Smith Family

Cuddle Buddies

2010-07-17T14:52:00.000-07:00

Joshua has started to ask that we lay with him when it is time to take a nap, or for bed. We really don't mind. He will only be little for such a short time that we will take the cuddles while we can. We do try to avoid having him be dependent on having us there to fall asleep though. Usually we will wait until he is really sleepy and then leave the room so he can fall asleep on his own. The other afternoon, Joshua asked for Daddy to lay with him. Cody is a little tall to fit in Joshua's bed with him and all of his stuffed animals, the guard rails, and his blankets but he makes it work. So he climbed on in bed along side Joshua and tried to help him wind down. Apparently it worked a little too well. After quite some time, I went in to make sure everything was ok and see if I could help. I found a very tired little boy and a Daddy who had conked out beside him. I grabbed my camera and snapped a quick picture to remember the moment. It's not a great picture because I was trying to avoid waking them up, but it's enough to capture the memory. I thought that it was pretty sweet and wanted to make sure I documented these quickly passing moments. He sure is growing up fast...

4th of July Fun!

2010-07-05T12:20:00.000-07:00

Our family had a really fun time celebrating independence day. We drove down to Safford to spend the day with my family because Safford had all of their festivities on Saturday the 3rd instead of on Sunday. We started out the day at the parade down Main Street. There is just something about a small town parade. Joshua loves parades and other than the heat, he had a great time.
My mom wasn't able to make it because of the heat, but we spent the morning with my Dad, brother Richard and sister-in-law Kara. During the parade, one of the floats handed out otter-pops and Joshua really enjoyed it! Uncle Richard was a big help with the popsicle. After the parade, we walked over to the fire house to cool off a bit while we waited for traffic to die down. Joshua was one lucky kiddo and got to spend a little bit of time in the fire engines while we waited. It sure was a fun 4th of July activity.

Later that day we barbecued at my parents to avoid the crowds out at the fair grounds. The food was super yummy and definitely met the expectations for a great 4th of July BBQ. As the day wound down, we loaded up the ice chest with cold drinks, and watermelon and headed out to the fair grounds to grab a spot for the fireworks.

It was a great show this year. We park at the church across the highway from the fairgrounds because the seats are great and the crowds are much more bearable. Josh was getting pretty tired and a little cranky as the night went on, but once the fireworks started he was much happier.
And, as the day came to an end, we got Josh into jammies and buckled in for the ride home. He was out within 10 minutes. All the fun had definitely tuckered him out.

The next day, we attended church and had a quiet day. We ended the weekend by watching the Willcox firework show from our front yard. They have them at the high school which is only a couple of blocks from our house so we had front row seats. It was a great weekend!

Watching a Show is Always Better with a Friend

2010-06-22T14:49:00.000-07:00

Josh likes to watch T.V., but more often than not he just likes it on for background noise. Today though he decided to have some quality time with his good friend Elmo. I walked in expecting him to be reading a book or playing with his coloring pad and found this...

He had propped Elmo up using his ball to watch Elmo in Grouchland with him. I just watched him for a little while and pretty soon he started to hold Elmo's hand and talk to him. It was just too cute! I went ahead and got one of him looking too just for fun. I love how imaginative he is. He has such an active mind that I can barely keep up. I count my blessings everyday that I was blessed with such a smart and creative little one to keep me on my toes. He helps me to find the good in everyday. Love you Joshua!

Happy Birthday To Me!

2010-06-16T09:51:00.000-07:00

I had a great birthday this year. Cody went above and beyond like he always does. It was a quiet day, but he got the day off so we could celebrate. We opened presents at home, and then we drove down to spend the evening with my Mom and Dad. Birthdays have always been a big deal to my parents, especially my Mom. I always feel very special on my day even now when I am grown up with a family of my own.

As I mentioned before, Cody went way above and beyond and spoiled me rotten. He got me a book from the Percy Jackson series I've been reading, the first half of Glee season one, a new set of headphones, and AN IPOD TOUCH!!! It didn't make it in the mail quite in time to open, so Cody was creative and printed out a picture of one, cut it out, and wrapped it. Cody is the best and I loved all of my gifts.

At my Mom's, we had a lot of fun. My parents are always very generous and I got even more wonderful gifts. I got a cover for my new ipod, some new pj's, a dress for church with matching jewelry and a flower hair clip, and an ipod home! I even got a balloon from Joshua that he wasn't quite ready to give up. They were all awesome! My mom made me a special dinner, and we had birthday cheesecake to finish off the celebrations. Yes, with 26 candles and all.

My In-Laws are also great and made me feel very special on my birthday. They were so sweet and got me two gift cards! One was for itunes to use with my new ipod, and the other was to KOHLS. I had been wanting a new pair of running shoes for a while and I was so excited to use my gift card towards those. I am a really lucky girl to have such a wonderful family on all sides.

It was a great birthday and I am so blessed to have the family that I do. I can't believe that I am 26 and getting older by the minute. I guess we all have to grow up!

Anniversary Tradition

2010-06-16T09:40:00.000-07:00

For our first anniversary, Cody decided to get red and yellow roses to symbolize our wedding colors. I loved the idea and hoped that he would do that every year. He has stuck with the tradition and this year, he got me some beautiful red and yellow roses after we got back from our mini vacation. Here they are! I loved them and can't wait for many more red and yellow anniversaries.

A Reason To Relax

2010-06-15T11:04:00.000-07:00

About a month ago, Cody called on his way home from work and told me that he was going to be out of town for our anniversary on the 31st. I have to admit, I was pretty upset. He had just gone up to Snowflake for work and I didn't think that he would be going away again soon. I think he could tell I wasn't very happy because he said, "Don't worry though! You'll be with me." At this point I was just really confused. I didn't want to spend my anniversary on a work trip, but you do what you have to right? Well Cody went on to tell me that he was told by his boss that he had to take a vacation. Cody's boss really is great and I am thankful that he appreciates him and knows that he needs a break from time to time. He told Cody that he would not work his best if he worked all the time. Well, they are getting ready to make a huge upgrade and implement some new things at work in the IT department. It's a massive project and will take upwards of nine months. It will be starting soon so Cody needed to take his vacation time before then. With other vacations on the schedule and projects already in the works, it worked out that Cody could take the week of our anniversary off. I started to cry when he told me. I don't know what was wrong with me. I think it was the initial shock of hearing Cody was going to be out of town combined with the disappointment that the trip we wanted to take would probably not be possible because it was so close to when the vacation was that there was not time to plan or save for a more extravagant trip. I could tell Cody felt bad, but I got over it quickly and told him I was excited and that we could plan something fun. We decided to just go up to Phoenix and stay at the resort we stayed the night we got married. It worked out perfectly because we were going up to help Shannon move the weekend our vacation started.

The day before Cody left for the week his boss pulled him into his office. Cody was a little worried but he had no reason to be. In fact, it was great news! Something that Cody really wanted. With the new things happening at work, they opened two new positions up in the IT department. One was a position for a specialized programmer, and the other was for a systems administrator two position that will be specialized in the program that they are implementing. I obviously don't understand it in detail. Well they took applications for both and found a programmer right away, but they were not finding anyone to fill the sys admin two position. In fact Cody was the highest qualified based on the applications, and they have come to really like his work ethic and company at work. So.... THEY GAVE CODY THE PROMOTION!!! We are so very excited and realize that this is an enormous blessing. However, it is going to be a lot of work and will require learning and growth. Which is a good thing. In the end, Cody will become a very specialized type of administrator. This confirms for us even further that we made the right decision in moving to Willcox.

A week or so before this all happened, I was contacted about taking over the Executive Directorship for the Miss Graham County Scholarship Pageant. They needed a director to take over for the pageant in August and even though along with everyone else I think I am a little crazy I am very excited about it. Miss Graham is a preliminary in the Miss America Organization and I had the great blessing of being a titleholder in 2005. Graham County's pageant is a little more involved than a lot of pageants in the state so I am going to have my hands full, but I also have a lot of help and support behind me. I had such a great experience that I didn't want to see the pageant stop because they were not able to find a director. Here I am way back in 2005 when I was Miss Graham. It was a lot of fun and I'm sure being the director will be too.

With all of the new things we have taken on, decided that it was important to get away for a few days and just RELAX! So that is what we did. We started off by not relaxing, but still got away a day early. Joshua had a doctors appointment on Friday afternoon and then I had a photoshoot in Tucson that evening. Josh's appointment ended up being cancelled and rescheduled for Thursday of the next week so we just spent the morning getting ready and packing up the car to head out. The photoshoot went well, and then we hung out at Cody's parents' for the night. It was a lot of fun and we were ready to get the relaxation started. We headed up to Phoenix and got Shanny all moved and then she kept Joshua Saturday night for us. It was his first full night away but I was so tired it didn't even phase me. She took him to church with her that afternoon and Cody and I spent the day together which was WONDERFUL!! It's been a very long time since we have had a date that was longer than a two hour movie or dinner. We had lunch together at Sweet Tomatoes, went and saw Iron Man 2, went and did a little shopping for new beach towels, and then got ice cream at Cold Stone. It was so nice to just be together.

We picked Joshua up and then we headed back to our hotel. We stayed at the same resort we stayed at when we got married. We loved it then but only got to stay the one day before we headed to our reception and then to California for the week. It was perfect for relaxing and made our time away even nicer.

