TOFW

For the first time since all siblings have been married we had a GIRLS NIGHT!! Every girl in our family made it except Megan. We really missed her! We all met at my house in Logan Friday jumped in the car and went to Time Out For Women together. The first night of TOFW was fun, but talking and laughing all night was the best part.  We stayed up all night talking until we fell asleep wherever we were. My house was packed but we all just squished together and made it work with mattress pads, couches, and cots.

Thank you Lori for making the awesome survival kits. I'm sad I didn't get a picture of one but they were super fun!

The morning came way too quickly. :) When Aaron Geary knocked on the door to help Celeste into her wheelchair this was all of us still sound asleep. I was sleeping where the pink blanket is. Melissa Jane is sleeping on the couch, Mindi and I were in the middle of the floor, Melinda Ho Ching is on the recliner at the bottom of the picture, and Lori Fano is the blue blanket on the bottom right.

Zoetta and Celeste were in my bed, Melinda, and Mom were on cots, Melissa Kay was on the floor like Mindi and I in a bedroom and Saedi was on the bottom bunk bed. :)

The second day was so uplifting and motivating. I loved the story shared of the Woman who adopted a little baby and then the biological parents changed their mind and took the baby back. Her message was that Heavenly Father knows us and knows what trials we are facing. If we trust in Him he will help our trials become strengths in our lives.

We went out for lunch to Olive Garden. It was so fun but we were in such a hurry. Next girls trip we are going to plan nothing so we can sit and laugh our heads off together for hours!

One of my favorite things from TOFW was the story shared of the girl who backed her car out of the driveway into their other car. Her dad's reaction was to love her. The impact of her dad's reaction taught her so much more. I hope to be a mom like that. I want to be able to see the teaching moments with my kids for what they truly are.

I am so lucky to be a part of these girls!! I love my mom and sisters so much! I love how they all have so much to give with their different experiences. I have learned and gained so much from all of them. Thank you for sharing this special time with me. I hope we do it lots more because I have lots more to learn from all of you!

Home Grown Tomatoes, Into the Wild, and Our Neighborhood

 This was our first time growing our own tomatoes. When I first planted them I almost burnt them to death with some plant food. They looked so dead I thought there was no way they would live. But here they are.....

 They did so good and tasted so good! The parts that are brown I think is because the roots ran out of room.

Gilbert took Andrew on a Daddy Son adventure. They said that as soon as they crossed this wire they entered "the wild." They saw some fun things and Andrew was so excited to tell me all about it when he got home.

 

 

 

 Our neighborhood...

 Melody, Harmony, and Taylor Phelps. Canyon Fairbanks, and Andrew. Andrew has a lot of fun playing all over around our house at the park, the field and around the neighbors.

Andrew's First Day of Kindergarten

Andrew was so excited for his first day of "real" school! He went to kindergarten at Thomas Edison Charter School. 

When I went to register him for school I got a really bad feeling about him going to our normal public school so I did some research to see what our other options were. Gilbert and I are pro public school but I couldn't deny the feeling I got. After more prayer and research we decided Thomas Edison was the best choice for him. Now that the school year is almost over I can say that I couldn't have been more impressed with the experience Andrew had this past year. Mrs. Bosshardt was a phenomenal teacher. I was able to help in the class room every other week until Sage was born and I was so impressed with how confident and comfortable his teacher was. Andrew has grown so much this year. He can read really well (he reads 3 verses in the scriptures every night), loves to do homework, can do all addition and subtraction up to ten, can tell the time on a round clock, and can count to 200+. I am so proud of how smart, friendly, obedient, determined, kind, protective, and caring my little boy is!

 

Bear Lake with the Bohne's

We had so much fun playing on the beach in the sunshine.

 Gilbert kept trying to get a good picture of the seagulls as they would fly by. This one turned out pretty good.

 Thank you to Dominic, Amy, Jackson and Ella Bohne for inviting us to spend a day at the beach!

 I am pregnant with Sage. This is how we announced it. With all "5" of us....

Smith Reunion, Father's and Sons, and Fishing 2013

The annual boat races....

 Looking at the waterfalls where Grandma Smith grew up.

 Andrew riding bareback.

 Fish really do fly! ;)

 Muddy memories.