The Other Smith's

I'm so proud of him...

2009-06-09T19:43:00.000-07:00

School is out. Yup... Jonah is on his way to being a 2nd grader.

I am so very proud of my little Driggs Elementary Dragon. Let me explain...

I received a phone call last week from the school Secretary. She went on to tell me that there was going to be an awards assembly, and that Jonah would be receiving an award. With that said, she was just informing us of the time in the chance that we may be able to attend. I relayed the information to Ethan. Not really giving it much thought, I just told him to bring the video camera if he could make it. And I'm so glad he did...

As it went, every child in the class received a certificate and a personal award... ''best smile & best helper award'', ''best blue eyes & reader'' or ''best artist''... so, of course, the skeptic in Ethan thought that maybe it was just that every parent was called to let them know of the award. But as it turns out, there was a special award for one child of each class... the ''Dragon Pride'' award. Each teacher was to pick the topnotch student of her class. And Jonah has a class of 24 kids, so I am sure this was a tough decision... but, then again, it is Jonah - that decision couldn't have been that tough. Here's what was written on his certificate...

''Because of you our school is a better place to learn. You have proven to me by your actions that one person can make a difference. I applaud you for what you have accomplished and look forward to hearing even more great things about you in the future.''

Yup... we're so proud of him. His trophy even has his name engraved on it.

We must be doing something right... =)

Naomi's Day...

2009-03-08T21:07:00.000-07:00

With E's perks at work, he was able to get the kids their own Burton set-ups... brand new boots, bindings and boards.

With Jonah away in Florida, I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to give Naomi some one-on-one time on the mountain. She was a bit apprehensive to put her gear on. So E thought it would be wise to strap on his stuff in hopes that she would understand the concept. Not long after, she agreed to let us put her on her board.

As soon as she got on the conveyor belt (aka ''Magic Carpet'') she was hooked! The word of the day was ''Again!'' She didn't even fuss when she took a spill. She would giggle the whole way up and down. The pictures are adorable, but the video is absolutely amazing...

Enjoy!

Jonah's 7th Birthday

2009-02-25T19:32:00.000-08:00

Yes, Jonah is 7!

His birthday gets funner every year as he gets older. This year it was on a Thursday, so it seemed to be a 3 day birthday weekend. He was sent home with birthday cards that were personally made for him by each of his classmates. We felt so proud as there were at least half a dozen cards that said he was the best friend they'd ever had!

The following Saturday was his birthday party. We had it at ''Bouncin' Off the Walls''. It was a great turnout... as most of his birthday parties are.

He is a lucky kid... liked by so many!

Naomi's first day on the slopes of '08-'09

2009-01-21T19:59:00.000-08:00

I deserve a plaque, I think...

I decided to take the kids skiing on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. It was Jonah's second day on the slopes this year, but Naomi's first.

She fought me from the beginning...

It took Jonah and I an hour to coax her into getting dressed in her ski gear. She wanted to run around in her diaper for half an hour until she wanted to put her thermals on. Jonah kept asking her if she wanted to see Papa at work. She would respond with a 'Yes' but continued to rebel.

After finally getting her dressed and in the car, we made our way up to Snowbird. Once we were parked, I had high hopes that she would want to walk in the snow up to the Center. Yeah, right... I think she thought I needed my exercise that day. I had to carry her all the way uphill.

When we made it to E's office, we got the kids sized up in their skis and boots. It was hard enough for me to get her snowboots on, let alone ski boots. I knew this was gonna be a tough one. Surprisingly, it took only a couple of tries to get her to put her ski boots on... only to have Ethan take them off during lunch.

I thought for sure things would go smoother once we'd all eaten and had full stomachs. Yeah, right...

Once we got out on the snow, Naomi's favorite word was NO. She wanted to take her goggles off... and then back on. She took her mittens off... and then back on. She kept wanting to take her ski pants off... and then back on. All the while Jonah just wanted to get on the ski lift. Luckily, Ethan was able to come out and help me for a bit. He took a few runs with Jonah while I continued to get Naomi on her skis. No luck for me. So I took a couple of runs with Jonah while Ethan took his turn. The most he got was putting her skis on and snapping a pic.

We tried.

Christmas 2008

2009-01-21T19:46:00.000-08:00

Christmas was another successful holiday for the Smith's...

