Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Payson Pool


We had the best time at this pool. My cousin's wife Marissa and their daughter Kaylee joined me, Nikki, and the troops for some afternoon swimming. We arrived a few minutes early and soon found out that we needed plastic swim covers for the girls. We had swim diapers, but Utah county requires a cover too. They were out of them and the only place that sold them were Shopko and Spanish Fork Pool. So we loaded the kids up and drove to Spanish Shopko. Nikki and Marissa ran in and could only find size 6 month. They bought them because they looked bigger, but when we tried them on they would pass Kaylee or Kensie's knees. We then found Spanish Fork pool, after many U turns, and luckily they had some in their size. It took us about an hour before we made it back to the pool. After a few minutes of swimming we soon discovered that the swim cover rule was not really enforce since we saw a dozen babies with just swim diapers on.......at least it made the trip interesting.

We ended up swimming for about 3 hours and then pulled the kids out. They would have stayed all night, but we had to run to Cal-Ranch and get the kids some pants for the Rodeo. Gavyn picked out a pair of hot white Wranglers and I told his mom they would go great with some silver tipped pointy boots. She didn't think this was a good idea and told him to put them back. Gavyn was sad about not getting the white wranglers until he discovered the flying squirrel on the wall. I literally about peed my pants....this kids has the funniest imagination.

Sunday, July 11, 2010

Smitty kids....

Kensa Lou..... Booger bean.......Dolly
This little lady has been quite the handful lately. She officially started throwing temper tantrums and has been very demanding at times. Her new favorite show is Max & Ruby and she thinks it needs to be on 24/7. This does not set well with her brother because he thinks he should have control over what we watch. I've been trying to limit their TV time anyway, so after listening to them fight over the TV one afternoon I finally just turned it off for the day. This led to her throwing the remote across the room, running around the couch, hitting me, hitting Cael, and peeing her pants all while screaming at the top of her lungs. I immediately put her in time-out. She kept leaving time out to hit me. I then drug her to her room and shut the door. The door soon flew open and I heard her scream "wa Max!". I then lost my temper and finally put her in the crib. I let her cry it out for a minute and then went back into her room and asked if she was going to be good. She was still crying but consented to be a "Good Girl" so she could come out. WOW this girls got attitude. She's also started to be mean to Cael by pulling hair, hitting, and taking his toys. I've mentioned before that she has not been a big talker so I've struggled with disciplining her. The past month she has really started to talk a lot so now I can try to explain to her that we do not accept this behavior in our home. She's not been liking me lately because of this and I when I asked her to tell her dad why she got in trouble she said "you mean" and pointed her finger my way. Hopefully she'll come to grips with the fact that we don't always get what we want! Besides these little fits she's a little sweetheart and keeps us laughing. She has developed a love of cooking which has to have come from her Dad...I hate to cook! Anyway she loves to help mix things. Last week she was at my Mom's helping her make fruit salad. My mom stepped away for a minute and when she turned around Kensie was singing away with her hips shaking and turning the bowl while she mixed. Grandma hurried and grabbed her camera and caught this on tape before she noticed she was being filmed. My mom also said Kensie watched her open a cool whip container with her teeth. Kensie looked and my mom and said "EEEwww mam-ma no teeth!" Me and Nikki are making plans to take the kids to the Payson pool so I dug out my swim suit to see if it still fits (i've gain 10 lbs ugggh). I put it on and walked into change a load of clothes in the laundry room. Kensie came around the corner and in her sweet quiet voice she said "pree-ee momma" and smiled. I hugged her and told her she was probably the only person that thought I looked pretty in a swim suit! She's also good at cleaning up. In the mornings she'll go in the bathroom and start putting the hair stuff back in the drawer, cleans up her toys, puts her clothes in her dresser (which makes it really fun to find things in the morning), straightens the shoes by the back door, and tries to wipe up the million spills that happen everyday. I've been enforcing the "no playing until your room is clean" rule and they have both been really good to help.


