August Nuts and Bolts

08.01-08.02: What a fun, enjoyable family reunion we had on the Torgesen side. While it got cut down from our original plans, we still managed to cram in great activities, food, games, and, most importantly, family time. Every member of the family was there for at least part of the week and the girls loved their time with their cousins. Elizabeth did a lot of the planning and was pleased with the end result. We love family time! I headed back the night of 08.02, while Elizabeth and the girls headed down to…
08.03-08.06:…Lake Powell! They had even more fun being with family down where it’s hot and wet. My three girls relaxed and played in the sun. While they were gone, I caught up at work and spent some time in SLC with Sarah. We went to a few movies, went shopping, and had a great time together.
08.06-08.07: Unfortunately, my conference at Utah State just missed seeing my ladies return home. I had a very enjoyable, productive time with other Annual Giving officers from schools in UT and ID. Managed to have some Aggie ice cream…pretty good stuff! It was really good to be reunited with Elizabeth and my princesses that night. It took Kadence and Tayah quite some time to get used to being back at home, resulting in some sporadic sleeping nights and fun behavior during the day. All worth it though!
08.09: Participated in the Aspen Grove Beckham Lodge dedication, with Elder Holland speaking and presiding. What a beautiful environment for a spiritual meeting.
08.11: We really tried to pack in a lot of fun activities this month. Each Tuesday, we made it to Thanksgiving Point for fun activities. Today was the Farm Country with farm animals, wagon rides, and a chance for the girls to take a spin on some ponies.
08.12: We all enjoyed the Smith FHE at LaRae’s new house. We were thrilled to learn of Lora and John’s big news two days later. Not as thrilled to hear of LaRae’s illness, but glad she’s doing better.
08.13: We hit the Utah County fair in Spanish Fork and the girls loved riding the ridiculously expensive rides. So fun, though, to watch their reactions to each ride!
08.14-08.21: Enjoyed having our sister-in-law Ayrin and her seven kids stay with us for a week. The girls had fun playing with their Baltimore cousins and again took some time readapting to being back to status quo after they departed.
08.15: Spent a nice, quiet afternoon taking in SLC taking in the Church History Museum, Temple Square, and the Conference Center. It’s so close and there’s so much to see. We had dinner as a family at Danny and Mary Sue’s to celebrate August birthdays.
08.16: Elizabeth and I attended a wonderful Stake Standards Night with Elder Hammond, formerly of the Seventy, speaking to the youth with his wife.
08.17: Finally (six months after we ordered ours online) had our free KFC dinner courtesy of Oprah. Education Week begins (I call it the Mormon’s Mecca as thousands of people make the pilgrimage to campus).
08.18: We could not believe how beautiful the Thanksgiving Point gardens were (or how expansive…didn’t allot enough time to see it all). The girls loved meeting the BYU cheerleaders and Cosmo at the annual Cougar Kickoff.
08.21: I attended an all-day meeting at the Church Office Building for LDS Business College, followed by an interview at Energy Solutions Arena with the Utah Jazz. A few days later, I was offered a writing position for the utahjazz.com blog. It’s a side opportunity, one that I am very excited for. Go Jazz! Later that night, we went to a very entertaining dinner theater at the new Covey Center in Provo. After a nice dinner, we were treated to a improvised western play. Quite a hoot!
08.22: Hit one location after another in an errand-filled Saturday. Went out to dinner and then to visit Jordan and family at Sheldon and Sarah’s. It was great to see him!
08.23: Loved participating in the Oquirrh Mountain Temple dedication. It was indeed odd to not have any other meetings, but we had a great day together. I checked tickets for the stake and met Elizabeth inside while Dad and Donna watched the girls and stayed for Sunday dinner afterward.
08.24-08.26: As part of BYU’s University Council, I attended numerous meetings and retreats. Elizabeth and the girls came to the University Breakfast and I sang in a quartet for our BYU Advancement meeting.
08.25: The Dinosaur Museum at Thanksgiving Point left a lot to be desired of, but we can now say we took Kadence and Tayah there.
08.26: Elizabeth and I attended a ward lecture on food storage.
08.27: The whole family had a fabulous time at the bishopric BBQ. There was amazing food and plenty of water games for the kids. What a choice group of people to serve with.
08.29: Elizabeth went to Lora’s baby shower while I went to a work lunch.
Other than that, we continue to get more and more excited for our baby boy. Kadence has a good grasp on what’s about to happen, and while she talks about him all the time, Tayah is probably going to have a little shock to her world as she knows it. Elizabeth is doing remarkably well and just gets tired in the evenings. She hasn’t let up one bit with her activities, projects, and being the best mother in the world for our girls.
Kadence is a sweet little three-year old and loves playing with Tayah. She is always singing, dancing, twirling, and loves anything remotely related to princesses. She has been very up and down with her sleeping and unfortunately had a week where she was in our bed a lot. Not fun. She’s also had her many moments where she helps her parents’ hair get prematurely grey. We sure love her though!
Tayah is constantly expanding her vocabulary and it’s hard to guess that she’s just two. She plays almost better with older kids. Ever since Lake Powell, she has been Daddy’s girl and wants to follow me everywhere and to be held. Love it (for the most part)! Her red-headed disposition is impossible to ignore!
I manage to stay busy with church and work. We are loving life and look forward to autumn!