Naomi was quite meticulous about unwrapping her gifts. She was sure to get every piece of tape or paper that was wrapped on her gift. She seemed to enjoy all of her presents thoroughly.

Jonah only asked for three things from Santa. And, of course, he got more than that. His ''big'' present was a Nintendo DS... which we are BOTH enjoying. =)

Ethan and I must have been really good this year because Santa brought us a new dishwasher! Either that, or he was sick of our complaining...
My parents and Aunt Gemma (from NYC) were able to spend a week with us and the kids. It was a full house, but alot of fun!

We're so blessed to have our health and new toys and can't wait for 2009!!!

Of course...

2008-12-09T20:01:00.000-08:00

I told this story to my friend, Kristi, and she thought I should blog it...

So the other day I had used E's debit card to pay for pizza. And instead of putting it back in his wallet right away, I had set it on top of it, for the moment. I had barely walked out of the room for a mere minute and when I came back in, she had the whole wallet strewn across the floor. I'd gathered it all to put it all back in and noticed the debit card was gone. Naomi is notorious for losing things... when she loses stuff, she loses it GOOD... it takes us at least a week or two to find it.

After searching and searching, we thought we'd give ourselves a day or two to find it. We didn't want to go too long - there's only so much you can do without money.

About three days later, we gave the place a good cleaning. I told Ethan if we didn't find it by now, we should call the bank and have it cancelled so they could send a new one. So that night, Ethan called the bank. They had to verify a bunch of information, of course, to make sure he was who he was. One piece of pertinent information was his driver's license number. He grabbed his wallet to read off the license number. And at the moment he pulled it out to make sure he had read the number correctly, the lady on the phone said it was cancelled... at the same moment he found the debit card BEHIND his ID.

Yeah... you have to laugh to keep from crying.

Look at me go...

2008-12-05T20:05:00.000-08:00

I know... TWO posts in one night... Wow!

But I had to post more pics from tree-decorating after Thanksgiving. They were too cute not to share!

By the way, to see a larger version of any of the pics in this blog, just click on the picture.

Enjoy...

Thanksgiving 2008

2008-12-05T19:56:00.001-08:00

Thanksgiving has already came and went...

This year was especially nice considering Ethan was able to enjoy the whole day with us. He usually has to work so this was a first in years. We were able to sleep in a bit... if that's what you wanna call it... and have a 'Smith-paced' morning.

We then made our way up to Nana's house to help with the preparations of the day's feast. There was alot to do considering the smorgasbord we devour when it is all said and done.

The night before, Jonah was kind enough to draw placemats for us. I was impressed with his variety of pictures... he is so artistic!

Afterwards, we all helped in decorating the 12 foot Christmas tree that was perfectly placed in the front window... like a storybook Christmas tree!

I hope you enjoy the pictures and know that we feel so thankful and blessed!!!

The Zoo in November

2008-11-27T20:49:00.000-08:00

It was a beautiful weekend in November... just right to take a trip to the Zoo. Jonah, of course, has been numerous times and still enjoys the animals. For Naomi, she is at an age where she is just enthralled with animals. It was a treat to see her eyes light up whenever we came across her favorite animals. She was definitely not scared of anything... no matter what type of creature or animal we came across. She wanted to see the snakes and spiders up close, just as much as the tigers or lions!

There's nothing like staring at a bunch of animals to help pass the time!

Thankful for my A to Z's...

2008-11-24T19:01:00.001-08:00

I've been tagged to do a 'Thankful for Thanksgiving' blog... so here's what I'm thankful for from A to Z...

A: All of my friends & family.
B: Best friend - without her, life would not be complete.
C: Cooks - without them, I'd never eat!
D: Dad - because I'm Daddy's little girl.
E: Ethan - without him, I don't know where I'd be!
F: Food - I could eat all day long if I could.
G: Girls - my homies help keep me sane.
H: Home - as small as it may be, it's home sweet home.
I: In-laws - without them, I might've jumped off a bridge by now.
J: Jonah - he's my favorite little boy!
K: Knowing that I have alot to be thankful for.
L: Lasik - there's nothing like 20/20 vision.
M: Mom - because she's Mom!
N: Naomi - she's my favorite little girl!
O: Options - I'm thankful we have these and live in a free country!
P: Politeness - I hate mean people!
Q: Quirks - without those, nobody would be unique.
R: Reading - I'm thankful that I'm not illiterate.
S: Stars - I need SOMETHING to wish on.
T: Teachers - they've helped shape people's lives.
U: Understanding - that we're all different and just wanna be understood.
V: Vicarious living - I'm glad I can do that through some of my friends.
W: Wine - sometimes I just need a glass... or four.
X: Xtreme sports - to remind us we're alive.
Y: You - obviously if you're reading this, you're someone special to me.
Z: Zambrie - my goddaughter I have yet to meet... and Zingers - who doesn't love thick icing on a wanna-be Twinkie?

