Here's a random entry, I can just feel it!
First, we test drove another mini van yesterday (thanks Kristi for taking Kadence for us!) and I think we may have found a winner. Stay tuned!
We had a wonderful Stake Priesthood meeting where our stake president talked a lot about the importance of keeping our finances in check. He gave some great pointers, such as having a $1,000 emergency fund, building and maintaining 3-6 months of savings, paying off extra amounts on mortgages, avoiding credit card debt and staying away from the check into cash places (that have the most awful commercials one could find!). Great advice. I'm very grateful for a wonderful companion who is a strong advocate on these things!
We've watched a few movies lately. August Rush was one that we'd heard a lot about from others and while Elizabeth liked it, I was expecting just a little more. It is a film about a musical prodigy who is searching for his parents (who are searching for each other). A neat story and an artistic movie (at times a bit too artistic!). Last night, we watched No Reservations and we both thought it was a good, sentimental movie. Good times.
We're thinking our girls' runny noses have stopped their endless dripping. Here's hoping. They have been so cute lately. Kadence was especially snuggly last night. What a joy it is to be the parents of these two angels.
Have a great day everyone!
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Green Thumbs
After I got home from work yesterday, we had a delightful time working outside for three hours. Elizabeth edged while I mowed the lawns. Tayah pretty much occupied herself with a few toys and the endless sights. Kadence, on the other hand, was busier than us all! She was mowing alongside with me, weeding (i.e scooping buckets of dirt and then dumping them back out), sweeping the garage, porch, and sidewalks with Daddy, and riding her new bike. So adorable (except when she purposely biked onto the street. She get this mischievous look on her face when she knows she's disobeying!)! The Spring weather is a nice change in pace. We loved being outside together.
Sorry some of these entries can border on mundane. These are the things we want to remember! Have a wonderful Sunday everyone...
Sorry some of these entries can border on mundane. These are the things we want to remember! Have a wonderful Sunday everyone...
Saturday, April 26, 2008
Jam-Packed Fun!
Yesterday was my day off and we made the most of it! Our ward has a weekly play group and Elizabeth hosted this week. Kadence had mixed feelings about the invasion of kids (about 10 came with their mothers): at one point, she came upstairs sobbing "I want to stay with my Daddy!" When it came time for them to leave, it was "I need my friends!" Here's a photo of them at the tea party.
We worked around the house, did some stuff outdoors, and ran a bunch of errands. After the girls' naps (Tayah still takes two 1-2 hour naps and Kadence, luckily enough, still takes a 1 1/2-2 hour nap each afternoon!), we went to a craft show in Mapleton and then to eat at IHOP. You can never go wrong with IHOP. Fun to watch Kadence go to town on her pancakes. My parents dropped by for a visit and then Elizabeth and I took in this week's installment of Lost. What a great show!
Friday, April 25, 2008
New Wheels
Here's Kadence and Maili on their new bikes. Thanks Kristi for capturing the moment. Let's be careful, for today it's bikes, tomorrow it'll be cars!
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Catching Up with our Kadenceisms
More Kadenceisms for your enjoyment:
-"Oh no...what's happening?!"
-"I made her (Tayah) sad." (at least she recognizes that now!)
-"Let me have it."
-"Let me reach it."
-"I want to snuggle my Daddy."
-"My sister! I want my sister!" (this is when Tayah is going to bed. We think it's not so much that Tayah is going down, but rather Kadence knows she's next!)
-"A dream, a wish you heart maaaakes..." (A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes from Cinderella)
-"I need my best friend!" (Maili :)
-"Oh no...what's happening?!"
-"I made her (Tayah) sad." (at least she recognizes that now!)
-"Let me have it."
-"Let me reach it."
-"I want to snuggle my Daddy."
-"My sister! I want my sister!" (this is when Tayah is going to bed. We think it's not so much that Tayah is going down, but rather Kadence knows she's next!)
-"A dream, a wish you heart maaaakes..." (A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes from Cinderella)
-"I need my best friend!" (Maili :)
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
This and That
Some random items to catch you up on our latest and greatest:
* Tayah says "Dada!" We think this is her first conscious word (just like Kadence)
* We bought Kadence a bike last week and she is LOVING it!
