Happy 4th of July

Happy 4th, hope you all have a safe and fun holiday!

Trivia-5 years ago on this day Aaron proposed to me at Pismo Beach...crazy how time flies!

Little Stinker

I put Garrett down for his afternoon nap, and after a few hours I went into check on him since he had been asleep for a while (he usually doesn't take long naps). This is how I found Garrett...he is too funny! He had got out of his crib, got all his shoes and toys out then must have fell back asleep.

Peyton's First Birthday

"Hold on tight Peyton, were going for a ride"

Last weekend we drove over to Tehachapi for my nieces 1st birthday party. We had a great time hanging out with the family. Aaron got to sneak in two golf trips, and I was able to get a pedicure and Stamp It Up! with Mandi, Shelli and Amy (who was visiting from Texas).
Peyton's party was at the Tehachapi City Park, and the whole party was themed in polka dots. Polka dot balloons, polka dot dress, cake, goody bags...it was really a polka dot party. Mandi did a really great job putting the party together. Happy birthday Peyton!

Our Crazy Day!

Today was a crazy day...I woke up this morning and Garrett wasn't acting like Garrett. He couldn't hardly move and was not being responsive to me. So I took him to the doctor's office, then he sent us to the ER. We spend all day, not to mention thousands of dollars to rule out Leukemia or an intestinal blockage. We got home with no diagnosis, but that he has constipation and well "just doesn't feel good".

Meanwhile, we got an offer on your house today...way low, so we countered back. We will see what happens! Aaron's parents came since they were so worried about Garrett, he is fine and acting like his old self again!

Thank you for all your prayers and concern! We are looking forward to going to Tehachapi this weekend and celebrating Peyton's birthday! Did I mention we need a vacation?

Much love!

Visit to Grandma's House

This last weekend we went to Riverside for my brother's wife, Michelle, baby shower. It was so nice to see her pregnant, she looks really great. My camera battery died at the party so I need to get some pictures of the event.

Since my mom has a pool outside of the house we took Garrett swimming everyday. We also had a great time shopping and having lunch with my dad on Friday, he bought Garrett these really cute New Balance shoes...he thinks he is really HoT stuff in his new kicks!

Pics of Trevor's Graduation Party

These pictures are of the grad party we had at your house last weekend, it was a fun event! Congradulations Trevor!

Happy Father's Day

We had a wonderful Father's Day. The Kirk's (Jenn, Ryan and Kai) were here visiting from Ventura. We went to church where the Young Women delivered one of the best sacrament meetings. They had such beautiful voices and the talks on Father's were too sweet. They gave all the fathers a Snickers bar to snack on.


Garrett and Kai playing in the living room









This made me reflect on how grateful I am for Aaron and the father he is to Garrett. I feel so lucky to have someone that wants to support, guide and be a priesthood holder in the home. I'm also grateful for my own father and the love he has shown me. Growing up he was always there for me and I will never forget my dad dressing up like a hula monster at my birthday parties. He is always there to deliver comedy, and comfort me.




Aaron and Garrett this weekend at the club.






My Dad and I






Another father I hold dear to my heart is my Grandpa Marv. He helped raise me, even when I was going through the tough times. He is always has an open ear or a shoulder to cry on.

Aaron's dad is such a wonderful father, father-in-law and grandpa (Papa 2 as we call him). I respect all that he does for his family and the example he is for Aaron. Without his gentle heart and spirit I know Aaron wouldn't be the person he is today.




Aaron's Dad (and Mandi) playing with Garrett




We can't forget Papa Smith. He too is so much like Dennis (Aaron's dad), or Dennis and Aaron are just like Papa. He has a soft soul and has set some high standards on being a father to live up to!

We love all the fathers in our lives, especially our Heavenly Father. Hope your day was special, you deserve it!

The Great Escape

**Warning, do not let your toddler read this post.


While we were getting ready for church this morning, we decided to put Garrett down for a nap...well it didn't last long because we caught him escaping out of his crib.

Here is how 007 made the jail break:

Step 1, place foot on top of bed railing
Step 2, Hoist body out of crib by use of upper body strength

Step 3, Congratulations you have just out smarted your parents and avoided nap time!

Mr. T's Ode to Mothers

This is seriously the funniest video I have ever seen. My brother Sean send this to me a while ago and I still get a good laugh from it!

Mr. T Music Video--Treat Your Mother Right

A Few of My Favorite Sites..