Okay... I'm tagging Ronnie... =]

Halloween 2008

2008-11-08T07:33:00.000-08:00

I've always loved Halloween... and the kids make it so much funner!

We made a trip to the local nursery (bad idea to buy pumpkins at a Nursery... what were we thinking!) and bought ourselves 4 pumpkins... one for each of us. The kids were pretty cute at the Nursery... running around to check out EVERY pumpkin!

It was a good time prepping, cleaning and carving them. Jonah did a good job considering he doesn't really like getting dirty! And Naomi wasn't very fond of the guts, but she kept watching us... intrigued by the mess we continued to make.

Jonah carved a vampire pumpkin all on his own... and he did a wonderful job! I, of course, stuck with something easy and simple... okay, boring, for Ethan's standards. And Ethan, of course, always gets stuck carving his AND Naomi's. I figured he thinks mine are always too boring anyway, that I may as well let him have at it!

Halloween day was a riot. We were able to attend Jonah's school parade. It's always a riot to see all the different costumes. And Jonah is always such a stud with his friends! The evening was great, as well. The weather insisted on sprinkling on us, but it was at least warmer than usual. Naomi caught on quick... following her brother's lead.

After we'd walked blocks and blocks, we called it a night (although I'm sure the kids could've kept going if we had given them the choice!). The kids sat at Nana's house for a bit going through their loot. We had to cut them off since it was nearing their bedtime.

On the way home, it was pretty funny listening to Naomi babble because of her sugar high. She kept talkin' and talkin'... like she was on uppers and couldn't stop! Once we got home, the kids were finally coming down... good thing it was a Friday night!

Naomi's First Tram Ride...

2008-10-27T19:47:00.000-07:00

We were invited by some friends to take a Tram ride. It was Customer Appreciation weekend and for every canned good that was brought, you received a free Tram ticket. And free is always appealing for us... Yes, some of you are thinking, ''Don't you get free Tram tickets anyway?'' Yes, we do.... but it was for a good cause and it just happened to work out that way...

Naomi was a little unsure as we were loading the Tram. Lucky for her, her Dad was holding her tight and reassuring her that it was all going to be okay. Her anxiety seemed to lessen as the heights started to heighten... yeah, weird how that worked out.

At the top, it was FREEZING. It wasn't as cold as the previous weekend, since it had snowed. But on this day, the wind was quite blistering. It was a gorgeous day, but as most late Fall days in Utah are, the weather was quite deceiving at the peak. We were up there long enough to take some pictures and take in the always beautiful scenery... no matter what time of year or weather... the peak is an amazing place to be!

Blog Tag...

2008-10-14T18:55:00.000-07:00

Lucky me... I got blog tagged!
I must now tell 6 quirky things about myself...

1 ~ I prefer the toilet paper roll to go over, not from underneath (I know... weird).
2 ~ I'm weirdly superstitious... comes from my Asian Mom...
3 ~ I can't drink tap water... and it has to be cold!
4 ~ I fold my bathroom towels a certain way and if Ethan does it differently, I secretly re-fold them.
5 ~ I have a thing about writing with certain pens... I HATE fine point!
6 ~ I can't text or email w/o proofreading my sentences...

Okay, now that you know I'm weird... I'm tagging Ronnie & Erin!

Jonah's Mid-Terms...

2008-10-10T19:29:00.000-07:00

I know you all know how smart Jonah is. But I just wanted to post another reminder...

Jonah received his ''Mid-Term Progress Report'' and he came home with straight A's... okay, so he did get one A minus in the section called "Observes School Rules"... I asked him about it, and he said he was a bit hyper one day. And his other response was, "But it wasn't like I got a TimeOut or anything." So I'll go ahead and let the A minus slide...

