Troooooy!!

Here are the sequence of events from a little while ago....

Somehow when Aubrey and Ella were upstairs playing with their HS musical dolls, Troy slipped through the bars and met an almost untimely death on the hardwood floor downstairs. Aubrey received these dolls for her birthday, so at first she was quite devastated. But as you can tell from the pictures, her daddy turned that frown upside-down and "Wa-la!" Troy is good as new:)

So missed

Yesterday, President Gordon B. Hinckley, the 15th president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints passed away at the age of 97. When I heard the news from my friend, I couldn't help but cry because of the love I have for this man. He was just amazing. Though I never met him, I had the privilege of seeing him a few times and I clearly remember feeling the spirit as soon as he entered the room. I know he was a prophet of the Lord-I have no doubt of that. I'm grateful for the countless hours he worked on our behalf. He was someone whose words I was drawn to. He taught with the Spirit and was inspired in everything he said and did. I will always treasure his teachings. He was also someone who always had something clever and witty to say. He always made us laugh. He had such a special spirit and the world won't be the same without him. Even though we will miss him here on Earth, I know there is someone in Heaven who has been missing him even more, his wife, Marjorie, who passed away a few years ago. I know last night must have been a joyful reunion for them both. We love you President & Sister Hinckley-thank you for devoting so much of your lives to serving the Lord and doing so much for us. You will be sorely missed!

Read news article here

Aubrey's Kindergarten Class Picture

We received Aubrey's kindergarten class picture yesterday and so of course, I have to post it! I was surprised that Aubrey is barely smiling in the picture because she normally smiles perfectly(having been trained from birth to smile at a camera thanks to Joey:). She finally just now admitted to me that there was another class watching with a boy she likes(yes, she has a crush at the age of 6) and she was embarassed to smile. So, that explains it. It still turned out to be a really cute class picture, but I think its pretty funny that she would barely smile because of a boy! Oh, and if you can't tell, she is in the middle row, 5th child from the left. Click the picture if you want to see it bigger.

Pillsbury Doughboy: the secret ingredient in his dough

This is a favorite video of ours. I don't know how many times we've watched this as a family(yes, we are immature parents I guess) but we laugh everytime! It brought us some much needed laughs today.

This flu is a butt kicker

So, I've got it now. Tuesday night(just hours after my last post), it hit me. I think yesterday was the worst of it as I was basically non-functioning and in bed all day long. Today I actually have the strength to walk(and blog of course:) So, anyways, yesterday in my delirium, I actually had a genius thought- lets live in a plastic bubble! As I did a little research, I found(pictured to the left) that there are actually mobile plastic bubbles. We can each have one of our own! I am so excited to finally be germ free! Yessssssss.

What to do when you got the flu

So, the past 2 months have not been kind to us sickness-wise. We have had everything under the sun. Just when I thought, okay, we are done here, our family gets something else. This week's illness- the flu. Last weeks: stomach flu(luckily that one stayed with Aubrey). All 3 girls have the flu right now! Aubrey came down with it Saturday morning, Ella Sunday night, Cali last night. The older girls have had fevers up to almost 105 and I'm worried what Cali's will do tonight. They all are miserable and its scary when you have such a little baby with it too. I look at them and wish it was me instead of them. Its sad when your kids get so sick and all you can do is give them medicine to help the symptoms and hold them, but you can't take the misery away. It has also been hard on me trying to take care of 3 kids that are all so sick at the same time. 3 kids and 2 arms-its hard! I can't imagine what its like for people that have 4, 5, or more kids! I hope I stay well so I can take care of everyone! I feel so blessed to have had the help of my dear sweet husband and a wonderful close friend nearby who is there for me when I need her(thanks for everything Melissa!)

So, we have spent many days inside lately. With the flu, stomach flu, ear infections, strep throat, pink eye, colds, and other fun viruses filling the past two months of our lives, you may wonder what has occupied our time. Good ol' puzzles, books, the wii(Yes, we got one!! That will be a future post),movies, Webkinz, and today: creating our own M&M people(Thanks Natalie for the idea!). Aubrey and Ella loved picking out the features for their own M&M girls. I did too! Can you guess who's is who's?

