Jessi the Great

Jessi had her "Christmas" Gymnastics concert last week and we loved it. She's done so well this year that they asked her to move up a class, yahoo! She misses her other friends but is happy to feel so big.

Let it Snow

Josh was so excited about the snow that when Dad came home from lunch he wouldn't let him sit down until they had built a snowman. Little did he know just how big Dad could make that Snowman, it's taller than Dad. Shelby looked out the window and said "It's a monsterman!" Josh was a little disappointed I only had a pink scarf & hat (what can I say, girls rule in our house & Joaquin's never worn a scarf!)

Family Christmas Letter 2008

I love creating our family Christmas card each year. Here's our family shot (Jessi's almost smiling!) & the fun little jingle I sent along with it!

Sing to the Tune of
"Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer"

Shelby (2) loves babies all day
and carries them everywhere.
She hates to be called “hot dog”
as Daddy is well aware.

Josh (4) plays and loves his Hot Wheels,
Golfing, Bikes, and Napa too.
He’s learned to tease like Daddy
Poor Shelby suffers all day through.

Then Jessi (7) tumbles right on by
On her way to gym.
Smiling as her I-Pod blares,
Playing Barbies everywhere.

Quinn (10) plays piano very well,
Basketball’s a favorite too.
Animals are still in first place,
Babysitting’s fun to do!

Well, it's official. My husband believes he is less important than my computer. I have spent the last hour or so reading all my "friendly bloggers" pages and I'm in hog heaven. He looked at me with pathetic eyes & said, "I'm going up to bed, are you coming?" I just smiled and said - "After I upload my Thanksgiving pictures." Needless to say, he wasn't surprised. The funny thing is that he never reads this so I can say just about anything I want to and he'll never know . . . hmm. . . what to say about Joaquin that would make every girlfriend who reads this laugh the next time they saw him. Darn it, I'm not doing well under pressure. I'll get back to that later.
Thanksgiving was just great for us this year. Donna, Jesalee, Amanda, & I split up the meal and all prepared it at our own houses then went to Jesalee's to enjoy. It was so mellow because there was hardly anything to clean up & believe it or not no blood was spilled between Jade & Shelby. WOW- that's saying something. All the kids played & watched "Avatar" so the adults got to sit around and visit for a few hours. Jesalee, Amanda, & I were in tears a few times laughing about the similarities between our husbands - all good things - yeah that's it. It was just a feel good day.

I know Amanda's going to hate this shot, but she is having a baby in less than a month - so I think she looks hot!

I just loved this shot of Shelby making herself happy with all Jade's stuff. She's just a doll.

Quinn, Jessi, & Josh enjoying some yummy "hats" Aunt Amanda made with marshmellows & chocolate. That's just a good combo, isn't it?

Jessi proudly displaying her "turkey" we made at the Bowen's for FHE on Monday. We just love them.

Captivating Cruise 2008

Wow look at those happy people! We had such a great time on our cruise last week.



This was a first for Joaquin & I so of course we were a little nervous. We were able to go with 4 of my sisters & their spouses as well as my parents, hence Joaquin's nervousness. He was just sure I would choose them over him (I should admit that's my take on it). After returning home Joaquin admitted to having a great time though. I tried ever so hard not to call my sisters every chance I could, instead we just bumped into them by the pool or shopping in Mexico. Some of the perks were soaking in the sun, running on their treadmill at sealevel while you overlooked the gorgeous ocean (I know I'm a little warped), ordering 2 appetizers, 3 entree's, & 3 desserts without being afraid of the bill, and being surrounded by people I just love.
The only negative was the fact that we felt like "gluttens." There was just soooo much food & no children to chase or Napa to work off the caleries. I did try lots of different kinds of food like escargot & lobster, but I didn't care for either. I went to a Yoga class in hopes of burning off a few caleries, but honestly there is so much "breathing" that I felt like I took a nap most of the class. Woops.
The boat cruises all night then stops at a different Port each morning. Our first Port was Key West, Florida (great shopping with a Mexico feel to it but no pushy salesmen), Cozumel, Mexico (pushy salesmen from when you walk off the boat), and finally in Belize. We only did 1 excursion in Belize which was an amazing series of zip lines through the jungle. As you can tell from our smiles, we loved it! The jungle really was so dense and I even touched a Boa Constrictor that was just crawling up a tree along the path up to the zip line. Joaquin didn't really want to, big weenie. After the zip line they fed us lunch & then we hiked through the jungle to the mouth of a cave where they gave us a headlamp & and inner tube. We floated through these cool caves & almost tipped over when we tried to kiss in the dark. It sounds romantic but the water was a little too "refreshing" as they called it. We got a good laugh though when they described their "rapids" which basically are just fast water about 6" deep. Wouldn't they die if we took them down Lava Hot Springs River!

A few of my sisters & their husbands did a Book of Mormon tour in Belize (yes we were rebels, hee hee) where lots of people feel that the BOM could have taken place. There's even an island called "Laman" that has recently been escavated & they have found ruins. After walking in the jungle of Belize we can understand how people wandered in the wilderness for years on end. There is just so much vegetation that it's hard to make out which way to go. All in all we had a great time but would love to take our kids with us next time. We just miss them so much when we're not together. What am I going to do when they grow up & move away? I guess I'll always have 1 child though.