Loves to sing...when no one is watching

loves na-na's which is any fruit

Still loves her babies and playing mom.

She's kind of over her clothes obsession, she still loves them but doesn't have to change a million times.

Is a little fish and would spend her days in the water with her swim suits on.

Homer....Buddy......Boog

First of all, I'm still in complete denial that my baby boy is going to kindergarten! I'm pretty sure that's why I can't get enough of him lately! He has been so fun to be around and the best little helper. Since the time he was born he has acted old for his age and been so responsible. He's the best big brother and is a huge help to Nikki with the little ones. Nikki keeps telling me she doesn't know what she is going to do when he goes to school. Cael just told her that she better get use to him not being around. He still gets nervous easily, but he's starting to be more secure and confident. He loves to work and sometimes has freakish strength. Casey was hauling rock salt into the basement and was shocked to turn around and see Cael bringing one of the 50 lb bags down. He doesn't weigh much over 50 lbs himself... he's like a little ant. Stuff like this happens all the time at the farm and my dad is constantly amazed at what he can do for his age. It's not just his strength he also has an amazing memory and retains everything. I love asking what he did at the farm or at Nikki's so I can hear his stories and reasons for doing something, it's just like talking to an old man about his day. I'm loving that he's not too big to cuddle with me on the couch or give me a kiss. He loves singing and I catch him sing along with the radio as we're driving. I was singing Taylor Swift's song "you belong with me" and Cael just started singing it with me word for word. He also loves singing time at primary even though he tells me he doesn't. The pianist told me that she could hear him singing so loud that she had to look around the piano to see who it was. He brought home a super singer award on Sunday and said their was only 8 of them that got one. I don't know if that's true, but it sounded good to me! He also had to give a talk in primary on the holy ghost and I was nervous on how he would do. Me and Casey went into watch so I could help him. When It came time for one of the little girls to do the article of faith she froze and refused to do it. The sister conducting then asked if someone else from their class would do it. Brother Barnett looked at the class and asked for a volunteer. Cael then agreed to do it, I was shocked! He looked so handsome standing up there trying to say it word for word as best as he could. I told him after how proud I was of him for volunteering and he said "well my teacher asked who was tougher me or Cooper, so I went up." I should have known. He also did an awesome job on his talk too I wish I could have recorded it.
Loves legoes
still loves to watch Phineas & Ferb
Loves to ride his bike with the neighbors
Loves to go with the guys
Also loves to swim and tans easily
He is extemely hard on clothes and ruined a pair of sketchers in 1 month.



I'm just crazy about these kids and I can't imagine life without them!



Sunday, July 4, 2010

4TH of July...


We usually celebrate the fourth with going to the park and then having everyone over for a BBQ before watching the city fireworks. This year was a little different because my sister-in-law Kalee was dancing at the stadium of fire with the drill team and my in-laws were going to go watch. Nikki & Wyatt had also decided to head to Mesquite after we took the kids to the park and my Mom & Dad wanted to pull their trailer up the canyon for the weekend. With everyone being so busy the night of the celebration we decided to move our party to the night before. Then at the last minute we decided to pull our trailer up the canyon with my parents and have our BBQ up there. We had Beef Stroganoff, mashed potatoes, salads, rolls, sugar cookies & brownies for dessert. The weather was perfect and the kids had fun riding their bikes and looking for snakes. Yes, Snakes... They were playing down in some grass by the trailer and thought they heard one. They all came running back quick, but were soon back down there again looking for it. Halle said it sounded like "click click". We started a fire and roasted marshmallows while everyone visited. It was really fun and I think we may have started a new tradition!