Try it yourself!

Happy Birthday BRO!

Today is my brother, Austin's, 16th birthday. Happy Birthday Austin! We hope you have a great day. We wish we were there to watch you blow out all 16 candles! I can't believe how old you are! 16 is a fun age-enjoy your year! Thanks for being such a great brother and awesome uncle to our daughters. We miss you a lot! Hope you enjoy the collage. I know I enjoyed making it(especially including that picture of you riding the girls Barbie jeep...good times...:) I love ya bro!

Cali stands by herself!

Friday night my aunt Cindy was over visiting and to our surprise Cali decided to try standing all by herself! I think she was trying to show off:) The first video clip is from that night when she first started trying it(and yes, I sound mean in it, one of the kids had been acting up earlier, ok!) I love how she claps after she does it. The second video is from yesterday. She was doing it all day long! It is so cute. Its funny how she had never done it before and now all of the sudden she is doing it all the time. They learn and grow soooo fast. Yea for our big girl Cali!

Play some summer music mommy!

The other evening, I was in the kitchen making dinner and I heard Ella yell from the stairs, "Play some summer music mommy!" I walked over to the stairs and I saw her coming down wearing her summer swim robe and the biggest smile. I think she was getting tired all of these freezing temperatures and decided to pretend it was summer. So, I turned on some "summer"music and she showed us some of her dance moves. Half way through dancing, she unbuttoned her robe and surprised us with her swimsuit she had underneath. "Ta-da!" Then she really got down:) So, even though it was winter outside, in our house that night- it was summer!

Garden girlz

For Christmas, the girls received these Garden Girlz kits. They are little plant kits that come with seeds and a little toy(wheel barrow for Aubrey and a wishing well for Ella) you can grow plants in. The girls were so excited to watch their little plants grow. After one week, here they are.

A Deep Thought

I was deeply thinking today when I thought, "Hey, I haven't posted a deep thought to my blog in awhile. " So, here it goes... a deep thought by Jack Handey...I love this guy.

"To me, it's always a good idea to always carry two sacks of something when you walk around. That way, if anybody says, 'Hey, can you give me a hand?,' you can say, 'Sorry, got these sacks.'"

By your side

Monday night was Joey's last day of freedom...school has begun. Yes, more school. We had originally said that after the 8-year-long road to get a Bachelor's degree, he would be done. However, through the month of December we both had the strong feeling that he should pursue his MBA. We prayed about it, talked about it, and we just feel good about it. We also found out that it will take under a year and a half to do, so we figured compared to the 8 years he has already done, he might as well go for it. I know this will be something that will benefit him and our family. An education is so important these days.

Thank you Joey for making this choice. I know it wasn't easy, and its going to be a long year and a half, but I love you for doing this. I will be as supportive and helpful as I possibly can. I will always be right by your side. But don't hate me when I'm a little cranky, okay? :) It will only be because I miss you! Its going to be hard for you while you juggle your job, your new calling in the YM presidency, and your family, but I know you can do it. You are an amazing man. I know you are doing this because you love us. We love you very much! Congrats on getting accepted to the MBA program. I know you are going to do great!

So, to celebrate(well, actually to mourn) his last day before another round of school, we all went out to dinner to the California Pizza Kitchen and enjoyed some delicious pizza. We had a fun time together as a family.
Check out Cali's face in this picture. She was eating quite ferociously.

And so it begins...wish Joey luck if you get a chance. Pray for him. ...and pray for me too. :)

Crafty time

For Christmas, Nana and Tata bought the girls these Sewing Sampler kits with different projects inside for the girls to do. They had a great time this past Saturday workin it with their kid-friendly sewing needles and thread.