This was the living room and kitchenette areas. It had a porch out the front door and another out the back. We were right next to the pool so it made it very convenient. Out the back we had a room on the golf course so that made for a really nice place to sit and relax as well.

This was the bedroom. It had a tempurpedic mattress and a flat screen mounted on the wall. It was very comfy!

This is the spa tub and bathroom area. On the opposite side of the room was a huge walk in shower that was awesome! The whole bath area was massive and very nice.

We decided to go for a swim after we got back and Joshua LOVED the pool. He wasn't very happy about the cold water at first but he got used to it, and after that it was all we heard about for the next few days. He actually loved the hot tub. We didn't let him stay in very long, but in the evening if he got cold we would let him go in for a few minutes.

Cody and I celebrated our third anniversary on May 31st which was Monday. We have a very relaxing day of swimming, watching movies, and just hanging around the hotel. We did go to Oregano's for lunch where Shannon works and it was very yummy! That afternoon Shannon came over and hung out for a bit and then she took Josh for us that night so we could go out and celebrate. We went to Olive Garden. It was the same one we ate at the night we got married. We have some really fond memories of that meal. We had an awesome server and he and another guy sang their "celebration" song for us. It was AWESOME! It was just the two of them, but we have still never heard anyone do it nearly as much justice and those two. We headed out a little late so we cut dinner short and headed over to the theater. We went to see Robin Hood and even though it was pretty violent we really liked it. It was definitely different than the traditional story of Robin Hood and Maid Marian. We headed home and found a sleeping little boy. It was a great day and I am so very grateful for my husband and our loving relationship. I see so many couples who argue and fight, or lose the friendship that they used to have and I am so thankful that we are not in that situation. Sure we have our moments just like everyone else, but I know that they never last long because we don't want them to. We usually talk about it and it's over in just a few minutes. I'm glad we can still laugh together, be silly, and dream big. I love Cody so very much and I know that he loves me. It's pretty wonderful and I am looking forward to many more years and eternity together.

Here we are on our wedding day at the Mesa, AZ Temple

This is the Olney House in Safford where we had our reception the following day.

Here we are at dinner. We didn't take a whole lot of pictures during vacation. I probably should have taken more, but it just got away from me. This is on Cody's iphone like a lot of the other photos we got while we were there.

And the movie poster for Robin Hood

The next day we decided that we wanted to get out and do something fun, so we thought we would try out Castles and Coasters. We picked Shannon up to go with us and grabbed some lunch at Subway and then headed into the park. It was a lot of fun. They had one big roller coaster, another smaller one, bumper boats, go karts, a free fall, a water ride, tons of other smaller rides, and then the arcade and miniature golf. We bought unlimited passes so we just kept getting in line and we would switch off who would stay and take Joshua on the smaller rides like the Merry-Go-Round. That was his favorite and it got plenty of use from us that day. Joshua's face was priceless on the bumper boats. I was laughing so hard I thought I was going to fall in. He has so much personality and it just makes us happy. It's hard not to smile around him. Here are a few pictures from the day. Again, they are from Cody's phone so they are not the greatest but I figured they were better than not having any at all.

Our last day there was Wednesday. We decided to just stay in again and have fun at the pool. It was a nice ending to our time away and even though I wished we could stay longer, I was also ready to head home. I'm pretty sure Josh was too. It was great to take some time for us and get away.

Thursday we took Joshua to his doctors appointment in Tucson. He is doing great. He is 25-50% for weight at 25 lbs and 75% for height at 32 inches. His doctor raved about his language skills and said that he is WAY ahead of his developmental age. She was very impressed and told us to keep up whatever we were doing, and that we should be very proud of him. It was so funny because she could hardly get a word in. He was talking up a storm, telling her colors that were in the room, naming butterflies and bugs. It was pretty funny. We were happy to hear he didn't need shots for a couple of months so that made the visit a bit more pleasant. Friday we hung out at home and spent some time resting up while we can. That weekend we were did another photoshoot, and caught up on homework. Still when Monday rolled around the next week, we were still not ready to get back to work. We are very grateful for our jobs and the many blessings we've been given. It's still nice to get away once in a while and this mini vacation was definitely much needed and appreciated.

Puppy Love

2010-06-15T00:42:00.001-07:00

Joshua adores our dog Maddie. She is a sweet puppy and we love her an awful lot. We have another dog for the time being Sadie who is a bit rambunctious and full of energy. And she is a bit bigger than Maddie and she is not even a year old yet. Maddie has been with our family almost as long as we have been a family. Cody and I got her when we had been married for three months and she fit right in. There have been some changes with a new baby (Joshua), a toddler, and a move. She used to sleep in our bed but that just doesn't work anymore. With Sadie being around she has spent a lot of time outside with her and less time inside. We miss having her around at our feet and trying to steal treats. We have started bringing her back in more and I was shocked to find this...

He kept making this ridiculous face while I was trying to get a close up and it was hilarious. I was cracking up!

Maddie just fell right back in with the routine of things. As I said, Joshua adores her. She had curled up on the couch after a bath and Joshua climbed up and just found a comfy spot. Maddie didn't mind at all. She just wiggled in even more. They stayed like this for just over an hour. I really thought Joshua was going to fall asleep but he managed to keep his eyes open. Our little Maddie is so patient and sweet. I am glad that Josh can be a boy around her and that she lets him chase and pester her. She's just another one of the family.

Family Pictures

2010-06-14T23:52:00.000-07:00

While my sister was in town we she came over to Willcox to spend a day with us. It was SOOOO much fun! I decided while she was here I would use her help. I wanted to get some family pictures of us, and even though we have done some in the past I thought it would be much easier with her behind the camera. She has a great eye for photography and has taken a couple of classes so I knew we were in good hands. We helped get the camera set up and she shot away. We only had about 45 minutes to get the shots we needed and I think she did great! She ended up staying the night because it got to be a bit late for her to drive home, but I won't complain! I loved the extra time with her. Thanks for all of your help Shanny!

The picture below was a lot of work, but I wanted one of him by himself and he was done after the first photo. We finally got him to fold his arms in an effort to try and keep him still. It worked for a split second and he just happened to look at the same time. Luckily he will be turning two in a couple of months and it will be time for new photos of him. We'll see if they go any better than these.

May oh May!

2010-06-14T21:07:00.000-07:00

May was one crazy, busy, fun, stressful, successful month for us! We started May off with the preparation and then opening of our studio on May 8th. After that we moved on to a whole bunch of family fun and activities.

Cody did a great job of making me feel very special on Mother's Day this year. He was so sweet. He let me sleep in, brought me breakfast in bed with a flower, made me a super cute card, and showered me with gifts. He was so funny because he got me a slotted spoon. I have been needing one forever and I was surprised he even remembered something so silly. But he did! He also got me purple daisies that were so pretty! He did a great job at making my Mother's Day a nice one.

May 13th we made a very unplanned, but necessary decision to move Joshua from his crib to A BIG BOY BED! Joshua had developed a fun new habit of banging his head on the side of his crib. The first time it happened, I noticed a big round bruise on his forehead. I had been at a Relief Society Enrichment activity the night before so I called Cody and asked if Josh had fallen or bumped his head on something while I was gone. He said he hadn't and that he had no idea where Josh got the bruise. So I figured it was one of those toddler bruises that just happened. Well that night, I heard this loud bumping on the monitor so I finally went into his room to see what was going on. Joshua was standing up, holding two slats, and banging his head on the top bar of the crib. I think he may have been asleep or really out of it because he didn't even look up when I came in the room and his bed in right next to his crib. I finally said, "JOSHUA!! What are you doing!?" He slowly looked up at me and just kinda stared. I picked him up and took him in our room. We got him to sleep and then laid him back down. He was fine the rest of the night. The next afternoon, he did the same thing during nap time and I decided that was it. It had been about three days that we figured it had been going on so we decided it was time for a big boy bed. We went down to the local (meaning only) mattress store in Willcox and had him pick out a new bed. We grabbed some sheets and got it all set up. I think he would have done better his first night if he were more prepared. So no, the transition did not go well. He wouldn't stay in his bed, and when Cody finally got him to sleep the poor kid rolled out of bed. Now don't laugh, but they did not have a safety rail anywhere in Willcox. So we laid his crib mattress on the floor with a ton of pillows and blankets to protect him if he did fall out of bed. Well... like I mentioned he did and it did not go as planned. Instead of landing nicely in the bedding he bounced off the mattress and then into the rocking chair near his bed. By then he was so upset there was not much we could do. We tried but it was just not working so when 5:30 am rolled around we decided that the remainder of the morning would have to be spent in his pack and play. We set it up and as hard as he tried to put up a fight he couldn't resist sleeping. He was really tuckered out. The next night went fantastic! Cody laid with him for a little while, he asked for a drink and fell asleep quickly once he got his cup. It was crazy the change from the night before. It didn't stay that easy. He still asks for Cody to lay with him every night and depending on the day he goes to sleep easily or he cries for a little while. He is sleeping through the night in his bed though so I am very happy about that. Now if we can just get him to take naps there we will be in good shape. Here are a few pictures from his first night in the big bed and a couple others from another day. I am excited to get him big boy bedding for his birthday which also means we get to re-decorate (or for this house do it for the first time)!

