Go UTES!

Finally, we get to see the Utes! Smith was stoked, mostly to see Swoop, and Lainey literally screamed "Go Utes!" and danced all night long.

Halloween 08

"Mom....how come the pumpkin patch is in a parking lot?"
The Pasadena pumpkin patch was not really what we'd envisioned.

Smith had this costume idea in his head for a long time. I of course, did not get it 'right', but he managed to put it on eventually. He had wanted to grow his hair out so that he had a tail like Anakin and then dye his hair. What the? He also had the wrong color of light saber. He is still not over that one.

New buddies....who luckily like Indiana Jones.

Fall in California

Seal Beach

Who knew we'd have to rake leaves in California?
We just do it in shorts and 90 degree weather.

I wanna be, I wanna be like....

Seriously, I think all of Smith's dreams have really come true.

California or Bust

After a few heart-wrenching good-byes, and a few weeks of homelessness, we made it to California. Thank you to Grandma Poppie and Aunt Shanon for housing us while we waited forever for our truck to get here. Smith is just now realizing how far away from Colorado we are and that his buddies can't just walk on over after school. Luckily, days at Disneyland, the beach and nice warm weather are helping out a lot with his, and our, homesickness.

Twitterpated

My little brother Graydon just got engaged last night. Over the summer, we got to spend some time with him and Jenni and we think Smith has a accrued a slight or rather ginormous crush on Jenni. At first he pretended that he couldn't remember her name. Fifty times a day he would ask me, "Mom, what is her name again?" Then he just couldn't stop saying her name. So fifty times a day he would sing, scream, and whisper, "Jenni." While Gray and Jenni were 'watching' a movie one night, Smith went over and snuggled in next to her. Soon, Smith had shimmied his hand into hers and sat holding hands with Gray's Jenni. The following Sunday at church, Smith of course had to sit next to Jenni. I leaned over to see how he was doing and found him sitting, hand in hers, with an enormous grin on his face. Smooth move buddy! Smith is ecstatic about the wedding news since that means Jenni will be around for a long time and I am afraid to say that this means that Merrill may be close to losing out on the favorite aunt status. So sorry Merrill. And Jenni, congratulations and thanks for humoring our Smith.

Star Wars Birthday

Smith had a fun impromptu birthday party with his buddies. We went (finally) to his favorite place, Chuck-E-Cheese, and then back to our house for cake and presents. He/We have been so lucky to have such great friends in Colorado!

Socially Unacceptable, but FINALLY 5!

Smith turned the big "5" yesterday and so far he has loved every minute of it. He came running in to my room in the morning gave me a huge hug and then stood back, grinning from ear to ear, standing really tall so that I could examine him and see that he had indeed grown since he had just turned 5. He had a fun day and had a lot of birthday calls from friends and family. His Uncle Graydon called last night too, and apparently, Smith was thrilled....

Smith: "Gray, when are we going to be done talking."
Gray: "Well, it's your birthday, so anytime you want."
Smith: "I want to be done right now."
Gray: Uncontrollable laughing.
Smith: Hangs up.

Hope he's not too old to learn some manners, sheesh.

First day of Pre-school

Smith's other half, Dane

Me Too!

Smith: "Mom. Did you know I have a spinning wheel in my head?"
Mom: "Really? What does it do?"
Smith: "It spins around and tells me what kind of dessert to have."

Smith's Buddies

(Dalton, Dane, Mason and Smitty)

Our cul-de-sac is bustling with boys and Smith is loving every minute of it. After nights of begging to have a movie night with his buddies, we gave in. As you can imagine, it was crazy, and they had a blast.

Smith learns a fact of life

Today we were doing errands and Whitley really needed to go. She had her legs crossed and was bouncing up and down in the front seat of the car. Smith told her, "Mom, just go! You can just go outside!" Whitley explained with urgency, "Smith, I can't go outside, I'm a girl." Then Smith said to no one in particular, "That must be a wiener thing."

Efficient Invocation

Smith usually says the prayer before our meals. This repetition has allowed Smith to develop a standard prayer. This standard prayer always--and sometimes only--contains the following phrases: thank you for this day; thank you for my family; thank you for the food; bless it to make us healthy and strong. A couple of nights ago, maybe we were having one of his favorite meals for dinner, because he streamlined his standard prayer to the following: "Father heaven! Thank you! . . . Day! . . . Family! . . . Food! . . . Health and strong! . . . Amen!"

Here's to a Long Year

Smith: "Hey Mom. Are we going to walk down to the school to meet my teacher today too?"

Mom: "No. You aren't going to that school yet, remember?"

Smith: "But, I get to go to kindergarten when I'm five, right?"