I have found a few websites that seemed unique and interesting that I frequent and would like to share with you all...

1. Tom's Shoes. Cute shoes for adults and kids. For every shoe you purchase, Tom's Shoes will donate a pair of shoes to a child in need.












2. Goosie Cards. Custom flash cards for your kids. Too cute.




3. Stampin' Up! I love this company. I'm a demonstrator for Stampin' Up!, we sell stamps and scrapbooking and card making supplies. It is kinda my addiction.

4. Hot Momma Gossip. This is a little embarrassing, but I'm into celebrity gossip. I know, I know...celebrities are mostly self-centered, materialist people, but for some reason I find it amusing.

5. Sugar Doddle. This is a great site my friend Ashley Bayard told me about. If you are LDS (Latter-day Saint, aka Morman) and are in a Primary or Young Women calling this site will be your salvation for coming up with lesson ideas!

6. Blurb. For a reasonable cost, this company will turn your blog into a book-store quality book.








7. Cooks.com. A recipe sharing website. I have never contributed a recipe, but I often type in a recipe I have been looking for and wha-la about 50 pop-up! Website also has nutrition information.

Family Pictures

Here is a sneek preview of some family pictures we took with the Smith/Kirk bunch last weekend at Shell Beach. It was such a beautiful day, and the kids were not into the pictures, they just wanted to PLAY!

**MASH**

Remember Mash as a kid, well know you can type all your information online and it does all the work for you!

Here were my results...

My husbands name is Aaron, I have one child (all true)
I'm a county singer who drives to work in my blue Lexus rx330 (i wish)
It is truly romantic when I think of the countless nights I will spend with Aaron in my house in Riverside (ran out of ideas since you have to choose five).

Superstitious?

Some friends and I were talking about superstitious ways you can determine or plan the sex of your baby. We started discussing the Chinese Calender where you enter in a conception month and your age at conception and it tells you what gender you will have. I tried it out and it said I was supposed to have a girl when I had Garrett...so for me it didn't work. It is not scientifically proven, but according to some polls it can be 80 percent accurate.

Try it out by clicking the link above or follow the chart below, and let me know if it was accurate for you?

Weekend Full of Fun

It was a action packed weekend for us. We had my friend April, her cute 11 mo. old twins (Cooper and James) and four year old Ellie over until Friday, then Aaron's family came over until Saturday. We had a great time. April and I (and all the kiddos) went to the Mommy and Me potluck at the park on Friday and the kids got to play in the water, they all had sooo much fun. They also spend all day Thursday in the backyard playing in the mini pool...
On Saturday Kiwi took a family picture of the whole Smith/Kirk Family down at Shell Beach. I'm really excited to see how they all turn out. I will post pics once Kiwi sends them over. We all coordinated our outfits light blue/navy and white. The babies were not excited about the whole photo session, so we tried to make it a quick experience.

Goofing Around the House

Garrett loves when Aaron carries him around the house like a horse...he laughs and laughs. I tried to get Garrett to ride on my back, but the horse wasn't getting it...
looks more like a dead horse.




















Aaron and I were talking about our day when we looked over and noticed Garrett prancing around the living room in my shoes...I should erase the last post Dancing in Daddy's Shoes, since he's movin' on to ladies pumps now!

SUMMER TIME

Well Summer time is here which means fun in the sun. It is going to be a great summer now that Garrett is old enough to really enjoy the beach, pool, lake and all the other water activities. This kid should have been a fish. He loves the water and he just plane loves to play.

We have already enjoyed many excursions to the beach, but we have also delighted in the mini pool in the backyard just as much. The more Garrett and I play in the backyard the more I realize how much I love our house. The back yard is perfect for him to play and enjoy himself with little supervision. (if you don't mind the occasional dirt feast)

As well as fun in the sun it is a great house to host parties. Yesterday Sarah was suppose to have a baby shower for our friend Alyssa Bright, but that morning Sarah woke up with the flu. It was awful, fetal position in the bathroom all day, I think best describes it. Garrett enjoyed the shower too, with his friend Maylia!

Needless to say, I ended up quasi-hosting the baby shower with the help of Sarah's great friends. I think I got my fix of estrogen for a while.

Hope everyone is have a great summer. Look forward to seeing all of you some time soon!

