this is goodbye

Well, goodbye for 2007 at least. We are leaving tomorrow morning to go home for the holidays...YAY! We are so excited to see family and friends! The boys and I leave tomorrow morning and then Travis comes out on Thursday. Let the parties begin!

Fun sidenote: apparently when it snows in Michigan, church and school get canceled. So, our church was canceled today and we had sacrament meeting in our living room...that's a first for us! THAT would never happen in Utah...

Anyway, I posted a picture of Isaac last time...here are a couple of my other monkeys. I have so many empty frames in my house and they needed filling, so I dragged Kaleb and Barrett outside for some quick pictures. 15 minutes. For BOTH of them! I have to work quick with them (apparently when your mom picks up the camera, it's really funny to run the opposite way giggling).

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Warning: partial nudity ahead

Seriously, how many naked pictures does a mom need of her tiny one? I CAN'T HELP IT...it's too stinkin cute...

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Merry Christmas...er...Happy Thanksgiving

It's not supposed to snow until Christmas morning!!! Well, that's how it would be in Jean's perfect world. But, against my wishes, we wake up Thanksgiving morning to a winter wonderland.

The boys were so excited...they woke up and instantly wanted to go out and play. Now, you know they are excited when they want to do something without even eating breakfast...

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So happy, so thankful

I am so happy.
I am so thankful.
So thankful for my boys (all four of them).
Thankful for our wonderful family.
Thankful for our friends.
Thankful for the church that I belong to that guides us every day.
So many things that I am thankful for.
Wow, I am a lucky girl.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!

Things have finally started to slow down lately and we were able to take a little two day trip down to Ohio with some friends from church. We went to Kalahari...a huge indoor water park and resort. It was great to leave our busy lives behind and just have so much fun together!

I wish I had better and more exciting pictures to show, but I barely even pulled out our camera. When I did it seems I couldn't even center a picture. So, let's all laugh together about my terrible photo skills at Kalahari.

Take One

Take Two

Take Three

Oh well, I never could center it, but at least it's a cute picture of Travis and Isaac.

Here's Kaleb...riding the wave. Sweet!

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Check out my boys

Ok, so the dark and dreary months are coming, so I was in need of some serious lighting equipment. I got it this last weekend and tried it out on my boys. Go check them out on my photography blog, HERE.

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To be continued...in this lifetime???

Ha ha! That's the question Joy asked in a comment on my last entry. Yes, I am finally posting again. It makes me happy to know that my friends and family care enough about our blog that they will make rude and threatening comments on the blog to update more often and post more pictures! Because we are still living with moving boxes up to our necks, I will postpone indoor pictures of our house and other house news until later.

So, what's the point of me posting Halloween pictures almost a week late when everyone else's blogs have moved onto other things? Several good reasons follow that question...

1. Halloween is tied for my favorite holiday and I HAVE to have a Halloween post.
2. I feel guilty that I am a mother and photographer and didn't even get pictures of my kids on Halloween. So, I made them get dressed up again four days later for pictures.
3. If I am going to go through all that trouble to get pictures, I might as well share them.
4. To show you how lame I am this year...my kids are wearing the same costumes as last year!

My lameness will have to be blamed on our busyness this last month. With sickness sweeping our house, moving, and my photography, we didn't even have time to get new costumes (not to mention the fact that we didn't even carve pumpkins until an hour before we went trick or treating). Oh well...expect big things from us next year!

Here are some quick pics of my cute boys in their "rerun" costumes...

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We're in...FINALLY.

To be continued...

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Visitors!!!

Yay! Visitors! Trav's mother, Debbie, and his aunt Lori came to visit us this last week.

Once upon a time, a long time ago, Debbie and Lori booked their tickets to come out here. We were supposed to be in our new house long before they arrived. But, alas, our date had been pushed back yet again, and they arrived to spend the week as minimalists...just like us for the past few months. Oh well, they adapted easily to their beds on a couch and twin mattress (yes, the twin mattress was an upgrade we added in the last week), plastic plates, and bare walls.

Well, since we figured they didn't come to see the decor on our walls anyway, we had a great time together! Lots of shopping, laughing, and seeing random sites in Michigan. This is a picture of all of us (minus me) at a Cider Mill (I should have a whole separate blog about the cider mills here....love them)!

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Isaac

I am sorry, but Isaac is too cute. I am still baffled that a baby can be as good and always happy as he is. It breaks my heart that our family and friends don't know him and get to enjoy his sunshine. Yes, sunshine...that is our Isaac. Cheesy? Yes, but the only way to describe him.

