My Stay at Home Mommy Theory

I have deduced a theory pertaining to my wellbeing as a stay at home mom that I think might apply to other moms too. --- like my trying to sound smart--- and it goes something like this... While in school and in the work force people get lots of reinforcement when they are doing a good job. It is formal, it is something we can put on our resumes, and say look I am worth a lot to important people. Students get grades on papers, test, and the class as a whole. When they ask good questions or say smart comments they are complimented and the teacher takes note. When they do their reading and get full points on their quiz it reinforces that their efforts are noticed and that they will be rewarded with a high grade in the class. Working mom's get paid, they get (hopefully) compliments from their co-workers and bosses and as they excel their expectations they eventually win awards and get promotions. But us mom's who are at home all the time get... Well, not as formal and dependable reinforcements showing that our efforts are appreciated and noticed. I will never get an award for being mom of the month, or teacher of the year, I will never get a promotion or an "A" for busting my but all day long. Most the time that is fine but somedays its not, and I find myself wanting someone to say to me "you rock!", "that scrapbooking page is so cute" , "you are a great mom", "you cook the best food", or "wow you have been keeping up with the laundry so much better these days, way to go". On days like this I remind Stewart that I am in need of an "A" or something to show that I am appreciated and he is very obliging but when you ask for a compliment is just doesn't seem to do much for you. Any mom whether she works or not dose a lot of work that is somehow expected and not often given substantial credit for. So I think that what we as moms, working, stay at home, or in school alike do is turn to each other to get our high fives, promotions, and "A"'s . We blog , call, and email about our latest crafts, about our triathlon, and our baby's cuteness so that someone out there will comment and say you are amazing, good job and we can feel like all our efforts aren't in vain and stay motivated. So in that spirit here are some little "A"s for all you awesome mom's that I know look at my blog: :0)

Kirsten, you have a beautiful smile, your kids are sooo smart and good natured, you have a great marriage, and you are endlessly thoughtful of others. Not to mention your craftiness is out of this world.

Megan, you are so smart, funny, and kind. And really brighten my day with your awesome blogging. You make me smile everyday with it. And if I had to do Kindergarten again I would defiantly want you as my teacher.

Sherri, you look like you have never had a baby but you have the wisdom of someone who has had five.

Suzie, you are so kind to everyone. I have never heard you say an unkind thing! You seem to effortlessly make everything beautiful and make people feel loved.

Becca, you always make me feel so good about everything. Whenever we talk I am all smiles. I miss you! and your adorable kids too :0) you make being a mom look so easy.

Treva, I think you are brilliant, and beautiful. I would die for your skin! And your kids are brilliant like you too! I wish I could be half as motivated for excellence as you are.

Anj, you are the most calming reassuring person I know. You always make me feel better about everything and so cared about. You make the world better by just being you! I always thought that if I wasn't able to have mom as my mom I'd want you to be my mom.

Mom Smith, What can I say, I love you! You make everything beautiful, funny, and safe for me. You have always been able to calm my worst storms and even help me laugh through them.

Bethany, you are so caring and fun. I know if I need someone to talk to you will drop everything and be there for me. You understand people so well and go above and beyond to make them know how loved they are. And something about your kids I just adore. I think the world of them. And Lee always makes me laugh too, your home is one of my dearest homes away from home.

Mom Ras, you have shown me so much love and kindness. I never seem to see the end of all your thoughtfulness. I look to you as my friend and example and treasure my relationship with you. I feel so grateful to be so embraced by you and the family even though I have so many annoying quirks. Thank you.

Eden, you have been such a good friend to me. I always have fun with you and you get me to laugh. You are so thoughtful! You always amaze me with all the lengths you will go to help those around you. I miss you! plus you dress way cute. :0)

Mary Anne, you have been such a good aunt to me. I cant tell you how much your interest in my life means to me. You are soooo thoughtful, sharing, and loving. Eden and I always talk about how much we appreciate your generosity and warmth. And your kids are beautiful!

Amy, I am so glad you have befriended me and involved me in your life. You are so kind and willing to help me and watch my kids. I always learn from you how I can be a better mom. And the fact that Patrick can sing the BYU fight song makes it apparent that you are a very wise fun mom. :0)

Mallory, you have been so nice to befriend me too! You are so talented at everything! I love my hair cut and you always dress so cute. You are always so willing to help me out! Thank you! Oh, I have Carson's bottle I need to get back to you. :0)

Deana, you are so faithful to your convictions. You follow your dreams with complete faith and courage. I admire your courage and conviction.