* Our ward had a fun service project cleaning up the creek (Hobble Creek) that runs along our neighborhood. Great turn-out and a lot was accomplished
* Saturday night, 40 members of our ward came for a ward temple session. What a wonderful experience to be there with our ward family!
* Had a family dinner Sunday with my side, celebrating my brother Darrell's birthday.
* We bought a patio set...the BBQ is next!
* We test drove a mini van a few weeks back. Elizabeth has been doing a lot of research. I should change the BBQ comment...we hope the mini van is next!
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Views from a Car
Those with children can agree...you do everything you can to appease sad kids in the car. Kadence was appeased when Daddy pulled out the camera to take some family snap shots. Simple times create lasting memories!
Saturday, April 19, 2008
Tucano's Tradition
Here are photos from Wednesday's excursion to Tucano's with my Leadership team. It's our once-a-semester tradition on reading day. These 12 students are great and it's a joy to work with them. I love you guys!
I'm also a firm believer that this is how food will be in heaven. Kadence and Tayah had fun being cute for my crew! Elizabeth and I hade fun committing gluttony!
Friday, April 18, 2008
Snowbird Fun
Monday right after work, we headed up to my parents' time share condo in Snowbird to spend the night. We had been there before and it was as fun and beautiful as ever. We enjoyed staying with my stepmother and taking in the scenery. Kadence even had a dip with Mommy in the hot tub. Here are some photos of our time there. It was a quick trip, but we enjoyed it. Thanks Donna!
The last photo is Tayah being mesmerized by the mirrors in our room. So cute!
The last photo is Tayah being mesmerized by the mirrors in our room. So cute!
Saturday, April 12, 2008
The Important Things in Life
Most of you know that I have a morning routine (scriptures, literature, Japanese study) that gets the day started off on the right foot. In fact, I can be a little OCD about it (in a good way!). Yesterday, little Kadence woke up screaming at 4:45 PM, we think due to a nightmare. The only thing that would console her was holding her. While the routine is great, that was certainly the most important thing I could be doing...holding my daughter. Or as Kadence says, "I want to snuggle my Daddy." Puts everything in perspective, doesn't it?
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Fans and Fun
Tayah has taken a fancy to fans. Anytime she gets fussy for a diaper change, Kadence is kind enough to turn the fan on and make the sign for it with her. Pretty cute stuff!
Kadence's catch phrase this week is "how fun!"
We spent a fun Monday night at Springville Museum taking in a night of Japanese music and origami. One of our goals is to look for different things to do this year as a family. We've already got some things up our sleeve for the summer months. As Kadence would say, "how fun!"
Kadence's catch phrase this week is "how fun!"
We spent a fun Monday night at Springville Museum taking in a night of Japanese music and origami. One of our goals is to look for different things to do this year as a family. We've already got some things up our sleeve for the summer months. As Kadence would say, "how fun!"
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
March Nuts and Bolts
Our entry in the Smith Family Nuts and Bolts newsletter for March:
“March comes in like a lion and out like a lamb.”
We’ve all heard this adage, one that applies to March weather. The past month applied fittingly to the Smith Family too! Our eventful March begun with the inevitable ward split that occurred on Fast Sunday. It was definitely time as our ward swelled to 710 people (more than double from the 330 we started with). Some took it hard, but most were excited for the change. We kept most of Devon Glen (our neighborhood), Green Acres (our mobile home park), and the block north of it. We’re now sitting at 470 members, still a large congregation. It’s exciting knowing that we’ll now have more time to bring people back to Church. Picking up the pieces after the split has kept us hopping as we’ve since reorganized the Relief Society, High Priests, Elders Quorum (we lost both quorum presidents), Young Men, Ward Mission, and Activities Committee. Matt Kieffer, the 2nd Counselor in the bishopric was also released and Kevin Wilkins is now serving with us. Things have died down considerably, but I think we were busier than when the ward was created from scratch!
