Smorgasbord

Smorgasbord: an assortment; a collection containing a variety of sorts of things.

There is no rhyme or reason to this post. It is, in fact, a smorgasbord, so bear with me.

My little guy had his two-month appointment, which meant three shots. Poor thing did not handle his vaccines well at all. I have never had such a hard time calming a kid down after getting poked with a needle. Too bad for the both of us that there are so many more to come over the next 10 months.

On a brighter note - Luke is growing just as should, and then some! In the doctors exact words, "He's not skipping any meals!" Luke is 12 lbs. 12 oz., putting him in the 90th percentile for weight. I think his thighs will be even chunkier than Trent's were.

Ashlyn started dance and is thrilled. Plus, she looks awfully cute in a leotard and tutu.

However, the only experience she has had with dance is going to a couple of Madison's recitals. So, she was a bit confused why everyone wasn't there to watch her dance on a stage on the first day.

My parents have a new pet:

This little critter has been hiding out in their backyard, but has come out of hiding to join the family at the fire pit on three occasions.

We think he might be attracted to the Christmas lights strung along the fence.

The kids have all been fascinated by our hopping friend, so Brian decided to pick it up and give them a chance to pet it. Well, the thing unleashed himself and earned the name "tinkle toad," which I think the kids got more a kick out of than the toad itself.

Speaking of family gatherings around the fire pit, Monica flew in from Missouri to join us at our latest gathering.

Okay, she didn't really fly in just to see us. She actually came into town to attend her grandpa's funeral, and our condolences go out to her and her family. But, it was great to see her again and hard to say goodbye again. I wish they made an easy button for goodbyes.

And speaking of smorgasbords, we had a s'moregasbord, which I highly recommend. The possibilities are endless. It started with an idea from the food network magazine and snowballed. We had four kinds of mellows: regular, coconut, strawberry, and chocolate/vanilla swirl; and two kinds of graham crackers: honey and cinnamon. Then there were all the toppings: apples, bananas, nutella, peanut butter, milk chocolate bars, dark chocolate bars, white chocolate bars, cookies & cream bars, reese's, york peppermint patties, chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, and junior caramels. The hands-down winner was the caramel apple s'more.

You MUST try this! To assemble, sandwich two thin green apple slices, four junior caramels (smashed so they don't roll away), and a perfectly toasted mellow between two cinnamon graham cracker squares. Lots of other varieties were created, but this was by far the best and I am convinced that this may be only way to eat a s'more. So, so good.

Remember this picture from our Yellowstone vacation last month? Well, Brian decided to enter into Snapshot of the Week on the KUTV program "Roughin' It Outdoors", and guess what?! It will be aired on Saturday, August 28th! Better still, this showed up on our doorstep yesterday:

A dutch oven and a dutch oven dome! We are guessing that the pic actually won Snapshot of the Week, and that this is our prize. The only bad part of this whole deal (yes, there is a bad part) is that Brian entered the photo under his name and I took the picture!! The nerve! He totally stole my thunder. So, if you happen to watch the show that night and they say "Brian Smiley", just know that I took the picture and I am the real winner.

And that concludes my smorgasbord. Thanks for reading!

Self Esteem Booster

Leave it to a four-year-old to boost your self esteem...

"Dad, you look better than broken junk."

...then again, maybe a four-year-old's opinion isn't your best option.

Much To Do

Here is a run down of our very busy week:

I went to a doctor appointment.
I went to lunch with my girlfriends.
We went to the mountains for FHE.
Brian competed in a volleyball tournament.
Trent graduated to a big-boy bed.
I babysat Maya and Mailey.
I got a haircut.
I snapped a few photos of my baby who is getting too big.

We had a play date at the splash park.
I held an activity day for 11-year-olds at my home.
I spent 8 hours in the kitchen making coconut-buttermilk cupcakes, lime tartlets, and black & white cookies.

I took dinner to a friend.
Ashlyn tasted a rainbow.

Ashlyn and Trent played with snails.

We watched several lightning storms.
I took Ashlyn to the dentist to get a cavity filled.
Ashlyn had a sleep over.
Ashlyn threw-up after returning from her sleep over - I hope your kids didn't get sick Jen!
I cleaned the house.
I did six loads of laundry.
We went to the drive-in and saw Toy Story 3 for the second time.
We attended Landon's baptism.
I made a hooded towel for Landon's birthday.
Ashlyn went to a birthday party in the neighborhood.
I made Emily a birthday present.
I went grocery shopping.
Brian mowed the lawn.
We went to Landon's birthday party.
Brian and I cleaned GSL - our second job.
I made cookies.
We went to church.
We went to dinner at my parent's home and celebrated Emily's birthday.

And in-between all that, I made breakfasts, lunches, and dinners, changed a million diapers, sang songs, read books, stopped fights, brushed teeth, and gave multiple baths.


And now I am going to bed.

I hope next week is a little quieter :o)

Lightning

"Hey Dad, you know what's better than getting hit by lightning?"

