What will we do without Johnnie?

"Mom! It is Summer!"

Every morning since we moved to California, Smith has asked "Is is summer yet?" We told Smith that his buddy Dane from Colorado was coming to visit California in the summertime, and as Smith never forgets ANYTHING, he has asked me on a daily basis if it is summertime yet. It was easy to forestall his excitement when the weather was cooler, but once it started to get warm, and it started to feel like it should be summer, Smith got antsy.

So, when Dane appeared on our doorstep last week, he turned to me with a puckish look and said, "Mom! It is Summer!"

Smith had a blast with Dane (and Dalton) while he was here. They played and had a sleepover and now we miss them all over again.

O'Doyle Rules!

Many of you can attest to Smith's competitiveness . . . no one is immune to Smith's ability to one-up you (child and adult alike). Smith's buddy Dillon was an easy target early this morning on the way to a birthday party. The two boys sat in the back of the car deep in conversation about important issues like birthday presents and Star Wars figures when I heard Dillon say something about the time his Mom and Dad met. I perked up my supersonic listening ears only to hear Smith's reply,

"Well, when MY Dad met MY Mom, my Dad had a lot of hair. Yeah. He had sooo much of it."

Baby Flash at Last?

Smith: "Ummm. Doctor? How do you know if it's a girl for sure?"

Doctor: "Well, I'll show you."

The doctor found the correct position on the ultra-sound again and showed Smith what was 'missing' on the baby. Proof or not, Smith was still unconvinced. On the drive home, he kept trying to come up with meanings as to why the doctor's diagnosis was way wrong. Poor guy. His dreams of having 'Flash' as a little brother have been shattered once again.

He's Hooked

Since we've been home, Smith has not stopped singing the songs from Hook; -"I'll never grow up, never grow up...." have been sung over and over and over again. He loved seeing 'little' Adam in his play, and I was so proud of Adam. You did such a great job!


And, unlike his sister Laine, he LOVED the snowmobile and sledding behind it. Unfortunately, by the time I got Lainey out there, he was frozen and ready to head in to warm up by the fire.

All I need to know I learned in Primary?

"Dad. Thank you for working so Mom can buy my Star Wars figures."

signed, Smitho

(Adam found this wonderful thank-you note from Smith stuffed inside his shoe.)

Chase came! Chase came!

Smith finally got his wish of having Chase at our house and at Disneyland. It was a great week, and we're ready for a repeat anytime!

Buds.

80 is nice, but....

Smith is missing the snow. The sledding hill especially. He went so fast down the hill that I don't have any pics of it. He loved it. Now if we can just get him to ski....


Smith is missing the snow. Thanks for all the rides up the hill, Geeps.

"You don't mess with animal. He eats glass man."

No glass for this animal. But, like the crazed drummer, Smith too only has three styles of music- loud, louder and deafening. Dad is so proud. Thank you Santa.

Whitley's Christmas Sing-along

We finally found the Christmas music channel in the car today. As soon as it came on, I started to sing along, loudly, in an attempt to cheer up the kids happy after a trip to the store.

Smith: "Mom. I just want to sit here and listen to the music in peace."

I keep singing.

Smith: "Um. That means I really don't want you to sing."

Okay. Point taken.

Progress

Smith: "Heavenly Father, please bless the nesportan (neosporin) that Mom put on my knee to get all the dirt and germs out quickly because it still really stings. Amen."

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.