Smith thanksgiving party..

The end of November was a busy time for us this year. We had Kensie's birthday party, thanksgiving, cousin Raylund homecoming, and the annual Smith Thanksgiving party which was held on the Sunday after Thanksgiving. Casey's grandma has always had her Thanksgiving dinner on a different day so the whole family can be there. Of coarse I had my camera with me so I finally got a 4 generation picture with Grandma Morgan.

Chris and Jakoye's family picture, oh wait Kensie not in their family (she kept sneaking in).

The party was great! We always have fun visiting and eating the yummy food. The Turkey was sooo moist and to top it all off Aunt Tammy made her famous toffee cake...Yummy!

Nephi Light Parade...

The light parade is becoming one of my favorite traditions. There is nothing like cool air, kids singing, and Christmas lights to get you in the mood for the holidays! The kids loved it and after the lights were turned on they gave all the kids glow sticks to wear for the parade. The City does such a nice job and they added a bunch of new things this year.

We saw Jory, Casey's good friend from high school. I love running into people we've not seen in a long time!

Our Family favorite...

They were so proud of their X.

Crystal waited in the cold to hear her daughter sing a solo which never happened. I wonder if she ever found out what happened?

Are we Crazy????

The answer would be "YES!" I've pretty much always shopped the day after thanksgiving. We would leave Nephi around 5:30 make a few stops on the way to Provo, mostly getting there after the doors were open and rush over. Well this year Toys R Us did something different and started their sale at Midnight. There ad was amazing and we decided to start there! We got there around 10:30 pm and the line was already to FYE. We quickly got our lawn chairs, blankies, and hot chocolate out and got in line. We had the funniest girl named Angela standing in line by us. If it wouldn't have been for her we never would have made it! She was yelling at random people, stealing carts to "protect from line jumpers!" When we got closer to the door she would cheer for the people coming out and ask what they got. They were only letting around 50 people in every 15 minutes. We started to get really close to the door when these to B-OCh's started screaming at this lady and accusing her of jumping in front of them. I guess they couldn't get there cart (with a little girl in it - another thing that drives me crazy!) up the sidewalk so they stopped and this lady kept walking. If you're going to bring your kids and have a cart then you need to accept that people may get in front of you. I finally spoke up and tried to defend the poor lady by letting them know she didn't line jump. When I looked back through the pictures that I took this poor lady was only one or two people behind them. Big Deal! Uggh. Anyway this was pretty entertaining and of coarse our neighbor Angela got right in the middle of it and started yelling! From this point on it pretty much went down hill! We had people constantly butting in front of us, several I knew (but still love-you know who you are :)]. We finally made it in and I ran to the Lego's and luckily they still had what I was after. After grabbing a few other things I decided to get in line because it was pretty much wrapped around the store. I got in line and after a few minutes the manager had us move to the blue tape area, where the check-out line was starting. Yeah right! They were sooo unorganized! They had no crowd control and we ended up spending over 2 hours in a line that did not move because every one kept making there own check-out line in front of us and they were letting them! I was about ready to scream at someone! Finally they realized the problem that everyone waiting in the line had figured out hours earlier! We finally made it the check-out and later learned they had a lady pass-out and they had to call the EMT's. Honestly, never again! After figuring our savings we pretty much only made under $10 an hour.
Crowd control- maybe it would help if you got out of the car and arrested the line jumpers! They're stealing money from everyone they butted in front of! I'm writing my congressman to see if the government will take action next year!

The people standing on the right side are facing us which means the line had went to the end of the block and started to wrap back around and now the people at the end of the line are by the front door. What Chaos!

The crazy bunch! This is who started out, but after our nightmare at Toys R Us my mom, Nikki, and Jess went home. The Smith girls kept it going all night and when Nikki called me a 10 am the next morning we were still going strong! Nikki and my Mom ended up coming back up to finish. We made it to every single store and made it home around 3:00pm. I have to say that I really didn't get too tired. We moved a lot and I drank a lot of Dr. P. It really didn't hit me until I got home and took a hot bath. Then I was history. I slept a couple of hours and then got up for a couple and then went to bed at my normal time.

I can honestly say that I will never do this again! I've even got myself talked out of going at all, but maybe I'll change my mind before next year. :)

i AM THANKFUL.....

