Wild Thing

I have a copy of WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE from my childhood. Recently, I shared this book to Garrett and now he is hooked. I think today alone we have read "the monster book" six times. I love that Garrett is getting so into books, he asks questions like "Mommy is Max naughty?"

Garrett is my little wild thing, which is why he probably loves this story so much...autobiography:)
On a side note, my goal is to keep a better record of funny things Garrett says, so here is the latest:

1. I'm telling a joke to my family, some political joke I heard the other day, right after the punch line Garrett turns to me and says "Mommy, that's not funny". I said (while holding uncontrollable laughter)Garrett that isn't very nice to say , he replied "It's just not funny for kids!"

2. Just today he came into the playroom, where I was checking my email and says nonchalantly:

"MMM, mommy"

Yes, Garrett

I made a mess

Where, in the backyard?

No in the house, sorry

Love the honesty! Turns out he dumped a container of bubbles on the table...thank goodness it wasn't peanut butter.

3. When Garrett passes gas, he says immediately afterward "excuse you Mr. Whale"

4. He calls Lemonade, "Yummy-ade"

5. Elevators are called "the up and down"

Happy Birthday Little Man

Garrett,

Today is your 3rd birthday! I woke up this morning remembering the day I gave birth to my sweet little boy. You were 5 pounds, 15 oz., but despite how small you were, you were healthy and strong. The minute I laid my eyes on you I was immediately in love, I never wanted to let you out of my arms. Now that you are three, I still never want to let you out of my arms, if you would let me I would cuddle with you all day long. My favorite time is spending the morning with you watching cartoons, sharing a blanket and a bowl of cereal. Your favorite is the "bee cereal" (Honey Nut Cheerios).

You love your life. Your best friend is Koda, favorite food is mac and cheese, you smile all the time, you love TRUCKS, are scared of monsters, love to sneak into mommy's make-up drawer and paint the bathroom, and you are so excited to become a big brother.

You are so full of life and love for the world around you. You wake up every morning in the sunshine and say "Mommy, wake up, it's a sunny day!". You brighten my life, and your daddy's life too. I love every piece of you and promise to always be the best mommy for you. Happy birthday my Weezer.

Love,

Mommy

The Penny Incident

Today while Garrett was in his car seat he managed to find a penny and swallow it. Yes, he ate it. I only now this because:

1. He told me "Mommy, I ate the money"

So, in a panic (since Garrett was crying and vomiting) I call the doctor and ask what to do, the reply was not what I was looking for, she said to wait it out and look for the penny in the diaper. Oh that is just great, frantic 8 month prego mother has to wait it out to see if it passes. If it doesn't then that means surgery.

Ok this last week of "incidents" is going to send me into labor...Maybe I can get a two for one at the hospital for having more that one family member admitted at a time.

Anyhow...let's just pray for that penny to come out!

For Rent: One Toddler Who Loves Peanut Butter

When I asked Garrett what he was thinking getting into the peanut butter, he said to me, "mommy, I was painting!"

When they are that cute, it's hard to get mad:)

Our Newport Beach Vacation

One word...Paradise!

Breaking Dawn

Stephenie Meyers latest novel came out in stores on Aug. 2 as part of the Twilight series. This one, Breaking Dawn, was so great I could not put it down. Now I'm all wrapped up in the characters again and have to wait until December until the movie comes out!

All you Twilight fans out there, can I get a whoo, whoo!

Fergie Dorks at the Fair

The Mid State Fair was the last two weeks and we were able to take a few trips. First, I went with my sister-in-laws to see Fergie in concert, as you can tell we have "G-l-a-m-o-r-o-u-s" shirts (it's a song she sings). We had a total blast! I think the audience consisted of 95 percent women. We had one guy in front of us, who you could tell was a total Fergie fan by his comments "Oh yeah girl, you hot" and "shake that thing momma"...oh dear Fergie, watch out!

Then last Saturday we went to the fair again with Garrett to the Rodeo. Garrett loves seeing all the animals and rooting on the cowboys at the rodeo. We had a great time, can't wait until next year!

Introducing the New Host of Wheel of Fortune

Beach Baby Smith

We had a great day out at Avila Beach last Saturday. The weather was perfect, it is days like these that we feel so blessed to live in such an awesome area. Garrett loves the beach, as you can tell from these pictures, he is quite the comedian.

