Trippin!!!!

Yep! I know don't fall over! It is true you are seeing 2 in a row! I figure while I am at it why not throw in a double feature! We just got back from a really great trip to San Diego. There was PLENTAY! of fun all around! Some of the highlights were,we got to stay with Derek (Darins brother) Taryn his wife and their cute family. They are amazing hosts, I felt like I was at a 5star resort!!! ;) Ok on to more highlights... There was the beach, where we ate lunch, rented beach cruisers and ever so carefully tried not to run over or fall over on the amazingly wild and large memorial day crowds! We saw dolphins swimming, Julia got to wear a snake, lots of sand, and did I mention the crowds! Me, Taryn and the girls got to take a trip into LA where we visited the American Girl store and of course had tea and lunch with the dolls. Disneyland was the final adventure, eating at the Blue Bayouand riding pirates was my highlight, ( I just want to reach out and grab that Capt. Jack!!!) Hayden rode on Splash Mountain by his very own self! It scared the daylights out of me! but he held on tight knuckles white and thought it was AWESOME!!! Our favorite had to be the new Toy Story ride in California Adventure, it was a day of magic fer sure! :) Darin enjoyed his jaunts with Derek to the ocean to go kayaking and fishing, he even caught a thresher shark on one of his first casts! (That did not sound like fun to me.) On our last day in San Diego with the creativity of Aunt Taryn we took the girls in these fun skirts to the beach and snapped away! They thought it was great, the onlookers thought it was a photo shoot!

I think they turned out pretty dang cute, and my camera sucks! Enjoy!

Horray for Art!

Soooo.... I forgot how to blog, it has been a while. Thought it would be fun to display some of my ever so very large project that kinda took over my life this school year. At Julia and Vivs school there is a PTA/grant funded program that is called Focus on Art, or FOA. During the school year I present to each class a particular featured artist and then a parent volunteer follows up with an art project that highlights that artists style, technique or medium. I also, put up a bulletin board that changed every month highlighting an artist that we had learned about. If the students could remember the artists name and three facts about them, they earned a prize! Oh! I am good! :) And finally, I got this crazy idea that for our final project we needed to have an art auction! it wasn't easy and it was certainly time consuming. However, it all came together in the end. We had a real true live auctioneer, auctioneer paddles included! And of course, some really great student art! the students had fun and so did the Teachers. All and all, we learned a lot and had fun doing it. Thank Heavens for Art! and THANK HEAVENS its summer!

Easter Festivities!

Well.... Happy Easter everyone!!! I thought it was time to put in my yearly blog! :) Our Holiday festivities began at our Grandma and Grandpa Smiths, where we had a lovely dinner of delicious foods and Easter treats! Grandma Smith always has the best Easter treasure hunts! Afterwards the spirit was strong as Legrande (Darins dad) related the story of Christs Crucifixion and Resurrection, Marcia (Darins mom) then bore her testimony of her belief in Christ and his influence in her life. In conclusion each of the grand kids received a little framed picture of Christ. These festivities couldn't have been more perfect. The night before Easter the kids had a great time experimenting with their creative side while decorating eggs, they also decided it would be a good idea to write the Easter Bunny a little note which was then stuck in the door, awaiting his arrival. It is a good thing the Easter bunny came... leaving each one of the kids their own little baby duck! Luckily, they have provided hours of entertainment. Hayden decided to name his "Target" interesting choice...:) Vivians is "Daisy" and Julias chose the ever so unique "Cheeper".Fun Times... Our Easter came to a close as the kids enjoyed their annual "Snow" Easter egg hunt ( my grandparents) . We thought it was interesting that Hayden preferred the eggs full of coins rather than the eggs full of chocolate. :) We hope you all had a lovely Easter full of family, Hope, baby animals, and delicious Easter candy!

Feelin the LOVE!

This ones for you Nancy....Drew. :) February was YES! full of snow, crafting, candy, doves, Valentines, cupids and well...Lots and lots of LOVE. (O.k. there really weren't any doves or cupids.)

First on our list of February projects, the girls were assigned to bring a Valentines box to school. Dad helped them with the first part of the box by wrapping and cutting out the mail slot, then of course being the o.c.d. person that I am, that just wasn't enough so we added the last little bit as an after thought. (o.k. o.k. so that part wasn't so little.) But the girls were quite pleased with the result so it made for a pleasant "joint" project. It seemed like we were working on Valentines the whole month of Feb. Hayden carried his Transformer valentines around everyday till they were lost and scattered through out the house. On Valentines day we had a busy, busy day of passing out Valentines to neighbors, friends and lovers. (umm..o.k. no lovers) But it felt like all of Tooele.