Tayah is now a sitter and we couldn’t be happier. She now will sit and play for longer periods of time. She has been attending the same baby sign language class Kadence did and now can do five or so signs (including Daddy…how fun!). She has followed her sister’s example by waking up early, usually around 6:30. She still sleeps 12 hours and takes two good naps so we can’t complain too much. She likes to pull herself up to a standing positions and has her fair share of bumps and bruises. Tayah is such a good, sweet baby and brings us so much joy. Kadence has her moments where she enjoys “disciplining” her sister (“No, no Tayah!”), but they already have quite the special bond with each other.
Kadence has grown right into a two-year old. In fact, she’s a pro! Of course, she’s so fun and sweet most of the time, but has developed the occasional attitude. It’s so fun to watch her grow daily. She loves reading and can spend long periods of time immersed in books. Kadence will often walk around the house singing non-stop. She particularly loves Primary songs. She and Tayah were both under the weather this month, but before that, she managed to have several play days with neighborhood friends. Kadence doesn’t talk a whole lot in Nursery, but enjoys her teachers and the time there. She says funny things each day, things we’ve endearingly dubbed Kadenceisms on our blog. Kadence and I also had our first Daddy/daughter date to the Springville Museum of Art.
Elizabeth turned 29 this month and we’re ever so grateful for all she does. We had a fun day with gifts, lunch at Tucano’s and a quiet night at home. We had a family party on Easter Sunday for her. She was in charge of arranging the rides and tickets our Young Women had for the General YW meeting. She worked a lot in our yard as we had a large amount of compost delivered to our house. I’d often wheelbarrow it out and she’d make it look pretty. We also planted some trees and are excited to get a lot of this work done in the cool Spring (sometimes cold) weather. She also had the second half of her exhilaratingc root canal. She does so much for our little family!
I had an eventful month at work as we finally moved into our new LDS Philanthropies building located at 1450 N. University Avenue. It is a beautiful building and is a world of improvement over our previous locale. It has been a fairly smooth transition and we’re still getting settled. We have had an enormously successful year, already raising nearly as much money now as we did in 2007. We hope it continues! We enjoyed having all 70 employees to our house for a fun to-do (two nights). We also went around and visited with most BYU’s deans, distributing Annual Fund money to them. We also held our annual student giving campaign on campus. I conducted sacrament meetings in March.
Other events: Achievement Days Recognition Night, Cougar Club with Dad, my mother had eye surgery, a temple trip, a fabulous Easter with new Easter dresses and Easter egg hunts (ward and family), a party with my high school friends here, a mission preparation fireside (with a former mission president in our ward), St. Patrick’s Day, visits with the Stake Presidency, Hansens’ reception, a ward canned food drive, and some new additions to our DVD collection(Enchanted and 101 Dalmations).
Come to think if it, March actually came in and went out like a lion…what a wonderful month!
“March comes in like a lion and out like a lamb.”
We’ve all heard this adage, one that applies to March weather. The past month applied fittingly to the Smith Family too! Our eventful March begun with the inevitable ward split that occurred on Fast Sunday. It was definitely time as our ward swelled to 710 people (more than double from the 330 we started with). Some took it hard, but most were excited for the change. We kept most of Devon Glen (our neighborhood), Green Acres (our mobile home park), and the block north of it. We’re now sitting at 470 members, still a large congregation. It’s exciting knowing that we’ll now have more time to bring people back to Church. Picking up the pieces after the split has kept us hopping as we’ve since reorganized the Relief Society, High Priests, Elders Quorum (we lost both quorum presidents), Young Men, Ward Mission, and Activities Committee. Matt Kieffer, the 2nd Counselor in the bishopric was also released and Kevin Wilkins is now serving with us. Things have died down considerably, but I think we were busier than when the ward was created from scratch!
Tayah is now a sitter and we couldn’t be happier. She now will sit and play for longer periods of time. She has been attending the same baby sign language class Kadence did and now can do five or so signs (including Daddy…how fun!). She has followed her sister’s example by waking up early, usually around 6:30. She still sleeps 12 hours and takes two good naps so we can’t complain too much. She likes to pull herself up to a standing positions and has her fair share of bumps and bruises. Tayah is such a good, sweet baby and brings us so much joy. Kadence has her moments where she enjoys “disciplining” her sister (“No, no Tayah!”), but they already have quite the special bond with each other.