At the end of the week, we had the chance to head up to Safford to spend the weekend with my family to celebrate my little sister's 21st birthday, go through the Gila Valley Temple open house, and take family pictures for my Mom for her Mother's Day gift. It was a busy weekend, but very special and completely worth all of the chaos. I am very close to my little sister and I miss her so much. Cody and her have become very good friends and I love that they can laugh and joke with each other. Joshua also LOVES his Auntie Shannon. She lived with us for his entire first year of life and this helped them to be even closer. He chose to let her hold him in the temple and didn't want much to do with anyone else. We decided to get a little creative for her present this year. We wanted to give her something she could use, and also something that she would like. So we decided to get her a crockpot and 25 lbs of pinto beans. I thought it would at least be useful and she has really been wanting a crockpot. I think she liked it and she has already used it successfully so I think it worked out well.

The Gila Valley Temple is so very special to me. Every temple is a sacred place, but this temple is very close to my heart. My family were part of the original pioneer members that settled the area and I know they have all waited a long time to see the Valley blessed with a temple. It was beautiful inside. I loved the baptismal font, the ordinance rooms, and the celestial room. The sealing room was another room that just had a special feeling in it. What can I say, the whole place had such a strong feeling of the spirit it couldn't be ignored. We were able to take a few photos afterward outside the temple. We didn't have the best location, but it was very busy that day so we were just happy to grab the few that we did.

That evening we went to a concert that was presented through the LDS Bookstore and it was great! We went as a whole family which made it even better. After the show, Shannon came with us, we grabbed some food and headed back to our hotel. It was so nice getting to spend a little extra time with her, and we always have a good laugh when we are together. It was late and we were tired so we called it an early night. I took her home and then headed to bed for a full day the following day. The next day we did several things to prepare for Shanny's birthday and family pictures. Day passed too quickly and we were off to do family photos for my Mom. We had a lot of fun, but we didn't know that our new camera was not compatible with the remote that we had for our old camera. So we had to them the old fashion way, but I am still really like the way they turned out.

put on her wall. Happy Mother's Day Mom!! We love you and appreciate all you do for us!
The next weekend was a very special one. We came back down to Safford for the temple cultural celebration and dedication. We did not have tickets to be at the actual performance for the celebration but we watched it at the Safford Stake Center with Joshua. It was really an amazing event. They tied a great deal of history into the performance and it was awesome seeing all of the youth participating together. President Thomas S. Monson our prophet and President Henry B. Eyring were both in attendance. They were SO funny! They sang a little song together and told a couple of really funny stories. It was a very special time. The next morning my parents watched Joshua for us while we attended the temple dedication. It was such an amazing and spiritual experience. Having grown up in the Gila Valley, I knew the great desire for a temple in the area. And to see it from start to finish was an experience that I am very grateful for. We were able to attend the ground breaking all the way up to the dedication. Many of those who spoke in the first dedicatory session spoke of President Spencer W. Kimball who lived in Safford/Thatcher all of his life. My granddad did business with him often and spoke very highly of him. It was special to hear stories from the prophet and other leaders about him. Everything about the dedication was perfect. There was such a peaceful feeling that day. I am really looking forward to doing temple work there. It will be nice having a temple so very close. What a blessing!

May was one crazy month, but it was full of blessings and great memories that will be with me for the rest of my life.

Where in the world did the days go?

2010-06-14T15:00:00.000-07:00

We have been pretty busy around our house the last couple of months. We've been doing lots of work and lots of playing. We took a big leap in April... we leased and started work on our new photography studio! It just kind of happened. The circumstances were right and we felt good about taking the plunge so we went for it. Needless to say we worked out little tushies off to prepare and so far it has been really great. Things are still a bit slow but inch by inch we are breaking into the new market here in Willcox. The crazy thing is, from the day we signed the lease to the day we opened was three weeks. Just three weeks, and I have to tell ya, I wished I'd had another three months to get everything together. But we made it, the doors are open, and we are working so it was all worth it. My family was great!! My sister-in-laws Allison and Lindsey came down the week we planned to open and took Josh off my hands for the day and that completely made the difference. It was that last little stretch that I really had to buckle down for and would not have made it without them. AND while they were here they did laundry, finished dishes, scrubbed down counters, and I came home to a clean little boy all ready for bed. It was fantastic!! The morning we opened was a bit insane to say the least. We had not been to bed before 1:00 am for more than a week, and the night before we had left the studio at 3:00 am. Needless to say that Saturday was a very long day. It was a little slow, but we didn't do very much advertising before hand. Just a few fliers and word of mouth. Photography has been a wonderful creative outlet in my life and what makes it even greater is that Cody and I enjoy learning the craft together. Wish us luck!!!

This is what it looked like when we started both inside and outside.

Funny story about the new paint we bought for the exterior. We just happened to choose the exact same color as what was already there. We really could not have gotten any closer. We had a whole wheel of colors, including several yellows and this is what we picked. I guess it was just meant to be that color. Here we have painted the top portion the "new" yellow and Cody and I painted the logo on. My awesome hubby created my flower logo for me from a chicken scratch drawing I gave him that was on a napkin. It represents me and Joshua. He is the number one reason why I love and have pursued photography. You can see how similar the yellows are before and after. The was drawn on the building free hand by Cody and then we both climbed up and got to painting. It was one long night. We did all of the painting in the dark. Yes, I know, we are crazy. But we had a deadline and it was approaching quickly. We repainted the lower half, and the awning brown. I think a fresh coat of paint made a big difference.

Here is Joshua keeping himself busy while we worked away. He was not normally this patient. He did have a jumping pit with balls, cars, and the train down the street to keep him occupied. But we did get a babysitter a couple of times to come down and hang out with him while we had things that were really involved to do. He was a pretty tough little guy during those crazy two weeks.
And here I am on opening day. My mom came up and helped us set up last minute stuff. I really hesitated posting this photo, but Cody said I really needed to have one. I guess it is probably a good thing. I was SO tired and was feeling the lack of sleep and hard work from the last couple of weeks. The flowers were from my mom. I loved them and Chrysanthemums are starting to become a new favorite flower of mine. This is in the little sitting/waiting area that we have in the studio.

I am so lucky to have a husband that is so supportive and encourages me to pursue my dreams and goals. He really was the force behind this new adventure. We still have some work to do on it, but now that the majority of the work is done and I have a studio to call my very own I am glad he thought I could do it. It has already been an adventure and I am looking forward to seeing where it takes us.

20 Months!

2010-04-20T15:35:00.001-07:00

Joshua turned 20 months on April 5th. I could hardly believe it. In just 4 months he will be 2. 2 years old!? Where the heck did that come from? He was just born like 6 months ago wasn't he? Everyone told us that we should enjoy every minute of him while he is this small because it goes so fast. I never could have understood how true that was without experiencing it. We love him so very much and he brings us so much joy... and a few headaches here and there. He is starting into his terrible twos early I think. I'm glad that Cody is willing to be tough with him. It can hard being the tough one all day so it's nice to let him take over when he gets home. Most of the time Joshua doesn't need us to be tough. He is usually a good little boy, but he has started to test our patience a little here and there. He has a large vocabulary and loves to use it. he is a huge fan of coloring, reading, bubbles, and playing with his friend Abby. He is growing so quickly, and the last set of pictures we took of him really made me realize how much he has grown in the last few months. We went out one afternoon and snapped a few of him. There really wasn't enough light left to get the best photos but I really loved the way some of them turned out. I think they are a good reflection of his little personality right now. Here are our favorites from the afternoon.

A Weekend in Willcox

2010-04-19T11:43:00.000-07:00

This past weekend we had nothing to do. Nothing. It was fantastic! It has been a while since we have had absolutely nothing to do. Friday night we drove down to Safford so we could go to the bank. They do not have a Bank of America here so that is the closest one. While we were there we had dinner and then my parents watched Josh so Cody and I could go on a date and see a movie. We went and saw Date Night. It was funny, really funny. Mostly because there were a lot of things we could relate to, but in a good way. We picked Joshua up, ran to Walmart and headed home. Saturday morning joshua and I slept in, and Cody got up around 7:00 to go down and do some quick work for a client. After he got home, we decided to get breakfast at a new restaurant in town. It was actually really good! We don't have a lot of dining options to choose from so it was nice to see something yummy and new open up. After breakfast we went for a drive and just spent some time together doing nothing. That afternoon we thought we would stop and get ice cream at a little parlor in town. We had heard it was really good, but hadn't tried it out yet. They were right. It was very yummy and there was a ton of it. The servings were huge and Joshua was in heaven. In the historic district they have a gun fight show every Saturday at 2:00. We were down there and decided to hang out for it. The actors were great and really seemed to enjoy it. They had a wide range of people in the cast. There was even a man who was in his 80's who played the Sheriff's deputy. He was a hoot! I was surprised by how much Joshua enjoyed it. I thought he wouldn't like it because of the loud shots but he was clapping and cheering right along with everyone else. We hadn't planned on going so we didn't have our camera, but we did get a couple with Cody's i-phone. After it was over one of the actors came over and gave Joshua a shell from one of the guns that they had used during the show. Joshua was very impressed. When they were taking pictures they asked if Joshua could be in one with them and we thought it would be fun. We couldn't get one with Joshua looking because he was too busy playing with the man's gun. We are planning on going down again sometime just to take some pictures. The rest of the day we just stayed home and relaxed. It was a nice change. Sunday was quite. We attended church, made dinner together, and then worked on different school and art projects. It was a great weekend at home here in Willcox.