Halloween or Bust

We're still working with Josh actually opening his eyes for the camera, but look at those muscles! Shelby was an adorable clown, although the wig only stayed on long enough for this picture. I did try to paint her face but it didn't go over well.


Aren't my girls gorgeous? Jessi wanted to be Superwoman for school then decided on Halloween to be Tinkerbell. Quinn is a Renaissance Princess although she like to call herself a Greek Goddess!

Ok, I have to tell this funny story about my Halloween Costume yesterday. My sister gave me this cute idea of being a "Cereal Killer" with Cereal boxes stabbed with knives (I added the "mullet" wig for fun). I wore it to Jessi's Halloween party yesterday and all the teachers laughed, except one. She commented that I really shouldn't have knives at school - no tolerance policy you know - woops. I just laughed, it honestly hadn't even occurred to me. So if I'm asked to step down as the PTO President this year, you'll all know why. I'm a total slacker parent.

2008 Ultimate Halloween Adventure

Steadman's was just a blast to start with. We had a "Candy Cannon" that shot little rubber balls 75' high then dropped all over the lawn. One couple from each team had to find their teams "balls" - Go the "Green Goblins." We also had a Water Balloon toss with a twist, the balloons were filled with jello. We were disappointed that none of the wives just all out threw it at their husbands, Jesalee & I thought maybe someone would get out their aggression, hee hee.


We had each team bring a 2 Liter Bottle of Pop decorated with their teams colors. Then we shook them up as hard as we could and gave them all marbles & a sling shot. The last one standing won. We thought for sure the "Yellow Stingers" would win because they brought Lemonade - no carbonation - but they fell before the Mighty Purple Predators.


We all survived this year's party, no broken bones or cars this year - yahoo. And to be honest this was the best year for me. I finally jumped off my high horse and decided to ask for help. Jesalee did everything from proofing clues to hiding them with me. And if you ask any of the participants - we didn't have a single clue that was "unsolvable." It helps so much having extra eyes to double check everything.


This is me on the 500' zip line. Wow! It looks really scary when you climb up, but it was pretty slow. Just my style!


Here's our Grand Champions "Orange Crush." Aren't they hot? I'll have you know they provided the t-shirts, that's why they won I'm sure.

All Time Halloween Winners

In our house Halloween is a bit over done. I seriously love Halloween enough that I would almost say it's my favorite, except I feel a little guilty not acknowledging the birth of the Savior first. But every year I happily throw together an Amazing Race/Survivor Challenge. I absolutely love it. I think about it all year when I see a good riddle or a fun spot for a clue. It's really sick I know. But here are the past winners for anyone who's interested in their competition.

The Orange Menacing Monsters (2005)

Jennifer & Shane Tilley, Dana & Bart Brown, Deena & Kurtis Ostler (sorry, it's before I owned a digital camera)

The Scar-Faced Scarlet Scoundrels (2006)




The Rough & Tough Rosie Renegades (2007)



And who will be the winner this year? I'll keep you posted!

Quinn's 10th Birthday

Quinn had a great party as well. Her Birthday was yesterday, the 17th of October. She decided to have a manicure/pedicure, pizza, & movie party after school. One of her best friends is Logan, who is a boy, and it about killed her to not invite him. But I tried to tell her that he wouldn't like the manicure/pedicure part. I painted toe nails & finger nails, Dana surprised us by bringing Chelsea & Avery-yahoo, and Josh's Escalade was yet again the hit of the party. I've noticed they are all growing up because they inhaled; 6 apples with caramel, 1 cake, cupcakes, popcorn, 2 large pizzas, & ice cream. I hope they don't have tummy aches.

Josh's 4th Spiderman Birthday

Josh had a great birthday this year. Of course we had a Spiderman cake - that was a must according to him. But he also got friends to come over & enjoy a campfire. How can it get better that this?

My Marathon!

This picture was one of my favorite moments on the day of the "Top of Utah" Marathon. My hot husband woke the kids up early Saturday morning, fed & clothed them, drove them 2 hours, cheered me on, took us all out to lunch, then ended the day letting me soak my soar muscles at Lava Hot Springs. It was one of the best days of my life. I have been training for over 6 months for this and to really accomplish it - not even die in the process is still euphoric for me. I really ran 26.2 miles in a day, wow. My sister Emily counted up on our 4 month training schedule just to see how many miles total we had run to get to this day - over 400. Is that really cool or just insane? I haven't decided yet.
My Mom & Dad also came along with two more of my sisters (who have run marathons before) and they even ran with us for part of the way. We tease my Dad he started this since he ran a marathon years ago that none of us thought was that cool until recently. Woops. Now I think he's amazing - especially since he beat my time by over an hour and a half!
Here are all my lovely running buddies! Tiffani Adamson, Emily Koenig, me, & Dana Brown - aren't we just gorgeous? Do you see those big smiles? It really was just the most amazingly cool thing I've done in soooooo long (it still wasn't as hard as childbirth-so if you've done that, I still think you're amazing too). I really feel like an iron woman though.
Yes, this is me crossing the finish line - both arms in the air - cheering. The guy who announced my name even said, "Sarah Smith from American Falls, Idaho with a little too much energy to have just run a marathon!" I couldn't help it, I was just so happy to be done.