Kadence has grown right into a two-year old. In fact, she’s a pro! Of course, she’s so fun and sweet most of the time, but has developed the occasional attitude. It’s so fun to watch her grow daily. She loves reading and can spend long periods of time immersed in books. Kadence will often walk around the house singing non-stop. She particularly loves Primary songs. She and Tayah were both under the weather this month, but before that, she managed to have several play days with neighborhood friends. Kadence doesn’t talk a whole lot in Nursery, but enjoys her teachers and the time there. She says funny things each day, things we’ve endearingly dubbed Kadenceisms on our blog. Kadence and I also had our first Daddy/daughter date to the Springville Museum of Art.
Elizabeth turned 29 this month and we’re ever so grateful for all she does. We had a fun day with gifts, lunch at Tucano’s and a quiet night at home. We had a family party on Easter Sunday for her. She was in charge of arranging the rides and tickets our Young Women had for the General YW meeting. She worked a lot in our yard as we had a large amount of compost delivered to our house. I’d often wheelbarrow it out and she’d make it look pretty. We also planted some trees and are excited to get a lot of this work done in the cool Spring (sometimes cold) weather. She also had the second half of her exhilaratingc root canal. She does so much for our little family!
I had an eventful month at work as we finally moved into our new LDS Philanthropies building located at 1450 N. University Avenue. It is a beautiful building and is a world of improvement over our previous locale. It has been a fairly smooth transition and we’re still getting settled. We have had an enormously successful year, already raising nearly as much money now as we did in 2007. We hope it continues! We enjoyed having all 70 employees to our house for a fun to-do (two nights). We also went around and visited with most BYU’s deans, distributing Annual Fund money to them. We also held our annual student giving campaign on campus. I conducted sacrament meetings in March.
Other events: Achievement Days Recognition Night, Cougar Club with Dad, my mother had eye surgery, a temple trip, a fabulous Easter with new Easter dresses and Easter egg hunts (ward and family), a party with my high school friends here, a mission preparation fireside (with a former mission president in our ward), St. Patrick’s Day, visits with the Stake Presidency, Hansens’ reception, a ward canned food drive, and some new additions to our DVD collection(Enchanted and 101 Dalmations).
Come to think if it, March actually came in and went out like a lion…what a wonderful month!
Sunday, April 6, 2008
Kadenceisms and Tayahisms (04.06)
Kadence says such cute things every single day...so much so that I could easily fill every post with Kadenceisms. Here are a few from this weekend:
-"Thank you!" (she says this when she picks up something she knows she shouldn't and then hands it to us, like she's doing you a huge favor :))
-"Shoot...I need to take a nap!"
-"I like a star shining brightly..."
-"For beauty of earth...brother, sister, parent, child"
-"You are my sunshine, my only sunshine. You make me happy, sky gray. You never know dear, I love you. Please take my sunshine away!" (so funny!)
Tayah now signs Daddy! I remember the first time Kadence did this during sacrament meeting. She looked up at the stand and made the sign. Yesterday, I scooped Tayah up after her nap and as we were going down the stairs, she looked up and put her hand on her forehead, signing Daddy. These types of things melt a daddy's heart!
By the way, isn't General Conference fantastic? I truly feel President Uchtdorf's talk during Priesthood was one of the best I've ever heard. Looking forward to today!
-"Thank you!" (she says this when she picks up something she knows she shouldn't and then hands it to us, like she's doing you a huge favor :))
-"Shoot...I need to take a nap!"
-"I like a star shining brightly..."
-"For beauty of earth...brother, sister, parent, child"
-"You are my sunshine, my only sunshine. You make me happy, sky gray. You never know dear, I love you. Please take my sunshine away!" (so funny!)
Tayah now signs Daddy! I remember the first time Kadence did this during sacrament meeting. She looked up at the stand and made the sign. Yesterday, I scooped Tayah up after her nap and as we were going down the stairs, she looked up and put her hand on her forehead, signing Daddy. These types of things melt a daddy's heart!