A couple of days before Thanksgiving Cael was at my Mom's house and he asked her why we celebrate Thanksgiving. She started to tell him (in a simple version) about how the Indians lived here when the Pilgrims discovered America and how they didn't get along. Then they decided they wanted to get along so they had a big feast to celebrate. Cael got a very confused look on his face and asked "Where do the Indians live?" My mom said " they lived here." He still was confused and asked again " Where do they live?" My mom answered again "they use to live here a long time ago." My mom continued to try and teach him American History until she thought he understood what she was trying to say. Later that day they ran up town with Nikki and the minute they started out the lane Cael piped up. With the Thanksgiving story fresh on his mind he immediately say " Nikki, guess what, Indians live at grandma's house!" My mom almost split a gut laughing. Nikki got confused and my mom quickly corrected him by letting him know that when she was saying "they lived here" she meant lived in America not at the farm. My mom finally understood why he was so confused about where the Indians live!"

This year we went to Nikki's for Turkey Day. Of coarse it was Yummy and I ate way too much. We just relaxed after and then went home to prepare for our Big Night!

The boys showing off there new obsession - Playing with capes (blankies) these boys are to funny.

Too many to choose.....

Last year we started a new tradition of getting a new Hallmark Ornament. We go up on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, have dinner (@Red Robin) and then let the kids pick out a new ornament. There are sooo many to choose from and the kids had fun trying to find that perfect one!

Kensie couldn't decide. She first picked up wonder women and then went to the barbie, thumbelina, Cinderella in the coach, and finally decided on Ariel decorating a Coral Christmas tree. She started to throw them so we quickly got out of there!

It didn't take long for Cael to decide they had exactly what he wanted.

wa be-be!

Wa be-be (watch baby) has been the only thing Kensie has wanted to do lately. She discovered that there was a baby on Monters Inc and has totally been obsessed since. Cael has even been nice enough to share his TV so that she can watch it when her parents can not handle it on in the living room! She's went from Monsters Inc to The Grinch that stole Christmas and has lately been watching Peter Pan. What a great way to keep her entertain for at least 30 min!

Let there be light....

The Master...

The assistant...

Kensie's Pony Party...

The little princess/wild child turned 2 on Nov 19, but we didn't have her party until the 21. Since she didn't really understand what was going on we waited and had her open her presents at her party. About a month earlier Nikki did a booth at the fall boutique so we spent a lot of time down there visiting her. There was a lady there selling Lee Middleton dolls. Kensie spotted them and would not leave the poor woman alone! She had to touch all there toes while saying " hi baby hi baby!" She then would raid the ladies burp cloths and cover them all with Be-be's (blankie). When I went down to help Nikki clean-up I couldn't help but buy one of them. She's been loving alot of diffent things lately and will quickly change her mind on what she likes. The babies are one thing that she has been majorly obsessed with and I don't see her getting sick of them anytime soon. She's also been loving Cee-Cee's(horsies) too. One day me and my mom had taken my Grandpa down dinner and was heading back to my house when she decided she needed to see a cee-cee. She started poking me and my mom screaming Cee-cee! We finally gave in a took a detour down by Brook Taylors horses. After that I thought a cee-cee party would fit her perfect. Nikki made her cute My little pony Cake and we had Cafe Rio for dinner. She opened a bunch of new babies, clothes, and my little pony toys. Overall she loved her party and everything went good. We love you wild girl!

see more pics @ http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=122189&id=1332408589&l=b791d4163d

Dear Kensie....

Please tell mommy when you want bubble bath instead of making your own out of my expensie shampoo and your johnson & johnson. If this keeps happening I may need to sell your christmas presents to pay for new. love you ~ Mom

Dear Santa.....

When I think back to my childhood, one thing stands out....The Wish Book at Christmas. Oh, I would spend hours turning the pages of the precious book. Back and forth, reading everything twice, trying to make that most difficult decision. On year we even lucked out and received TWO in the mail, talk about the best day of my life.... Well a month ago the American Girl catalog showed up in the mailbox. Ever since Kensie has been hooked on catalogs. The American Girl catalog soon became a pile of pieces and found it's way to the garbage. So my mom picked up one from the dollar store which was small and perfect to take on road trips. The Toys R Us big book has also been one of her favorites. Oh, she loves to look at her babies and studies every page with true excitement.

All wore out after a long day of wishing!

kiss me....

They just love each other.....most of the time! Kensie loves to give kisses and Cael loves to recieve.

Kensie Kensie Kensie

Lately Kens has been quite the fashionista. I will admit she needs to work on it, but practice makes perfect..(I hope)!

Curlformers....the best investment

Notice her face is covered with chap stick and she just kept going...

first try at mascara

My favorite....the super hero!

I had to throw this one of Cael in Combing his hair....he didn't know I was looking.