Merry Christmas from the Smarts

2011

now there are eleven

hopefully you've read Catherine's post "then there were ten" on this blog . now there are eleven! we are so happy Amelia Jane made it here safely! what a sweetheart!
Love, Emma

Halloween 2011

Happy Halloween 2011

This year we had a BYU Football coach, a cute Wizard,

2 brave Jedi Knights

 and a cute "Glamour" Witch wearing her favorite color, purple.

We had probably the best night for trick-or-treating in years.  Beautiful weather! We even ran out of candy.

The kids examining their haul.

 

Mom got to plan Spencer's school class party which included the kids getting wrapped as mummies (with toilet paper.) It was a huge hit.

 And made a huge mess.

Also a fun party the night before at Grandma's house with cousins. (Ethan was asleep by this time.) A cute bunch.

Zion, Kolob and Bryce Canyons, fall 2011

Well it's been a while since we updated the good old family blog.  We figured with gorgeous pictures of Southern Utah's National Parks well worth sharing, now was the time.  

Over school fall break we took the kids to visit the wonders of  Zion and Bryce Canyon National Parks.  On the way down we stopped at Kolob Canyon - the norther part of Zion NP.  We did a short hike that evening. Stunning views. 

 The Virgin River, Springdale Utah at sunset.

 Hike to Emerald Pools

 Lookout at Emerald Pools.  The last time we made a trip to Zion as a family we took a picture in this same spot:

Things have changed a little in the past 12 years.

Here's our recreation of that picture in the same spot.

Stop for ice cream at the Zion Park Lodge

We were lucky to be able to meet up with my parents, my brother Jim and my sister Laura with husband Bret and baby Ethan for our time in Zion. Made it very fun.

Hike to Weeping Rock 

 

A swim at the motel pool after a day of fun hikes.

 

Saturday morning before we headed to Bryce we went on one more hike in Zion to the overlook of the canyon.  

We were so glad to have my dad with us one the hikes to help corral David who was a very enthusiastic hiker.

 Stunning view from the top.

After leaving Zion we made a quick stop in Kanab where many of my (Amy's) ancestors settled. This is a statue of one of them, Levi Stewart. One of his daughters married David King Udall.  It's appropriate that his great-grandson, Stewart Udall (who was Pres. Kennedy's Sec of the Interior), played a big roll in preserving a lot of land in southern Utah as National Parks.

Another stop at Bryce Canyon on the way home.  By this time our kids were kind of 'hiked-out' so we just admired the spectacular scenery.

I definitely want to make another trip and just focus on Bryce. One thing we noticed at both parks were the variety of license plates from all over the country + Canada, not to mention the variety of foreign languages we heard spoken.  People from all over, and this is all in our home state. We felt pretty lucky.

Good times had. And the kids were awesome on the hikes AND in the car. I foresee a 'golden age' of road-trips in our future for the next few years.  Looking forward to it!  If you just can't get enough of  these pictures there are more in this web album. :)

The Young King Arthur.

This year me and Emma were in our school play, "The Young King Arthur"

I was a Wizard-in-training Narrator and Emma was a lady-in-training.

My Good friend Amanda was a Narrator too.

Another one of my good friends was Guinevere #2, and me and Amanda were very proud of her. A lot of my other friends were in the play too. And yes, we will get a video recording of the play.

cousins sleepover 2011

In January we had the Sorensens over for a sleepover.

We had biscuits and gravy for breakfast and a lot of fun

Science Fair

This past January I participated in the school science fair.

I decided to find out if I changed the temperature of water in pizza dough if it would rise more or less. Turns out 120 degrees F. makes it rise the most.

I made 4 batches of pizza dough as precisely as possible.

And, although I didn't move on to the regional fair, I did receive one of the 5 "Most Creative" awards. It was very exciting and a great experience.

Catherine's Birthday

And now we're finally posting about my 12th birthday.

I got some great presents.These were my two favorites: Spencer Decorated my water bottle with stickers (see below), and a special story from Grandma Rosie (above) came in the mail.

I had four of my good friends over for a fun party. Left to right, Meghan, Nadia, me, Meagan, and Amanda. We played Apples to Apples and made tissue paper balls.

I also received some of my favorite books from my grandma and grandpa

All around it was a wonderful birthday. Thanks so much to everyone who made it special.

New Year 2011

Pictures from New Years Eve. This was the first time that the whole Udall clan was in the same place for New Year's Eve that I can remember. Good times were had.  

Playing Wii Dance Party.

 Cute babies to snuggle with. 

 

One of the greatest discoveries we made a couple of years ago is watching the ball drop in Time Square live in NY. Which means it is only 10:00 here. Perfect. We all feel like we celebrated with the masses, but we go to bed at a much more reasonable hour. Nice.

We still crash the next day.  After playing Dance Party, I didn't even stay awake until midnight myself. I was pooped!