By the way, isn't General Conference fantastic? I truly feel President Uchtdorf's talk during Priesthood was one of the best I've ever heard. Looking forward to today!
Friday, April 4, 2008
Weekly Highlights
Since we've not updated much this week, here are some highlights from each day:
-Sunday: wonderful sacrament meeting with inspiring talks about service. The bishopric shared the 5th Sunday lesson, covering talks from the recent Worldwide Leadership Training meeting about families. I was able to cover President Monson's talk entitled "A Sanctuary from the World." It was a wonderful topic to study.
-Monday: Family Home Evening about the First Presidency. According to Kadence, they are "President Monnnsennn, President Iiiiring and President Dorf!"
-Tuesday: Elizabeth attended a wonderful Enrichment night where the sisters shared their talents. I had our end of the semester banquet with my staff. Seeing as it was April 1st, I thought it prim and proper to pull a little prank. Jeff, the Annual Giving director, told my students that I accepted a position elsewhere within LDSP. The looks and dead silence were priceless. Sorry guys!
-Wednesday: Tayah signed Daddy! She has also done ball and more. She's in a baby sign language play-group (the same one Kadence went to 1 1/2 yrs ago) at the Wilkins'. So fun for her to communicate beyond the typical scream or cry!
-Thursday: Kadence is in love with "Princess Gell," or for the rest of us, Princess Giselle from Enchanted. I think we found a winner!
-Friday: Tayah got up at 6:25 this morning. When I went in there, she was standing up, grinning from ear to ear. Time goes by too quickly!
We're looking forward to today. We've got the day off and we're making the most of it. Tayah has her nine-month appointment and the girls are going to have Grandpa/Grandma time while we go to the temple to do sealings as a bishopric. Great times!
-Sunday: wonderful sacrament meeting with inspiring talks about service. The bishopric shared the 5th Sunday lesson, covering talks from the recent Worldwide Leadership Training meeting about families. I was able to cover President Monson's talk entitled "A Sanctuary from the World." It was a wonderful topic to study.
-Monday: Family Home Evening about the First Presidency. According to Kadence, they are "President Monnnsennn, President Iiiiring and President Dorf!"
-Tuesday: Elizabeth attended a wonderful Enrichment night where the sisters shared their talents. I had our end of the semester banquet with my staff. Seeing as it was April 1st, I thought it prim and proper to pull a little prank. Jeff, the Annual Giving director, told my students that I accepted a position elsewhere within LDSP. The looks and dead silence were priceless. Sorry guys!
-Wednesday: Tayah signed Daddy! She has also done ball and more. She's in a baby sign language play-group (the same one Kadence went to 1 1/2 yrs ago) at the Wilkins'. So fun for her to communicate beyond the typical scream or cry!
-Thursday: Kadence is in love with "Princess Gell," or for the rest of us, Princess Giselle from Enchanted. I think we found a winner!
-Friday: Tayah got up at 6:25 this morning. When I went in there, she was standing up, grinning from ear to ear. Time goes by too quickly!
We're looking forward to today. We've got the day off and we're making the most of it. Tayah has her nine-month appointment and the girls are going to have Grandpa/Grandma time while we go to the temple to do sealings as a bishopric. Great times!
Thursday, April 3, 2008
"I Like Daddy-Daughter Date Daddy!"
Kadence and I went our first Daddy/Daughter date on Saturday. Now that she's two years old, I hope to make it a monthly occasion for the two of us. We made a trip to the Springville Art Museum and had a grand time together. It was so cute for her to yell out (not in her "quiet voice"), "Daddy...a dog!" "Look Daddy... a choo-choo train!" She was fascinated by the art, especially by the mechanical fountain in the main area (those who've been there know what I am talking about). There was even a new exhibit starting that day, so we took advantage of the cupcakes they were offering. Afterward, I asked if she wanted ice cream from Burger King or McDonald's. Her reply: "McDonald's Daddy. Old McDonald had an ice cream!" What a precious time together. It was especially fun as several times, out of the blue, she squeezed my hand and said "I like Daddy-daughter date Daddy!" I was meant to have little girls!
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