Skylar's Babtism

My Smith Family

 The finale of our Farmington Thanksgiving was the Baptism of sweet Skylar.  It was done at the stake center in Kirtland.

He was so shinny and handsome.  It made me wish my boys lived closer to all these kids.

After he was confirmed we had a photo shoot in the lobby.  Josh was the most excited.

 We took a few traditional cousin pictures and though it was fun it just wasn't complete without Sam, Amber and their girls there.

 "The Aunts" aka: funnest ladies west of the Mississippi.

Gram and her "special" granddaughters.

Apache Building

When I think back at my childhood, the church where I was raised in is a big part of my life.

It is the only one I have ever been into that has a stained glass picture of the Savior.

The words, "Not my will but thine be done" is etched on the bottom and thus has been etched into me.

I remember looking at that picture every Sunday and thinking how sad it was that apostles had fallen asleep under the tree when He was going through that.

The picture had deep meaning for me then but as I went back and looked at it, it had an even deeper meaning now.

 Uncle Sam was playing a song and the melody echoed up and down the isles and surrounded us with such a sweet feeling.

I love that place.

 

Time With the Ducks and Good People...

 Friday we met up with dad's side of the family at berg park.  Everyone was greeted with open arms and jumping up and down. 

It was such a bonus to see so many of the cousins I so love that had migrated down to Farmington as well.  My heart was full as I talked to all the uncles and aunts.  I feel so comforted by all of them and feel such a deep love for each.  I'm extremely lucky to have this on both sides of my family.

Aunt Peggy and Uncle Ron had bags of duck food for the kids.  It was such a treat.

The weather turned a bitter cold so we concluded in the Apache building with ball games, pizza, tours, and more visiting.

That night Uncle Jerry, Aunt Jeri, Aunt Cindi, Uncle Sam, Aunt Tammy, Brittany, Mom, Dad, Sara, Justin, and I laughed the roof off the hotel.  Seriously, It was a highlight for me and the next day my stomach was sore.

I am kicking myself for not getting anymore pictures of this day but I am glad I will always have the memories.

Black Thursday

We looked over the ads and decided that we pretty much had one choice for "Black Thursday" and that was to go to Target.

We dropped off the kids and husbands at the hotel and mom, Martha, Sara, and I headed across the street to our shopping destination.

We loaded up the cart and then noticed the LINE!  Holy long.

Mom and Martha did not make it.  I barley did but thanks to our 500 selfies the time flew by.

Another shopping adventure down in the books.

Thanksgiving 2013

This year we decided since so many of us would be in town that it would be pretty fun to surprise GG for Thanksgiving.

So, that's just what we did...

It was priceless to see her face as she made her way into the house.

Josh and Crissy hosted and boy was it fun.  They had the perfect house to fit us all comfortably.  We talked, hugged, laughed, had rides on the amazing red go-carts, wrote on Aunt Jeri's tradition tablecloth, ate an amazing dinner, and had pie until our stomachs were nice and full.

The next generations of cousins were able to get to know each other and had so much fun.

It's such a treat to get to spend time with people you adore and love. 

 

 

This is a behind the scenes shot of Sara getting the kids to smile for a big cousin picture.  Just one of the many reasons I love her so.

The Road Towards Farmington

Thanksgiving 2013 was really amazing this year.  We loaded up and the Littleton crew drove down to Farmington while the Chandler crew drove up to meet us there.  We almost had every family on my moms side there and that made it really special. 

It was crisp and freezing.  At one point we were driving and the windows started to freeze with a giant frost spreading rapidly all over the side windows.  We drove down into an open valley and every living thing was covered in a white sparkly frost and looked as though it could snap in half if you flicked it.  I glanced at the thermostat and it said -4.  No wonder. 

The drive is so familiar and the closer you get to Farmington, the excitement level seems to rise.  Nostalgia rinses throughout my body.    There is something about going home.  We had a conversation with Aunt Tammy and Uncle Sam about "deep home." It's been about 16 years since I've lived there but it really is "deep home."  I think strong roots are planted there because my grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and good family friends helped raise me.   I remember all the little side streets and short cuts.  Houses are the same and the Indians still look weathered, tired, but are friendly.

It's always great to get back and show Justin and the kids little treasures hidden around the town.  We had a chance for Doug and I to take our families to "Fat Man's Misery," a little nugget of adventure hidden in the canyon that Doug spent many times there.  It's walls of stone and sand that opens up into a cave fit for a party.  Soft sand and fire wood greet you along with a few empty beer bottles and colorful expressions on the walls. 

It's fun to see what is different but I love all that is the same.

A Happy Thanksgiving For Nathan

Cousin Cara

Sweet Little Cara come over to play and I couldn't help but snap a few pics of her.  She is full of personality!

A Big Tooth

Nathan lost a huge molar.  He told me that he wanted to put it under his pillow and I told him to wait because I wanted to take a picture of it the next morning.

So... he waited.

There was so much going on that the days turned into weeks before I finally remembered to get a picture.

That night he placed the tooth under his pillow and...the Tooth Fairy did not come.

He was pretty disappointed..

The next night he had received an official letter from the Tooth Fairy.  She doubled the price and he got to put the letter in his treasure box.

Win-win.

Snagle Tooth

Kendall  came running up stairs with his mouth full of toilet paper and something tied to the end of some dental floss.

Hi tooth!  I couldn't believe it!  Now I can't stop laughing or taking him seriously every time he looks at me.

Yummy, Easy Pumpkin Cookies

I was at deb's the other day and she whipped out these easy cookies.  They were so good!

1 (15 ounce) can solid pack pumpkin (NOT pumpkin pie filling)
1 (18 ounce) box spice cake mix
1 (12 ounce) package semi-sweet chocolate chips or 1 (12 ounce) package milk chocolate chips

Directions:
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Mix together pumpkin and spice cake until well blended. Add chocolate chips to mix. Drop cookies on greased baking sheet. Bake for 15-18 minutes.

You can also use a box of yellow cake mix and add some pumpkin pie spice.  Yummy!

Halloween Recital

 We LOVE Sister Shaw!  She makes it so fun for Nathan to learn piano. She dressed up like a spooky Ghost and hosted a great recital.

The kids got to dress up and play their Halloween songs in their costumes.

Nathan played "Pumpkin Dance" and enjoyed it so much he made us laugh!

After, she had made healthy snacks for all to eat.