It was tough! I had to get down to the nitty-gritty. . .(say it like Nacho)

Ta-da! After about an hour of hard work, here is the finished product-little purse pouches! Looking fabulous ladies!

Lets go fly a kite!

Last weekend we spent some outdoorsy time with our friends the Brysons. The weather was great that weekend so we decided to take advantage of it and spend some time outdoors. The place we went to is a huge naturey park just a few minutes from our house with playgrounds, camping areas, lots of open space for the kids to run and explore, ponds, trees and pavillions. We all had a great time. It was really windy so we brought our kites and let 'em loose.

Joey brought his RC boat and the kids had the most fun throwing sticks at it:)

I think Melissa looks so cute holding a baby girl, doesn't she? Someday Melissa will have her girl and maybe someday I'll have a boy:) Melissa is outnumbered at her house like Joey is at ours.

The men lit a fire at the end of the day and we roasted some marshmallows for some delicious S'mores. The kids really loved that!

The perfect end to our day of "camping"

Little piggy

Cali does this hilarious snorting thing every now and then. I finally captured it on tape~

Fun at DFW

I was looking through pictures today and came across these from a few months ago. I had gone with my friend, Melissa, to the airport to pick up her sister late at night(emphasis on the late part) and brought along my digital camera. I knew we would probably be waiting at the baggage claim area for awhile, so I thought I'd make it fun. I love to be in public places late at night with a camera. I live for this kind of stuff:)

When I saw this, I had to take a picture. This is no joke! I guess there are some ladies causing some major showers and thunderstorms in the bathroom.

I thought I would imitate this zebra. I know, this is so not funny. Its so pathetic that it kinda is though, right?
Melissa was hiding from me, but I found her. Sorry Melissa, there is no escaping me and my camera.

I accidentally went to the men's restroom. Okay, in this picture, I was pretending but seriously I accidentally walked right into the men's room at Wal-mart last week and what I saw wasn't pretty.
A very important safety message Melissa can't read signs I guess. Either that or I said, "Melissa, put your foot up on the baggage and I'll take a picture." Gosh, I'm lame. Thanks for cooperating that night Melissa and playing along. I had fun and I'm sure that night you wished you had never made friends with me:)

Stylin

Santa brought the girls make-up kits this year. They were so excited to get all dolled up the other morning. They spent about an hour on the floor of my bathroom in front of the mirror and seriously had the time of their lives. Ella went a little crazy with the eye shadow as you will see. Also, I had also streaked Aubrey's hair with her new Girl Crush kit. Don't worry people, I don't let my kids do this kind of thing on a regular basis-it was just for fun! Sidenote-they also dressed themselves. They like to mix up pajama wear and regular clothing:) These girls sure got it goin on.

Lookin good girls! :)

Final volume of time travel: Good times with the Smith family

Here is the last of our Christmas vacation pics. Man, we took a lot of pictures!(and the ones I've posted aren't even a fraction) I guess thats because we had such a great time! Okay, so here it is- the final volume of pictures I have titled, "Good times with the Smith family." Enjoy.

Making and decorating Christmas tree cookies with Grandma

Aubrey's tree looked better than mine
Don't you love this picture Tara? You shore look happy to be doing a puzzle. And you look kinda scary too. LOL. Don't hate me for too long, ok?
Ella helping me out. Isn't this the sweetest picture? Thanks for capturing that moment Joey.The masterpiece complete. This took us a couple of days to do. It was really hard because not only was it 500 pieces, it was 3D. Any puzzle expert out there will tell you, this was no easy task:) Everyone decided we will never do it again, so I think my mom is going to glue it together. I think she should put it above her mantle, don't you? :)
Uncle Austin reading to Ella. Ahhh...what a sweet uncle!

Trying out the new stamp sets with Grandma

Last but not least, one of our little icecream creations. Doesn't it look perdy? Can you tell we like to eat? You can't have a good time without good food(especially sweet food!!)

We had a great time and miss you guys so much already! Hopefully we'll see you again really soon!