The day went fairly smoothly considering the busy activity of the holiday, until my kids started arguing about cleaning up their many toys, clothes, cd's etc. Suddenly our "LOve" came to a screeching ha ult and the meanest mom in the world "me" decided all toys were going to be thrown away in garbage bags. Pretty much that was the biggest display of drama ever to be performed by the Smith girls. About 30 minutes later all was good, and weary bouts of "I love you mom" rang in my ears once again.

I have to say our most treasured moments of the day was the excitement of the door bell ringing and finding fun Valentines on our front porch from our Awesome friends. We were totally spoiled by the Wilson family, it was almost like a little bag of Christmas. (But...u-no it was Valentines.) Thank you Wilsons! We have such thoughtful and creative friends! Thank you everyone! We hope you all had a really memorable Valentines as well! P.S. They still haven't asked for the 4 bags of toys back. HUH?... P.P.S. I had to throw in this amazing pic of a scene out my window this Feb. ENJOY!

Haydens "B"day!

Just wanted to make note that even though our Decembers are always crazy! Hayden did officially turn 3 years old on December 2. To celebrate we invite a few of his closest friends, cause every three year old has them. And we partied with a transformer theme. (Haydens choice of course) We colored Bumblebee, Optimus Prime and Disepticon, we played some rambunctious boy games, with alot of running and popping of balloons. We then decorated bright red and blue cupcakes and they filled their bellys with all the nutrition of ice cream, candy and icing. Hayden then opened his presents and enjoyed every single one of them, becuase your closest friend should know exactly what you would want!!!. Thank you to all the moms who always help me, by humoring all my party planning!

Giving Thanks!

Lots to give thanks for such as... an amazing thanksgiving dessert table! Kudos Pulleys!









Our really cool Dad. Love U Darin.




Perfect little gifts that remind me of increadible people in my life. Thanks again Sara.!

Really super little boys who love transformers, spiderman, the Hulk, who has "one really big arm muscle" eats cottage cheese, apple juice, ranch dressing and beef jerky. A little boy who can amazingly do the splits just like his sister, say a better prayer than his sisters, and is now getting braver to be in nursery himself. One little boy that hangs with his mom all day, makes her laugh , sword fights, and boxes with her and gives her the best kisses and hugs a guy has ever given her. Happy 3rd Birthday!!! Hayden LeGrande Smith!!!

Last The Best of All The Game!

Our last Halloween party of the season was with the Awesome Smith family. We always have a really great time with Grandma and Grandpa Smith and cousins. Grandma Smith is quite the party planner. She is amazing at her role as Grandma always finding equal amounts of time to share with each grandchild. We all think she is pretty special. This year she organized snacks at aunt Debbie's new house and then on to trick or treating around their neighborhood. We worked really hard for each piece of candy we got, there were lots of hills, long driveways and big yards for little legs to walk, run and cross. Vivian felt a little jipped, when we decided to give up. Her exact words were "Well this trick or treating really stinks!" However, we were saved when her super cool older cousin Jake was thoughtful enough to empty all of his candy into Vivs. She was smiling ear to ear. It really was one of the nicest things I ever saw a young boy his age do. Thanks Jake, I will always remind her of your kind deed. As the evening wore on we ventured up the neighborhood over to aunt Deanna's new home. Here the homes were a little closer and the kids got their second wind, so out the door they went again trick or treating with their beautiful older cousin, Danielle. Afterwards we ate delicious potato soup, bread sticks and sipped roach infested cider. However folks, the party didn't end there. The next day it was on to the SMITH FAMILY FARM. It just wouldn't be Fall if we didn't get over to the farm. The farm is a true family treasure, and for the last few years Darins cousin has turned it into a place of pure fun. We love to run through the corn mazes bask in the box of corn kernals, pick pumpkins, huge sunflowers and be grossly amazed by Leroy the 1200 pound pig. Thank you Smith family! We love you!

Graveyard Smash!

During this busy Halloween month we were able to squeeze in a really fun friend party for the girls. The guest list included some cleverly cute characters such as the "Candy Corn Queen", an Oompa Loompa, A vampiress, Wendy the witch none other than thee Nancy Drew and some other wicked cool costumed little ladies . Thanks Moms. We had a wild and crazy time to say the least! The activity list was filled with games such as making witches brew, trick or treating and examining zombie eyes and skeleton teeth. Totally creepy and fun!