Changes

Need I say more.

(FYI: That large pepperoni pizza that he got as a reward for suffering through the corn rows, he ate every bite!)

AWKWARD

Happy 5th Birthday!

This little guy is awesome.

The ladies, young and old, love Dag, and nobody--I mean nobody, can help but run their fingers through his amazing curly locks.

He is obedient, almost to a fault. If I ask him to do anything his reply is always, "Yes, Sir!" and off he goes. The other night Sam asked Dag to go get him something, and of course he said, "yes, sir," and when he came back Sam said, "Thanks, Dag." His reply was, "No Pwoblem." With his R being a W--so cute.

A couple of nights later, the doorbell rang and Dag answered it. Standing at the door were several cute girls looking for Spencer. Dag backed up a couple of steps and said, "AWKWARD!" A word far above his limited vocabulary...and once again, maybe I let him watch too much TV.

Oh, well.

The cute girls found it adorable, and wanted to hang out with Dag instead of Spencer that night, which is fine with me.

Truly, this little man is a gem, and we love him in our family.

Happy Birthday, Dag!

School Days

Hip, hip, hooray! School has started ! I LOVE, LOVE, summer, as much as anybody could LOVE summer, but this year I was ready to say goodbye to summer, so the kiddies could go back to school. I didn't realize how much my summer life revolved around fixing breakfast, cleaning up, fixing lunch, cleaning up, fixing dinner, cleaning up...and cleaning up every second in between...until now that they are all in school and my house is gloriously clean at 8:30am and stays that way until 3:30pm.

Sicily started the 1st grade, and couldn't be cuter. Yesterday when Makita saw her walking home from school, she pulled over to tell her how cute she looked. Sicily's reply was, "UGH! Everybody tells me that!" What a horrible problem to have. We had a little talk about manners last night too.
Elle started the 4th grade this year. She is the sweetest girl I know. She also loves dogs, and the neighbors brought this one to the bus stop this year, and I haven't heard the end of it since..."mom, can we please have a dog? mom, can we please have a dog?..."

Nate is also in the first grade at Galileo, with Sicily and Elle this year. His favorite part of the day is the bus ride, and it is a good thing, because he rides it for almost an hour and a half each day.

Dag's first day of preschool. He goes every day from 9:15-12:30, and Tuesdays and Thursdays he goes to another preschool from 12:30-3. He loves school, and is getting so smart. Now if we can just get him to add "BE Verbs" to his sentences... you know: be, am, is, are, was, were, been, have, has, had, do, does, did, can, could, may, might, shall, should, will, would, must...he doesn't use those words, EVER. I've had him tested for special language help, but he is too dang smart to qualify, soooo....if anybody has any suggestions send them my way. He is so dang cute, you want to just eat him up, so I'm not too worried.

Spencer and Carter were too cool to have mom snapping pictures of them the first day, but they are loving it as well. Spencer is a freshman in high school and Carter in the 7th grade.

I Camped For Three Days!

This year we decided to do something unusual for the Smith's, and go camping for our summer vacation. If you know anything about Sam or I, you know we don't like to "rough it" too much, but for memories sake we decided it was time. Jackson, WY was our destination, and it turned out to be great. We all had a fabulous time, and the kids can now look back on their childhood and remember a time they went camping as a family.

The antler picture. Can't visit Jackson without one.

The Alpine Slide

Sam, Carter, and Elle got up super early one morning to go see the wildlife in the park. They tell us it was beautiful.

One of the highlights of the trip for the kids was the horseback riding.

I have to include a picture of Nate, because he was a trooper. Just 8 days prior to going he got his tonsil taken out. He was pretty miserable, but tried really hard to put a smile on and enjoy the great outdoors.

Jenny Lake

Jackson Lake and an evening swim.

We opted for the "scenic float" down the raging Snake River. I guess next time, we'll have to be more adventurous, and do the white water rafting, because my kids said it was BORING!

Good Times!!!

Fourth of July in Tamarack 2011

Once again we spent the fourth of July at the Lake, and as always we had a fabulous time.

Fireworks are always a highlight

What mother would let her 4 year old let off bottle rockets?

This is our little PYROMANIAC...he would get so close to the fire I think that is ash all over his face.

Loving It. Dag still asks to do fireworks every night.

Grandma and Grandpa Smith joined us on the 4th for the fireworks.

