Apple Picking!

Have you ever climbed a tree and picked an apple?  I haven't either!  But now, thanks to our cousin, Shelly, Melanie has!  Melanie LOVED it (talked about it for hours afterwards).  And we loved the apples!  Shelly spoiled us completely with fresh apples, tomatoes, and a watermelon from her garden.  Everything was so yummy!

 Preston enjoyed taste testing all the produce!

Thank you, Shelly, for the yummy produce and for some adult conversation!

The Last week in AZ in Review

The week before we moved kind of feels like a blur right now.  There was a lot going on, but a lot of stress as well.  I don't have pictures of everything, so here is a summary of what we did, and a few pictures to go along with it.

Of course... we packed and loaded our trailer.  No pictures needed there.  Just some serious thank yous...  To the people that helped us pack and load (Gary and Kathe, Angela, Bart, Ray, Brandon, Jeff, and Joe), to the wonderful family that watched my kids, day after day, (Marcia Penrod and her family), to everyone that helped me clean my house (Kathe and Tiffany) and Amilee for being willing to watch all the young children and deal with Oliver locking doors (sorry!).  Just writing "thank you" doesn't feel like enough.  My gratitude is beyond what I can express with words.

So, we moved out of our house on Monday, but we didn't leave the valley for an entire week afterwards.  Where did we live for that week?  My in-laws.  It was a week of sleepover parties at Grandma's House.  My kids were in 7th heaven.

Wednesday was Noelle's last day of preschool in the valley.  We were so excited, we got there a little early.  So we partied in the van.

And then we took a last day picture.  She was really sad to say goodbye to Mrs. Arlene.  I don't blame her.

Thursday, we went to the library for story time and said good bye to our friends there.  It was bitter sweet.  We love the librarians.  They have all been so wonderful over the years.  

Thursday night we had dinner with my dad and his wife, Cam.  The children had a lot of fun visiting with Grandpa and Grandma.  Grandpa spoiled them with balloon animals and a magic show.  I wish we had remembered to bring our camera.  It was a fun night.

Friday was Melanie's last day at Falcon Hill Elementary.  I decided to make it special by volunteering in her classroom.  I had fun playing games with the kids in the hallway.  All the kids in Melanie's former class are special.  What a fun class!  I also went to lunch with her and enjoyed listening to all the kids talk to me at once.  They were so much fun.  Mrs. Grantham is an amazing teacher and I know Melanie is going to miss her.

Saturday morning was the primary program practice, followed by rice crispy treats.  It was a nice day outside... until about 3, when it started to DOWN POUR!!!  (Holy rain, batman!)  We were suppose to be at my mom's house around 3, but we waited for the rain to ease up...  which it never did.  So, around 4:30, we chanced it.  That was a scary drive!  I'm so grateful we didn't crash.  

Then we had a party at Grandma Traci and Papa Terry's house.  It wasn't just a going away for us, but Papa Terry, who has taken a job in Israel and was scheduled to leave just 2 days after us.  Once again, I wish I had pictures.  I know someone took some, so hopefully I get a few pictures from that night.

Sunday was the kid's primary program.  They did so good.  Noelle was positioned right behind Brayden Penrod, who is significantly taller than her.  I was sad thinking that I wasn't going to be able to see her, but her primary teacher is wonderful and saw me trying to see her... so she moved Noelle to the side when the kids stood up.  It was perfect.  Both the girls said their parts perfectly and their sang so wonderfully.  I was a happy mom.

Sunday night was the Smithson Family "sent off" party.  I did get a picture, though not the best, of all 27 of the cousins.  This may be the last time they are all together.  Hopefully not, but it's hard to know.  Hannah and Adle are both seniors this year and their adventures are just beginning.  Isn't that a great looking group of kids?  I love them!

When we moved into the house on Rowen (11 years ago), someone took our picture in the backyard.  In the picture, you could see the tree, which was just a stick, and the shop.  It it amazing how much bigger that tree is.  I decided it was only fitting that we got a picture the day we moved out.  I wanted it to be similar, showing the shop and the tree, and how much it had changed.  And most importantly... showing how much we had changed as well.  Here we are, the Smithson Family.  Ready for our next adventure, where ever that leads us!

It's New

It has been a while since I have been able to blog.  As a result, there is a lot of things that I wanted to post and remember, that I have yet to do.  Most of those pictures and memories are on my camera, which is, regrettably, currently detained.  So, I decided to start with what's new.  I'll hopefully get back to the other memories soon.  

So, what is new?  Well, there is a lot that is new.  In fact, most everything feels new right now.  First off...  we live in a new place.

 After 11 years of owning our house, Brandon and I decided to uproot our little family and try something new.  Moving from Mesa, Arizona (population in the valley being roughly 10 million) to Oak City (population around 600) is considerably different.  Oak City is beautiful.  I'm already in love with the mountains around my house.  They are gorgeous.  We have grass!  Seriously! (In fact, it needs to be mowed, but that is another story).  The kids can play out front!  It's really nice.  Do I miss home? Yes.  Will I like my new home?  Yes as well.