GLASS CREEK

Most all of my childhood memories have to do with one place, Glass Creek. A small government campground (this means you don't pay but there are no flushing toilets either) just above Mammoth Lakes, CA. My family has been going to this campground for sixty plus years. Sarah, Garrett and I have been fortunate enough to go almost every other year since we have been married. I would go every year but the no flushing toilet thing doesn't go over well with the Mrs.

Anyway, we drove last thursday afternoon up to camp, stopping in T-town to pick up Chris, Mandi and Miss P. so that the whole family could be together. Sounds fun huh!!! Shelli and Robert had already gone up there since they don't have kids they can just jump in a go. Must be nice! Well seven hours later and I think at least 12 potty breaks we were in camp, 10pm and ready for bed.

The next week I spent allot of time fishing. Oh how I wish we had some streams around here that I could fish like I did in the Mammoth Area. Garrett was the 5th generation to catch a fish out of glass creek and believe or not he did it all by himself. All I did was put the bait in the water and he held on and reeled it in.

From late night games of uno, papa 2 riding down the hill with Garrett and Peyton, all the girls and there vacation readings, us guys and our fishing obsession, or let me rephrase that, "fishing quest", to evenings by the campfire. Even an big bull elk to take pictures of on the drive home! I love this place! It was pretty hard to leave, but it always feels good to be home. I love my family! Miss you all and can't wait until next year!

We love IT!

Well, we are finally settled in just a few more pictures to put on the wall and some rooms to be painted. Yeap that right Garrett and Lily's rooms are getting painted this weekend with the help of Grandma Debbie.

We are really enjoying the new house although my honey-do list is as long as the Great Wall of China, no joke. But I guess I have the rest of my life to complete it or maybe not! The backyard is where the work has to go but everything in due time. Right now its summer and we are enjoying every minute of it.

Open invitation for friends and family to come visit. We enjoy the company and we have plenty of room now. Talk to you all soon!

OUR LITTLE FISH

We have been thoroughly enjoying the summer. Even though we moved into our new house, life still is moving. For the past two weeks Garrett has had swimming lessons. More like 30-minutes of time for him to splash and get wet. Which if you know Garrett he loves the water, matter a fact he will jump right in no coaxing needed. It has been a lot of fun, and his teacher even said he should have been in the level one class because he already has a lot of the concepts down for kicking, moving his arms and he even likes to go underwater. He is our little fish, if you want to entertain Garrett for hours, water is the way to do it. Whether its a pool or a garden house he loves to get wet. Hope everyone is having a great summer.

BIENVENIDO DE ARGENTINA

Well its about 10:30pm on Thursday June 19, 2008. I am setting in the Lodge of South American Adventure Safaris some 5 hours north of Buenos Aires, Argentina. I will start by saying that I really miss my family and can't wait to get home.

This has a been a trip that really can't be described in words or pictures. We are testing our new Semi-Auto Shotgun which has perform flawlessly. (thank heavens) We are able to hunt several species of birds include, dove, duck, and perdiz (Argentina's quail). The cool thing is the populations are damaging to the farm crops so there are no limits on doves. Needless to say I shot 1000 doves on the first day.

Now for all you animal lovers, let me explain. The government has regulations on the amount of birds that have to be killed. They actually poison more then all the hunters that come down here shoot. Ducks are carefully watch and each hunter is allow 20 a day. This was probably my favorite hunt.

They also poison parakeets, yes folks thats right, parakeets. The country is infested with them and they are actually considered a pest. They are the only bird that instead of just eating the seeds of the crops, they cut the whole stem off, which means they destroy the food crops completely.

I am not a ruthless killer, we pay good money which assists the ranches with their 40% property tax, we have it really good don't we.

Well I can't wait to get home on Sunday. Sarah, Garrett and baby Lily see you soon, you are in my heart and mind, love you more then you will ever know!

I will show pictures later!

MOVING AGAIN!

Everyone must find there place in life, lets just say that in the 5 years that Sarah and I have been married its only taken us 9 times to find it. So here it is. Paso Robles, is our mainstay for a while. We bought a foreclosure that we are in love with. Its 2871 sq. ft. 3 bedroom 3 bath, with a study and two dining areas. Its also on a 1/3 of an acre which Garrett and Lily will enjoy for many years. I can actually say this is pretty close to our dream house.