One Happy Kid

Wow, that is a face of a happy kid! My friend Elizabeth's kids were over yesterday, so Garrett got to have a play date. The child in the Spiderman costume is Trent (four years old). His dad dropped him off in this outfit...boys! The kiddos had a great time.
For those who don't know, Garrett's nickname is Mr. G. My mom's friend at work made him the shirt he is wearing...isn't it so cute. I'm thinking on using this idea for a Super Saturday project.
I hope Garrett's big grin has brought a smile to your day!

Dancin' In Daddy's Shoes

Garrett came out of our bedroom and started dancing around the living room in Aaron's shoes, it was a great morning dust of cuteness!

Time Out for Women Trip

Over the weekend my friend April, who was my room mate my freshman year of college, come with me to Deseret Books Time Out for Women event in Riverside, CA. April and I have stayed friends for all these years, she holds a special place in my heart since she first introduced me to the church. She lives in Fresno now with her twin baby boys and sweet little girl Ellie, who is four. Wow crazy how time flies! We are able to do just a girls trip, so it felt like we were in college again, it was really fun catching up and getting some girl talk in. We went to lunch to the most yummy bakery Simple Simons, I had a chicken salad sandwich...I think I start to drool a little thinking about it...so bad!

We stayed with my mom and she went to the event with us. It was a uplifting spiritual event and I would recommend attending when it comes to your area. I was truly grateful to be able to attend. Thank you Aaron, Mandi and Kandi for watching my Mr. G! I think that he missed me terribly, and I was really excited to see my little man's sweet face again.

Much love!

Happy Mother's Day

Just wanted to wish all the mommas a Happy Mother's Day! Hope your day is as special as you are!

Much love,

Sarah
Mommy to "Hurricane Garrett"

Another Project Complete

So once again we are working on the house. I have to say after doing this project the house looks complete.
My dad and I poured 2.5 yards of concrete last weekend to fill in a big dirt area in the back yard. I looks great and Sarah loves it.
Aaron

Turkeys

So, I can't hunt elk in CA because the average tag cost about $10,000, so I have become addicted to something else. Turkey hunting. These birds are just like an elk they talk (for the non-hunter reader, talking is used to describe noises the animals make during the breeding season. Elk bugle and turkeys gobble)

Anyway, I have been going out quite often in the early morning chasing these little birds and have had so much fun calling them in. (Calling is what the hunter/me does to get the bird/animal to come to me so I can shoot it) The central coast has turkeys everywhere, they are like flies on food, they are literally everywhere. By the way, this was a hard hunt as you can see the big tom gobbler is soaking wet as was I from being rained on during the whole excursion.

I can't wait until Garrett is big enough to shoot a gun, this is going to be the first thing I take him to do as far as the hunting goes. I am sure he will love it!

I just thought I would share what I have been up to other then taking care of the house which I might add looks absolutely wonderful. And after this weekend we will have a little patio area in the backyard for our outdoor furniture to be placed so it will be a very inviting summer party place. Hope everyone is doing well for everyone else.

Aaron

Santa Barbara Zoo

Friday we had the best day at the zoo. We drove down to Santa Barbara in the morning and met up with three other moms from the ward. Between all of us their were 11 kiddos! There was so many people that we were unable to stay together so Emily and I split off. Garrett was so happy all day, it was defiantly a great trip! His favorite exhibit were the penguins.

This picture is of the little kids that were with us (the older ones went to check out the monkeys!) From left to right: Jerrome Damery, Emeran Slane, Brane Damery, Niome Damery, Kate Evans, Becca Evans, Garrett Smith, Braden Slane and at the bottom Anna Cavaletto) What a bunch of cuties!

Garrett checking out the flamingos.

Easter in Riverside

The family headed down to Riverside for Easter on Thursday night to spend time with my family. I had a nasty sinus infection, so half of the trip was spent sick. Seems to always happen when you are supposed to go out of town.
My mom make a huge Easter dinner that was so delicious that I'm just getting hungry thinking about it. We had a great weekend visiting my family who we don't get to see very often. Garrett just loves all the attention he gets in Riverside, he was really sad the whole ride home. The picture is at the Easter egg hunt we went to at my mom's church.
Hope you all had a great Easter!

He's doing it!

Ok so Aunt Shelli so graciously obtained a lawnmower for Garrett, and since we were leaving for the weekend to visit family, I needed to mow the lawns. It was time to put all the training to work and see if he really could do it.

Guess what, he is addicted to mowing the lawns, now if the lawnmower he's using only would cut the grass, I could kick back knowing my lawns were taken care of.

Enjoy!