Gavyn & Halle stayed the night with my Mom & Dad so Cael insisted on sleeping in their trailer. We got up and had breakfast before heading down to get the kids ready for the park. Nikki & Wyatt met us at our house and we made it to the celebration around 10:30. The weather was warm with a cool breeze which made it very comfortable. Jakoye was especially grateful since she's 8 months pregnant. We started off with the fish pond. Cael got a cup with a monkey on it and was a little disappointed. Kensie didn't want anything to do with it, but liked the stamps she won. She then refused to go on any of the rides so she stayed with grandma most of the time.










The Patty Wagon






This will probably be the last picture of Cael on the swan ride since he called it a "BABY RIDE" after getting off.




After the park we headed back up the canyon until it was time for the fireworks. We came down and lit our fireworks before heading to Chris and Jakoye's to watch the city's.


Cael & Cooper


Sunday, June 27, 2010

Mayfield 2010



We spent the weekend in Mayfield so we could do some hard core RZR riding. We've been having trouble with Casey's truck and thought we had it all fixed before the trip. On the way up the canyon we started to have trouble getting it in gear, but luckily it waited until we got to our spot to die. The master cylinder on the clutch went out and luckily we caught Mike & Linette in time to bring one down. Gary tore it apart and changed it right in camp. Thank goodness it worked and we were able to get it and the trailer home. The trails were great and we road almost all day on Saturday riding the Pinshot trail and down the slide. This was the first mountain trip we had taken the RZR on so we were excited to see how it would do and it did awesome! At one point on the slide there was a very steep slick hill. Gary had to ride Kalee & Linda's bikes up while Casey and the guys pushed. I was nervous to take the RZR up and asked if me and kids should get out. Casey told me No and we made it to the top with no problem. There was another group at the top and the ladies gave the kids thumbs up for making it to the top. The weather was perfect and I could have road all day. We set up camp by some water which made the mosquito's awful. They all but picked Cael up and carried him off! They picked on Kenise too and got her 4 times by the eye. The next morning it looked like she had a shiner! The best thing about staying by the water was listening to the frogs croak all night. I wish we could have stayed longer it was beautiful.


Mosquito Bites....ouch

Saturday, June 26, 2010

One year Anniversary...


One year ago today we were sealed in the Manti Temple for Eternity. I'm so thankful we were able to go. The day was exhausting and I think I felt every emotion possible. Mostly I worried about how my kids would react. Cael gets nervous easily with new environments and I knew it could lead up to him throwing a fit. I scheduled our endowment session for 10:30am which meant we had to be there by 9:00 am. I thought the earlier the better for the kids. I was up most of the night before getting things ready and filling our paper work out. I couldn't find Casey blessing date anywhere, so I just guessed on his. We got up and fed the kids who were still half a sleep. I packed the kids a bag to take with snacks and ham wraps. My Mom, Dad, Chris & Jakoye followed us over early because Chris and My mom were our escorts. When we pulled up to the temple it started raining and we were already running behind so I didn't get a picture of us going in. When we walked in the temple workers welcomed us and told me I was bride #5. I was surprised to be #5 since it was so early. They labeled all our stuff with that number and took our bags just like they would at a Hilton. We then showed our recommends and they let us through. We headed straight to the nursery/kids waiting room. Cael warmed right up to the sweet ladies that were working in there, but Kensie needed a little convincing. We finally just left with her crying because I new she would be fine once we left. We then did our initiatory and then I met with the matron Sister Pratt who from Ferrin, before starting the endowment session. I headed to our session and passed all of our family and friends waiting in the hall, I wanted to stop and hug all of them but Sister Pratt informed me to keep walking to the front. It was the last day of the Mormon Miracle Pageant and the session was huge. They filled every seat. During the endowment I managed to forget my gum, trip on some steps, and had a wardrobe malfunction during a prayer circle. When I finally made it to the celestial room I was pretty exhausted! We then headed straight to sealing room #2 which was the same room my Uncle Hap and Aunt Bonnie were married in. President Kenison married us and then we waited for the kids to come. We waited and waited and waited. I started to get nervous so I looked out the door to see Kensie being held by one of the workers, but I couldn't see Cael. As time went by I knew he had to be throwing a fit, sure enough one of the workers came in and whispered to me that "Cael might need some help". Me and Casey headed out to find out what was going on and found him hiding behind a door crying. He wouldn't listen to me so Casey finally got to him and carried him into the sealing room. He screamed the whole time. Kensie still had sleepy eyes and cooperated at first but soon was crying too. Cael would not let go of Casey's neck and my dad pretty much had to pry him away. President Kenison sealed us quickly and I didn't hear a thing he said from all the crying. After the sealing we finally got Cael calmed down and asked what the problem was. It turned out he hated the white jump suit they dressed him in. WHAT???? Yeah, he didn't like what he was wearing. I should have known better and bought him his own white pants to wear. The kid is so picky about what he wears! Kensie on the other hand would not stop crying. I had a friend of mine go through a few months before us and she had the cutest pics of her family all in white outside of the temple. I had wanted to do the same, but Cael was throwing such a fit over his outfit I decided to bag the white outfits and change back into our church clothes. Kensie is still crying her eyes out, Cael's not speaking to either of us, and Casey now has a migraine. We finally make it outside to get our pictures done. I had a friend of mine come over to take them so I wouldn't have to worry about it. A lot of our family had already left and the kids would not cooperate at all. We did our best and called it good. Once again EXHAUSTING! On the way home we stopped and ate at our favorite Mexican place Los Amigos. Overall it was an amazing day and I'm glad we survived.