Jon Schmidt and the BYU COUGARS!

Like most of you, we were thrilled at the miraculous, underdog, unexpected, faith-promoting shocker/upset of a victory Saturday night by our mighty, mighty Cougars. What an amazing win that hopefully is the precursor of the season ahead...let's make it a special one. I'm always proud to be a BYU Cougar, but even more so today and this week!

Elizabeth and I went to the Jon Schmidt concert at Thanksgiving Point Saturday night (yes, during the game). What an amazing pianist and entertainer. It is always incredible to watch or listen to something so truly great. I admire those who make their talents into works of art and do it so well. We've been to many of his concerts and this was really one of the best...and not just his concerts, but all concerts I've ever been to. It was that good! Hopefully the link works, but our personal favorite song right now is his Love Story Meets Love Story (it does! Just click on this entry's title and it'll take you to a You Tube video). When he premiered it Saturday, the crowd went crazy. Standing-O for four or five minutes. Really electric.

We have had a great weekend and look forward to being together today. I love my family!

Babies and Swiss Fun!

Yesterday was a wonderful day on many fronts. First, I had most of the day off (worked last Saturday), so we embarked on a four-day weekend! Our great friends, Kevin and Kristi, were being induced. So Kadence and Tayah's best friends, Maeli and Haeli, came over to be with us in the morning.



Here they are in their element!



Afterward, we headed up to Swiss Days in Midway. It's been an annual tradition, but this year, we're missing Ryan and Amanda. It was still a lot of fun, but we missed you guys! We thought going in the morning would be good, but were we ever wrong. CROWDED. I was a blip of testosterone in a sea of estrogen. Good food, music, and booths. Not the greatest photo, but we had a fun time there!

And the Fun Continues!

Will the adventures ever end? Let's hope not! It's been yet another fun week. First, we took in the Dinosaur Museum at Thanksgiving Point Tuesday. It was crowded and wasn't what we expected, but the girls enjoyed themselves.



Here's Elizabeth sharing her deep knowledge about dinosaurs with the girls.



Hopping on board for a ride...



Nothing like some sisterly love in front of a blood-thirsty shark!




Thursday, we had another wonderful bishopric BBQ courtesy of the Christensens. Amazing food, lots of water and fun for the kids, and some great conversation for the adults. Thanks Kevin and Janelle!



Look at all these cute kids!



Having a good time in the fun house!




We also went out to breakfast Thursday at Magleby's (after "Baby Bruder's" doctor appointment; yes, that's his name for now. We are accepting name suggestions!), went to play group, the library, and some other things that I can't recall right now. Life sure is fun!

Non-Stop Fun!

We're always trying to find new (and old), fun, different, and exciting things to do. To fill you in on our comings and goings for the past few weeks, here's a sampling of what is keeping the Smiths busy and happy these days!

