Just hanging out with the kids

Bedtime is by far my most favorite time with the kids...not just because it's the end of the day and I'm clearly ready for some quiet time, but that's when I get to lay down with them and we just talk, giggle, get a bit silly, and then I get them all riled back up.  I didn't realize how important this was to Tanner and Braxton until my 2 night stay at the hospital when I had Kason.  They missed me and I missed them....  Last night  Tanner decided that it was time to introduce Kason to playing with monster trucks, he just thought they were good chew toys to help his 1st tooth break through the gum. 

Welcome to Preschool Tanner!

Tanner and Miss Becky

Today was Tanner's first day of Preschool at the Child Development Center at DRMC.  He has been so very excited to go since we attended Back to School Night a few weeks ago, and asked just about everyday last week if he could go to his new class yet.  His very fun teachers are Miss Becky, who he had in the Firefly class, that we are so excited to have again, and Miss Victoria, who was with Tanner in the Roly and Caterpillar classes for just a short time when the Center first opened.  This class is very intense and fast paced and even tho it is part of the daycare, it is a full-fledged Preschool.  We also found out last week, that next year after Kindergarten lets out, he can come back to the Butterfly class after school which makes me happy, we just have to get him there, so we will work all that out later. I got just a teeny bit teary eyed as I left him, he's just grown up so fast the last few months.  Love you Tanner-ruesky!

LOOK WHO's 4!!!

Happy Birthday Tanner we love you so much!

Braxton's first day of school

Braxton & Mrs. King

Braxton's first day of school was yesterday, and he has been pretty excited for it to start.  He is in 2nd grade, and  has Mrs. King for his teacher. 

He does miss having his group of friends from 1st grade, and our ward in his class, but he does have 2 boys from his baseball team to hang out with so that makes him happy!  Mrs. King told them that if it ever startes to snow during class, she will let them run out and play in it before it melts, Braxton was pretty excited about that, but he will be lucky if that actually happens!! I can't believe he is in 2nd grade, the time has flown right by!!

Smith Family Campout 2011

We always look forward to the 2nd weekend of August for our family campout at Tushar in the Beaver Mnts.  This year we basically 'circled the trailers' and had a great time.  Here's the summary:
We ate a lot....we do that well!  We celebrated Tanner's 4th birthday party, we played some mini golf, relay races, and built and painted wooden model kits.  He wanted a Lightening McQueen birthday cake, so we had that and ice cream later on after dinner.  For as many Thomas the Trains and tracks that are a permanant fixture on our living room floor, and for as many times as we trip over them, and cuss them, we keep buying him more! But he loves them so much and was totally content to play with his new trains and tracks on the rug in front of our trailer the rest of the time we were there. Valerie had a fun crafty project for the kids, they painted their own pillowcases (Braxton painted his shirt, and some painted their hair) and she also brought yummy cookies fot them to decorate.  They also had fun playing in the canoes, and paddle boat, rides on the 4 wheeler, and ran and screamed at the top of their lungs playing 'Ghost in the Graveyard' each night, and no campout it complete without roasting marshmellows, peeps, and starbursts. (the last two items = ICK!)  We played some water balloon volleyball and the kids loved having wheelborrow races, Camrie was the funniest to watch walk on her hands, she was bound and determined to make it as far as she could, and she out did all the others for sure!
The bees were out in full force and Camrie got her first sting on the back of her leg, but after meds, lots of loves, and a rest, she was good as new.  Grandma and Autumn also got stung. 
It has been so nice to have our trailer up there this summer, we've been up and stayed quite a few weekends, and it makes all the difference in the world when camping with a baby!!  Kason does pretty well, but was not a happy camper one of the nights for a few hours, I'm sure teeth were the culprit!   He was good to hang out in his Bumbo or the playpen, and loved being held and loved by everyone.
It was so great to get out of the heat and just relax, we always have fun no matter what we do and I love that our family is so close.  Thanks Mom and Dad for all the time you put into the campground so that we can all come up and enjoy it!!!

July 4th, 2011

We didn't have a lot planned since I was on call for the weekend and the holiday, but the way I split up the call with a co-worker, I had from 9am-10pm off.  We took advantage of Braxton not being here (we do miss him while he is with his dad for 2 weeks) and being able to all fit in the truck, and ran up to Beaver to have lunch and take the trailer up on the mountain.  I'm bummed that I don't have any pictures, I thought I'd left my camera in my car at home, turn out it was in my purse the whole dang time which was I never got out of the truck all day.
We spent some time at the park and let the kids play some games on the park, eat sno cones and cotton candy.  Lunch was a yummy BBQ up to my parents, and I made a way cute flag fruit pizza with strawberries and blueberries.  We ran over and got the trailer, and I was very proud of myself  for being brave to back in and hook it up all by myself and then pulled it back up to my mom's house, but too chicken to pull it all the way up the mountain.  We are excited to be up there and can't wait to go camp!
We stopped in Cedar for a very long-over-due visit with gpa Webb, the kids had fun eating popsicles and playing in the water.  We got home just in time to park down by the Sunbowl, and watch the fireworks in the back of the truck.  Camrie was so funny, she'd rub mine and Troy's arms and say "Fireworks make me happy, do fireworks make you happy Mom/Dad?"  Tanner is seems to be so sensitive to loud noises, and again, didn't love the fireworks, but tolerated them if I held my hands over his ears, and kept him talking about the different shapes and colors of the fireworks, and Kason slept in his car seat through the whole thing.  I was lucky to make it through the fireworks without being called in, but as soon as we pulled out of the parking lot, my pager went off, so we just headed over to the ER.  I was also lucky to just have one patient, since I was in shorts and flip flops, and the kids and Troy hung out while I was super fast, I was also lucky that Troy's badge worked in the ER since mine was home in my car!  We all got home about 11:30 and just let the kids fall asleep on the floor in the living room, it wasn't worth the fight to keep them in their beds at that time of night! A long day, but fun nonetheless!!! I am thankful to live in this great country with the freedoms that we enjoy everyday!!

Overnight Get-away

We needed to use/or lose some credits at our timeshare, so we reserved 2 nights at the St. George Worldmark. My parents came down and took 9 of the older grandkids to see The Little Mermaid out to Tuachan and they all stayed one night, and we stayed the other. Although our house is less than 5 mins away, and it was just overnight,  it was still so nice to just relax and let the kids play in the pool.  Too bad we had to get up and go to work in the morning! Braxton is staying 2 weeks with his dad, and we really missed him, he got to stay the first night with gma and gpa, but was bummed about not being able to stay with our family the next. 

Fun in the pool- Camrie wouldn't let go of me to take her picture!





Camrie had fun on the slides and rope ladder

Tanner met some friends on the playground,  who were playing pirates and shared their swords with him.