Doesn't this look like a family that wants to spend Eternity together?




People in Attendance


Family-
Reid & Vicki Jarrett
Chris & Jakoye Smith
Hap & Bonnie White
Karen Newton
Bart & Lynsey Miller
Ron & Machelle Shepherd
Wayne & Connie Jarrett
Cody & Marissa Jarrett
Travis & Alison Jarrett
Grandpa & Grandma Morgan
Jason & Kelli Stilson
Linette Smith
Jeremy & Alisha Lynn
Jason & Amberlee Worwood

friends-
Jason & Kandi Dansie
Eric & Jen Taylor
Bishop Brett & Becky Ludlow
Lisa Blackett
Leonard Trauntvien


Temple prep teacher Jerall & Michelle White

hopefully I remembered everyone.

Sunday, June 20, 2010

Father's day 2010

The kids making Father's Day Cards for the guys.

Happy Fathers Day to the men in my life!!! We had dinner at our house with both families and Grandparents this year. We cooked our new favorite Dutch oven Chicken & Potatoes along with Salads, veggie tray, rolls and RB floats. It was simple and yummy. After dinner the kids wanted to swim and I remembered that I had some water balloons. I started filling them up and soon recruited some help....they took forever. It was hard keeping the kids out of them while we fill the two baskets full. When the water balloon war finally started it didn't take long for the adults to join in and the kids enjoyed just throwing them on the grass instead of at each other.
This goof ball is my dad and actually the BEST dad I could have asked for. There were times when I was growing up that I was convinced his whole purpose in life was to embarrass me, when in fact he was just being a good Dad. He always cooked us a huge breakfast every morning and I started to hate this after I went to dance practice one morning and someone announce to the group they could smell "Pork"! I was soo embarrassed and begged him to stop but he was determined to give us a good breakfast every morning, even if my clothes did stink the rest of the day! We grew up in the fields and most of my neighbors would have to get up really early to ride the bus. My Dad always took us so we could sleep longer (and have our breakfast :)). Anyway, I never saw this as being nice I thought he only did this so he could torture me and take us to school in "the '78" his bright yellow service truck. This truck was soo ugly and I would pretty much duck in the seat when we would pull into the parking lot. I complained so much about it that he started threatening to hang a dead cat from the lift in the back if I didn't stop. I didn't dare put it past him so I never complained again. Then there was the day he hit the huge school mail box during a snow storm. Every kid in the school noticed the bent mailbox and I prayed they would never find out that it was my dad that had done the damage. My dad just couldn't believe they would put that mail box in such a stupid spot. It wasn't all embarrassing though, I have a lot of fun memories playing with my dad. My favorites are spending my summers working with him and my family on the farm. I loved working out with the guys and enjoyed learning how to run the equipment. When the roads were snowy he would pick us up from school with our sleds tied to the back of the truck. As soon as we crossed the tracks into the fields we got the sleds out and he would pull us home in our school clothes! He went on several field trips with us and always had his fanny pack full of slap-sticks and salted nutrolls. I now realize that he always put us first and sacrificing a lot. One night he got in late from farming all day and I could tell he was tired. It was my first day driving in the drivers Ed car and he asked me how it went. I was upset about it because I had struggled driving on the free-way. He put his shoes back on and told me to get in the car. It was late and I told