Always Adorable.

Dag dreams of becoming the green Power Ranger one day...he's got the moves down.

Sitting on the dock.

Family Picnic

My little boy is growing up too fast

The infamous tube is always a hit.

Carter ALWAYS finds fun.

Our two bathing beauties

Defying 40!

(Mom, click on the picture to enlarge)

Sam was bound and determined to kick 40 in the butt this spring---So mid May he decided one Friday he was going to run a half marathon the next day, just as a little training run for the Ironman 70.3 he was preparing for---so he did, and he rocked it. Two weekends later he and his 7 buddies rode in a 200 mile bike relay through the Sawtooth mountains of Idaho, and they rocked it. The next Saturday he went for a little 1.25 mile swim in a 53 degree lake, a 56 mile bike ride, and then a 13.1 mile run--a half Ironman, in about 5 hours and 30 minutes---rocked it. The next Friday, just a mere 6 days later we joined some friends and ran in the 192 mile Ragnar Relay, from Logan to Park City, at one point climbing to an elevation of 8,909 feet (can you say burn baby burn)--he rocked because he finished all three of his legs, but 40 and 4 weeks of brutality to his body took their toll. Notice in the picture of him running with his shirt off, the large Ace bandage covering his knee--well he really shouldn't have been running, walking, or even hobbling any longer, but he did. Sam, you're the Man!! We are super duper proud of you, but I hope you give your 40 year young body a little break this month.

Finally!

Sicily has wanted to lose a tooth for the past three years, ever since Elle lost her first tooth, and last week it finally happened. It was pretty darn loose, before she got enough courage to really yank, but with a little help from Sam it happened. Sissy is also graduating from kindergarten in a couple of weeks and I am going to be a little sad when she has to go to school all day. She is a pretty fun sidekick to run errands with or just hang out with.

Need A Little Help Here

I'm trying to grow Dag's hair out like Corbin Bleu. I think it will work, and be super cute, but does anybody know how big it has to get before it starts taking the turn down? Quinn?! Actually, after seeing the picture of Corbin, I realize Dag's hair has to be a lot longer. However, this was my attempt today before preschool. I made the part and lotioned it all up, then just couldn't stop laughing, so sent him to school that way. His teacher and several moms got a good laugh out of it as well.

We'll keep you posted on the progress of this fro. I hope Sam and Dag will let me keep growing it out. Sam, thinks it's silly or something, and Dag cries a river and runs away every morning when I say, "Time to comb your hair!"

Just The Way We Like It

Palm Springs 2011

Sunny and Warm. Okay, HOT! 102 to be exact, but we are not complaining, we were just happy to play in the sun. There were 5 other families there with us from good 'ole Eagle, Idaho and boy could we take over a pool with our 29 children. We got a lot of comments from onlookers, and I think more than anything they just couldn't believe we were all friends from the same neighborhood. Sometimes we forget how lucky we are to have such great friends right around the corner, until you talk to Californians, folks from Wisconsin, Michigan and Virginia... that are utterly amazed by it.

Good Times!

PS: Carter was with us on this vacation, his lame mom just didn't get any pictures of him. He was always off having too much fun with his friends.

I miss Yolanda!

Best Vacation EVER!!! Last week Sam and I spent it in Punta Mita, Mexico with some of our favorite friends, the Jones' and the Chapmans. It's hard to describe just how fabulous and relaxing the trip was, I think I must have really needed a vacation. I'll be dreaming of last week for months to come, as we tolerate the rest of winter. I've only been back 6 days and I'm already missing this vacation...

I miss the view from our balcony, the warm sun and gentle breeze every day.

I miss popsicles in the perfect temperature pool, with kind latin men doting over us all day on the beach.

I miss beautiful sunsets and fun evenings with friends.

I miss breakfast made for us every morning out on the balcony.

I miss the best dang food I've ever eaten in Mexico, and a lot of it. Grateful for friends that like food as much as I do.

I miss reading by the pool or on the beach, and having nowhere to go for 6 lovely days.

I miss Yolanda. For six days I didn't lift a finger. She made our meals, complete with guacamole and salsa everyday at 3, she made our beds, she picked fresh flowers to insert in my toilet paper roll or towel, she washed and ironed our clothes. She is a dream and every year I try to talk her into coming back with us, but no luck yet.