Exam Cram and Photography Heaven

2010-04-18T22:18:00.000-07:00

On Friday the 9th, I had to drive up to Casa Grande to take an exam that determined if I would be able to move forward in my program for my degree. I was a little worried about the reading and writing, but I was freaking out over the math. I am not a math person. I have never been a math person. I will never be a math person. I just do not have the type of brain that works well in that type of thinking. Needless to say the few days leading up to the test were a little hectic and stressed. I studied like crazy and I was grateful for a very patient tutor that was by my side the entire way. Cody luckily is very good at math, and was an enormous help. He just kept telling me I could do it, and deep inside I think it helped.

The day of the exam crept up on me quickly and I was on my way to Casa Grande early that morning. I was schedule to start my exam at noon but I had to be there early to check in and make sure that I had all of the necessary identification and paperwork. I went in to make sure I was set and the guy at the testing center said they were not very busy that day so I could start early if I wanted. I have to admit, I panicked a little and then got over it. I ran outside and called Cody to let him know I was heading in early. It was a 4 1/2 hour test, so I wanted him to know when I was starting it. I got in, took a few deep breaths and dove in. I was breezing through the reading, and then got to the math portion. I just told myself that I could only do my best. I hammered through it and eventually got to the writing portion. I was surprised, the only part I was actually crammed for time on was the writing segment. I still was able to finish it, but I wished I had more time to look over my essay. Each part of the test was timed individually, so I couldn't borrow any of the extra time I had on my reading exam. After the test was complete it showed me my unofficial scores for the reading and math. I passed!! I was way above the required score on both!! I was so surprised because I actually scored one point higher on my math than on my reading. I guess all of the studying paid off. Now I am awaiting my official scores which will have the writing score with it as well. I pretty sure I passed but you never know. I have about another week before they come in.

I was really happy to be out of the testing center and made all of the phone calls to those who were waiting to hear how it went. It was nice to be able to tell them I passed. After the exam, I was on my way up to Phoenix to spend the night with my sister and then attend a photography workshop the next day. I made it up to her house in about an hour and as a congrats for doing well on my test, Cody treated me to a pedicure! Shanny had never gotten one so it was a lot of fun getting to experience that with her. We were laughing tons and just relaxing which is something neither of us had been able to do in a long time. Especially together! It had been since before Joshua was born that we'd had a sister's night with just the two of us. Apparently we were pretty funny to the ladies there because we had everyone laughing. It went something like:

"Shanny, are you gonna get a flower?"
"No..."
"Why??! You need a flower."
"No, really it's ok"
"No, really you need a flower."
"OK... I'll get the flower."

Then we went on to talk about who's feet we got. I think we decided that Shannon has my Dad's feet and I have my Mom's. The ladies there were rolling. We weren't even trying to be funny. It was SO MUCH FUN!!! It was the perfect thing after such a stressful week.

After we finished our toes we thought we would find something to eat but we both needed to do some homework so we drove over th Shanny's school to use the library. It was closed so we headed back to Shannon's. I was glad that I got to see her school though. It is a really nice campus and I think it fits her well. When we got back, we went down and sat by the pool while we worked because that area had a better internet connection. It was really nice. I didn't even really mind that I was doing homework. After we finished up we decided to drive forever and go to Olive Garden. It was well worth the drive and we had a great server who made it even more fun. The food was super tasty and we even got some lemon cake for dessert.

We headed back to the house and even though I was having a great time I couldn't keep my eyes open. I had only gotten three hours of sleep the night before and had made a 3 1/2 hour drive that day. I was wiped out. Shanny was so sweet and insisted I sleep in her bed. I felt like my head had just hit the pillow when the alarms went off. Yes, alarm...s. We are both really heavy sleepers and don't particularly care for the morning. So to make sure we got up on time we set a few alarms.

It was hard getting up early after a long day and late night, but I was SO EXCITED!!! I was on my way to attend an all day photography workshop that I had waited months to attend. A good friend of mine recommended it because her cousin was one of the amazing photographers who created it. I had about an hour drive to get there from my sisters but it was nice to be able to visit with Cody while I made the drive. Somehow I managed to forget directions so he guided me there. Thanks heavens!! The workshop was supposed to be 10 hours but ended up being around 11 hours. I guess we were a chatty group. We went over a ton of information and it was well worth all of the pennies I saved to be able to go. That afternoon they had some models come for us to have a photo shoot with. They had two young women from their ward that were sisters and another family that lived across the street who were also from their ward. I have done a lot of family pictures and decided to practice my new tips on the two girls. I will be starting into the senior portrait market this year so I thought it would be a great place to start. The girls were really sweet and great models.

After the photo shoot was complete, we headed back in to have dinner and finish up. We finally tied up the last few knots at 9:30 that night and I had to decide if I would drive the hour back to Shanny's and stay the night or just head home. I knew the drive home would be a long one, but I was ready to get back and see my hubby and bug-a-boo (Joshua. Where I got that nickname I don't know but it's the one that stuck). I called Cody and started the drive home. I got off on the wrong exit so I had to go an alternate route which took a little longer. Traffic was awful and I was disappointed because I was looking forward to a quite drive home to think about all of the exciting stuff I had been able to learn and perfect. But it was probably better that it was busy because it kept me awake. I finally made it home at 1:00 a.m., and was welcomed by Cody who had waited up for me. I walked in and he had picked up the house and had gotten me flowers to congratulate me for passing my test. I'm sure I had a pretty big smile on my face. There are not a lot of places to get flowers here in Willcox, and I was a little bummed that the ones he got didn't last very long. I was only able to get a picture of one of the lilys. The roses were long gone and the other lily's were getting to be pretty sad.

Even though I was ready for bed I pulled out the computer and edited a couple of images from the day. I was just too excited to wait until morning. I still have a ton of learning to do, and so much work to put in before I get to the level of photography I would like to eventually reach but this workshop was one very big step in the right direction.

It was another long and crazy weekend, which it seems like our family has been involved in far too often these days. However, it was fantastic! I am so excited for the new things that are coming our way for photography and for the chance to continue my education and work towards my goal of being a teacher like my Mom. It was nice to spend time with Shanny and have a girls night but it was also so great to come home to my two boys. I was able to really see what a blessed girl I am during my time away. I am so grateful for the many things my Heavenly Father has given me and I hope I always remember how wonderful each of those blessing are.

Happy Easter!

2010-04-18T00:08:00.000-07:00

Easter Sunday was also General Conference this year so Joshua wore his new Easter outfit to church the week before for his cousin Bennett's baby blessing in Tucson. I thought he looked pretty sharp!

We had a wonderful Easter this year. We were already in Safford for Cody's birthday and stayed the night at my parents. We didn't get much sleep the night before because Josh was having a tough night. He doesn't sleep well in his pack an play anymore and he was overly tired from the day before. So unfortunately he was awake most of the time he should have been sleeping. We tried to let him cry but when he started calling for Grandpa my poor Mom couldn't resist anymore. She came in and got him and thank heavens finally helped him fall asleep. She really did save us because we were so exhausted and our patience was running thin. After a couple of hours of sleep, we got up and helped make breakfast. It was so yummy! We had waffles, bacon, and eggs. I love going home just for the food. After breakfast we let Josh into the living room to see what the Easter Bunny had brought. He was really excited and the first thing he went for were the marshmallow peeps. Last year my brother introduced Joshua to these treats. So he knew exactly what he was going for. The only hiccup was that this year Josh knew what a chick was so he was afraid to eat it. It was quite funny watching the internal struggle he was having play across his face. Josh tore into his basket and eventually found his chocolate Easter bunny. At first he thought it was a phone, but he quickly caught on to the fact that it was edible.

"Hello? Hello?"

Joshua must have been a good boy because the Easter Bunny brought him some fun toys this year. He got an interactive art easel that teaches all sorts of great things, books, bubbles, a bubble gun, an Elmo video, and a pair of gardening gloves like Daddy's.

After Joshua was done looking through his loot we took him outside to dye Easter eggs. Grammy was a huge help and he had a lot of fun. He sure did like the green dye. Almost all of the eggs got at least a quick dip in the green dye. He also thought that the dye would be fun to drink. Grammy let him try some of the vinegar on the end of a spoon and he figured out that it was not soda or juice and that problem was solved.

Here's Cody hanging out in the backyard video taping Josh dying eggs. It was a nice afternoon.

After dying eggs Joshua had a bath, and then he and I danced to some music that was playing on the T.V. I loved dancing with my Dad growing up. I do it often with Josh and he really seems to like it. It made way to some nice snuggling and then he went down for a much needed nap.

While he was resting my Dad and Cody watched "A River Runs Through It" and I tried but just couldn't keep my eyes open. I woke up to the movie ending and a yummy dinner. My mom worked so hard and I wish I had stayed awake to help her. Instead of the traditional ham, we had steak that we had planned for Cody's birthday. We also had my very favorite potato salad (it has to be my mom's recipe), deviled eggs, and mixed veggies. It was delicious! Cody doesn't like potato salad so we made him a baked potato instead and he was a happy camper. After dinner we packed our things up and before we left Grammy and Grandpa gave Joshua their Easter treat for him. My Mom said that she wouldn't do Easter baskets for her grandkids because that was the Easter Bunny's job, so she did an Easter bag instead. Joshua got an Elmo that gives kisses and talks, The Elmo in Grouchland video, another Elmo dvd, Toy Story, two coloring books, a set of windmills, some new toys for the bath that swim, and two new t-shirts. He is one well loved little boy! He loved all of it. We finally had to say goodbye and headed home. It was a great weekend, and a very special Easter.