him we didn't have too, but he insisted we practice so I could be ready for the next driving day. We headed for the free-way and he had me get off and on every exit from nephi to provo and back to Levan. I didn't feel nervous again on the free-way and this was one of the million times he taught me something important. These stories could go on and on. The most important thing he has taught me is that you don't have to have a lot money to have fun and too show your love for your family. I'm so lucky my kids have such a fun Grandpa that loves to be with them. Cael has pretty much spent every free moment this summer with him working on the farm. He's never too busy for the Grandkids and they love him for it. We love you PaPa Reid!!
I didn't get a picture of my father-in-law Gary at the party because I was busy filling water balloon, but I found this cute one I took at Kalee's state drill team comp. He too is a great Dad and has been such a good example to Casey. He is extremely handy and can fix about anything, especially if it has a motor! Casey hates to mechanic, so we rely on him a lot if we're having auto troubles. Gary is very clean & fussy especially with his truck. I left my dirty car over to their house once for a couple of hours and when I got back Gary had washed it for me. I teased him that I would be dropping it off once a week. When we were building our house he spent countless hours helping on his days off and still helps us as much as he can with our projects. He is also an awesome grandpa. Before we got the RZR, he would always take one of the kids when we were 4-wheeling. I know that it's not fun to hold a kid and drive, but he never complained and was always willing to offer. My kids play a game with him by wiping his kisses off so he'll give them more. I've said this before, but I have rarely heard him say anything negative. He always can see the good in people and bad situations. We love you Grandpa Gary!!

Grandpa Morgan is 92 years old and still going strong. Casey's Grandpa Smith died a month after Casey was born and a couple of years later Grandma Rhea married Clinn. He has been so good to Casey and has always treated him like a grandson. When he was younger he loved to fish and hunt. Casey spent several pheasant hunts with him and always loves to hear his old hunting stories. He has the funnest personality and is always telling jokes or teasing someone. They too are great to support us and come to all our parties and special occations. There is something about him that my kids just love! He is one of the few people that Cael will hug. We love you Grandpa Morgan!


This is my Grandpa Jarrett whom I love to pieces!!!!! When I was growing up on the farm he would come in and see us every morning before he starting work and has supported me in everything including proms and graduations. He now does this for my kids and has came to almost all of their birthday parties. He has always made an effort to be apart of my life and has an unconditional love for his family. He is a huge example to me in the way he loves people for who they are and accepts their faults. He has an excellent memory and I love listening to his stories. We love you Great-Grandpa!





The War....
My kids are so lucky to have Casey for a Dad. He loves them so much and always put their needs first. He is very involved and takes time to play with them as much as he can. Cael love to go to work with him and I'm glad he has such an amazing Dad to look up to! We love you Daddy!


Saturday, June 19, 2010

my little mommy....

She turned up missing and when I found her she was taking her babies for a walk with her heels, princess wand, and popsicle. I'm pretty convinced that she will have a dozen kids - she loves playing mom.