Walk-a-Thon

I just had to put a quick post in here about my Walk-a-Thon. Have you ever done something you're just so proud of? Well this week was great for me. I have worked lots of hours on this 'Fun'd-Raiser for our little Hillcrest Elementary. I have called I don't know how many businesses, friends, & family asking for help. I have worked on the computer until the wee hours of the morning making fliers, reminders, prizes, etc. And do you know the best part?
It was all worth it!

I was pretty worried when it was around 50 degrees on the day before, but the day of came and it was a gorgeous 80 degrees! Everyone who said they would come did, everyone who said they would help did, and even Joaquin walked the 1.5 miles without a single complaint. I almost cried when I stood in front of that crowd (around 350 people) and had to bite my tongue when I almost called on someone to pray. All week as a family we've just prayed that people would remember to come. We really didn't care about the donations so much, we just wanted families to see how much fun we could have together. We raised over $4000.00 and more is still coming in (from parents who are a lot like me and forget things every now & then).

The music was fun, the prizes were well received, the hot dogs were a huge hit, and even the cheerleaders had a good time. I just loved the whole night!

Potty Training Gone Wild

My beautiful Shelby is constantly trying to be big. She wants to stay up late, ride whatever Josh is, put on make-up, etc. So when she started to ask to go potty on the potty about 2 months ago I thought, sure! She had just turned two but had lots of older sisters & a brother to look up to. Well it's been 2 long months with many accidents, but the classic was yesterday.
I went to get my hair cut & colored at 11:30am here in Am. Falls. Before we left I had her go potty, right when we walked in the door I had her go potty, and yep - you guessed it. At 12:15 pm she came in wet through everything (That's a whopping 45 minutes in case you were wondering). I hadn't brought a change of clothes or even a pull up for that matter and Joaquin was stuck at Napa with no vehicle to help. So I threw Shelby in the pick-up and flew with beautiful foil wrappers all over my head to my house to change her. I got quite a few double takes, lots of smiles, and one all out laugh. Ah, isn't being a mother grand?

Our New Family Picture

Other than Shelby, who was having a rough day - this was our best shot of everyone - including Joaquin. I showed him all the other pictures and he said, "I think the photographer just caught me at the wrong second, I swear I smiled." I just laughed and then beat him. My husband who only smiles when he bleaches his goatie.

This was Quinn & Jessi's 1st Day back to school, aren't they beautiful?
Quinn is so happy this year because she is back with lots of her friends who were in a different class last year. I went to "Back to School Night" with her yesterday and was just so proud. All her teachers (even her Reading teacher) told me how advanced she is. Yahoo! She still loves Math the most, Piano is her second favorite, and this year is trying "Hip Hop." Could you all come buy more filters from NAPA to pay for our children's after school activities?
Jessi has a fresh from college teacher this year, Mr. Blauer, who she absolutely adores. She also loves that she's the only one at Hillcrest this year, what a grown up! She watched some of the Olympics this last month and Gymnastics were her favorite. She has now told everyone at school & church that she is going to do that someday. More power to ya honey! She went to gym today and in my unbiased opinion, had the best kart-wheel in her class. But when the teacher told her to put her feet right in front of her, keep her legs straight, & touch her nose to her knees - she looked up and said, "How?" It was all I could do not to burst out laughing, how many times have I thought that exact same thing?

I just had to publish this picture! Josh absolutely loves "Guitar Hero," even though he can't play even one note correctly. It is so much fun to watch him & Shelby jam out. The scariest part is that Josh knows quite a few words to the song, "Talk Dirty to Me." Great parenting, huh?

I just had to put this picture on here. Anyone who knows Joaquin, knows he loves being unique. He grows a goatie every spring so he can look "cool" on his motorcycle. Well this year was no different and he even stepped it up a notch when he decided to bleach it for a few days to see how many people would comment. Sadly it didn't phase anyone-he was so disappointed.

I wanted to show off my sister-in-laws on the Smith side. We have Jesalee (married to Kade-she's a saint for that!), Amanda (married to Lane-he is the baby of the family), me, and Diana (married to Shay-they live in Phoenix, AZ so 7 months out of the year I'm incredibly jealous of their weather!)

Here's a great picture of me & my sisters. The back row is me, Mindy, & Lisa. Then it's Amy, Dana, Emily, & Maria. I could never ask for better friends.

Here is our handsome Joshua surrounded by his 16 cousins. Family is just amazing isn't it?

Here are my incredibly beautiful neices & daughters, 22 in all!

If you thought the women were impressive, check out these hunks. My Dad is on the back right, Joaquin is the muscular one in the back row (that my brother Nate is either laughing at or trying to make some kind of sarcastic comment to).

Check out those hotties! Here is a picture of all my sisters & sister-in-laws at our Reunion in Saratoga Springs. Aren't we beautiful?!?!

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