Still, to this day, it amazes me how bright he is. He breezes through his homework with hardly any help from us. And his reading skills are amazing!

We're so proud of him!

The Smith's do ''Bodies''...

2008-10-05T19:38:00.000-07:00

The ''Bodies'' exhibit is in Salt Lake City... yay! I have been wanting to see this exhibit since I first heard of it from a co-worker who saw it in Vegas.

This is a first-of-its-kind exhibit where visitors learn about anatomy, physiology and health by viewing real human bodies. The bodies are preserved through plastination, which is a ground-breaking method for specimen preservation... basically human taxidermy???

The striking whole-body plastinates in Body Worlds—people who in their lifetime donated their bodies for Plastination for the express purpose of educating future generations about health—allow viewers to see inside the staggeringly complex and completely interconnected network of muscles, tendons and blood vessels that make up our bodies. To date, more than 8,500 people have agreed to donate their bodies to BODY WORLDS for Plastination and use in the exhibits.

It is a fascinating exhibit and well worth the money and crowds... I highly recommend seeing it!!!

2008 Utah State Fair

2008-10-02T19:19:00.000-07:00

Yes, the Smith's made it to the State Fair this year. The last time we went, I was pregnant with Jonah... almost 7yrs. ago! It must have been the goat I milked for $1 that kept me away for so long...

This year, a couple of friends wanted to see the Rodeo. Yes... I was dragged to the Rodeo! It was a weird display of animal cruelty, if you ask me! But, I guess that's how it's been done for so long... if it ain't broke, don't fix it! Naomi, surprisingly, LOVED the rodeo. Every time someone came out on a horse chasing a calf, she was up on her feet screaming and yelling. It was more entertaining for me to watch her than the actual rodeo!

After the rodeo, we decided to take the kids on a few rides. The key word is FEW since each ride requires 3-4 tickets and tickets are $1 each. Man, they're rakin' it up at the State Fair! Not only do you have to buy at least 15 tickets, but you also have to give up some tickets for the adult that decides to join the child on the ride. Geez, I should've went into the ticket printing business!

I know what you're thinking... the Fair sounds like as much fun as going to the Dentist. All in all, the kids had a good time. And Ethan and I were able to get our fill of people-watching... the Fair just about rivals the airport as far as people-watching goes!

September 11th

2008-09-11T20:16:00.000-07:00

Today will always be a day to remember...
I still remember exactly how September 11, 2001 went for me. I was working up at Snowbird at the time and was pregnant with Jonah. When the news was first hitting the TV, I wasn't quite sure if it was all real. It didn't seem that something like this could ever happen in our country.
I started calling my Aunt, who lives in Manhattan... and my childhood friend, who lived in Queens at the time. More than anything, I wanted to hear what was going on from an insider's perspective. After finding they were both okay, it just seemed that nobody really knew what was going on... and why.
Ethan and I had a quick conversation about it... wondering what kind of world we were bringing our unborn child into.
We just hope this is something that unifies every human being... remembering that life's too short...
We will always remember this day.

Star Wars Siblings

2008-09-11T20:04:00.000-07:00

Lately, Jonah has been getting into Star Wars. He has watched both trilogies and absolutely loves them! Jonah was Darth Vader for Halloween when he was 4 years old. So, of course, he's been wearing the costume as his pajamas. He has also been playing with his lightsabers, in case he ever has to fight off any Siths. The other day, he gave Naomi two lightsabers because he knew he could take her with just one. In fact, he told me... "Mommy, I'm a Jedi Knight compared to Sis."

Let's just hope he never turns to the Dark side...

Jonah's First Day of First Grade!

2008-08-31T22:00:00.001-07:00

Summer is officially over... yup, it's back to school!

Jonah started first grade last Monday. He was very excited to go back to school. It was a pleasant surprise to learn that Jonah's Kindergarten teacher decided to change grades, becoming his teacher once again. Not only that, his favorite friend from Kindergarten is his class buddy... yes, they sit in two's now in those cute, miniature desks!

It's a wonderful feeling knowing our son is in school all day...and loving it! He's such a big boy now... having 3 recesses (yes, I said 3) and school lunch... we're so proud of him!

The Terrible & Torturous Twos...