Happy Birthday Cody!

2010-04-17T21:10:00.000-07:00

I am one lucky girl. There really are not words to express what a great husband I have. He is truly one of the greatest blessings I have been given. He really is my other half. Our personalities can be so different and so alike at the same time. I have a husband who loves me unconditionally, who tries his hardest to help me in every way he is able, he is super supportive, a great father, he is funny, spiritual, a great example, he is tough when he needs to be and tender most of the other time, he is handsome, and best of all he is mine. I don't know where I would be without him. I'm sure I would be quite lost. I thank my Heavenly Father for everyday I have with him because each day he makes me a better person. He is my knight in shining armor. Thanks for being you Code. I sure do LOVE YOU!! Here is a re-cap of how we celebrated Cody this year.

Cody is an April Fool's Day baby, and his birthday fell on a Thursday this year. He turned 27, and even though he claimed he wanted to forget about his birthday this year I hope that we all made it a great day for him. We started out the morning by making a big breakfast. Cody loves breakfast and so I thought this would give him a nice start for his birthday. We had scrambled eggs, potatoes, sausage, and blueberry muffins. Before we served it up, I put a candle in one of the muffins and lit it. Joshua carried it over to Cody as we sang Happy Birthday. It was a lot of fun to watch Joshua get so excited and still try to be so careful. Cody decided to have his as a breakfast burrito and then took the left over muffins to share with his co-workers. He headed out and I realized that in the rush of things Cody had forgotten his lunch. Bummer! Well it gave me a good excuse to be a little over the top which I tend to be from time to time but especially with birthdays. They were always a really big deal at our house growing up and I can't help it. So I decided I would take lunch to Cody and his two co-workers. We did a sub sandwich spread, with chips, a veggie tray, dip, and raspberry lemonade. It wasn't anything too special but not too bad for one hour. We also decided to get Cody some balloons for his desk. We rushed home and got everything prepared and headed out to Cody's office which is about 20 minutes away. I think we definitely embarrassed him with the balloons but in a good way. He has a great smile on his face. After Cody got home from work, we opened presents. He got a new game called quip it, a fishing license, Beauty and the Beast on dvd, a book called "Why I Love My Daddy" from Joshua, and the Star Trek soundtrack. I think he was pretty happy. Next we headed to dinner and had pizza and hot wings which is a favorite of Cody's. After dinner we got Josh in bed and then we snuggled and watch Les Miserable and has cookies and cream pie for dessert. I thought it was a great day. I just hope Cody has as much fun as we did.

Then on Saturday, we drove down to celebrate with my family. Like I said birthdays were a big deal growing up and my sweet mom has not given up the habit. Cody LOVES to fish and luckily he and my dad have that in common. This year, my dad took Cody fishing for the day to a small pond near my parents home. Cody was really excited that my brother was able to come too. They has a great time and all came back quite sunburned. We got to hear a lot of fun stories about all the fish they were catching and their size. They were just catching crappie (pronounced craw-pi) so they were pretty small. Take a close look at some of the pictures below and you will see they were really catching bait. We got a good laugh at the pictures they brought home!

After they got back, we went to see "How To Train Your Dragon". It was SO cute. We were very pleasantly surprised. It was really good and we would recommend it! It had such a great message and was also very entertaining. Joshua loved it and to our surprise sat through the entire movie. I think that was an extra birthday gift to Daddy that Josh wasn't even aware of.

After that we were going to head home and BBQ but it had gotten to be quite late so we decided to go and grab pizza at Toni's Kitchen. It is a local restaurant that we really like and it happens to in the same plaza as the theater. After dinner we went back to my parents for ice cream cake. This poor cake looked awful. My poor Mom was so upset when she picked it up because it had been decorated so badly. I told her not to worry about it but she was not happy. I thought I might have to pull her out of the Dairy Queen before she threw it at the poor girl. I don't blame her though. It really was bad; especially considering the price she paid for it. Anyway, we sang Happy Birthday, and then Cody tried to blow out his candles. My Mom had used candles that she already had at the house from an earlier party and they happened to be trick candles. It was priceless! Cody was saying, "They're trick candles!" and my Mom was laughing and said, "No, really, they're not!" when in fact they were. It gave us all a good laugh and we got some fun pictures out of it.

We finally ate our cake, and opened presents. Cody got a new pair of basketball shorts, a drawing book and some colored pencils for drawing pets, the Iron Man soundtrack, the Star Wars the force unleashed and Avatar games for the Wii. He was very excited for all of his new toys. It was a really fun and memorable day!!

HAPPY 27th BIRTHDAY CODE!!! WE LOVE YOU!!!

2010.... time sure does fly when your busy and having fun!

2010-04-16T11:36:00.001-07:00

2010 has started out as a brand new year for us. Not just the change from 2009 to 2010, but a literal new beginning. We are so very grateful for this. With the new changes we have been extremely busy. However, they are all things we happy to be working on. It goes unsaid that our blog has been a little neglected. It is already half way through April and I am barely beginning to get everything caught up. I decided that I would do one long catch up post to get us up to date so it will seem a little less overwhelming. So forgive me if I am a little long winded. I am using this blog as a journal of sorts so I need to make sure I document even the little things. If you choose to skip over this because it's too long, I'll forgive you! If not, thanks for hanging in there while I play catch up.

New Year's Resolutions 2010:
~These are in no particular order, they are all things I want to work on.~

Have family home evening every Monday.

Learn more about the Savior, and try to be more like him.

Have a date night out at least twice a month.

Stick to the cleaning schedule so it's easier to avoid frustration over a messy home.

Take steps to develop the photography business.

Catch up and stay up to date on the scrapbooks.

Post once a week on the family blog.

Put more money into savings.

Eat healthier, and exercise at least three times a week.

Strive to be optimistic in all things.

Here's to hard work, dedication, and a little hoping that over this year we can accomplish these goals as a family.

JANUARY

New Year's day was a quiet but fun day at our house. It also happens to be my Mom's birthday. We had her and my dad over for lunch to celebrate. I made her Cheesy Ham and Vegetable Chowder and Rolls for lunch. It's a favorite of her's and a big hit at our house. They just stayed for a short visit because they were on their way to visit my brother and sister-in-law in Tucson.
My mom is so generous and always brings Josh a "treat" of some kind. She brought him a new years hat and blower. He loved it!

The rest of January was spent continuing the attempt to get moved. We were back and forth between Willcox, Tucson, and Safford a lot. And unfortunately did not get the rest of the house moved until February. We did spend a lot of time unpacking and getting what we could settled. It has really been an adventure starting a new phase of our lives. We also had the chance to attend a couple of special events in January. On Sunday the 24th our niece Ella was blessed and we drove up so we could be a part of that. She is a doll and we just love her to death! Then the next weekend we were able to go back up to see our nephew Ethan be baptized. We can hardly believe he is 8 already but we are very proud of him for his choice to be baptized. That afternoon we went back to Grandma and Grandpa Smith's house for a luncheon. The food was very yummy and then my sister-in-law Allison and I took our other sister-in-law Linsey to get a pedicure to help her celebration and prepare for the birth of our next nephew Bennett. It was a lot of fun, and VERY relaxing. After we got back to the house we set up our little studio and took Ella's blessing photos. She is a beauty and I am so in love with her smile.

I love this picture! Cody took it of his brother holding his daughter on her blessing day. I just think it is so special.

Like I mentioned we were between our new and old home A LOT in January. With all of the fun things we had going on it did not leave much time for packing so that got pushed into February. But it was all worth it. They were events that we would not have missed.

FEBRUARY

February had a lot of great days. One of the best was Joshua's first day in nursery. HE LOVES IT!!! I think we have the only kid who cries when he has to leave. They blow bubbles at the end and we have to let him finish or he gets really upset. On his first day he went in just fine. Cody stayed for a couple of minutes and then made his exit. Supposedly Josh asked for him a couple of times and then moved on. Now he doesn't even look back. He runs into nursery happy and excited to play with his friend Abby. Abby's mom is one of Joshua's nursery leaders. She also happens to be my visiting teaching companion. It really was a blessing being paired with Emily. We happened to have a lot in common and easily fell into a comfortable place with one another. Emily has been wonderful. It has really made a difference having someone here that I can call a friend. It is great that Josh and Abby are so close in age and have a lot of fun together. About a month after we moved in Cody was made companions with Rex, Emily's husband. We thought it was really funny. We have been trying to get together for a game night but our schedules keep conflicting so hopefully we will be able to do that soon.

I wanted to get some pictures of Joshua for his 18 month mark. I thought it would be fun to do some cowboy pictures and so I ran out bought his hat (which is a "real" cowboy hat), and got everything together so we could head out when Cody got home from work. It was very spur of the moment, but I love some of the photos we got. I also wanted to get some regular photos of him but we never went back out. I figure we will have to settle for some regular shots at 20 months instead. Here are a few of my favorite cowboy shots.

Cody took the silhouette below and I LOVE it!

