Rockin' R Ranch

   These two cutie-pies are so cute when they buddy up together.  On their own, they decided they would dress up as cowgirls for our family reunion at the Rockin' R Ranch in Antimony, Utah.  They love to dress like twins and were so excited - these were the first things they packed.  I love it when my kids get along and are friends with each other.  Emily misses Brianna every day when she goes off to school.  She is like Hobbs when Calvin gets home from school - she pounces on Brianna and gives her the biggest squishiest hugs - and sometimes hangs onto her leg like she does not want to ever let her leave her sight again!  Brianna is pretty tolerant, thank goodness!

         Tyler loved the animals.  It was so fun to see the brand new baby bunnies that were born while we were there.  Tyler just squealed with delight around all the animals - although being up on a horse was a little nerve-racking for him.  No tears, but he did not really want to go a second time!

    Same for Caitlyn - I think she and I were not born to be horsewomen - at least we would need a lot of practice - especially with stubborn horses like these!

    These three girls really enjoyed themselves.  Brianna went 4 times on the pony rides - thanks to a certain handsome young cowboy who caught her elder sister's eye!

    

Jessica was the bomb.  She bested everyone in barrel racing and got to go on a horse roundup way too early in the morning! This was definitely her kind of reunion. She is thinking of applying for a job at the Rockin' R next summer - if her mother can stand to part with her for so long :(

  Grandpa had fun dressing up as a cowboy - childhood dreams fulfilled!  Grandma and Grandpa also enjoyed the live band -they danced the night away!

I had very few pictures of Nate and Jadon mostly because they were off wandering around with cousins - and Jadon also did camera duty with me - took a lot of pics.  I will have to find some somewhere.  They did love canoeing -Ty hanging on to his precious stick!  Jadon wished the pond was more than a big puddle, but had fun hanging with his older cousins.

   These girls all had a blast together.  Cheyenne and Caitlyn are hoping to maybe room together at BYU next summer.  We had quite an adventure tubing down the river - my aunts both feared for their lives and got stuck on the same log (2 different trips).  Thankfully - they survived and we enjoyed getting to know all of our extended Smith family better.  Great times!!

Swimming Lessons- June 2012

     First year of big girl swimming lessons for this girl.  She was so proud of herself for blowing bubbles underwater.  After that I think she would have been content to just splash around, go down the slide, and jump off the diving board!!

       These three did well also.  They all passed the level they were on. I am glad they are learning to swim - it does seem to take a few years to get very proficient - especially since we don't spend a lot of time at the pool.  The older kids have to swim farther and farther each year - so sometimes it feels more like work to them than fun. They are pretty good sports to put up with it!  Unfortunately, I pulled out my new camera on the last day and the battery was dead.  Luckily, I had thrown in my old one as well, but I did not get any good action shots - mostly just splashes because of the camera delay! We signed up too late to get Tyler and Mom into the Mom and me class, so I guess he will have to wait until next year.  Sorry, buddy! Caitlyn, Jessica and Jadon were all off to EFY in St. George, so it was nice for the little ones to have something to do.

 

 

 

Halloween madness!

 

     Thought I would post a few pictures of our super-awesome pumpkin carving session.  (Don't notice  the time on the microwave clock captured in the skeleton pumpkin picture - soo late! It was definitely past MY bedtime :)  This has become one of our few annual traditions.  The kids all chose/designed/carved their own pumpkins - with just the younger two girls getting help from elder siblings.  Awesome! Notice Emily on the counter in the background - she takes over the DJ spot and is most likely playing "Baby" by Justin Bieber.  (like 20 times in a row ). Brianna wanted a happy pumpkin (in the picture with 3 pumpkins - on the right)  because her kindergarten class had a vote for their class pumpkin and ended up carving a mean pumpkin - she has twice as many boys in her class as girls - so not surprising!!
      Caitlyn was dancing the night away at the highschool  costume ball - guess boys are more interesting than pumpkins this year.

Pumpkins did not come from the garden this year - our garden infestation of little gopher rodent thingies killed the vines in September - so the pumpkins all died and rotted before Halloween.  The only thing they left alone were the onions. Lol!

Definitely a dig through the box to find a costume year.  Which means that the kids change costumes for every Halloween activity.  Unfortunately, we were in a rush every time to get people ready and off to their activities and dealing with a sick baby that the photographer was pretty lax in her duties.  So this is what we got - pictures in the car just before they left to go downtown for some main street trick-or-treating.

Jess got to dress up herself and her horse as well. (the horse she uses for horseback riding lessons).  We went to see her at 4H and she gave the little kids a ride.  Spanky is looking mighty fine with her pink hair!