2008-08-31T21:25:00.001-07:00

Naomi is two! Yup, two!!!

It's shocking to think that our little girl is turning into a toddler. And boy, is she! It's hard to explain how relentless and tiring yet completely adorable she is...

She's learning names... Mommy, Nah-Nah (for Jonah), Papa, Opy, Nana, Tita and Day (for Dave). She's also learning animal sounds. It's pretty cute to hear her sound out what a monkey or rooster says.

She has moved on from the "Wobbler" room at Daycare to the 2-3 year old room. This has been a tough transition... for the Wobbler teachers. They were VERY attached to Naomi... she was their absolute favorite! The other day, one of her old teachers went to visit her and they both ended up crying when she had to leave. She's already breaking hearts at an early age... ugh.

Her biggest challenge these days is keeping up with her brother. Luckily, Jonah is wonderful with her. Of course, there's a constant barrage of teasing, but nothing compares to his love for her. The other day we were driving home from school/daycare and Jonah wanted to finish his leftover lunch. But this of course meant sharing his sandwich and chips with his sister... or maybe he just didn't want to hear her cry and whine for whatever it was he had that she didn't!

Her birthday party was a pool party courtesy of Nana & Dave. It was a great turnout... in fact, it looked like the local community pool since there were, at times, 15 kids in the pool at once! She's our little water baby... having no problem jumping into Ethan's arms from the side of the pool!

She's an amazing little girl... and we feel so blessed.

Chicago Trip

2008-08-31T20:42:00.000-07:00

Ethan, Jonah and I were lucky enough to spend a weekend in Chicago, IL with Alan, Heather and Erin. It was a fantastic, yet exhausting weekend. We made the most of our short time there, filling it full of baseball games and sightseeing...

Day One...

We first arrived Friday afternoon and rushed to the hotel to check in. Soon after, we high-stepped it to the nearest train station to rush over to Wrigley Field to catch the Cubs/Cardinals game. Yes, the field is as old and wonderful as imagined. Lucky me, the game went 11 innings. Right after, it was another hustle back to the train station to catch the Red Sox/White Sox game at White Sox Field. This was an evening game filled with hot dogs, lemonade and fireworks. The game finished in the evening... making our trek back to the train station and hotel an exhausting one...

Day Two...

On this day, Saturday, we had an open morning and afternoon before our evening ball game. With this in mind, our goal was to see as much of Chicago as possible. And boy, did we! We started off the day making our trek towards the Sears Tower. This consisted of standing in line for a total of 90+ minutes to enjoy a blissful 30 or so minutes up top. What a view, though! Our next stop was the famous Harry Caray's Italian Steakhouse... named for the late Hall of Fame baseball announcer. Here, we were given the in-house treatment since Alan's wife, Heather, has a cousin that has worked here for 11 years. At this point, the boys wanted to head to the ball field early to catch warm-up/practice, in hopes to get autographs and pictures. Ethan's sister wanted to make a quick visit to the Art Institute of Chicago - and since I was fine with missing practice, I was more than happy to tag along. This was my first visit to an art institute, and with the reminders from security that flash photography is not allowed, it was quite obvious. It was an amazing experience...and I felt so cultured and sophisticated! But this wasn't going to last long since it was time for the trek to the ball field. Another evening game, once again filled with ball field fodder...

Day Three...

We had a small window of time in the morning to do some more sightseeing before our afternoon ball game so our last tourist stop was the famous Field Museum. We were able to meet 'Sue, the T-Rex' and many of her osteal friends. After a couple of hours, it was time to head back to the ball field for game 3 of the Red Sox/White Sox series.

Needless to say, it was an exhilirating and exhausting vacation! Jonah had a wonderful time and, as usual, was quite the trooper. We would love to go back to Chicago to see more of the city and, of course, maybe catch an Oprah taping! But if I never eat another bag of peanuts, nachos, hot dogs or cheeseburgers all in the same day it'll still be too soon! =)

Our elementary school scholar...

2008-06-08T20:20:00.000-07:00

It's true, Jonah is finished with Kindergarten... our little boy is going to be a first grader!

It was quite the year for Jonah. First, he started off as a Grant Bulldog in the Murray school district. He had a wonderful teacher, Ms. Danelle Keith - who happened to be a very good friend of his Nana's. He loved being a bulldog and Kinderbug.

