Happy 31st Anniversary!

Being born on my parents 1st anniversary has allowed me to share their special day each year. Mom and Dad, may you look back and remember the happy memories and be proud of who you have become because of each other. I love you! - your daughter.

The CAKE

So, Melanie had this cute cake picture on her blog and I jokingly told her that that was the cake I wanted for my birthday. Her and Jessica really out did themselves on making it absolutely perfect. I love the sparklers on top and everything! It was definitely a LABOR of LOVE! Thanks for the amazing cake and all your help with the party - it was a BLAST!

Kids say the darndest things...

Ethan was outside entertaining himself and when I went to check on him he was playing in ice that we had dumped out on the lawn. I asked Ethan what he was doing and he said he had a "pinch bug" (earwig). He had it buried under melting ice cubes. His next comment made me laugh. He said, "this is his baptism". Wow! he must be paying attention in primary. Kudos to his great teachers!


Stockton had a funny too. We were at Ryan's parents house enjoying yummy cake. The kids ran off to play and grandma had cleaned up a bit. Stockton came back to the table ready to finish his cake and it was gone. He said "Dang It!" We quickly found him a piece to eat. Who knew a 2 year old had that kind of language? I guess we aren't very good examples...

Last Days of Summer

For our end of summer treat I took the boys to Cherry Hill. Since we were busy getting wet we only have a few pictures to share. Gratefully, Landon came to help. Ethan was terrified of the water and only wanted to hang out in "pirates cove" Him and Stockton loved the small slides and splashing in the kiddie pool. We did get Ethan on a tube in the lazy river which he seemed to enjoy until the water started dumping and spraying. Stockton braved the water slide with me and Landon and I had a blast on Cardiac Canyon.

Oneida Narrows, Idaho

Another fun adventure. We headed off the beaten path and camped with family at the upper campground next to the resevoiur. Boating is always available when you camp with the Smith clan but this time we also took our floating devices to the river. What a thrill it was with just the right amount of whitewater! Ethan got worried going over the "bumps" and Stockton started to whimper a little when I struggled to manuever our raft around the rock obstacles. We made it down with out getting too wet and enjoyed a second run. Those on tubes seemed to fair better - except for SueAnn who was on too big of a tube to be able to reach the water to paddle or kick. Camping was nice with plenty of shade and the water near by. The toilet even had an unexpected smell - baby skunk (according to the camp hosts, a baby skunk fell into the toilet and had to be put out of its misery) instead of the regular aroma.

Play Group - alone

Our weekly playgroup activity was at the Celebration Centre. We were the only ones who showed up and Ethan had his heart set on playing mini golf so we stayed and played! It ended up being a fun day with my 2 boys. When we were given our clubs and balls the worker failed to give us a score card. Later I decided it would have been pointless to keep score since EVERY hole we were over the 6 stroke maximum. Stockton got pretty good at putting into the hole but would never start at the beginning. Instead he would carefully place his ball 6 inches from the hole and exclaim with excitement when he would get it in the hole on the first try. Ethan got so exited that he hurried on ahead of us to the other holes. He wasn't paying attention to the Hole #'s and didn't understand why when he it his ball into the last hole (#18) why his ball disappeared. I had to surrender my ball so that he could play the holes he missed.


After the adventurous 18 holes of golf we went inside for a yummy lunch and the boys earned tickets playing skee ball. Even though it was just the 3 of us. We had a blast!

Snug as a Bug...

Stockton has had a hard time taking his nap during the day. Ethan is always playing with friends and Stockton thinks he needs to be "ou-side" with "E-ton". I put him to bed and soon he stopped crying so I assumed he had fallen asleep. A while later Ethan came inside from playing with friends and went into his room to get a toy. He came out and asked me where Stockton was. I thought he was playing a trick on me and I told him he was taking a nap. Ethan said that he didn't see him. Thinking that maybe he had fallen asleep in the closet or under the bed we went to investigate. I guess Stockton had removed the lid from the ark and had been playing with the animals before sleep overtook him. This is what Ethan and I found! I can't believe he slept there for over 2 hrs... I guess he was Snug as a Bug!