Cute Reid told his parents "I want to visit the Smith's and swim in their pool". So that's what they did (because right now they do whatever he says – we'll see how long that lasts! :). His first trip to the Smith's! And his first time to swim! He seemed to enjoy the water – didn't make a peep. And he gave us lots of obligatory grins and coos. SO sweet. And his parents aren't bad either. 🙂
is "AUNT MER". I LOVE IT. It's second only to "Mom" – my #1 favorite. I'm pretty smitten with these new baby nephews. Can you tell?
Reid – May 4, 2011
Reid – May 26, 2011 (picture taken by Samuel while we were "babysitting")
Reid – June 14, 2011
Reid – June 28, 2011
Graham – July 8, 2011 (one week old)
Epic is Caleb's favorite word. And that's how I'm describing the last 3 days of house cleaning. It was "I'm not cooking, working out or running errands so I can concentrate on cleaning every nook and cranny of this house" time. I stayed in pajamas and we (me and the boys) got down and dirty with closets and piles. I feel SO much better. Although I'm convinced that we have WAY too much stuff…but I'm grateful to have that problem versus the alternative (to have nothing).
To reward myself I got a mani and pedi tonight – I rarely do a mani, but it sure feels good every once in a while.
We leave on our beach vay-cay in a week and I'm getting super excited. In the meantime, we're dog sitting this next week for Rudy (our neighbor's dog) and then they will dog sit for our Maggie while we're gone.
I feel like I've been taking a big deep sigh all week after some heavy-duty spiritual teaching last Sunday. I taught the SS lesson on the Atonement with the youth, and then did a fireside for the F7 ward youth on the Book of Mormon and my conversion story. I felt like both went well…especially the fireside. But after preparing and teaching important subjects like that I feel a "let down" of sorts in the form of physical fatigue…go figure. I sure enjoy times with the youth though.
And I finished "Follow the River" (see sidebar for details) – what an amazing book! It is now on my list of top 10 books – very violent and descript and even disturbing at times (that's not the part I liked, btw) but also so raw and honest and wonderfully human. This woman survived things that I cannot imagine. Really amazing. And written by a great storyteller. You're ready for it to end about 3/4 of the way, but it's based on a true story, so you have to endure it even though you'd rather skip to the end.
We're in the smack-dab-middle-of-summer and I'm loving it. The boys are getting along and finding things to do around the house. The pace is slower, the mood is happier, less-stressful and we are enjoying being a family. Late nights – late mornings. Swimming together every evening. Snow cones. Bike rides. Movies. Library books. Happy days!
I can honestly say we're feeling like our pool was a worthy investment…especially as our first full summer with it has seen temps like this:
Aye Caramba! It's warm. Really really warm. And it's been like this since the first of June. NO rain. And no changes in the near future.
Looks like we'll just be spending more time in that pool.
If you are catching up on Smith-ville, here are some of my latest posts.
Plus, scroll down for some new ones too!
We spend SO much time in our pool (daily) that it only seems right to post some pictures of us swimming and enjoying it. It is my new favorite part of our house!
Caleb jumping (and posing) on his board – cool water effect!
Jacob carrying Derek on his shoulders.
Samuel showing Dad his new swimming skills.
Caleb goofing off in my sunglasses.
My two cute SIL's have turned their babies bedroom's into masterpieces that are all their own. I didn't get good-quality pictures of Reid's room – but from these Iphone pictures you can get an idea of how warm and rustic his room is. It feels like a little man-cave and I love it!
And Anne decorated Graham's cute room with soft blues and greens. I especially love the painted diamonds on the ceiling and the print of the baby praying. So sweet!!
These little guys are so lucky – not just to have these cute rooms, but to be so anticipated, wanted and loved.
Our friend's, the Hall's, invited to Jacob to spend a few hours on their boat yesterday. He and Lance Hall are two peas in a pod – they love going on adventures together, being loud, getting dirty, etc, etc. Phoebe sent these pictures to me today at Lance's request because he knew Jacob would love to see them. Jacob's favorite is the one of him and Lance airborne – doesn't surprise me!
On Saturday night we headed to Frisco Freedom Fest – the local hometown celebration. It's billed as a "free" event – but of course that's only if you just want to listen to the music! Everything cost money and lots of it. We let the boys each pick an activity – the big boys took a turn on the rock climbing wall and Samuel went down a bouncy slide (one time!). We enjoyed seeing the people and sights, but only stayed for about an hour or so. Then we headed to Nana and Pops' for ice cream and soda. Then we went over close to the soccer stadium and watched fireworks – that's ALWAYS my favorite part.
On Sunday night my Dad and Christy came over for dinner – a rare treat on a Sunday evening! They're in town to meet baby Graham.
This morning we headed out early for our Ward's pancake breakfast and bike parade. It was fun to see the kids ride around on their decorated bikes and it was nice to enjoy a relaxed gathering of friends. Dad and Christy came with us and it was fun to introduce them to friends. They stayed afterwards for a swim at the house. Jacob left with a friend to go on their boat, while the rest of us napped.
Tonight we headed to see Nana and Pops. They made a great 4th of July dinner for us – yummy burgers, grilled corn and baked beans. We tossed water balloons, threw pop-ems in the alley and had root beer floats. Fun! We brought the boys home tonight and did sparklers with them. It's been a great Fourth.
We went as a family to meet Graham on Sat evening – 24 hours exactly since he had entered the world. The boys are enamored – they are having so much fun with these baby cousins. Samuel said that morning "let's go see the baby that came out of Anne's belly button!".
I love this picture that Derek took with his phone of all three Smith boys admiring their new cousin:
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