Where did the year go?

Here are just a few pictures that my friend Erika did for us. Tenlee and Baylee didn't cooperate very well so most of the pictures one or both are either not looking at the camera, making a face at the camera, crying, fighting, pushing...the list goes one. But we did get a few good ones. Thanks Erika!

We also took family pictures with Josh's whole family over Thanksgiving weekend, but they are on my other computer, so I will post those later.

Life has been crazy at the Smart house. I've spent the last few weeks writing a HUGE grant for work. But it's done and has been approved by everybody and their dog before we send it off to CDC. I'm so glad that is done! Tenlee and I have both been sick. Josh was gone for a week in Seattle for work, but I was able to join him for one night to go to his work Christmas party. It was great to finally meet the people Josh works with. I wish I could have stayed a little longer in Seattle, but unfortunately I had to get back to work to write that stupid grant! Oh well, maybe next year. Thanks Sierra and Dave for letting us crash at your house! And for leave a car for me at the airport! Love you guys!

One other bit of news that I received is that Tenlee will have to have a minor surgery at the end of the month. Most of you know that she has a clogged tear duct that has caused some problems since birth. 5% of kids are born with this. 90% of the time the tear duct will open on its own before the baby turns 1. Tenlee is part of the lucky 10% that will have to have surgery to open it. The procedure itself will only take minutes, but they have to put her under general anesthesia with terrifies me! They will insert a plastic stint in the tear duct to open it. It will have to stay in her eye for 3 months! In the end, I just hope it works and we won't have to deal with goopy eyes anymore.

We are almost ready for Christmas and can't wait to see all of our family and friends. And I'm really looking forward to a little snow around here that has been promised this weekend, but I have yet to see it.

Thankful on Thanksgiving

Wow, what a week! This has been such a rough and stressful week, but I have to say that it was so worth it! Every single member of my family was together for Thanksgiving at my house this year. And can't even begin to tell you how grateful I am for that. How grateful I am to Josh for making it happen. I am married to the most wonderful and thoughtful man. I'm so thankful to have him in my life.

We really did have a good day. I think that everybody had a good day. It was like it was years ago when we all had fun and laughed. I hope this is just the beginning of more good memories. I love my family (and Josh's family) so much and I'm grateful for each and every one of them.

I hope this is just the beginning of a wonderful holiday season!

6 Quirks About Me

Lindsey tagged me to reveal 6 quirks about me. Actually I could have probably copied and pasted what Lindsey put as her quirks! Scary how much alike we are!

1. I eat the chocolate off the outside of Kit Kats and Peanut Butter Cups and then eat the rest.

2. I HATE raspberries and anything raspberry flavored! Except for the Hostess powdered raspberry donuts. (I'm pretty sure Lindsey is with me on this one!)

3. When eating M&M's or Skittles I dump out the whole bag and then separate by color. Pretty normal right? Wait, that's just the beginning! All color groups must have the same number of candies so if they don't I take out how ever many I need to to make each group the same. I eat the leftover candies first. Then I take one from each color group and eat those. I do this until they are gone.

4. Belly buttons disgust me! Don't talk about them, don't touch them in front of me. When Tenlee's belly button didn't heal right, they had to use silver nitrate to seal it up. It literally made me sick to my stomach to watch. The Dr. told me not to worry because it wasn't hurting the baby. I had to explain to him that it had nothing to do with Tenlee!

5. Food on my plate can't touch (except for meat, potatoes and gravy). It looks like I'm eating a ton of food at Thanksgiving every year because I have to do so many separate trips so my salads don't touch anything else! Oh, and I eat all of one thing before I move onto another item.

6. All dirty dishes have to be put in the left side of the sink. It drives me nuts when they are in the right side. And I'm the only person allowed to put dishes in my dishwasher. Nobody else does it right.

I tag Erika, Missy, Sierra and Teresa.

Baylee's Party in Neverland

For Baylee's 5th birthday we decided it was time to let her have a party with all her little friends. Well most of you know that Baylee is a social butterfly so the list of party guests kept getting longer and longer. She's 5, how many really good friends could this girl have right? Way more than you think! The list ended up with 14 of her really good friends. Wow! What's it going to be like when she is in school? Originally I was going to have the party at Pump It Up so that I didn't have to do it at my house, but for some reason the Boise location is "not operational at this time". WHAT?!? Baylee has been talking about having a "bouncy party" for almost a year and now it's not open! I tried to come up with other places, but nothing was working out. So I had to give in and do it at the house.

Since there were just as many boys as girls invited to this party we needed to do something other than a princess theme. So we chose Neverland and had the kids dress up as their favorite character from Peter Pan (or any other character they wanted). The kids played games, decorated treasure chests and just had a great time. It really turned out great and Baylee told me later that she just loved her party. Whew, she is happy! Yea me! I have to thank my wonderful niece Lindsey for helping me out! Thank you, thank you, thank you! It was chaotic, but worth it to see Baylee and all the kids have such a great time.