We've loved Thanksgiving Point's $2 Tuesdays this month. Here are some photos of us at the Farm Country. Kadence loved riding the pony, whom she lovingly dubbed Flora.

Tayah called hers Jo-Jo (the name of our neighbors' horse the girls enjoy visiting on walks with Elizabeth).

Feeding the ducks. Although you cannot see the birds themselves, I thought this was a cute shot of our adorable girls!

Up close and personal with a bovine.

Our next excursion was the Thanksgiving Point gardens. I had no clue it was so huge! There is so much to see them: koi pond (girls' favorite, but alas, no photos), waterfall (largest manmade in US), kids area with caves and Noah's Ark, and so on. Here's E, K and T.

The gardens were amazing, immaculate and beautiful, but not nearly as beautiful as our little red-head!

We just bought this carrier, mostly for Tayah and the baby to come...of course, Kadence wanted to be the first to ride it!

Last, but no least (for the photos that is), the annual Cougar Kickoff. We saw huge football players, got free food and drinks, heard some music, and above all, met Cosmo and the cheerleaders. There girls are mesmerized by them!

Other than that, we've also visited the BYU Museum of Art, went to the Utah County Fair in Spanish Fork (rides, exhibits, and the normal fair fare), extended Smith FHE, and this weekend, a fun dinner show with the Wilkins--a improvised Western musical. We sure have fun with life and life, I believe, has fun with us!

July Nuts and Bolts

07.02: Tayah has her two-year check-up and is fit as a fiddle. In fact, she’s now up to the 29% percentile on weight…a high for either daughter. They must be Smiths!
07.03-07.04: We had a fantastic 4th of July weekend. With Friday off, we used it to its fullest with some shopping, dinner out, and playing together. The actual 4th saw us hitting the Provo Parade, something the girls were enraptured with. They especially liked the marching bands (including Aunt Carissa), horses, the bag pipes, and all the “princesses,” otherwise known at beauty queens! We had a quiet evening with a BBQ and some snappers. No, we did not go to the Stadium of Fire, although the Jonas Brothers almost has us there (denote sarcasm here). We’re extremely grateful to live in the US of A!
07.06: Our Family Home Evenings are becoming more interactive…Kadence being more attentive, Tayah being more interactive doing other things!
07.07: We switched over to Comcast (as you can see, July was quite exciting for us). Now we can watch the BYU Football games this season.
07.08: I took pizza over to the Telefund. Boy, I miss see them every day! The new job is going well. There are new and exciting things associated with it, and also the fair share of challenges. Sounds like most jobs!
07.14: We went up as a Bishopric to spend a night with our Young Men at scout camp. We don’t have many boys, but they sure are great. We had a fun time being with them, including the steaks they grilled for us.
07.15: Elizabeth helped team-teach a ward finance lecture about couponing and general shopping saving tips. There were many people there who were thrilled to learn some of these things. Elizabeth probably saves us at least $100 monthly by doing the legwork to find all the great deals. Yep, that’s my wife!
07.16: Our baby boy is also healthy. Two more months and he’ll be here! The girls are ecstatic. Mom and Dad need to crack down and start looking at names…Stockton is on the list!
07.17: Can’t believe it’s been five amazing years! Elizabeth and I celebrated our fifth anniversary with me surprising her and the girls by taking the day off. While the girls stayed with a sitter, we went to dinner, shopping, and to a movie. I am very thankful for Elizabeth and all she means to me!
07.21: We got news that Elizabeth’s Grandma Torgesen suffered a stroke, and two days later, passed away. What a remarkable example of love and Christ-like attributes. We will miss her, but are glad she’s with loved ones.
07.22: Had a fantastic picnic lunch with some dear high school friends. What a great group of people I was blessed with. We’re glad we are able to stay in touch over these many years.
07.24: We took in the Pioneer Day Parade on television, ran some errands, and went to our annual ward party. We had a Dutch Oven cook-off, along with games and activities for the kids. We love our ward.
07.25: After many discussions, Elizabeth decided to go up to Old Town, ID for her grandmother’s funeral service. She left Sunday morning, driving all night with three siblings. The service was beautiful and Spirit-filled, from what I hear. All ten children were there. She then headed back down, arriving Tuesday afternoon. I was able to be with the girls for two+ days. We had a great time together,
especially with Sarah coming down to spend a day. We went to the MOA and to the Creamery.
07.29: We left early morning for Soda Springs, ID for the graveside service. Tayah, of course, decided to throw a huge fit right during the service and prayer. We still love her! We then attended the Oquirh Mountain Temple open house on the way back and had a picnic with the entire Torgesen Family to start our reunion. We had originally planned for it to start on Monday, but had to shift plans. Seeing as it drifted into August, we’ll save the rest for next month’s N & B.
Other than that, the girls continue to grow and learn amazing amounts each day. They both have their moments when their parents’ patience is tried, but they are our angels. Elizabeth is feeling good and continues to have very smooth pregnancies. All’s well for us!