But with our lives constantly changing, we had to transfer Jonah to a school that was closer to his Daycare. We picked Howard R. Driggs Elementary. Now Jonah was a Driggs Dragon! He would spend the remainder of the school year at Driggs. It took some adjusting, but luckily, Jonah really enjoys school so it was only a matter of time.

At all of the Parent-Teacher conferences we would attend, his teacher would constantly rave about how brilliant Jonah was. Not only that, he was very polite and compliant... which was music to our ears.

At the end of the year, he would have to do an end of year assessment. This is a scheduled 30 minute test to ensure the child was prepared for first grade. Ethan decided to bring Naomi along to play on the playground to keep him company as he waited. But before Naomi could take another turn on the slide, Jonah came out with his teacher... and it had only been 10 minutes! His teacher said that he was the quickest and got a 100%. She'd also mentioned that she yearned for all of her Kindergartners to be like Jonah!

Please don't stop the music...

2008-06-08T20:03:00.000-07:00

Naomi is quite the mover and the shaker. If it's loud, has a beat or has any sense of melody, she'll dance to it... or at least move spasmodically.
She still moves her hands to the telephone ringing and if it really has a beat, she moves her head intently.
She definitely has rhythm... something she gets from the Figuracion's.

Jonah lost his first tooth!

2008-06-08T19:52:00.000-07:00

It took some wiggling and squirming, but Jonah finally lost his first tooth. When we asked him how much he thought the Tooth Fairy would bring him, his reply was, "Probably five dollars."

Yikes, how times have changed...

Needless to say, we gave him $2 since the Tooth Fairy always gives more for the first tooth. We told him he'd probably only get $1 for every other one from here on out... that is, if gas prices and inflation stay steady or on the decline.

Proud Tee Ball Parents...

2008-04-20T07:25:00.000-07:00

What a fun time of year for us. Not only is Jonah back in his Soccer league (and is the star player) but he is also now enrolled in a Tee Ball league. Problem is, we're not sure if this league will actually help or hurt his game...
I should've lied about his age so he could be in an older league. Yup, he's a bit too advanced, I'm afraid, for his team. These kids seem to have never held a baseball before, let alone know how to hit one!
The Smith's (not the Figuracion's) are huge baseball fans. Ethan grew up with alot of baseball in his childhood. His team of choice... the Boston Red Sox. So inevitably, Jonah has been a Red Sox fan since the ripe age of infancy. During Jonah's first couple years of life, his Tita Erin lived in Boston. So of course she always brought home his first Red Sox cap... or his first Red Sox shirt. Because of Ethan's love of the game, Jonah was lucky (is that the correct word?) to learn the game at an early age.
Like most of his athletic endeavors, Jonah was a quick study. When Ethan got him his first tee ball set-up, it didn't take him long to learn how the bat and ball connects. When Jonah is focused, he is amazing with his skills! To be honest, I don't remember him using the tee for very long. Before we knew it, it was underhand pitching that he preferred. And that didn't last very long either. Jonah now takes fast overhand pitches from his Dad. Not only has he excelled in that, he has now moved up to practicing with a metal bat. Now we either need to be in a park or have a bigger backyard because we're losing balls over the fences!

With this being our first tee ball league, we really didn't know what to expect. The competitive side in me always worries about my children's performance when it comes to sports. But I don't know why I ever worry about Jonah. He's good at what he does!

Before the game, they ''warm-up'' by playing catch with each either. And that's when I knew he would be the star player again. Ethan has taught him how to correctly catch a ball or a grounder. And also to ''step-in'' to his throw.

In this basic league, they basically allow every child to bat in rotation once and then they switch. No real baseball rules, just the BASICS. Ethan and I thought his first question after the game would be why they don't play REAL baseball.

So Jonah's first at-bat was pretty funny. He cracked it past the kids... and I'm sure it would've been a homerun. But like I said, this league only teaches the basics. At this point, Jonah has already ran to third only to be told he has to go back to first base so the other kids can practice running bases... LAME. His next at-bat, the coach had the kids back up... it was another proud parent moment!

Since none of the other kids really seemed to know what was going on, Jonah was playing all of the positions! When the other team was batting, Jonah was the only one hustling and even knew to get the ball to first.