Christie, you always make me feel like a little kid again! You are like a sister to me. I always get the giggles with you and just feel better for knowing you. And you are so beautiful, something I have been jealous of most of my life! You and Joanna always got the guys! :0)

Joanna, you don't have kids yet but I think you deserve one anyways. :0) You have been my only friend who got me and loved being totally retarded along side me from my awkward elementary days to my married frumpy days. You are a great friend. You are a natural artist, have impeccable taste, and are always so thoughtful.

And to everyone else out there that I might be forgetting or don't know that you read my blog, I think you are great! We all deserve tons of promotions, "A"'s, awards and hugs! Way to go all of us! We Rock! :0)

Our Very Happy Thanksgiving!

Hey there blogging friends! Well I had this blog entry all ready to go the day after we got back from our trip but I wanted to add some more pictures and we've had some technical difficulties. My sister and I wanted to share the pictures we had taken of each other's families and it was a bit of a process with the sharing happening between two very busy moms and two very unruly computers, so sorry this is over a week past Thanksgiving. And thank you Bethany for working to get those darn pictures to me! :0) So here is my blog entry that has been waiting somewhat patiently to be posted...

Thanksgiving is all about Family, Food and Football! Well,.... I guess gratitude too! :0) We had a wonderful time in LA with my parents and five of my 11 siblings that of course involved family togetherness, yummy fatty foods, watching lots of football, and feeling lots of gratitude. We had thanksgiving dinner at my brother Charles's new house. Which they have made really beautiful. We also were able to visit my niece who is a new mom making Stew a Great Uncle and me a Great Aunt! Crazy huh?!?! Their little guy is adorable! I got to meet my sister Anj's seven week old baby Lauren. She really is a baby beauty. :0) It was fun to see my sister Shayla's pictures for her modeling portfolio. Way to go Shay! The kid's favorite was running around with their five older cousins at the park, Charles's, and around grandma and grandpa's house. We were able to see my Grandma Angeli and her newer place too. It is very cute and she even hosted the football Fans. Go cougars!

We not only got to visit the Smith side of the family but were able to hang out with Josh and Sherri Gunn, our cousins on Mom Rasmussen's side, and our friends the Sellers who were there visiting with the Gunns for the holiday. Josh and Sherri also have a new little girl and it was so fun to catch up with them and see their little angels Ellie and Grace and the Seller's little stud Kye. We also were able to see my best friend since I was a baby, JoAnna. YAY! I instructed my kids that she is their AUNT Joanna not just Joanna. :0) It was so good to see her and she even came bearing gifts too! She is such a generous friend! Overall we had a wonderful time and I think it was the perfect trip for us. We both feel rejuvenated and plumped up from my mom's and my sister-in-law Tami's gourmet home cooking. :0) Exactly what you want out of your Thanksgiving! We already miss my family but feel so grateful we were able to share our thanksgiving with them.

Here are the Things we are Thankful for this Thanksgiving Vacation:
- Seeing my wonderful family: I am all about family so I was in heaven!
- being able to be in beautiful Lush, Sunny, and warmer then Reno California! there are reasons people pay a fortune to live is Southern Cali! It is beautiful!
- that the kids did so good in the car- - - its a pretty long drive, 9 hours on our way home
- watching our kids loving their cousins... 'priceless'
- seeing the miracle of babies and the joy they bring our lives and our family's lives- - -hurray for Anj, Sherri and Christie's new additions
- THAT BYU WON! :0)
- the huge generosity of my parents- thank you a million times!
- that Stew got to help my dad draw blue prints for the house they want to build! Stew said it tided with BYU's win, and my mom's food as his highlight of his trip. So dad, Stew had as much fun doing it as you did! :0) and I had fun shopping for the "materials" with you too!
- that you'd have no idea that my grandma is 90 and that my dad is 79! They act 20 years younger then they are! My dad is planning on buying a minivan! I love it! Maybe he'll pass it on to us when he "grows" out of it. hint hint :0)
- that I got to see Christie my niece. She is one of my favorite people ever- instant giggles when we get together
- Seeing Joanna my best friend and that she hooked me up with some way cute clothes and designer cup cakes! fashion, food and my BFF is a great combination :0)
- that my brother Charles gave us a ton of awesome hand-me-down clothes for Angeli, honestly she will be styling till she is three!
- that our car functioned properly- - - it has lots of issues and miles :0(
- that on the drive home Stew and I had a really spiritual conversation about the Gospel and set a lot of good goals about missionary work and our family's future. Long drives always seems to give us time to get down to the deep stuff we sometimes skim over in day-to-day life
- That we have the Gospel. Church on Sunday really touched my heart. I realized even more how blessed we are with having the Gospel
- that we have our little family
- and that we have all of you!