What?

"Watchin' it."
-Ashlyn, age 4

Utah has been experiencing some crazy storms in the last 24 hours and it is pert near impossible to sleep right now with the insane amount of lightning and thunder, accompanied by winds and rain. Riverton was also hit with two rounds of marble-sized hail this afternoon. These types of storms are rare and so we have enjoyed watching them, grateful to be in the comfort of our home, not getting hit!

August 1st?

Seriously!? What happened to July? It's weird because the past 31 days seem to be both a LONG, distant memory and a flash of lightening at the same time. A lot happened in July. My little brother got married. My big brother moved away. Both events moved me to tears. But, those two major events were just the tip of the iceberg. Once I started thinking about everything we did during July, I was pretty amazed at how much we squeezed into those 31 days. We also blessed Luke and went on a family vacation to Yellowstone. Plus, there were all the other little "summer-time" activities: walks to the park, BBQs, Leatherby's, trips to the splash park, Tracy Aviary, baking yummy treats, play dates, a Bee's game, a bee sting, fireworks, a backyard camp-out, fishing, trips to the mountains, camp fires, the drive-in, and lots and lots of popsicles. We did not suffer from boredom! Here are a few highlighting photos:

During the loading of the Uhaul, my kids managed to take their shoes off and walk along the gravel/dirt driveway which happens to be loaded with those nasty/noxious stickers. Poor Trenters feet were covered! You want to feel bad for him, right? Well, you might not once you find out that he did not learn his lesson! Crazy kid took his shoes off at least four more times after the initial blow. To top things off, Ashlyn then got stung by a bee on her arm. I think my kids will always remember the awful day that Aaron, Monica, Ben, and Maggs moved - their awful will just be a little different than mine. In fact, the next day Ashlyn told me that uncle Aaron moved because they had, "a bee bush at their house."

To distract us from the terrible, awful move, Mindy and Marty graciously invited us to join them for a weekend in Yellowstone. It was a great little vacation and did do a good job at distracting us...for a few days.

While I do have a new found love of beach vacations, I will always have a very special place in my heart for the wonders of Yellowstone. Were else on earth can you see such impressive landscapes and wildlife in one setting? I can't even imagine what it was like for those who first came upon this great land.

Along with plenty of buffalo, we were lucky enough to see not just one, but a total of FIVE bears! One "black" black bear, one "cinnamon" black bear, and a grizzly with two cubs - AMAZING!

Notice the guy on the far left? Here is a word of advice, don't get out of your car when a mama bear is a mere 12 feet away. That was not smart. Not smart at all. Luckily nothing happened, but can you imagine? The only thing we didn't get to see was a moose.

There also seemed to be more wildflowers this year than normal, but maybe I just didn't notice them as much in the past. Needless to say, they were beautiful. Speaking of beautiful, just look at these three wonders -

This was Luke's first official vacation (outside of the womb), and the first of many trips to Yellowstone.

The only bad part of the vacation was the drive home, and it wasn't just all the darn road construction. Like I said, the vacation was a good distraction for a few days and then we had to go home knowing that not all of our family would be there and it just wouldn't be the same.

The 24th weekend started out with bang at the Bee's game. It was a fireworks night and to our utter surprise, Trent did not cry! He did cover his ears the entire time, but this was progress. He actually enjoyed himself!

When I asked the girls to give me a grumpy face, they this is what I got:

Nice try, but I'm not really getting "grumpy" - more of a gangsta vibe.

The next day, on the 24th, since we hadn't seemed to have enough of the Eyre's, we went on a little hike with them around Silver Lake. Our original destination had been Donut Falls. However, a supposed fire forced us further up Big Cottonwood Canyon. We never saw any smoke, but I'm quite sure it was meant to be because we found this:

Who knew? We certainly didn't, but with our new found knowledge, we decided to make it a yearly tradition.

I don't recall ever going to Silver Lake before this and I can't believe it was my first trip. It was so beautiful and I was once again reminded of how blessed I am to live in Utah with the mountains just minutes away. Just a short drive can lead you to beautiful pines, clear waters, fresh air, and more wildlife.

It was a perfect hike/walk for kids. They loved spotting the fish and ducks, and had a great time feeding pretzels to the chipmunks. Lucky for those little critters we didn't see the "do not feed" sign until they had been fed.

And since we weren't following the rules, Ashlyn also got a lecture from a park ranger, I mean forest ranger, on the importance of not picking the wild flowers. It's funny how obvious it can be when a person doesn't have any children of their own. And just to clarify, it was one flower, and no, I didn't see her pick it.

And since Trent can't go anywhere without a car or truck in hand, he found great entertainment in the form of a large boulder.

Remember how we didn't see a moose in Yellowstone? Well, the stars aligned my friend, because we saw this on our way down the canyon:

We ended the day with a BBQ to welcome home my parents from their long drive back from Misery, I mean Missouri.

And that concludes July. Before you know it we will be roasting chestnuts by an open fire. Really, who does that?