I could go on about how outstanding his baseball skills are, but it could get as boring as some baseball games I've had to sit and endure. At least with this league, it's quite entertaining and exciting for me! =)

Easter 2008

2008-04-08T18:05:00.000-07:00

Easter was alot of fun for the Smith's this year...

Jonah spent the Friday previous to Easter with his Nana dying eggs. He loves that type of project... artistic and messy! Good thing we have Nana to make a mess of her house instead of ours.

My Aunt Gemma was able to come out that weekend to experience a Smith family Easter. Nana prepared a wonderful brunch for us all. And soon afterwards, Jonah and Naomi went to town hunting for Easter eggs. It was quite a riot to watch Naomi hunt for eggs. I knew she would catch on right away after we showed her once! It was pretty funny watching her try to keep up with her big brother.

After the fun morning, Zach, Ethan and I were able to escape to play 9 holes of golf. And the weather was absolutely perfect! I love this time of year... great Spring skiing weather, but also perfect golf weather.

Later in the evening, Nana prepared her famous honey ham dinner for all of us. The kids were spoiled with Easter and the adults were spoiled with good company!

Wow... Jonah is 6!!!

2008-03-08T19:11:00.001-08:00

That's right... Jonah turned 6 this year!

Once again, we were able to have a wonderfully fun birthday party for him. Of course, it always seems to be a week-long event. One night it's dinner with the family. Another day it's a party at Daycare and School. And then, of course, the "Friend" party...

This year, we had his party at 'The Little Gym'. What a fun place to see kids get worn out! Jonah is a pretty coordinated and athletic boy, so it's always a treat to see him go wild in a place like that. Naomi was pretty cute, as well... she loves running around with her brother!

We're excited for the Spring & Summer with Jonah being six. There are alot more programs and camps that he'll be able to join at this age. So keep an eye out... he'll be doing Junior Jazz and Baseball camps when school's out!!!

Winter Olympics, here we come!

2008-01-27T19:12:00.000-08:00

Jonah was 18mos. old when we first put him on skis. So why not put Naomi on skis at 17mos.???

It was a wonderfully beautiful day at Snowbird... sunny and lots of snow. This was a perfect opportunity to put Naomi on some skis.

She did fine, for the most part, but we could tell she didn't love it or hate it. She seemed to be wondering what we've put her into. She was fine just standing there, but as soon as we would move her, she started to sit back. We offered a ski pole for her to hang onto, but as soon as we'd pull away, it was as if she thought we were taking something else away from her and would let go.

All we really wanted to do was get her on some skis to feel what it was like to be on snow. She didn't last very long, but it was enough to take some great pictures of her and Jonah!

The prettiest girl I know...

2008-01-21T19:22:00.000-08:00

Naomi is quite the dancer...
She still loves to move to the beat, whether a good one or a bad one!
She's such a funny little girl. She loves tormenting her big brother. I swear, she's a big, little sister to him. And he does wonderfully well... most of the time!
She's nearly 17 months, going on 6! She wants everything her brother has and is sure to make a point to get it from him.
Her appetite is also as big as she is. It will be interesting to see how different their eating styles will be... she's definitely not as picky as he is!
She's also getting prettier every day. Oh... she'll be a handful!

Jonah's 1st day on the slopes for '08

2008-01-21T18:58:00.000-08:00

Wow, what a day...

As you can see from the picture, I took Jonah through Snowbird's tunnel. For those of you that don't know, this tunnel goes straight up the mountain and spits you out to the top of Mineral Basin, Snowbird's backside. There is a Green run for the beginner skiers, but it definitely wasn't beginner enough for him...

I had a momentary lapse of reason and thought my son would be able to 'slowly' make it down the mountain. As it turns out, I 'overterrained' him...

The first part of Lupine Loop (the Green run) heads down a pretty steep hill and as we came around the corner of the cat-track, the flat light made it tough to see that the other side of it was a cliff. At that point, I grabbed him and at that moment lost my ski. This, in turn, made him freak out and start losing it. I had to stabilize him and hike down to get my ski. Once I was able to calm him down, I took our skis off and had us trek back up towards the cat-track. By now, I'm sweating in 20degree weather and had to ask myself if I could do this. But for the sake of safety and sanity, we stopped and composed ourselves. And this part of the run was probably the easiest... Yikes!