My family dose a pretty weak job at taking pictures but this trip my sister Bethany and I made sure we got some. So I actually will have pictures of this trip! Yay! Here are some of Stew and my favorites...

Stew climbing trees at the park with the little ones. What a cute bunch I've got myself!

Our handsome almost two year old

Angeli being cute at the park

Now Bridger is climbing trees with his cousins

The Manly Boys who braved the tree!

Angeli and her cousin Eden who is three months older then her. They're already good buddies.

Me and my beautiful Niece Christie and her cute 3 month old little man, who's really not so little (he weighs more than Angeli) but rather very very cute. :0)

Bridger LOVING his uncle Charles's 'Daw gee'!
Bridger has no fear and all love when comes to dogs.
In the end we had to separate them for the dogs safety!

The Kids' Saturday night bath time with their cousin Eden!
Eden is the one with the cute bum in the back ground.

the cutest bathers I ever bathed!


Saying our goodbyes after church.
Dad was teaching Sunday school so he wasn't able to be in our pictures. :0(

Me feeling like I could take on twins if they were as cute as these two!


Four generations all together! Angeli with her grandmas she was named after.
(My mom's madine name is Angeli)

Remembering This Time Four Years Ago!

Well, four years ago this week Stewart got down on one knee and asked me if I'd be his little misses. My bling bling was a pink ring pop but it was non-the-less very sweet. :0) A couple of days later he did it all over again with the real bling'n ring and it was fun to be proposed to twice. Here's our little engagement stories. :0)

The first proposal was as we walked back to the car from our snow picnic up by bridal veil falls. As we walked Stewart kept trying to find reasons to stop and get into his backpack. I was so cold I just wanted to get back to the car. He kept saying things like, " Hey, lets throw rocks in the puddle" and I was totally bemused at his need to stop in the frigid cold and do stupid things. Finally, I said something about needing to tell my mom that we were thinking of getting married in February and he said, "Well, we better make it official then." I stood their in shock as he got down on one knee shaking more from nerves then cold and asked with a big old grin on his face "will you marry me". I said yes and started to laugh as he grabbed the wrong hand and placed a big pink ring pop on my cold blue finger. He later told me that the day was all planned but the ring wasn't ready in time so he bought a ring pop last minute. Such a cute guy thing! :0)

PS I still have the ring pop! Its a little deformed but its in a ring box in my drawer. Bridger did try to eat it once but luckily I caught him and saved it from the mortal peril of baby slobber.

A few days later we were going to be flying to my family's for thanksgiving and I wanted a real ring so it would be more official but thought I could suck it up and be fine without it. The last night before we were leaving I had to drop my last midterm research paper off late at night at me professor's office. Stew took me up to campus and seemed rather giddy about it. I just took it as his total crazy in 'loveness' with me and thus was overly excited to be able to spend time with me no matter how mundane. After I dropped my paper off he asked if I'd like to walk around a bit, so we did. We stopped on the outside patio area of the fine arts building at BYU and he gave me a big hug. When he did I could feel his heart pounding really hard. I thought that was a bit weird and I wondered if he thought we were having a really special moment or something. He then stepped back and got down on his knee and asked if I would 'honor him by taking his hand and be his wife'. I told him I would love to and gave him a big kiss. I was so nervous I wouldn't like the ring I didn't even have the courage to look at it and even gave him the wrong hand! You'd think the second time both of us would get it right. :0) For some reason ( I guess the power of the bling) it hit home really strong the second time and instead of laughing we were tearing up. However, we eventually got the giggles and felt like we should call everyone and re-announce our engagement! When we were getting in the car I finally got the courage to look at my ring. And I was so relieved; it was perfect. Three months later we sealed the deal in the Los Angeles temple and really have lived happily ever after!