Isaac is learning how to sit up on his own, but every time we turn around, he is diving to get whatever is closest to his mouth (as displayed below).

Kaleb made a "robot" box for Isaac to sit in with holes for his arms and legs to stick out. He just sits in there patiently and sucks on the box while Kaleb and Barrett laugh and laugh and laugh. And laugh. And laugh a little more.

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No pictures, just words

Ok, so this is a random blog entry, but no one around here knows Travis well enough yet to appreciate what a goof he is, so I had to share with those of you who do. Not sure if he will love it that I share his deep, dark secrets...

So, I am out working on the computer late the other night when I hear laughing in the next room (not a giggle or chuckle...full out laughter). So, I walk in there knowing that Travis has been asleep for about about an hour and a half. I walk in to see him with the biggest smile on his face that I have ever seen.
Me: Travis, what in the heck is so funny?
Travis: (opens eyes and still grinning)
Me: Why are you laughing?
Travis: (still smiling) Because your reward is a corndog (little giggle)
Me: "Huh?"
Travis: Yes, you deserve a corndog...but only if you jump over the pants (still smiling, he rolls over and goes to sleep).

It was one of those moments that I just laughed so hard and wish I had someone else there to make fun of him with me. Of course, he remembers nothing of the incident.

I just thought those of you who were in Europe or China with him and were subjected to his nighttime laughing, weeping, and proclamations of squishing grapes in his toes would like this.

Aaaahhh...so much fun to be married to him. Truly...never a dull moment!!!

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Heaven

Monday morning.
We are driving to school and it is a bit foggy that morning. We are driving up the street and come upon this sight. Kaleb practically jumps out of seat.
Kaleb: LOOK! It's beatiful...it's heaven! Mom, take a picture of heaven!
Me thinking: Ohhh, he's so precious...and lucky that I DO happen to have my camera here.
Kaleb: I want to be sucked up to heaven through that heaven portal!
Precious moment ruined. Oh well, there's heaven from a little boy's point of view.

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Back to School

Bitter sweet. That's what the first day of school is to me. A part of me wants to leap for joy, and another is sad my little buddies are headed off to the real world (without me there to protect them). I had a sad mommy moment when I thought Barrett would be terrified to go to kindergarten and cling to me for dear life. On the contrary, he didn't even want to hold my hand as he was cruising down the hall to put his backpack in his "cool new locker." Well, I guess we can chalk it off as a successful first day of school.

As I looked at these pictures on the computer, I seriously had to look twice...those aren't my little boys, those are grown up little men! What happened to my itty bitties?

I had to take a picture of Barrett's shoes. Travis has slowly been infiltrating our family with converse shoes...

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Henry Ford Museum

Fun times. We love our life. Whether we are just hanging out at home or out on a weekend adventure, we always have fun. Boys are crazy, loud, sometimes obnoxious, and hilarious. And, as you all know, I am completely surrounded by boys. The only thing that would make it better is if we were surrounded by family and friends. So, could you all hurry up and start migrating to Michigan?

We had fun last weekend with James and Jen Peterson (James and Trav work together). We went to the Henry Ford Museum which was so much fun! I had heard a lot about it but didn't know what to expect...I was totally surprised! It was huge and full of cool things (cars were only part of it). They had an old, battered jeep of a father and son from South America who wanted to get to the Henry Ford museum so bad that they left with nothing but their jeep towards the U.S. Two years later, they finally made it there. Well, it only took us 30 minutes for us to get there, but was well worth the trip. We didn't have time to go to Greenfield Village (which is a dated village with old streets and buildings, women in their big dresses and parasols, old model T's driving around, etc.)...but we'll make it back soon...

Those fuzzy blobs are not angels, but rather us. I asked a sweet little Chinese man to take our picture...

In my son's defense, he is NOT picking, he is SCRATCHING...

I thought this was cool, this was Madonna's limo she went to awards shows in...seriously...too much money floating around...

Just wanted to post a picture of my new car...or rather John Lennon's car. But, I love it and want one!

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The Mullet is Back

The Mullet look is back...ok, it was never IN. Isaac had acquired the-bald-spot-on-the-back-of-the-head-from-the-hair-being -rubbed-off look and had a sweet mullet growing in back. As a first time parent of a baby born with lots of hair, I wanted to keep all of his luscious blond locks. But, unfortunately, I just couldn't stand to see my baby with a bald spot and mullet and he received his first haircut at almost four months old. Isn't my tiny too young to be getting a haircut? Well, here are some before and afters of his first haircut...



Hmmm, I need to get more pictures of Kaleb and Barrett on here. They just seem to run the other direction when I get my camera out. Here come the bribes...