We eventually made our way down the hill... A run that normally would take 10-15 minutes took us over an hour. By this time, my phone is ringing off the hook. Yes, it was Ethan calling to see where the hell we had gone. By the time I was able to call him, we made it to the Tram deck. Once I told Ethan where we were, he was sure to give me an earful...

Finally in the safety of the Tram, I was able to get Jonah to realize how brave he was...

Next time, I'll let him pick the runs!

Christmas 2007

2008-01-02T19:05:00.000-08:00

Once again, Christmas was wonderfully fun for the Smith family. Lola & Lolo were able to spend Christmas with their favorite Utah grand-kids. It was such a treat to see that Naomi & Lola (my Mom) were able to bond so quickly in such a short amount of time. We seem to think that Naomi can see the resemblance and figured that she must be of relation to her, therefore, feels safe amongst her.

Lolo (my Dad) has a sister that lives in the Big Apple and was able to come out to Utah with her boyfriend, James, from London. They were die-hards when it came to skiing at Snowbird. Every single day they were here, they met Ethan in the morning at 7AM to head up to the mountain... talk about hardcore!

Jonah and Naomi were once again spoiled for Christmas. Children sure can make the holidays fun and exciting again!

Thanks to everyone that helped make Christmas a memorable one. We feel so blessed to have such a great support group and loving family!

Thanksgiving 2007

2007-12-02T07:59:00.000-08:00

Once again, Thanksgiving was spent at Nana's house. Nana's new husband (they were married this past July) has 4 wonderful children. And we were graced with their company, also. It was a great time. Plenty of food, football and conversation. After dinner, we all gathered to watch the Transformers... a well rounded, action-packed family movie... haha.

Halloween 2007

2007-12-02T07:41:00.000-08:00

This year, Jonah wanted to be Dracula and Naomi was a butterfly. It was the first year we were able to paint Jonah's face. He did amazingly well keeping it on all day, too! Ethan and I were able to watch his school Halloween parade. The weather was nice enough that the kids were able to march outside the perimeter of the soccer field at the school. Jonah was pretty cute with his friends. Oops, I mean he was pretty scary as Dracula.

Later that evening we went out to Nana's house to trick-or-treat in her neighborhood. Seems he can go longer and longer each year. They were both pretty cute in their costumes. And Jonah thought it would be funny if we put fake blood all over his sister. That way, she could be a "scary, butterfly that was bitten by Dracula".

Tiny Dancer...

2007-12-02T07:32:00.000-08:00

Naomi loves music! Her little body starts to move as soon as she hears anything with a beat. It could be something as simple as the phone ringing or a commercial with a catchy tune. Regardless of where the music is coming from, she loves it!

I know the video is sideways, but the temporary strain in the neck is definitely worth the 30 seconds of entertainment.

MLS bound

2007-12-01T12:17:00.000-08:00

Yeah, I said it...

I know every parent thinks their child is good, great, athletic, awesome whatever. But for those of you who have witnessed it, Jonah really is MLS bound. This year in Soccer he has been the 'star' player. We've even heard other parents on the sidelines talk about how good 'the kid in the green socks' is. It really has been a significant difference from last season. He has more ball control and drive even from this past Spring. The season resumes in May... any of you are more than welcome to come support him at any of his games!

Jonah is in Kindergarten!

2007-12-01T11:22:00.000-08:00

Wow... our little boy is in school! Okay, maybe he's not so little anymore, but he'll always be my baby boy. I'm sure most of you know, but he is a VERY bright, young boy. We've already had our very first 'Parent-Teacher Conference'. He excels in everything he does... and he already has a report card to prove it! His teacher says he is a very compliant little boy and enjoys having him in his class. She's already shown off his penmanship to the other teachers and can't get over how well he writes. He's also reading well and has been given an invitation to the Kindergarten Reading Program. Ethan and I are very proud of him. I just hope we can keep up!

Naomi's 1st Birthday

2007-12-01T11:14:00.000-08:00

Our baby girl turned one on August 24, 2007. Her birthday outfit, an adorable pink kimono all the way from Japan, was provided by Lola. She played and played all day with her friends and her presents. The photo and 'smash' cake was a hit. Surprisingly, she didn't have as much cake as we thought she would. We feel blessed that she is a healthy, thriving baby.