I am so happy Stew looked beyond the fact that I was two weeks out of high school, was overly emotional, had wounds and many dreams and saw my potential to be a good wife and mother. He took my hand despite all my faults and decided he'd like to try and make a very happy life with me. And I think he has done a really good job. I couldn't imagine a better man then the one I've got!

Here is a little movie I made for the Smith family reunion this summer that I have recently updated a bit. It showcases all the little mile stones we've made together! Enjoy...

Our Crazy Lives!

Well, things have been a bit crazy this week. I have had so much business I am running out of room to put all my impressions. In this week alone I have done 69 plates! I am so tired! And the week isn't even over yet. It is such a blessing but I was very relived when a daycare canceled for their Monday appointment today because I just don't have much more room! I am really enjoying it though. I love being able to do something a little artistic that is my own creation and also being able to visit with all the moms and cute babies. It is just so crazy how much things have changed these past two weeks. I went from overwhelming excitement at each appointment to relieved at a customer's cancellation. I guess the Lord was serious when He promises we wont have room enough to receive our blessings. I know most of this rush is because of Christmas and the next months will be back to my normal slow pace but this little surge will help get my product out there spreading the word about me. Well, that's the hope at lest.

Impressions taking over my laundry room.

Wednesday was my super crazy day in Tahoe. It went well but it was an all-nighter for me and Stew. I left the house at 8am and got home at 6:30pm, and that was just the beginning of my work. Stew was so worried for me and all the work I had that he didn't study for his test he had the next day and just helped me. I really don't know what I would have done without his help. He really saved the day. He just kept saying he felt he'd be blessed for helping me and he was right. He got an "A"! He even did a late night run to Walmart to get emergency supplies and brought me home a carpet cleaner as a surprise. That might not be very glamorous but I have been dreaming of one since we moved here. Cream colored carpet and two drewly babies are a really bad combo. My reward to getting everything under control tonight is going to be cleaning my carpet! I am actually very excited about it. :0)

my new carpet cleaner!

Last night was much the same. I feel like I haven't had a moment to breath. By the time I got to bed my hands were so dried with clay, and swollen and acheing from all the small fine movements I had to do. Putting lotion on felt like I had died and gone to heaven! Stew had a study session last night until 12 am and has another one today too. I hope my poor guy doesn't get too tired out. We just keep looking forward to our trip to California and realizing I can just leave all my impressions behind to dry and Stew can leave school behind and we can get some much needed breaks from our crazy sleep deprived lives.

The little ones are a bit sick but are still pretty happy running around being their normal cute selves. Bridger is picking up a word here and there which is very exciting for us. He is such a little helper. He is right by my side helping me cook, do the dishes, unloading the dish washer, cleaning up the house, helping me with clients :0), doing the laundry, making the bed, and comforting, and yes, even not helping by terrorizing Angeli too.

Helping me put the silverware away with cake still on his face

Angeli is growing so fast. Her hair is long enough for pig tails now (very small ones) and I have been having a blast playing with her hair. She really is my little baby doll I can play dress-up with.

Angi eating my mom's chocolate velvet cake, yum!
Her hair was really cute until she took her nap.

Well, that's everything I can think of about our lives this week. We are looking forward to seeing many of you this next week!

Pictures of our Cute Babies and Updates

Just before Halloween I took Angeli to get her 9 month pictures taken and for both of them to get some Halloween pictures as well. They aren't the cutest pictures ever but they're still pretty darn cute so I thought I would share them with you guys.

Life here is going pretty good. I am busy with my business which is a really welcomed blessing. I have appointments every day this week! Yay, for Timeless Treasures! (my business's name). I had my baby fest this Saturday which went really well. Not only was I able to set appointments but I even was able to network with all the other baby oriented businesses that were there. I am going to do impressions at a baby gym next month on their Santa picture day, and I am going to start advertising with a kiddie kandides. I attracted the most customers by far so the Babies R Us people asked me to come to the next two months baby fests. All of these things are really tender mercies that I am so humbled to have. :0) Tomorrow, I am going to Tahoe to do my millions of impressions. I am a bit nervous about it. I am sure it will all go well but it will just be an all day job and I worry my kids will end up a bit neglected. :0( I hate when I have to take on a "watch fifty movies" parenting style.