Its seems that you have to do what the Lord prompts you to do and we just seem to be the moving type. But this is a long term investment, Garrett will be able to walk to school being that is about 3 blocks, I can ride my bike to work and Sarah is going to operate a daycare out of the study room. We are very excited and know this is the house we will grow old together in. I can speak with great confidence that the Lord has blessed us with so much and this is just another blessing that we are able to partake in. See you all soon. I am off to Argentina for a week tomorrow.

New Years Resoluations from 1998

So did I mention that the perpetual movers are moving again? Aaron and I bough a foreclosure house and are moving in two weeks. Needless to say we have been going through old things and reorganizing. While looking through the box my mom brought up for me a year or so ago, I found, along with my old Barbi's and Girl Scout paraphernalia, my...

...New year's resolutions from 1998

1. Better study habits
2. Graduate
3. Turn 18
4. Stay with Adam Packer
5. Go to college anywhere but RCC (Riverside Community College)
6. Don't get fired from Beach Access (my high school job)
7. Work out more
8. Stay vegetarian
9. Find the perfect Mid-Winter dance dressPublish Post
10. Go to prom with Adam Packer

The Golf Pro's

I know, we match and we are dang good looking! Dad, Papa, Chris and I played in a tournament a couple weekends ago to raise money for Tehachapi Main Street projects. As you can see we look good and we played really well. Not quite good enough to win, (We are positive there was some cheating going on) but we had a great time and as a team with a handicap of 3.75 we shot a -14.75 under par at Horse thief Golf course in Tehachapi. All I can say is good thing we had Papa to keep us in the game.

I also won the longest drive contest. +/- 350 yards, pretty good for a lefty. Oh, and the prize was a new driver. You would think that the guy that one the long ball contest wouldn't need a new driver so I sold it in the parking lot for $35, which I think was a good deal for me. Hope all is well. Trying to get home from the TOrnadoes in NE.

More Wedding Pics

At the bridal suite, here I am 20 weeks prego
Garrett and Peyton
The Smith Family
A smaller Smith Family
Shelli and Robert

Shelli and Robert's Wedding

Shelli and Robert at the rehearsal dinner

Wedding party at the salon

Siblings at the rehearsal dinner

Garrett in his tuxedo

On June 7, 2008 Aaron's little sister Shelli was married! She married Robert Garza it was a beautiful wedding at the Seven Oaks Country Club in Bakersfield. We had such a great time spending the weekend with family and preparing for the big day. Mandi and I were her maids-of-honor or it was so fun to be part of the wedding, Garrett was a ring barrier all dressed up in a tuxedo. Garrett and Peyton (the flower girl) walked down the aisle together hand-in-hand, it was serious the cutest thing I have ever seen.

Shelli, of course, look like such a princess. It was a beautiful wedding and we feel so blessed to be apart of their special day! I have no pictures of the actual wedding, since I was in it I couldn't take any pics! I will work on getting some.

Baby Girl Name

After much debate Aaron and I have come to a consensus with choosing a name for our baby girl...

Lily Jane

The name Lily is sentimental for me since (1) The calla lily is my favorite flower, and (2) my grandmother's garden is filled with calla lilies and the name Lily reminds me of her, and she is one of the most amazing women I've ever known.

The middle name Jane is a family name. It is my mom's middle name and my own middle name.

It took Aaron a few days to accept the name, but now he loves it. We are so excited for Miss Lily to come into this world.

Good in Bed

I knew this post would get your attention...
I just got done reading the novel Good In Bed by Jennifer Weiner, this book really has nothing to do with the title. It is a great story and I could hardly put in down. I would highly recommend this book as a fabulous summer read!

Review:
This is the story of a young woman who comes to grips with herself and how she looks. Learning to live with not being the world's ideal woman, Cannie finds, is not the easiest thing to do. The author writes a modern day fairytale with intelligence and sensitivity. She makes you care about Cannie, groan when bad things happen to her (even in fairy tales not all goes the way we would like it to) and cheer when she gets the upper hand. Weiner gives us the woman's point of view without her novel becoming a force for women's rights.