We also made a very impulsive decision and got a new puppy in February. She is a sweet girl and we named her Sadie. We have been looking for a friend for our beagle Maddie for a while and thought this puppy would make a good match. They have a lot of fun together but we did not realize the kind of responsibility that having two dogs comes with. We have been trying to find Sadie a new home but have not been successful yet. Maybe she's just supposed to be with us. We'll keep looking and if she stays at our house that's OK too. She's a lot of fun and Josh really likes her. They are just a little rough on each other.

Valentines Day was also really nice. I was spoiled with chocolates, flowers, and a card from Cody. And Joshua got me a balloon. Cody and I had decided we were going to do things simple for Valentines Day this year because we had just spent a lot of money on the move. He cheated. I felt bad because I had made him a really adorable card but that was it. I had Josh make him one too which he loved. So even though I felt bad it was still nice to be surprised. I really am one lucky girl and have been blessed with such an amazing companion to share my life with. I love you Code!

The weekend after Valentine's Day we finally made the final move. Cody took the day off on Friday so we would have enough time to get everything done. We went up Thursday night and got started and thought we would be done by Saturday afternoon. We REALLY underestimated the amount of time needed to get the job done. We started pulling things out of closets and it just exploded. We didn't finish until Monday afternoon and still had to drive to Willcox and unpack the truck. The first truck we moved was 17 ft. and turned out to be way too small. So we thought we should get another 17ft to be on the safe side the next time. It was a good thing because we BARELY made it all fit. I can't believe how we have accumulated so much stuff in such a short period of time. I think we are in desperate need of a good garage sale. What really made the move hard was the weather. We had been having beautiful weather the two weeks prior to our move, and even most of the weekend. But when we started moving things into the truck on Monday it began to rain, and turned REALLY cold. It was miserable. It continued to rain on and off all day. Even as we unloaded in Willcox it rained. Willcox is really windy. We have found that it is that way all the time. So mixed with the rain and cold it was a tough day to say the least. And it didn't stop with that day. It went far into the night. My sweet friend Emily and her husband watched Joshua for us so we could unload the truck at our storage unit faster. Her husband tried to come over and help but it's gated so he couldn't get in. So instead they made us dinner! It was so nice of them and we were VERY grateful. Once we finished up there and got Josh home and in bed we continued to work until we finally finished up at 11:30 that night. Bless Cody's heart he got up early to clean the truck out and return it before he went to work the next day. It was so cold the door was frozen shut! But he eventually got it open. We returned the truck and were SO happy to be done. Then it was on to unpacking everything. I held off for a few days to give us a rest before diving into that. We are still not completely done but I figure we'll get there eventually.

MARCH

March was pretty calm until the last weekend and then it seemed like we fit a month's worth of driving and events into two days. We did celebrate St. Patty's day. I decided to surprise Cody with something kind of fun. He has a Guinness ice bucket that a co-worker gave him for his birthday with Dr. Pepper in it. I filled that with ice and packed in IBC Rootbeer and Cream Soda. Cody was really excited because they are a favorite of his and he doesn't get them that often. Then I made and all green dinner. One year when I was young my mom did it and I thought it was fun so I decided to give it a shot. I was going to make green shake and bake but the time got away from me so I just did regular chicken legs, green jello, green salad, and green rice-a-roni. It was fun, and Joshua loved it. Green was his "favorite" color at the time.

March 20th we had the chance to drive up to Tucson for the Air Show at Davis Monthan AFB. It was awesome. We were there all day and Josh was perfect. He LOVED the airplanes and was so patient the whole day. The Thunderbirds were the main attraction and they were well worth the wait. I was amazed at their performance. It really was awesome. Grandpa Smith came for the Thunderbirds and brought Zach and Ethan Joshua's cousins along. Cody and his dad share a special bond when it comes to airplanes. Cody has loved them since he was little. He could name almost any plane that he saw flying and still does. He get's his love for aircraft from his dad and I think Josh is on that same path. Joshua got a toy plane after the show thanks to Cody and my persistence. They had blow up planes that were for younger kids and most of the booths were sold out. Cody ran all the way down the strip of vendors until he finally found one. Thanks Code!! It was so much fun watching Joshua pretend with it. He would make it fly and even make the sounds they made. It was a lot of fun! Joshua hung in all day. He would NOT sleep! But on the way back to the car he couldn't fight it anymore. He finally crashed. It was a great day for our little family. It was surprisingly relaxing and a chance to make a lot of fun memories.

The last weekend in March was crazy but fun. I was asked to judge the Miss Mesa/Miss Tempe Pageant up in Phoenix. Josh and I kicked the weekend off by driving to Safford to pick up a rental car Friday afternoon. Our car is in desperate need of some maintenance and with the amount of driving we were going to be doing over the weekend though it would be safer to get a rental. We grabbed the car, had my mom drive our car back to her house, and headed out. We loaded up the car and drove to Phoenix that night and didn't get into town until 10:30. Our friend Lizzy still drove over to our hotel to hang out and visit for a little while. It was so nice to see her. It's not very often that we get to spend time with her anymore. I wish we lived closer. We have some really great memories! The next morning I had to be at the pageant site for judges orientation by 7:30 so it was an early morning regardless of our late night. The pageant was pretty much an all day event. We did get a lunch break, and we decided to have Olive Garden. It was not a relaxing lunch at all. Joshua decided to be a little pill and so our lunch did not get enjoyed. However, we had the BEST waiter I have ever had. He brought Josh out a plate of fruit which worked wonders. He just gobbled it up. And we were able to get some food in out tummies too. We only made it through about half our lunch and had to go. The waiter felt bad that we didn't get to enjoy our food so he had the manager comp one of our plates. He didn't even say a word before doing it either. He just came out with the check and told us what he had done. We didn't know what to say but thank you. The manager even stopped by and said that he knows how tough little ones can be, but that he (Joshua) will be grown before we know it. So we better enjoy him while he's little. We were thoroughly impressed. And it made the afternoon not so rough after all. I know I can get frustrated when we are in public and Joshua decides to misbehave. I think it's mostly because he is typically such a sweet kid. I have to remember that it's part of their learning process and I have to be patient or he will never learn. Anyway, the pageant started at 2:00 that afternoon and lasted until about 5:00. The year I competed at Miss Arizona I made a really dear friend Savanna. Miss Savanna is this years reigning Miss AZ. She will be giving up her title in June. She was there and I had to grab a picture of her with Josh. She is such an amazing girl and will be a middle school teacher soon.

After the pageant we jumped in the car and went over to my sister Shanny's restaurant she works at in Scottsdale. Oregano's is a popular place and there is no call ahead seating. We had to wait and hour and a half to sit in her section but it was well worth it. We miss her so much and any time we get to hang out is important. We didn't get done at Oregano's until 8:30 and headed out to try and make it back to Tucson. We were getting really tired and though about getting a hotel in Casa Grande but we pushed on and made it. Cody's dad is so awesome and made our bed all up for us so it was ready when we got to their house in Tucson.

I felt like my head had just hit the pillow when the alarm went off the next morning. We were on our way to attend our nephew Bennett's baby blessing at 9:00. We got all ready and made it just in time. His dad Brad gave him a beautiful blessing and after sacrament meeting headed over to the park near their house for a luncheon. There were a ton of kids and Josh had a blast. He got into lots of trouble but it really was ok. The worst was the red mud. The fields were muddy but we didn't know it and Josh found a big spot of it and went to town. He was covered! We decided to just let him play and get dirty the rest of the time and would get him cleaned up at Lindsey's afterward. So when Josh discovered a cupcake I didn't hesitate I let him have the whole thing. Cody's sister Mindy said to Josh jokingly "smash it in your face Josh"! because he was already trashed. Well, the stinker did it. He had icing every where. Needless to say he was quite a sight. We stripped him of his clothes before heading out and put him straight into the bath a Lindsey's. His clothes were pretty bad. I didn't think we would be able to salvage them and it was a brand new outfit. I was a little bummed but then started to see the humor in it. Lindsey worked really hard and she was able to save everything but his shirt. And I was so relieved that I was able to get his new tennis shoes clean. After clean up, we set up our photography stuff so we could take Bennett's blessing photos. He was so handsome and I think we got some really great shots.

These are all of the Smith Cousin's that were at the blessing being goofy outside afterward.

After we packed the car up we headed out for home. We hit Willcox around 7:30, unloaded the car and headed to Safford to return the rental. After making the switch we got Josh in jammies and headed out on the last stretch of our trip back home. I was very excited to see my bed when we finally made it back for good. It was a VERY long weekend and it took a couple of days to recover but it was a lot of fun. And that moved us into April.

APRIL

Here we are in April. ALREADY!!! Where in the world did the time go?!? So far April has been a great month. We had Cody's birthday, Easter, I took an important exam, Joshua turned 20 months and I got to attend a great photography workshop. Some of these are pretty important so I will be giving them their own post. It has been a whirlwind beginning to a new year, but we wouldn't have had it any other way. All of the changes have been very positive and we are loving life!! So here is to one of my new year's resolutions.... keeping up on my blog. Hopefully I will do better at it than the last few months! And here is to another 8 months we have this year. I can only hope and pray they are as wonderful as the past 4 have been.

