We have a 9 year old!

"S" is 9! Holy Cow, she is growing up too fast. I love who she's becoming. She is so helpful, and very responsible. I am amazed at her talents. She's a great artist. She's one of those people who is always drawing, and can draw, or paint anything. She also is a great pianist. She loves practicing, and I of course love listening to her! She's going to pass me up in the next year or so. :)
Every year for "S" birthday, Steve has flowers delivered to her at school. So sweet :) She wanted to go to Amazing Jakes for her birthday. That was a fun night! Bowling, Miniature Golfing, Laser Tag, crazy rides, all you can eat...wonderful, exhausting fun!

A couple weeks ago, we went to our friends cabin (Fischbecks). The guys all went snowboarding and I decided that I would teach my kids and one of theirs how to ski. By the time we got to the ski resort, there wasn't any close parking so we had to walk a little ways to get there. And of course they couldn't carry their skiis, so good thing I am supergirl and can carry everyone's stuff. (What was I thinking?) Once we got there, I showed them the ropes and they got the hang of it pretty quickly. At the end of the day, Steve and Jaron found us and were so excited to see their kids conquering the hill! That was one of the most rewarding days I've ever had. It's cool to see your kids try something hard and keep at it! Even when they face plant. :)

Fire Dept. Stops by the Smith Home

Soooo, last night as we were putting the kids to bed, the heater kicked on for the night. Soon there was a horrible smell. You know- like the smell when your heater goes on the first time- except it kept getting worse and worse. It was making me sick and it was especially bad in the children's room, so we were going to let them sleep upstairs.
While Steve was getting them settled in, I started looking for a number you can call for non-emergency things. I came upon the police non-emergency number. I just wanted to know what smells are dangerous, and if it was something I needed to worry about. We had already checked the attic and around the house and found nothing on fire, so I just wanted to make sure, because now I was getting a headache.
I called and spoke to a lady and told her what I was smelling. She asked me if there was smoke in the house, and I told her it was a little hazy, but we've checked everything and I just wanted to know what kind of smells are dangerous. She quickly said, "Get your kids and get out of the house!"---very firmly. "The Fire Dept. will be there in a minute." (Just Great!)
Steve was not very happy with me. :(
Next thing I knew, there were 2 fire engines, an ambulance, a load of police cars, the fire chief himself, and of course blue and red lights flashing for all to see. Why not send just 1-2 men???? I walked out to greet them and told them about the smell. Firefighter after firefighter walked through my house fully armed. Of course they couldn't find anything either. So we checked the heater and found the source of the smell. The heater broke, and wouldn't turn on. We still don't know what is wrong exactly, but there has to be some sort of wire that got exposed to the rain and caused this horrible electrical burning odor in my house! Hopefully our AC man calls us back soon so I can tell him all the excitement our heater caused. I feel bad that they all had to come, but at least we are all okay.
I think we scared the neighbors pretty bad. Just about all of them stopped by or called to make sure everything was okay. I feel so loved in this neighborhood! Oh, Steve's sister Vikki-(who lives upstairs) came home in the middle of it. I can't imagine what that would be like to drive up to your house with all that action going on! She was a little freaked out. But--all is well. :) Thanks to all the 25 firefighters who would have rescued us if we needed!!!

Where have you traveled?

My Sis.-in-law- Ashley had a fun map on her blog that showed where she has been. I thought that would be super fun to see how many places I've yet to see. Steve and I love to travel. Together we've seen a lot of places, but there are so many places we haven't seen (94% of the world to be exact). Good thing we have our whole life to do that. :) Here is a link to where we have been. I just combined our travel experiences into one. Anything in Africa or Australia is Steve. Thanks for the inspiration Ash! Now I've got the travel bug. Watch out-it's contagious! I'd love to see all the places you all have been.

http://www.travbuddy.com/widget_map_display.php?id=2201197

The Saturday before Christmas my family went to the Temple to see the Christmas lights. After the stroll around the temple, we went to the retirement villiage my mom works at and went caroling in the back of a trailer. --But not before my mom dressed up each kid with elf costumes she made....The kids have so much fun. That will be a fun memory! Thanks mom for making us do it! :)

Steve, and my brothers Brandon and Artie It was so cold that night! A bitter 30'---- Don't laugh- we're not used to this--nor do we have clothes for this kind of weather!

I'm so sad I didn't get a picture of everyone in the trailer, but here are a couple little elfs. :) "S" and cousin "P"

This was a great way to start out the Holidays! All the girls in my family got to go out while the guys offered to stay home with the kids. So nice of them! We of course had no problem watching the kids the next day while they all went golfing. :) We enjoyed our pedicures and dinner at Macaroni Grill. Fun night! Thanks girls.

I was just going through pictures of last Christmas and came across this bad memory. This was us last Christmas, and the remodel we were in the middle of. That all seems like a really bad dream! I'm glad to never go there again!!! Don't try this at (your) home. Or if you do, MOVE OUT!



Our kitchen (or lack of) - Last Christmas.
Don't be fooled, this is not a bad picture. What you see is concrete dust from Steve grinding up the tile. Yes, we were coughing for a while. It actually gives me a sick feeling inside to remember.


Our kitchen this Christmas
This is kind of like a pregnancy. You forget all the awfulness of the throwing up and labor, when you see the beautiful thing that comes after.