Stew has his first test since "hell month" on Thursday. We are trying to readjust to having him gone a bit more as the tests are going to start up again. I think as of right now he has "A"'s in all of his nine classes. We are so happy he is not only doing really well but that he is really liking it. He has been a major help to me with my business too and at times I would be doing all nighters if it weren't for his willingness to set down his books despite his deadlines and help me glaze. I think he's even getting better at glazing then me! He is a stud.

And my latest grip/emotional struggle has been feeling a little like a dork. Well its more like I feel like a major dork. :0) Which is compounded by me feeling guilty about feeling like a dork and wishing I was above such things. It is so easy to look at all the things other people are doing, wearing and accomplishing and feel that somehow because they are so good at it that I am no good. It all started when I went to the mall to pick up the kids pictures. Before this day I was on cloud nine. I felt like the luckiest girl in the world. I was humbled at how spoiled I was by my tremendous blessings from Heavenly Father and my generous family members. But this day I had a little time to kill and I was by myself so I thought I would take this rare opportunity to window shop. This was a dumb idea being that I am a poor med-student's wife. As I window and people watched I realized how terribly out of fashion I was and I started to actually feel very bitter at all the people I saw with all their new purchases. I admittedly knew this was very lame but it was non-the- less how I felt. Since then I really struggled to shake it. I just kept seeing all these people with all their "cool" things. And it's not the things themselves that made me jealous but rather what they equated to. I hated that Stew couldn't go out to eat with his med buddies and then felt a little left out, I hated that my kids have a quarter of the toys that their friends have and thus are not as good at playing whatever game it is they are playing, I hated that we cant go on tons of fun family outings, like skiing and such. I hated that when we are invited to do things we have to say no because we don't have the money to go along. I hated that my kids cant go to swimming classes like their buddies. I hated moments like Stew trying to explain that he cant go to the driving range to his friends because we don't have the four dollars it costs and that we have to console ourselves with the idea that we'll be so grateful someday that we saved every penny we could. I feared that these things not only made me a dork but what was even more terrible was that not having these things made me a bad mom and wife in some respect because I couldn't give them all the things I wanted to. I was afraid that people will think my kids aren't smart and good at sports because I haven't given them the same opportunities to develop their talents as other parents. Or that my husband wont be good at golf and feel bad about it only because we didn't ever have the money for him to play. I felt like people will think we are boring dorky people and not realize we are just counting our pennies.

My one real consolation has been thinking about my sister-in-law Kristine. She is perhaps the most Christ like person I know. She has spent her entire life caring about better things then if she looks dorky, or if she has cute clothes or whatever. Every minute of her day is in an effort to help those around her. This has held true when they were dirt poor or well off. I really want to be like her and have realized how far I have to go to achieve that. When I hear her stories of their poor law school days I am very encouraged because I realize that if I want to be like her then I should be excited for this opportunity to practice and truly learn to be happy despite how dorky I might look to others. When I take the time to realize this I then am truly grateful I can take the road less traveled (or at lest a less glamorous one) and stop worrying about my shirt that Bridger has stained and is fraying at the edge, and start to think more about how blessed I am and how I can lift others up instead of pulling myself down. So now when I start to complain Stew has started to say "think of Kristine". With that I feel very humble and realize how vain and petty I am being. I can then hope that I can teach my kids to not worry about what clothes they are wearing or if they are varsity at every sport but rather how they are making the world a better place. Thus, my advise to myself is that I will just have to fully embrace dorkyness and move on to better more important worries. And until I achieve "Kristine status" I will just have to avoid malls, fashion magazines, and very trendy cute people like the plague! :0)

Well, that is my latest issue and on a more upbeat note here are my biggest and best miracles... my beautiful babies :0) .

Very cute and putting her in the wagon thing kept her from crawling all over the place

So she isn't even looking directly at the camera but still I liked it and I wanted one with her looking up while she was in the wagon thing so there it is! :0)

She is a cute baby chick!

I love her expression in this one, she's being a very coy baby chick :0)

And then my favorite puppy dog of all time, Bridger! So cute!

PS I only scanned the pictures to put them on the blog and wont be printing them off so I wont be breaking too many copyright laws. :0)

My Business Updates.