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Friends and Fotography

There's been so much fun the past two weeks, I don't know where to start! It's been a Thunderbird reunion around here! Our friends from Arizona, the Duffy's, took a road trip from Wisconsin (Ken is doing an internship there) to our house last weekend. Their time here was short, but we had so much fun! It was a weekend full of movies, swimming, picnics, gaming, and of course, hot dogs...oh, I mean, polish dogs...apparently, there is a huge difference according to Travis and Ken. Here is a pic of them that I'm sure they will be pleased to see that I posted...

Next on the list of fun was our road trip to Greensboro, North Carolina this last weekend. Our friends, the Heids (also from Thunderbird), live in North Carolina as well...how convenient is that? Danny, Andrea, and Connor were the ones at Isaac's baby blessing for all of you folks in Utah who were there. I'm not sure Travis would have conceded to drag the whole family down there if we didn't have the Heid's to hang out with too! Here is a sweet self timer off the back of Danny's car...thank goodness he had his camera...


And here is a pic of the photography workshop I attended. It was BEYOND amazing...don't even get me started...look at that studio...ahhhh....

Oh! By the way...Happy Anniversary to me and Trav (last Sunday)! NINE YEARS!!! Since we were in N.C. on our anniversary, we are going to celebrate it this weekend. While we there, not only did Travis watch the boys the whole time I was having fun at the workshop, he decorated our hotel room and had roses and chocolates on the bed for me when I got back Saturday night! Seriously, I could get really mushy here, but I will save you all and just say I have the best husband EVER!

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Not much to say...

No big news around our house...so I'll just post a picture of my teeny tiny.


BUT...I did want to say CONGRATS to Trav's sister Mikki, and her hubby Kevin, on their new baby, Emery! Yay!!!! We are so sorry we can't be there to see her...we expect lots of pictures...

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Summer in Michigan

Michigan is beautiful in the summertime! I'm sure I'll be singing a different tune come winter, but we love all of the lakes and the lush, greenness of it all and are having a great time! Sometimes I feel like we are still on vacation and will be coming home soon. I just don't think we feel truly settled yet. Speaking of that, our house is still on track to be done mid to late August...we'll see how that goes. Maybe then, the fact that we are now permanently relocated might sink in a bit.

These pictures are at a cottage on a lake, owned by some people from church, the Jensens. They, and others from church, have been SOOO wonderful to us! We have been to the lake a few times with them and the boys absolutely LOVE it!

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Sherwoods

Our hearts are broken for Josh and Amanda Sherwood, our friends from Arizona, whose sweet baby Andrew passed away on July 13, 2007. Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers at this time. We love you Sherwoods!

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4th of July

Hi! Everyone has a busy 4th of July and pictures to go along with it. So, I thought I would add mine to the mess! Here is our 4th of July story in pictures...it was so much fun!

Nothing like a patriotic run bright and early on the 4th! Travis ran the 5K and Kaleb and Barrett ran their very first race! They loved it! We signed up for another one later this month. Oh, Trav is the dude in the red if you can't tell because his contorted face.

Barrett thinks he's Dash (Incredibles)

This sooooo brings back great memories! The boys perched on the side of the road, eating ice cream, watching the parade, and of course, waiting for CANDY!

This was Isaac pretty much the whole day...

We went to see fireworks on Kensington Lake. Wow, it was a whole new fireworks experience!

Barrett and Kaleb doing sparklers...they love these pictures because they think they look like ghosts...silly boys!

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Our (Very) Humble Abode

Hello! Just a little post with a few pics...
I took some pictures of our current living conditions because I think it is actually quite funny! Although the condo we are staying in is beautiful, we have nothing to fill it! No one complains about sleeping on the floor, and to tell you the truth, there is a whole heck of lot less cleaning here! Maybe when all of our storage comes in August, I'll be wishing for these simpler times...hee hee! Anyway, without further adieu, I present....the Smith Home (temporarily)!

Trav and Jean's Room...hey, it's not bad...we have a sweet pad to sleep on!

Family Room, movie viewing area, and furniture...hee hee!

Aaaah, our one piece of real furniture...we bought it at a yard sale!

Kaleb and Barrett's Room

This card table USED to be our dining table until we found one at a yard sale...Kaleb and Barrett have since turned it into their craft table!

So, there ya go. I can't imagine we'll have too many visitors while we live here! I can see it now..."Welcome to our home! Come have a seat on...um...the floor."

Anyway, here are a few more pics of Isaac from last week to finish off my post! Laters!

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