New Year's Eve

2010-02-15T21:33:00.000-08:00

This year we didn't have a lot to do for New Year's Eve. We didn't have cable so we didn't watch the ball drop or watch all of the parties going on and IT WAS GREAT!! We found the movie Phantom of the Opera at one of the stores here, had a "snack" style dinner, and spent the night cuddling. It was nice to ring in the New Year with nothing more than each other. We didn't go out with friends or family we just stayed in. Sometimes time gets away from us, we let our lives get so busy that we fail to put our priorities in the right order. Moving to a small town has helped Cody and I give each other more time and slow down a little bit. It has been wonderful. New Years Eve was a great start to a new year and we look forward to many more to come.

Christmas Morning

2010-02-15T19:04:00.000-08:00

Christmas morning was great! It brought us so much joy to see Joshua's face when he walked out to see what Santa brought. He was so excited. We spent the day at my parent's house with my entire family which was a lot of fun because it is rare that we are able to be together at the same time anymore. Joshua got some really fun gifts as did Cody and I. After we opened presents, we spent the afternoon relaxing, playing the Wii, and playing with all of our toys. That night, we all went to see "Alvin and The Chipmunks the squeakquel". MY cousin April was able to go with us too! We were very happy to have her come with us. Josh decided to not be happy only a third of the way through the movie so the two of us spent a lot of the movie standing in the entryway or out in the hall. It was still a lot of fun! Here are a few pictures of us opening our gifts Christmas morning.

So this gift was AWESOME!!! They are called fits balls. My sister-in-law made them for Josh. When someone is throwing a fit, they are soft cotton filled balls that you throw at them. Usually it lightens the situation and everyone laughs. JOSH LOVES THEM!!! They are one of his favorite toys by far.

This was one of my favorite gifts. A few years ago, my mom started a new tradition. She buys us storybooks and depending on the message they hold her and my dad write in the covers a message from them. It's really special and will be a keepsake for us and our children. It all started because my parents wanted to instill in us the importance of reading to your children. I love this new tradition and look forward to it every year.

This was another really great and special gift. My brother and his wife made this for me. It is such a great idea and I love it!

These are special drawing erasers that my sister got for Cody. He thought they were awesome!

This is Joshua's new rocking horse my parents got for him. He is quite taken with it. It clip clops and neighs which he thinks is pretty cool.

Joshua also got a tonka dump truck. He likes to sit in it, and take his stuffed animals for rides in it. We sure do have a lot of fun watching him.

My sister and Cody have this horrible joke that they continually play every time they are together. They insist on trying to offend one another by creatively claiming the other is "overweight" by comparing them to a particular continent or the amount they eat. Anyway, she got Cody these doughnuts as part of their inside joke. Cody LOVED IT!!!

This is a drum that is filled with other musical instruments that my parents got for Joshua. He loves it and we have had a lot of fun creating our own little band. Josh thinks it's pretty hilarious.

Shannon got this coloring book for Josh. It's Star Wars and Joshua was ecstatic. He loves books and for some reason coloring books are really great to him. After he finished reading it with Auntie he ran over and shared it with Grandpa. Shannon and Joshua have a very special relationship and I am so grateful that they are so close. I know that he will always have someone to take good care of him.

I am one lucky girl! My parents got this cricut software for me. It is an amazing gift! It allows me to combine my different cartridges and create my own designs. It's awesome and I know, I'm spoiled!

Christmas Eve

2010-02-15T13:24:00.000-08:00

Christmas was a welcome break this year. It can be a little stressful, but with everything we had going on, it was nice to step back and just relax with family, eat great food, and share our love with gifts. This year we spent Christmas with my family. But we decided to open our family gifts before heading out. We didn't want to make anyone wait on us so we had to wake Josh up from his nap to open presents. Santa came to our house early, so we pretty much got to have Christmas twice.

My family's Christmas Eve tradition is to have a huge meal of every kind of mexican food you could dream of. We have tamales, tacos, red and green enchiladas, spanish rice, refried beans, tortillas, salsa, guacamole, etc. It is always SOOOO yummy! For the last few years my cousin April has joined our family for our holiday celebrations. We love having her there with us and I know it really makes the holiday for my dad.

After dinner, we all load into the car (now we have to take two) and go out to look at Christmas lights around town. This year there were some really fun houses. One house even had a Santa passing out candy canes to cars as they came by to see their home. It was a lot of fun.

Then we head back and have Christmas pudding. My mom makes it every year. It is layered with green and white pudding with red sprinkles in the middle. But the real fun is that in one of the cups there is a whole almond hidden. Whoever gets the nut, gets to open one of their presents that night. Now that we are getting a little older, my mom gets a gift specifically for the person who gets the nut. This year, I GOT THE NUT!!!! Woo Hoo!!! I got a special massage pillow. It was awesome! Then we all snuggle and watch the Christmas Letter which we have named Letter Day. It's an old movie but we love it. Especially me. Sadly this year things ran too late and we had to skip the movie. Little ones change things and it was already nearly 11:00 when we finally wound down so it was well past his bedtime. But we'll watch it next year.

Somehow we failed to take pictures during dinner, lights, and pudding but my mom got some so I will have to get them from her and post those later. Here are a few pics from our little families Christmas.

Our tree after Santa came (he visited our house early this year). It's sad, I know. There two decorations that are on there my little sister made for us. We just didn't have the energy or time to decorate the tree to be taken down again in just a few days. I figured that Josh didn't really know the difference and it helped keep him out of trouble.

The jumbo legos were by far Josh's favorite gift, from us and Santa anyway. It's great because Cody loves them too so the boys have a lot of fun together with these.

I had one of these when I was little and I spotted it at the store one day and decided to let Josh give it a try. I wanted to see if he liked it before I bought it. Well it was a bad idea because he LOVED it and threw a huge tantrum in the store when I put it back. He had never done that before and hasn't since. So I asked Santa if he said he was sorry for being naughty if he would bring it to Josh. Guess he really felt bad for being naughty in the store. :)

Jammies from Grandma and Grandpa Smith. They are rockets and super adorable!! And so soft. He really likes them.

This was Cody's "big" gift. I had to be pretty deceiving to keep it a secret. I guess it was worth it because he was pretty surprised when he opened his new Wii! It's been a fun way to spend time together and we do more exercise by laughing than by doing exercises or playing the games. I hope you liked it Code!!!

This is Josh's "wow" face. He was really excited by something and Cody caught it in a picture. I just love how expressive he is at this age. It was a lot of fun seeing that at Christmas.

Cody was super, SUPER sneaky this year. He got very creative in his wrapping and totally threw me off which was great! I like being surprised. I can't help but try to figure it out. It's just who I am, but I really don't want to know. REALLY!! So he did great and had me very surprised and happy this year. Here I am opening one of my three cricut cartridges he got me. Good job honey!

Almost a white Christmas...

2010-02-15T12:58:00.001-08:00

It was close enough for us! We woke up to a white coat outside on the morning of the 23rd! It was a lot of fun to have even a little bit of snow. It stuck most of the day. I was a little sad because I had a photo shoot up in Tucson that day and had scheduled Joshua a doctor's appointment the same day to avoid having to travel more. To make it on time we had to head out pretty early and missed a lot of the fun. But it was a beautiful drive that morning. The snow covered everything all the way to Benson. I had never seen it like that. Our car still had snow on it when I pulled into Josh's Dr's office parking lot two hours later. I was hoping it would hang around for the next couple of days, and that maybe we would even get a little more, but it melted that same day. We still enjoyed it while we could. Here are a couple of pictures that I took that morning before heading out.

Moving...

2010-02-15T12:20:00.000-08:00

The move went ok. As well as we could have expected it with the circumstances. We had two weeks from the interview to find a house, pack up, and get moved so Cody could start his new job. The commute from Tucson would have been close to three hours round trip and it just wasn't logical. So we decided after a lot of prayer and talking that it would be best to make the move right away. I was in the middle of finals, Cody had a mid-term, and it is the holidays. We ended up having about three days to pack. Needless to say not everything got done, and nearly everything that we did manage to get packed did not end up the way I had planned. We are so thankful for our wonderful families who were there to help us watch Josh so we could pack, load the truck, and deal with the chaos of a VERY unorganized move. We moved the 19th, so that left us with four days to try to get somewhat settled before Christmas. Even with all of the chaos, we made it to our new home with almost everything that we really needed.

We have a wonderful new ward that we are really enjoying being a part of. There were a handful of members there to help us move in and some of them even brought us treats to help us feel more at home. They were all so sweet.

We really wanted to attend our new ward the next morning. We were tired and worn out, but we have so many things to be grateful for we wanted to show our thanks to our Heavenly Father. Our new ward met at 9:00 a.m. and we were up and getting ready. Cody grabbed a shower, I told him the box we would need with most of our important clothing and I headed in to take a shower. When I got out, I asked Cody if he had found it. Unfortunately, we some how left that box in Tucson. I didn't have a dryer that worked yet and we were up a creek. I rummaged through a couple of duffle bags we had brought up a few days earlier and luckily I was able to find some of what we needed. The rest I threw in the washer, and then we went down to the only laundromat in town and used a dryer. I thought that it would be pretty dead, but it was packed! I was dying.

We eventually finished up with drying our clothes. We had already missed out meeting, but we ran home finished getting ready, found enough Sunday clothes to work, and attended the other ward at 1:00. It was Christmas Sunday so I really didn't want to miss church. I am so happy we went. It was a great meeting and really reminded me of the true reason of the Christmas season.

Here are a couple pictures of our new home. They were just taken with my cell phone. As soon as I get some better ones I will post those.

