Beautiful Girls

Here are some photos from our July 4th activities. I love this shot of our girls being very patriotic!



How adorable are our girls?

"You ought to be in pictures...you're beautiful to see..."

Our happy two-year old!

Greatest Snow on Earth

This, family and friends, is the closest you'll probably see the Smith Family on the slopes...at least for a decade or more!

Tayah's Big Day

Here are the birthday girls, Haeli and Tayah, last week at their little birthday get-together.



Tayah wasn't sure what was going on...



Chocolate cake + 2-year old = this



What a fun group...and all girls. Our little boy is going to be loving things in this neighborhood!

Park City Vacation

Now that it's been nearly a month since our Park City trip, we thought we'd finally share what we did...better late than never! First off, this was a much-needed respite from the world for the entire family. The past five months were full to the brim with work (two jobs), daily home activities, church, and life in general. How wonderful to just be together for a week, untouched and undisturbed!


We stayed in a condo right on Historic Main Street in Park City. It was a Victorian hotel that had old-time furniture, an elevator that required a key, and a toilet that had the chain you pulled (sorry, no photos!). It was a fun, fun location and we enjoyed several daily walks (as you can see above and below).


What did we do: went shopping and lunch with my mother and Aunt Sandy, Hogle Zoo, This is the Place Historic Park, Wheeler Historic Farm, daily rides on the Park City trolleys, Olympic Park, etc. We enjoyed going out to eat, including a few nice places downtown. We caught up on movies, books, and relaxed. Park City isn't the most exotic destination, but it was perfect for us!My favorite part: watching my girls learn, play, and grow up. Sometimes it pains me to leave home in morning, for I know Kadence and Tayah will do a lot of growing up without me there. It's simple, but to have this unadulterated time was priceless! Here are some of our favorite photos from the trip!

The girls loved the rides at the outlet stores...

...and the trolleys!

Following Mary Poppins' advice to feed the birds!
Playing store, pioneer style!
Baby animals
Elizabeth made the girls ride with her on this train...she was very much looking forward to this!
What a good looking family!

It seemed like everytime we went out on a bigger excursion that the rain followed us. Wet, but memorable!

What a wonderful time. Thanks to my three lovely ladies for a trip...I love you so much!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to our sweet, now two year old! We cannot believe how quickly you are growing. Here are some photos that Mommy and Daddy chose for the special day's blog entry. We hope you know how much we love you!

Birthday Bash and Big Balloons

Here are photos from our recent birthday party for our June birthdays, including little Tayah.



She had ample help opening her presents...



I love these two shots of the cousins (minus baby Gavin, who was quite sick this day). What a cute group of kids!



This is our new swing set in the back yard...our girls love it!



Due to the Smith Family Reunion, we did not make much of Springville's Art City Days. Kadence and I, however, were able to go watch the hot air balloons. Unfortunately, the rain clouds kept them from flying up. Kadence still loved seeing and touching them, especially the "giant pig!"

Back from the Dead

To all our adoring fans (and we know you are many!):

We have fallen off the earth and the blogosphere the past few weeks and for that we apologize. Actually, we don't apologize...we've been on vacation! We are woefully falling behind on all that's happened: Park City trip, one of Tayah's birthday parties, Smith Family Reunion, Art City Days, Orem Summerfest, and Lagoon. Rather than draw out one long epistle of an entry, we'll do it piece by piece starting with the most recent events. Sound good? Not that you really have a say in this...

The past week has been the Smith Family Reunion (my father's parents). What a fun four days! It is always so good to see family and I firmly believe we've been blessed with the best in the world. Here's a run-down of all the fun (most of which we participated in): Hawaiian luau, Oquirrh Mountain temple open house, Temple Square, Joseph Smith movie, talent show/joke contest, games, music, activities, dancing, Family History activity (Elizabeth and I became official Indexers), Museum of Art, first-ever trip to Five Guys Burgers, Golden Corral breakfast Saturday, and...



Lagoon! We braved the uncertain weather and were not disappointed with the day. We took advantage of many rides, including a few where Kadence surprised us with her bravery! The loved riding the boats, cars, train, sky tram, spinners, helicopters, roller coasters, airplanes, carousel rides, a Broadway musical show, Dumbo and a lot of rain. The highlight was the wet log ride, ending with Kadence shouting "again!" and Tayah screaming uncontrollably due to fear (it's usually the other way around)! Here's some proof of the fun we had:




One of my favorite parts: as soon as we got off the log ride already wet, it started pouring. We had to duck under cover for a while, but little Tayah was cold and shivering. She and I decided to share my jacket...


What a fantastic day! It's been ages since either Elizabeth or I had been to Lagoon. I had forgotten how very fun it is, but even more so through the eyes of our little girls. The rain just made it more memorable!