Well my business has been such a roller-coaster for us, but it seems we are really on the up this week and I thought I should write and express my gratitude and excitement to all of you.
This week started with Kiln drama. I am not a ceramic or pottery person and thus I have no idea what I am doing with my kiln. We are always calling Paul and the L&L kiln company to try and make sense of what is going on. But after a day of anxiety and stress over my seemingly broken kiln and tons of deadlines looming I found what was wrong. One of the wires that controls the kiln temperature was touching the outside of the kiln. That was it! I moved it over and Ta Da! It works! I was soooooooooo relived, no ordering parts from Pennsylvania or anything!

Then on Wednesday I actually had a client and they spent over $80 on their baby girl! I was thrilled! We can now really really afford to go to California for Thanksgiving! I get to see my very dear family and California based friends, Smiles all around! :0)

I then received a call from a lady in Tahoe who has arranged for me to come to four different daycares and take over 40 impressions! What a huge blessing! I am also going to two other daycares in Reno in next two weeks. So great! Bless those daycares!

Today my angel of a friend, Amy, watched the kids for me so I could try to place some samples in doctors offices and something truly amazing happened; they actually let me put them in their offices! Not only that, but the receptionists were all in a buzz about my product and telling me all the stuff they are going to get and that they will be calling me soon. So wonderful!

And this Saturday I am going to have a table up as part of the Babies R US's "Baby Fest". Hopefully I can set up appointments with all the mommies struck by my product. :0) This is another huge blessing!

I whole heartedly contribute this little spree of blessings to the kindness of Heavenly Father on the behalf of all the prayers and fasts my loved ones have done for me and my little business. It is so great to feel like we don't have to keep pursuing my business on blind faith but rather start seeing opportunities start pouring in. :0) Thank you so much for your prayers, baby sitting, fasting, helping me make samples with your babies, and patience in letting me vent and fret to so many of you. I'll remember your kindness even when I am racking in the millions. :0) I love you guys!

Yup that's really Sammy's Paw!


testing out new ideas with my babies,
and apparently I was so enthralled in my turkey that I overlooked how to spell my own son's name! :0) My mom called and told me that my turkey plates were very cute but that they would be even cuter if I had spelled my son's name right. We got a good laugh out of it. It is so typical of me I can only shrug my shoulders and say yup that sounds like me. My favorite word blunder was my history paper I turned in about 50's poop culture! But, yes I promise I really do have a college degree! :0) And in my defense Stew didn't notice either and he's in med school.

My holiday edition, cute huh?!?!? - - - and I even spelled her name right! :0)

Preserving Memories

My life these past weeks has seemed to be revolving around preserving my family's memories. I have finally started to organize, format, and burn our home videos onto DVD's. I have also been making a ton of picture slide shows, journaling for me and the kids, and typing up a recipe book of our little family's favorite recipes in what I call my master cook book. Scrapbooking is on hold as I am doing the computer end of things, but I have been thinking about it a lot. :0)
Basically from taking a million pictures, video taping, saving them and making them cute, to even my business as I am always making samples with the kids, all my energy seems to be poured into trying to capture how special this time is with my babies. Watching all our videos starting from Bridger's pregnancy to now I have re-realized what a truly happy life Stew and I have had and are having. I just cant express how much joy my husband and kiddos have brought to my life. They really are everything to me. And the icing on top is knowing that, whether they like it or not, they are stuck with me for eternity! :0) Well, here are some of my little slide shows I just finished. Hope you enjoy them!

I guess I was tagged!

Well my cousin Megan tagged me on her blog to answer these questions about myself on my own blog. So here they are! :0) Oh, and Bethany, Becca, Anjanae, and Treva tag your it! and yes that means you should start a blog of your own too! :0)

Four Places I've Lived:

Glendale California - used to be such a great place to live but now its so expensive and crowded these days

Burbank California (the real Hollywood)

Provo Utah (Go cougars!)