 Melanie started school the day after we got here.  She goes to school in the next town over, which means she rides the bus.  The first day, I drove her to school and met the teacher with her.  Then she rode the bus home.  Poor Melanie was very emotional upon getting off the bus.  She was so scared that she was going to miss her stop.  Now she is a pro!  And she is even tricky and does her homework on the bus ride home so she is ready to play.  (Smart Girl!)

Melanie's teacher is Mrs. Fowles.  Her first day of school was a Wednesday.  The next day, they had a ballet come visit the school.  Friday was a field trip (to Oak Canyon).  Monday was eat at school with your kid day (which I'm glad I participated in). Tuesday was fire safety day, put on by the Delta Fire department, who brought their trucks and let the kids tour them.  Needless to say, she has been having a good time.   She loves her teacher and the friends she has made have been a lot of fun.

 Noelle is part of a joy school and started the Thursday after we got here.  She already LOVES it!  The group consists of 5 or 6 girls, so it is nick named the "Princess Preschool."  Noelle fits the bill.  Every day she asks me if she can go to school.

 We live walking distance to the town's park, so we frequently walk there (almost every day, in fact.  There are only a few days were, for whatever reason, we didn't head that way.)  Here are some pictures from our adventures at the park.  It's a lot of fun!  Sometimes we like to walk from the park to the only store in town, which we have dubbed the "ice cream place".  We can get ice cream sandwiches there.  So fun!

 One "new" thing I have really been enjoying these last few days involves the change in the season.  That's right...  a CHANGE IN THE SEASON.  We have Autumn here!  Real, Actual Autumn.  And that means, cooler weather and colorful leaves.  I'm in love!  It's wonderful!  I took Oliver to the Canyon after dropping Noelle off at school last Thursday (which is only a 5 minute drive).  I showed Oliver the beautiful trees.  

Me: "Look at that tree, buddy, Heavenly Father made it red.  See?"

Oliver: "He painted it red just for me?  Wow!  It's beautiful!"

I feel the same way when I look at the beautiful trees.  How blessed we are.

I have more adventures to share over the last 3 weeks, and hopefully I'll get them organized and posted soon.  But, for now, I just wanted to share that we got here.  We are happy.  And most of all, we feel blessed.

If You Give a Melanie a Cookie

Every day, after Melanie gets home, I go through her folder.  Today I found two versions of a story she is apparently working on for school.  I loved them both and decided to put them on my blog so I can save them.

Draft 1:

If you give me a cookie, I will go crazy and do a happy dance.  I hope you give me a sugar cookies.  I am going to eat a cookie with Mommy because she is so so nice.  Me and Mommy are eating a cookie in the living room.  It is fun to eat cookies.

Draft 2:

If you give me a cookie, I will go crazy and do a happy dance.  I hope you give a warm and good sugar cookie with pink frosting and rainbow sprinkles.  I will eat my cookie with my beautiful Mommy.  Mommy and I like to eat cookies on the ceiling.  I love, love to eat cookies!

Melanie is my future author!

Preston

It has been a while since I have blogged about Preston, and only Preston.  Mr. Preston is 6 months old now!  Time has really been flying!  He smiles, giggles, "talks", rolls, crawls, and sits.  Preston is by far my most laid back baby.  He has started becoming aware of when I leave him and will protest, but is quick to regain composure when I return.  He loves his siblings and puts up with a lot of "love" from them.  Preston is just too cute!  I love him.  Here are some pictures:

The kids found this tiny Santa Hat the other day while I was de-cluttering and packing up my closet.  They decided that Preston needed to try it on, but alas, he kept pulling it off.  I decided it was still work getting a picture of.

 Here is a picture of me and my little Teddy Bear!

 Preston fell asleep while we were picking Melanie up from school the other day.  Someone decided he needed a baby to snuggle with.

 Yesterday, I was in the kitchen and look who followed me in!  I laid on the floor to take these pictures and he started giggling so much he couldn't hold himself up too well.  Next thing I knew, he was grabbing the camera away from me (even though I kept scooting back).

 Doesn't his little face just warm your heart?  Man, I'm in love!

Preston, Thank you for joining our family!  We love you!

House For Sale!

So, we are moving...  To Utah... to start a new adventure.  And now, our house is for sale.  I absolutely love my house and hate to leave it behind, but I'm really looking forward to our move. If you know anyone looking for a house:  Link to view the listing!

Here are some pictures! (There are much more on the listing)

I'll update you with the exciting details of our move later!

First Day of School!

School is in full swing!  It is amazing how fast that summer flew by!  Melanie is starting 1st grade at Falcon Hill Elementary, in Mesa, with Mrs. Grantham.  She informed me that when she grows up, she wants to be a hair stylist and an artist.

Noelle started Preschool in Mesa, Arizona, with Mrs. Arlene.  When she grows up, she wants to bake and decorate beautiful cakes!  I love it!

You may have noticed that I mentioned that they are starting school in Mesa, Arizona this year... that's because they won't be finishing school in Mesa.  They will be finish the school year in Delta, Utah.  But more on that on a later day!

I'm so excited for them.  They are both really excited about this school year!