Mom: "Well, you get to go when you're six."

Smith: "That stinks! That really stinks!"

Smith just realized that he will not be going to kindergarten this year because he has a September birthday. He's bummed. Poor kid.

You're Not Spidey....

Smith: "But Mom, I was being careful!"

Words Smith uttered as I entered his room to find the windows and screens open in the upstairs bedrooms.  He had been out climbing on the roof of the three story cabin instead of staying in his room for his time-out.   After exploring an even higher pitch of the roof, Smith got a nice scolding from his Mom and Geeps.  And thanks to Geeps, I don't think he'll try that one again.  

Smith's Recall

In Woodland, there is a canal that comes off of the Provo River with a pretty calm current and is much deeper than the river.  Graydon, Jenni ,Smith and I went to float it last Saturday.  We found a great little life jacket for Smith, some tubes and we were off.  The water was FREEZING!  We're right in the Uintahs, so it is just ice cold water.  As soon as Smitty felt the water he was immediately apprehensive and well, terrified to go down.  We got him on my lap, waved to Lainey and my parents and headed down the canal.

We didn't get very far before we had to bail, get out and walk around a low bridge.  Getting back in the water proved to more difficult than our first attempt.  The water here was much more swift and a few yards down, there was a rather large tree branch sticking half way out of the water.  Gray lost his tube, and since he was helping me with Smith, Jenni floated down to catch the tube.  She hit the branch, and continued on.  So, Smitty and I got on, and hit the same branch.  We weren't so lucky.  We flipped over backwards which sent Smith head first into the chilly water.  The problem was that I was on top of him with the tube on top of me, and because of the current, I was stuck and couldn't get him out of the water.  Graydon was only a few yards away, and saw our plight, and came to the rescue.  Safely in Gray's arms and dripping wet, Smith choked out, "This stinky life vest didn't even work!"

That was it for Smith.  We took him down a little farther to meet my parents and he high-tailed it out of there.  Jenni, Gray and I had a great time floating and shivering the rest of the way, but because of a few more trouble spots, and another tip over (Jenni), I was glad Smith had headed for dryer, warmer ground.   

Giddy-up!

Smith had a horse lesson today. During his lessons, he rides around an arena and learns to balance, do simple commands, and to get his horse, Peppy, to obey go and stop-"WHOA PEPPY!" Sue kept telling Smith to kick with his boots and "click" to get Peppy to go. Poppie and I were standing on the fence watching and saw Smith riding along on Peppy snapping his fingers like he was keeping a beat to some rhythm only known to Smith.

Sue yelled out to Smith, "Okay, Smith, kick and click." Smith gave Peppy a solid kick with his right boot and kept snapping his fingers to the mystery beat. Sue said, "Smith, I can't hear your clicks." She then realized that he was clicking with his fingers not his tongue. No wonder Peppy didn't Giddy-up at his command. Snap to it Peppy!

Protector of the Innocent

Even when we're out-of-town, in a totally different ward, Smith still does something to shock/amuse/baffle those who teach him. This story comes from our friend Sue who is the Primary president in my parents ward. She is also Smith's horse riding teacher and one of his favorite people. He absolutely loves coming to primary when she is there because she really gives him special attention (which he just eats up). Anyway, according to Sue, she was up at the front doing the sharing time activity and observed the kids making fun of one of the little Sunbeam kids. They were calling him names and telling him he had a purple face or red face. She even said one of the kids that never talks turned and told this kid that he had a black face. At this, Smith turned around from the front row to all the older kids and said, "You guys stop being mean to that kid!"

Then Smith turned to the kid sitting next to him and whispered, "But he really has a yellow face."

Are you Smith's Dad?

Sometimes, its best to answer no to this question. The last two Sundays, Smith's primary teachers have tracked us down to tell us of "Smittyisms" that occurred in church that day.

1. Two weeks ago, the kids played charades during Sharing Time. Each kid acted out something they could do to help their mom and dad. I'm sure you can imagine: one kid pretended to vacuum the floor; one kid cooked pancakes; another kid pretended to change a diaper. When it was Smith's turn, he walked up on stage, and stood completely still. He then hurried and hid behind the lectern. Then, he got on his belly and army crawled. Apparently this went on for five minutes. No one could guess what he could be doing that was supposed to be helpful to his parents. Finally, one kid yelled out, "You're a spy!" That was it. I may still have him fooled.

2. Last Sunday, a new ward member tapped my should and asked if I was Smith's dad. She told me that during class that day, she asked each kid to thank Heavenly Father for something for which they are thankful. Smith said, "Heavenly Father, I'm really thankful for the Ninja Turtle dream you gave me last night. Can I have more of those?"

Since She Runs Like Flash