guess it's true.

Every few years, Chris's company asks us to consider relocating. Well, it happened again, but we told them we weren't interested, our kids are getting older and it's harder to uproot them. Also, the schools here are rated as some of the best in the country, and we love our home and area. Why would we want to leave?

They came back again a few weeks later, so this time we thought we'd consult the kids. The answer was a pretty strong no; Solei loves her band and rowing crew here, and Sierra has made some good friends. It would be too hard to leave. So, we told the company we weren't interested again. We thought that was the end of that.

Then Chris got another call, and another, and to make a long story short... yes, we are moving... again.

I am seriously torn. I have really enjoyed it here. Not only are the schools and people great, but this house is amazing, my favorite of all our homes we've had. It practically decorates itself, and it seems whoever built it had our family's particular needs in mind. And then there's the neighborhood; a gated community on the country club golf course with a postcard view on every turn. I feel like we've been living the ultimate "American dream", but this summer we'll be leaving it behind. No more sledding down the golf course hills, swimming at the club pool, meandering through ArtPrize, taking day trips to the beach... so many memories we've made here, just like everywhere else we've lived.

Sigh...

Every move we've made has been hard. It tears my heart out at the roots. The friends, the memories... I think how hard it must have been for those early pioneers, building their homes only to be chased out every few years, and then leaving the beautiful green lands of the east to head out into the desert. I really can't complain when I consider their circumstances...

But I feel like I can sympathize a little.

And why?

Because we are following in their footsteps... we are moving back to Utah.

Yes, back to the desert... but also back to the mountain views. Back to the overcrowded valleys... but also back to friends and family. Back to the smog-filled winters... but also back to great skiing. And of course, back to "Utah wards"... but also back to neighbors who share the same beliefs and values (and doing your visiting teaching a few doors down instead of across town). There are definitely some trade-offs. I just have to trust God and hope he knows what he's doing, and I believe He does.

So... farewell, beautiful midwest states... you have been very good to us, and you will always hold a place in our hearts.

Sunday, January 15, 2012

Snow day!

Winter is finally here! Although the golf course next door isn't very conducive to hitting the links right now, it makes a dang good sledding hill...

And of course, snowboarding too. Ella got a snowboard on her birthday and hadn't been able to use it until now...

By the third time down she was a pro...

Taron tried it even closer to home...

Ya gotta love a good snow day!

The Mind of a Child...

When Solei was a toddler, she found some bark that was lying at the base of a tree and said in disgust, “Ooooooh! Tree poo-poo!”

When the girls were little, we were taking a walk with the dog who was bombarding Sierra with her friendly but slobbery kisses. Frustrated, our sweet little Sierra yelled out “NO KINA, I'M NOT YOUR ICE CREAM CONE!”

Telling Ella how to crawl, Caden explained “But I’m four, so I crawl standing up.”

I was sitting with Caden one day and I told him that the couch used to be a cow (it is leather), and I said (half jokingly) “did you know that cows turn into couches?” To which he replied, “No they don’t, they turn into pies!”

Watching the Tabernacle choir sing during conference, Solei (who was 8 yrs old at the time) said that they should sing “Do as I’m Doing” (with all the motions, I’m sure).

We put in an underground fence for the dog and Caden (age 5) saw us burying the wire. We then put up little white flags to mark where it was. A few days later he went outside and turned on the hose. When I saw him, I asked him to turn off the water. He looked at me questioningly and asked, “Until when? Until the fence grows?” He thought it needed watering!

Taron (2) looked at the varicose veins on grandmas legs and said, “owy... lightning!”

When Caden was 5, he would ask if he could go play with his friend in the morning, and I would sometimes reply, "No, it's too early". Well one day he finally asked me "can we not play on 'too early's? Can we play on 'one early'?"

Sierra told me one night that when she was little, she used to think the word “couch” came from the word “cow”, and that our couch had a cow inside (partially true since it is leather). She would try to sit down carefully so it would not run away. She thought the wood parts inside were it’s bones and the black pegs on the bottom were the feet.

Sometimes Taron (age 2) would find dog poop and say “Eew! Dog poop!” and then proceed to stomp on it as if it were a bug.

Caden (age 5) and I were talking about the sounds letters make and he asked if I knew what the sleepy letter was. I replied that I didn’t and he said, “It’s the Z... when you go to sleep then the Z’s come out of your head. And there’s a big round white thing too but it’s invisible. Maybe he had been reading too many comic books...

Sierra (age 8) made a Halloween card for her friend and wrote ENSTINE (meaning Einstein) on it, I thought it was an odd thing to put on a Halloween card so I asked if she knew who Einstein was and she said "Isn't he the guy who made Frankenstein?"

Caden (age 5) asked if it was a ghost who said the sacrament prayer because he couldn’t see anyone at the podium but he could hear the voice.

When Taron was 2 he would always respond to an “I love you” with “Much”.

Taron (3) woke up one morning, started to play and when I asked him if he wanted a pancake, he said, “Oh yeah, I was supposed to be hungry!”

Dad was singing “Jesus wants me for a sunbeam” and Taron said “Jesus likes sunbeans, they’re delicious!”

I was teaching Taron (5) how to read, and came upon the word "loose". I told him, "the two O's say "oo" and the E is silent. Slowly and deliberately, he sounded it out........"Loooosssilent".

Caden had been learning to tell time in school and was asking me about the big hand vs. the little hand on the clock. Apparently Taron was listening somewhat because he held up his right hand and asked "is this the big hand?"

Ella (4) came up to me with some of my reading glasses and said "Mom, when I put glasses on, I still don't know how to read!"

At a restaurant, Ella was impatiently waiting for her food and, looking for the waitress, she asked "when is the human coming back?"

One morning I said, "Ella, come look! There's a wild turkey in the backyard!"
Ella (excitedly): "Can we kill it?!?"
What kind of daughter am I raising???

Ella mistook another guy for Chris and was about to follow him to his car, but soon realized her mistake and said, "I was about to follow the 'not dad'".