Happy Birthday Baylee! We love you!

Halloween

I know this is a bit late, but here are a few pictures of the girls in the halloween costumes. Baylee was the Little Mermaid and Tenlee was 50's Barbie. As always they ended up with way too much candy that Josh and I end up eating most of. Ugh, I'm so tired of candy!

What a day!

I seriously had one of those days that I just couldn't wait for it to come to an end. I'm exhausted! It started with Tenlee not feeling very well so she woke up at 4:00am. I got her back to sleep, but she woke up again at 5:30. Josh's turn. Well Baylee decided to get up too. So we turned on cartoons for them and went back to bed for awhile. But it didn't last long as today was Baylee's birthday party. Her first real party with all her friends. Just trying to find a time and place to have the party was exhausting but that's another story all together! So I started getting everything ready for the party at 10:30. Since I was having a hard time finding a place to have the party I decided to suck it up and do it at my house! 10 kids ranging from 2 years to 7 years old! What was I thinking!?! There is a reason that I only have 2 kids and never wanted to teach school and I was reminded of that today! No, it really wasn't that bad. The kids had a great time and I (and my house) did survive. I'll post pictures tomorrow. So after the party we had another party (kind of). We had a few family members over for pizza and to watch the BSU game. Game ends, time to take Baylee to Primary Program practice. Then off to the craft fair with Crystal for a few minutes (really wasn't worth going to). Back to the church to pick up Baylee. Come home and started to clean up after 2 parties, but then decided to go to dinner with Ryan's family and Lindsey's family. Spent an hour in Cabela's with 5 tired kids. Home by 8:00. Kids in bed by 8:30. Whew, I'm tired all over again just writing it all out! Oh did I mention that I'm sick? Yeah, I feel like somebody is stepping on my chest and making sure I don't get any air in my lungs at all! So you would think I would just go to bed after all this right? No here I sit reliving it by writing this blog as I watch Josh sleeping peacefully on the couch. Must have been a rough day for him, poor guy!

It's the Great Pumpkin!

Ok, so they aren't so Great, but the girls liked them and they were pretty much the best we could find! We went to Linder Farms Pumpkin Patch tonight and it was pretty picked over. Not much left. But it was still fun for the girls. Tenlee didn't want to let anybody else carry her pumpkin. We met Crystal, David and the girls and Grammy there so it was a good time. A little chilly, but not terrible. But by the end of the night I was ready to come home to a blanket!

Sleeping Beauty

What could be sweeter than a sleeping child? They always look so peaceful and happy no matter what position that are sleeping in! This is how I found Tenlee after lunch the other day. I thought she was in watching T.V., but she was being awefully quiet. So I went in to check on her and she was zonked out. I'm not sure how kids are able to sleep like this and be able to move

when they wake up!

Once upon a time, 7 years ago...

Today is our 7th wedding anniversary. It is so hard to believe that 7 years have gone by. I still remember the months leading to our wedding day like they were yesterday. Totally cliche I know, but it's true. Those months were some of the hardest, most stressful months of our lives. But in the end, everything worked out how it should have and our wedding day was truly amazing and wonderful. Funny how things just fall into place when you trust in the Lord. As wonderful as that day was, things just get better and better. We have two beautiful girls that are the joys of our lives. I've loved each and every year I've spent with Josh and I can't wait to continue on this journey on earth and then onto forever!

Great Day for the Girls - Hard Day for Mom!

Well, I suppose it had to happen, but this is a day I have fought off for a long time. After almost 5 years of having an "in home daycare" Josh and I made the decision to send the girls to a Daycare Center. This was such a hard thing for me to do. I have loved having the girls in a home with only a few other kids. It has always been such an ideal situation. But this last year has brought about a lot of changes and struggles to find somebody to take the girls full-time. After finding out that my work would not allow me to go part-time, Josh and I were forced to make the decision to send the girls to a center. So sad for me, but I knew it was time. Baylee really needs to be in a structured pre-school program and Tenlee is ready to have some structure as well. After researching the centers close to our house, we decided on one that I believe we are going to be very happy with. Today was the first day of "school" for the girls. I worried all day about how they would adjust to being in a center with so many other children. But apparently my worrying was unnecessary. The girls didn't even look back or cry when Josh and I walked out! When I picked them up tonight, I could barely drag them away! So the first day went well. Their teachers were impressed with how well the girls did on their first day. So I'm feeling a little better about things now. I just hope they continue to like their new school.

Happy Birthday Josh!

His birthday was actually yesterday, I'm a day late (sorry honey!). But I couldn't let this day go by without at least telling him how much I love and appreciate him! He truly is wonderful. He is a great dad and so good to me (amazing that he is able to put up with me sometimes!). As every year on his birthday he is on his annual hunting trip in Mackay. Usually mom is there to make him a birthday cake, but even she ditched him this week :). Sorry honey, you'll have to wait until next year I guess. I hope you had a great trip with the guys. We love you very much and hope you had a great birthday! You truly are the best and I fall more in love with you with every year!

