Praise to the Man Mormon Tabernacle Choir

The Smith Family Agrees, "This is the Place!"

 Yesterday was our annual trip to the This is the Place State Park, something we always look forward to.  Unfortunately, we chose one of the hotter days of the years.  We had a great time!

Here are the kids playing some pioneer games and checking out the farm animals.

 The little movie star girls decided that donning their sunglasses the whole day was the cool thing to do.  Stockton decided that donning his "cheesy smile" in our photos was the cool thing to do.  His parents agreed!

Elizabeth doing some woodwork in the carpentry shop. 

Kadence also got in on the action, as did...

...our little man!

Taking a quick break for a train ride.

 Kadence riding the pony.  We remember fondly (or not fondly) a few years ago when she was so frightened to get on and cried and cried until we took her off.  This is much better!

Tayah was a wonderful big sister to let her baby brother ride with her.  She held on to him the whole time, making sure he was okay.  Afterwards, she asked "Daddy, did I do a good job?"  That has been her catch phrase lately!

We did a lot of other things that we inexplicably didn't photograph: rode the mini train, panned for gold, had the town charlatan Dr. Quackenbush try to sell us some magical elixirs, attended class in the one-room school house, had a picnic, listened to some fiddling music, and had shaved ice.  We paid the consequences later when it was time for three cranky kids to go to bed, but it was worth it.  Things have been so busy and hectic lately (as usual) that to have this family day together was a true blessing. 

Art City Days 2011

As usual, we enjoyed the sights and sounds of Art City Days.  First, the three kids enjoyed being in the kids parade and the art activity at the Museum afterwards. 


Saturday, we took in the fireman's breakfast, where the kids were able to sit in an old time fire truck.  We also saw the hot air balloons. 

Kadence and Tayah were also able to ride in the parade with the other cheerleaders. 

People can say what they want, but there's just something fun about these festivals and parade--lots of people having a wonderful time, bands, dancers, music, food...so enjoyable!

Moments That Matter Most

Let's Go Devils, Let's Go!

Tayah and Kadence were able to attend a two-week cheerleading camp here in Springville, and they loved it!  We have several of our YW on the HS cheer squads which was fun too.  Here are some photos from their showcase where each of the girls (Tayah in the 2-4 and Kadence in the 5-6 age brackets) were able to perform a cute number. 

Here's Stockton joining his sisters for some fun.  He adores them and they adore him!

Waiting in the wings! 

Our beautiful red-head!

Life is busy...and wonderful!

Life can be busy, but it's certainly different when a lot of it is "fun busy!"  We were able to do a lot of wonderful things the last week.  Saturday, we went to the Utah Festival of Books at BYU.  There were so many activities, prizes, authors signing things, etc.  Here are the girls with Princess Buttercup and Wesley, from...Princess Bride, of course!

Here they are going down the slides...

And who could pass on getting their faces painted? Honestly...

Sunday we were able to participate is our sweet little niece's blessing.  We are so grateful for Sierra's addition to our family!  She is so petite and adorable.  We had a fantastic Sunday with family.

Here's Stockton with his "Cheese!" face...you can't tell as well from this photo, but he's got a huge smile painted on that cute face of his.  That's our little man; couldn't ask for a sweeter baby!

 Here are the kids with their hippo hats they made at the library.  And as you know...

...it's impossible for little ones to keep posing for long.  This is literally 10 seconds after this other photo!

There's more that we've done, so stay tuned. We plan on keeping our blog more up to date...we'll see how that goes!

May Nuts and Bolts

It's been a while...time to do some catching up!  Here is a recap of our month of May, courtesy of our family newsletter, the Nuts and Bolts:

Here are our happenings for May:


• We enjoyed all the rain…and snow the month brought. I think Utah will again just skip spring and move from winter to summer. Our neighborhood is right next to Hobble Creek, so there were a few days where we worried. So far, so good.

• Kadence graduated from preschool and had her kindergarten check-up (much to her chagrin…shots are not her favorite). Her teacher gave us a great progress report and told us she was a joy. Kadence already misses it!

• Tayah also finished up her preschool and looks forward to her class next year. She done better with her fits, but when she has them…wow!

• The girls and I enjoyed an outing to see Suessical the Musical at BYU. Two songs in, Tayah asked, “Is it done yet?!”

• We enjoyed Elayna and Aubrey’s ballet recital. Two numbers in, Tayah asked, “Is it done yet?!” Gotta love it.

• Elizabeth’s finger is doing well, so no more PT appointments.

• Elizabeth and I enjoyed attending BYU’s President’s Dinner where two Apostles Elder Nelson and Elder Ballard. It was wonderful seeing Grandpa and Grandma Smith there.

• Stockton is adding “words” to his vocabulary: baby, bird, dog, cookie, dip (he loves dipping his food in most anything). Such a great baby. He still naps really well and goes down like a charm every night.

• We also enjoyed doing sealings as a ward assignment, followed by dinner out. We look forward to our dates sans the little ones!

• Church activities: seminary graduation, a Young Men’s leaders’ dinner, ward baptisms, a fireside and fifth Sunday about “the Basics” (a theme we’re focusing on as a ward), basketball each week with the ward, starting a Book of Mormon challenge with our youth (to read it by the end of the summer), flag fundraising for our scouts,

• Elizabeth had a good Mother’s Day (hopefully) with some nice gifts and a family dinner out.

• The Jazz moved up to #3 and #12 in the Draft and who knows, next month’s entry may be talking about the newest Jazzman…Jimmer Fredette!

• The brothers took Sarah out for dinner and to a Utah Symphony concert for a delayed Mother’s Day gift.

• We had a wonderful Memorial Day weekend. We took the kids (Sarah came with too) to the Gateway Discover museum, to the cemetery to visit my grandparents, IKEA, and dinner out.