Sparks Nevada (med school)

Four Jobs I've Had:

Caterer’s assistant – loved it

Attorney’s assistant – hated it

"Assistant Manager" (wow wow) of Big Dog’s Sport’s Wear - liked it

MTC cafeteria worker - wet, hot, and smelly! Once I started college my jobs went all down hill

Four Things I'd like to do before I die:

Get my master’s in history and become a professor teaching at a small college

Travel all over, especially Thailand and Europe

Serve a mission or two with my hubby

Fatten up all my grandkids with goodies and give them lots of hugs and kisses

Four Favorite Desserts:

Seeing how I have been living on Halloween candy all day nothing sounds good but I guess…

Angel food cake with whipped cream, ice cream and strawberries

Chocolate chip cookies and milk

Ice cream in my cereal and milk (try it! It is so good!) ice cream and milk is a Smith tradition :)

Anything my mom makes that includes sugar

Four Interesting Facts about Me:

At age five I had seven cavities - too much candy and not enough toothpaste I guess

I dyed my hair four times in one night during high school ending in the color black. It did have a hint of purple though (its never been the same!)

I gave a speech in the California Senate building

I ran the San Diego marathon 3:40 or something like that - my sisters Anj and shayla were my cheerleaders that made it possible! Thanks!

Four Favorite TV Shows:

Charley and Lola- its on the Disney channel .I love it! So cute because they are sweet kids and they are British

The Office - thanks to my sister Anj introducing it to Stew and me

CNN – dorky I know, but it’s the truth these days :0) "Planet in Peril" is good stuff. Lee would be proud of me :0)

HGTV – most anything dealing with decorating and I am in heaven. Ever since I was a little kid my most common day dreams have been about remodeling my house - I get it from my mom who is a decorating genius

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

Happy Halloween! We had a fun Halloween this year. The best part for us was getting our kids all dressed up. Angeli was a baby chick. Eden sent her her costume and it was so perfect for her. When I brought her home from the hospital at 5 lbs. my mom and I nicknamed her my "chickeny" girl because her legs were so skinny they reminded us of chicken legs. I still call her my "chickeny" girl as she is still such little thing. Bridger was a puppy dog. Eden sent him his costume too, she is such a life saver!, and his costume was perfect because he has always LOVED doggies. As far as our Halloween activities go we didn't do anything too exciting but none the less we had a blast.
Stew had his last test of his "hell month" ( he thinks he did really well) and was able to come home early. Yay! :0) This is the first Halloween of our marriage (except for when it was on a Sunday) that Stew has been able to be home because he's had to work at UPS. But now there's no more UPS so he was able to be with us! So happy! I worked on my ceramic stuff- - - fun fun, we had a leftovers dinner, got the kids all "cutified" and headed to our ward's Trunk-or-Treat. It was so fun to do trunk-or-treating this year because Bridger is old enough to be excited about getting all the candy. Yum! He didn't quit get that you only take one candy. If they'd let him he would have taken the whole bowl! :0) After the Trunk-or-Treat we headed home and web-camed Grandma and Grandpa Rasmussen; which was a great way to end a great day. Overall it was so much fun to show off our cute kids and see Bridger starting to get the whole trick-or-treating thing down. We are so excited for next year with Bridger totally getting into it and Angeli being where Bridger is now. Kids make everything so much fun! :0) We love them! Hope you had a very Happy Halloween too! Love, All of Us

The little Chick clucking around

Our little puppy dog scarfing down his chow

Such a cute picture of Stew and his baby chick

Me and my cute boy again

And our "chickeny" girl

Perk of being a Nevadan - - - Nevada Day!

After this long week with Stew coming home around 12 am every night I was very excited to enjoy our first Nevada Day. What makes Nevada day so great is it means no School! Stew and I were able to go to the temple, let the kids get a nap while stew studied for his Monday test, go to our local pumpkin patch, and Stew and I cozied up while we gorged on sweets and watched the movie we rented. It was a much needed change from our daily drill.
Saturday was a busy and fun day too. Angeli and Bridger got their pictures taken that turned out pretty darn cute, Stew studied once again, and then we went to our second pumpkin carving party of the season that one of Stew's med buddies was throwing. I was also able to get some impressions done! We are crossing our fingers that these ones don't crack! :0)
Sunday was filled with church fun as Stew taught Elder's Quorum, I chased kids around in the nursery, and we did some end of the month home/visiting teaching. After we had our third pumpkin carving party, which like the others, left stew's and my pumpkins very much just that- pumpkins. I don't think we'll have our high class jack-o-lanterns this year but the kids' look pretty cute. Bridger had a lot of fun helping his dad cut out the eyes and stuff.
Well there is our play-by-play of our weekend; I am sure it was exhilarating! :0) We really did have a great time and really needed it after the crazy weeks we've been having with Stew's tests. But before I sign out I also want to fill you all in on our latest little updates. So here I go...