Love ya babe!

Trip to Seattle

Last weekend we traveled to Seattle to spend the weekend with Josh's sister Sierra and her family. It's so nice to have them closer to home! Here are a few pictures from the trip. It was a quick trip and I wish we could have spent a little more time up there, but I'm sure there will be more trips!

Tramoline fun!

Baylee made this (with a little help from Cassi!)

Me and my honey! Doesn't he look so happy!

Take me out to the ballgame

Baylee and Aunt Cassi

The boys

Last Camping Trip of Summer

We made one last trip to Redfish Lake last weekend. Yes, it was a little colder than I would like, but still a lot of fun. Me, Josh and the girls, along with Ryan, Kinzie and Kambree headed up there Friday night. We were a little late to get a camp site on the lake so we camped by the river. The next morning we got up early and found a couple of sites on the lake. My sister and her family came that morning. As always we had a lot of fun and Baylee and Jaten were inseparable the whole weekend. They truly are "best friends".

Even with dirty faces, they don't get much cuter than these 3 kids!

Except for Kambree!

And Braxten!We left Sunday night because 1. I just wanted to be home for a day to get caught up, and 2. we heard it was supposed to rain Sunday night (which it did and it even snowed! Glad we came home!). It's always sad to leave the most beautiful place on earth, but I think I'm ready for summer to be over. Bring on fall!

Memory Game

Here is what you do:

1. Add a comment to this post on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn’t matter if you knew me a little or a lot…anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It’s actually pretty cool (and funny) to see the responses.

If you leave a memory about me, I’ll assume you’re playing the game and I’ll come to your blog and leave one about you.

There's no place like Redfish!

I have been going to Redfish Lake at least once per year since I was a baby. It was the only vacation we ever took. Growing up on a farm, time off doesn't come around very often, but my parents always found time to take us camping at Redfish. This is still my favorite place on earth! We spent the weekend with my sisters family camping, skiing, eating and just having fun. We took 2 of Sierra's boys with us. The kids just had so much fun. They all were so exhausted by the end of each day.

Tenlee is my little beach babe. How cute is she in her little swimsuit! Baylee loves the boat! She spent most of Saturday morning being the "flag girl" for skiers. The boys loved the tube and went for quite a ride behind the boat. My sister was driving and she didn't hold back! The boys went flying in all directions, but they loved every minute of it!

Baylee, Brecking, Tenlee, Caleb, and Jaten

My hottie husband!

We love the water!It was a great weekend, but I sure was happy to get home to take a much needed shower and clean up my very dirty girls.

While the Boys are Away...

While the boys were out riding through the hills, the girls and I stayed at my parents house and just hung out with my mom, my sister, my sister-in-law (and kids) and my niece (and kids). As mentioned in earlier blogs Baylee and Jaten are the best of friends. I have seriously never seen two kids get along better than these two. They play, and play hard and never get tired of each other. Never is a harsh work spoken. Pretty dang good for a 3 year old and a 4 year old! The kids had a great time playing in my mom's new back yard! There is still work to do on it, but it is already so beautiful! They work so hard on it. It was a great day all around. Thanks mom and dad! You're the greatest!

Mom and Dad's back yard

Playing in the creek that goes from the pond to the canal (Baylee is in dress up of course!)

A Day With The Boys

Last weekend we packed up the girls and went to my parents house in Mackay. Josh and my dad had been talking about taking their 4-wheelers out for a ride in the hills. One by one, more people were added to the group. By Saturday at 11:00am 6 4-wheelers and 1 motorcycle were being packed and ready for what would turn out to be a 10 hour trip! The group include Josh, my dad, my brother Brad, my brother-in-law Doug, nephew Dallin, nephew-in-law Dustin, and the neighbor Cameron. It was quite the site to see them drive down the road with my dad leading the way! They rode up to one of the high mountain lakes and fished and just had a great time. I'm so glad they were all able to have a guys day out!

Josh getting ready for the 97 mile ride

Doug, Brad, Dad, Josh, Dallin, Dustin, Cameron

Pump it Up!

Today was the day the Baylee has been waiting for all month. Kayleigh's birthday party at Pump it Up. Kayleigh is her friend from daycare and she invited both girls to her party. They were so excited. I took some time off work this morning so I could go with them. Tenlee is still a little young for most of the bounce houses, but she still had a good time. They both had so much fun with all the kids so it was a good day in their little lives. I'm sure Baylee will be talking about this for awhile. She talked about the last "bouncy party" she went to for months! I'm never going to hear the end of this one! But I love it when she gets so excited about things like this. Oh to be young again!

Baylee and Kayleigh