Movie Reviews

We had a wonderful time at the Torgesen Family Reunion and Elizabeth and the girls are enjoying the Lake Powell week. I'll let my much better half recap the festivities of the past week, as well as Grandma Torgesen's funeral services.

In the meantime, let's review some of the recent movies we've seen. It's been a while (four months or so) and you know you can trust us with these reviews...

(500) Days of Summer

I hadn't heard too much about this movie, but was thoroughly impressed. It is a story about love and how it affects us in many ways. This was a comedic, touching, realistic depiction of things. Clearly one of the best movies I've seen in a long time! It took me back to experienced I had (only in a Mormon way!). The two lead characters were outstandingly believeable and the director used some creative ways to tell the story. Definitely worth seeing and thanks Moms for taking me to see this!

Night at the Museum 2: too long, too fluffy, and too many characters. Not my favorite. Started out good, but got worse as the film progressed. A few funny scenes, but Ben Stiller is losing it (not that he ever had "it").

Confessions of a Shopaholic: Pretty much what I expected...formulaic movie that reminded me how much I hate fake people and helped me appreciate even more how grateful I am that Elizabeth is not like the girls that used to (and still) drive me nuts with their obsession with materialism. I did not care for this.

The Proposal

As Elizabeth mentioned, we saw this on our anniversary and we both enjoyed it. It started out so great and was a typical Sandra Bullock romantic comedy. Unfortunately, there were a few unneeded parts. We've seen a lot of Ryan Reynolds' movies recently and think he quite a good actor. Worth a watch.

Knowing: I shown have "known" that this would be a terrible movie, but when you've got a Red Box code, you take the risk. AWFUL. Nicolas Cage has got to be one of the worst actors around. Can't stand any of his movies.

Taking Chance: a short HBO film about an officer who accompanies a soldier's body to his hometown. Extremely touching and patriotic. You can get it at Red Box.

Angels and Demons: We really enjoyed this one...much more that the first film (and that was fairly good too). Exciting, action-packed movie. Best part: Tom Hanks' mullet was no where to be found!

Paul Blart: Kadence could've predicted how this would play out, but it was funny and enjoyable. \

Marley and Me

One of our favorites of the year. Not anything like we expected. It was very touching as it showed the life of a family, using a dog's perspective to help tell the story. Not a dog fan, but a fan of this movie.

Passengers: Not that great. Anne Hathaway has come a long way since the Princess Diaries.

Taken: Pretty exciting, but yet another movie that started out on fire and then just became too much. Extremely violent!

Bride Wars: We really enjoyed this one! Both Hathaway and Kate Hudson do a good job.

Seven Pounds: Interesting plot line, but difficult to watch.

Quantum of Solace: Fairly good. It is, after all, a James Bond movie (I do my best not to hide my feelings here!).

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button: I kind of fell asleep, so need to give it another go. It was so extremely slow. Elizabeth thought it was mediocre.

Yes Man: Blah

Bedtime Stories: definitely more for the younger audience, but decent.

Up
Last, but certainly not least, Up was a big family favorite. We took the girls to the theater to see this and although Tayah decided to get some exercise the second half of the movies (laps up and down the aisles), it was yet another great film for Disney!

And there you have it...much too long of an entry, but what can you do?!