Friday was Angeli's 9 month birthday! I can't believe she is already nine months old. However, when I think that she has been outside of my tummy only as long as she was in it I realize just how LONG pregnancy is! She is little miss self sufficient but lately she has started to want to cuddle with her mommy more so that has been really sweet. I am totally loving it. She is at the beginnings of "cruising"- - -walking holding onto furniture. Bridger doesn't make it very easy though as he is such a boy tackling her all the time. :0)
Bridger, my long time cuddle bug, is starting the very very first steps of potty training thanks to my sister Anjanea's coaching. We are starting to teach him the entire process before we give it a full on try with his very own potty. It is fun, believe it or not, teaching him how to pull up and down his pants, flushing the toilet, washing hands.... He loves pleasing his mommy and daddy so he thinks this new challenge is a great way to show what a big helpful boy he is. He beams with pride whenever he gets a "good job" from us. He's such a cutie! I counted yesterday that I changed 8 diapers. Just for fun I figured that in a week that's 56 diapers, in a month that is 224, and in a year I change a whopping 2688 diapers! If all goes well potty training will be a great change for all of us!
Stew did awesome on his two huge tests this week! He is such a stud. He broke/fractured his foot/toe this week playing football. Ironically the future doctor wont go see a doctor so I am crossing my fingers that it heals however it should. In the mean time I guess he'll just be a bit of a gimp = ( .
And Me...I am plugging away at keeping my business going, making sure we are feed, clean, dressed, within budget and basically sane! My latest gripe has been me wondering why I have no winter clothes purchased after high school. I know I have bought stuff these past winters. But yet there is nothing. Today it dawned on me, I have been pregnant these past two winters!!! So I have been buying tons of clothes but they are all maternity! In the spirit of that revelation I actually busted out my favorite maternity dress and wore it to church today. :0) Stew got a laugh out of it and I think I pulled it off pretty well. :0) Luckily for me I look so un-pregnant when I am pregnant that I don't think it was too much of a stretch. Plus I figured that if I can wear my normal clothes all of my pregnancy why not the other way around?!?!?! :0) So with our budget the way it is I will just have to sport my high school clothes this winter and perhaps a little maternity too! :0)
We love you guys and We hope you enjoy the pictures we took of our very fun weekend together.

Our family of four pumpkins

The one with two teeth is Angi's and Bridger's is the slightly bigger one

Angeli checking out the pumpkins

Bridger LOVED the farm animals

Me and my little pumpkin

Bridger being manly by taking on the tractor

By far his favorite was the bounce house!

One of our favorite things to do is throw family dances. Here is part of our post pumpkin patch shin dig.

Here's my cuddly boy giving Angi a nice big bear hug mid dance. They are so sweet together even if it is a little bit more of a choke hold then a hug!

A Deadly Combination: Toddler + Sharpie

Well it is another one of those golden mommy days for me. :0) Honestly, my kids have been angels today but My Goodness, did they have a surprise for me! I was on the phone with my mom when I realized the house was a bit too quite so I started to investigate. I saw that my bedroom door was open and realized they were in their favorite off limits hang out- - - the master bathroom! As I entered my room I saw my scrapbooking stuff strewn around the room and what I assumed was my eyeliner drawn all over the carpet. I was annoyed about the eyeliner but the scrapbooking mess is almost a daily occurrence. When I entered the bathroom there sat Angeli eating my scrapbooking paper and Bridger coloring all over the bathroom with not eyeliner but a SHARPIE! It was all over the floor, the cabinets and my bedroom carpet. Oh, it is so sad! My bathroom is ruined! I quickly took the magic eraser to it and now I have purple drawings all over my floor and cabinets. Thus, I am resorting to sending out a plea to all you brave moms who have gone before to tell me if you know about anything that is more magical then the magic eraser. I guess in the mean time I will just have to decide my Bridger is a budding artist who has redecorated my bathroom in an effort to show his great love for me, oh and of course, never let him near a sharpie again!!! :0)

the crime scene with the kaput magic eraser

the mischievous culprit trying to hide the evidence!


tricking him to put on his sweater I am able to revel the evidence against him!

and of course Bridger's sneaky looking accomplice!