Winterhaven

2010-02-15T11:11:00.000-08:00

We also had the chance to go to Winterhaven this year. It was SO much fun and there were some truly awesome homes this year. It was even more fun because we got to see it with some great friends and family. Dave and Carol, Chris and Toni along with their family, Mindy and Dan with their clan, Corey and Kinsey (Holly was with a friend and Allison was relaxing with new baby Ella), and Grandma and Grandpa Smith. Cody and I had come straight from a photo shoot so we were a little stressed. It wasn't the easiest session and we thought about just going home to pack, but we really wanted to go and were so happy we did. Here are a couple pictures from the night.

This display was AMAZING!!! The entire house was decked out in lights that were programmed to flash along with the music they had playing. The tree would spin. The lawn lights would ripple, and the water changed color, height, etc all with the music. It was a definite favorite if everyone.

Josh was a lucky boy he got a ride from Grandpa and was having a ball. Here he is saying "OOOOOO!" He also learned to say "cool" and "wow" really well that night. He is constantly making us laugh.

Josh loves, LOVES his Uncle Corey! He didn't want Mom or Dad as soon as he saw Corey.

And this was a really fun and cute Disney display. In Safford there is a home that does a similar display. This one made me think of home. And who doesn't love Disney!?

The Annual Light Parade

2010-02-14T22:24:00.001-08:00

As long as I can remember, my family has gone to the light parade to kick off the Christmas season. Literally as long as I can remember. Up until 2005, we would drive up to the white mountains, watch the parade in the snow, have hot chocolate, snuggle in the hotel, and then the next day we would head out to the the woods and as a family search for our Christmas tree and cut it down together. These are some of my most treasured memories. Well, as time went on the parade died off in Eagar / Springerville so it wasn't the same as it was when we were really little. Fortunately, Safford had started it's own annual light parade. The year I was Miss Graham County was the second year they had it and I got to ride on one of the old (very old) fire engines. My family and I decorated it to represent both the pageant and the fire department (my dad is a fireman). We won an award and everything! It was SO much fun! For the next couple of years we continued to decorate it for the department. Now another family who has younger children has taken it over.

The parade is usually the first weekend in December and it was a little bit stressful getting down there. Cody had an interview with Eurofresh that morning so we had a lot on our minds. After his interview we booked it to Safford so I could do a classroom observation for my class. After all of that we grabbed a late afternoon snack with my mom and during that Cody got a phone call offering him the job! It was so exciting! It helped us relax and to really make it a special weekend.

I have to say I absolutely LOVE going to this parade. It is just magical. Joshua was mesmerized. He loved the lights, music, and people. Last year he fell asleep, but this year he was WIDE awake the entire time. He would say, "Oh wow" and "pretty" or "Santa, Santa!!" It was a blast just watching him. Here are a few of my favorite pictures from the night. It was hard to choose my favorites.

He was so excited for the parade to start he kept looking down the street.

It was about to start so we bundled him up to cuddle with Grammy.

There were so many floats that were AWESOME! The BIG trucks are always a lot of fun.

I love Raggedy Ann and Andy so this was a favorite. I thought the Wagon was great!

Our little family watching the parade. It was really cold, but well worth it!

Another truck well done.

Telling Grandpa about one of the floats. Josh LOVES Grandpa!

The court house. They have decorated it like this for years. I have always loved it.

The City building with the town Christmas tree. They do a tree lighting the week before.

And of course Santa finishing things out! Josh loved him!

Thanksgiving

2010-02-14T22:11:00.000-08:00

We had a really great Thanksgiving this year. We were blessed to be able to share it with both sides of our family. Because the Smith family is growing, we decided to try having Thanksgiving at the church this year. It worked GREAT! There were 11 grandkids there and everyone chipped in to get a jumping castle. It was a lot of fun to watch them play in it and also to see how quickly there attention would switch to another game, or riding their scooters. Joshua was hilarious. I was surprised that it took him a little while to warm up to it but once he got going it was pretty funny. He liked to bounce while sitting, and he liked it better when it was just him and cousin Adam who is a year older than Josh. Dinner was yummy and we had a lot of fun visiting.

After we finished up with the Smith's we headed back to our house where my family was spending the day. Originally my family was supposed to be in Safford at my Mom's but because of last minute changes it was better for everyone to be in Tucson. It was a very fun day. Cody and I were spoiled with two delicious meals. We came home to most of the second already prepared. My family always goes to a Christmas movie on Thanksgiving night. This year things were a little chaotic and we all decided that it would be better to stay home and just enjoy a movie there. We had pie and hot chocolate and just kicked back in our pj's. It was wonderful!

We have so many things to be thankful for. Our families are a big part of that and I would be lost without them. We are so grateful that Heavenly Father has provided us with so many wonderful people and things in our lives, and that he has also given us trials to help us learn to savor the sweet moments in life. Thanksgiving 2009 was a great holiday that gave us many things to be thankful for.

Where has the time gone???

2010-02-14T22:02:00.000-08:00

With moving, the new job, my photography, and the holidays I have done a terrible job at keeping up on our blog. I realized that it's half way through February and I haven't even posted Thanksgiving pictures yet! However, because I look at it as a way to journal, I thought that I should catch up even if the posts are terribly late. There are new things that I would like to post too, but I keep waiting until I get caught up so the older events don't get forgotten. So, please forgive me for the overload of new posts! They were really great times so I want to write them down. :)

Bitter Sweet....

2009-12-07T19:33:00.000-08:00

I am ecstatic but so very sad to share the most recent Smith Family news. Friday morning we traveled to Willcox for a job interview Cody had. It was perfect timing because we were already making the trip to Safford for the annual light parade. Late that afternoon Cody received a call and found out that he got the job. We were so excited!!! Then we started to have all of the stress of the upcoming changes set in. We are still so happy that we have been given this blessing. Unfortunately the company Cody is currently at has not been doing that well and they have had to make a lot of cuts. We worried everyday that he would come home without a job. Luckily that has not been the case. The new position will give him so many opportunities to learn and grow, and will take away much of that worry. But in the next couple of weeks we will have to leave our home, our family and friends in Tucson, and the place we have built our lives for the last three years. On the other hand, this will be a great new start and I am sure it will provide us with many new adventures. We will miss everyone so very much and hope that we will have the opportunity to make new friendships in our new home! We will keep everyone posted on our progress and hope to stay in touch with those we are leaving here.

Family Pictures...

2009-12-03T10:05:00.000-08:00

So I have been super swamped with photography sessions over the last few weeks because of the holidays. And I am loving it! However, the whole reason we invested in our camera was so we could get quality pictures of our family. So we decided that we were going to get ready and head out to do our own session. With that comes it's own difficulties. Joshua decided to sleep longer than normal and had to be woken up so we could make it before it was too dark so he was a little grouchy (as you can see in the pictures), but we made it work. Cody got really creative and found was to get Josh to look at the camera like throwing rocks at it. It's a good thing he's got a good aim. It became a game, we would count to 3, Cody would throw it, and we would snap some shots. On top of a grouchy boy, we left later than we had planned which left us with only a half hour of time to get shots before it was too late. The light was not the best, but the pictures are still special to me. A special thanks to Grammy Talley for Joshua's handsome Christmas outfit! Enjoy taking a look at our adventure.

Coloring...

2009-11-12T23:28:00.001-08:00

Joshua has recently developed a love for coloring. We color at least once a day and it is so funny to watch him to pretend to color. Anything that resembles a coloring utensil will be used to pretend to color with. Well, Josh has been attempting to color in regular books. He doesn't realize the difference yet or maybe he's just good at pretending like he doesn't. Well, apparently he likes to color on doors as well. Sunday as we were getting ready for church we realized that Josh was being awfully quiet. We found him with one of Cody's caricature markers coloring on the back side of our door. I was a little frustrated, but he was so proud of his drawing it was hard to stay mad. Here is the newest piece of art we have displayed in our bedroom. At least it's on the back of the door which is almost always open. I'm sue I will look back on it and smile. It was even hard not to when it happened. Look at that face, who could stay mad!?

Apple Annie's and the Pumpkin Patch

2009-11-06T12:47:00.000-08:00

Writing this post has reminded me that I have had this blog for a full year now. When I first started the blog I thought it would fizzle out and I would eventually loose interest. I am so glad I haven't. This has been a great place to journal for my family and record some of the precious memories we have created together. Thanks for sharing and enjoying our journey with us.

Every year since I was a very little girl, my family traveled to Willcox to attend the pumpkin patch and visit Apple Annie's. Over the years ownership has changed and the experience is not exactly as it was when I was a child, but the feeling I get when I 'm there is still the same. I love it! I was so excited to find that Cody's family had adopted the same tradition a few years after they moved to Tucson. This tradition has become even more special as we have welcomed our little Joshua and he has joined us in the fun. He went last year when he was just 2 1/2 months old, but I think it's fair to say that he had a lot more fun this year. You can tell by the dirt on his face in the pictures below. Unfortunately, my side of the family was not able to find a date that worked for everyone this year. But Cody's family were still able to all go except for his brother that lives up in Utah. I was so happy that my mom made the trip over to Willcox to join us. Thanks Mom! So because a picture is worth so many more words than I have to offer, enjoy the story below.

Halloween!

2009-11-03T11:11:00.000-08:00

This year Halloween was a lot of fun. We decided last year that Joshua would make the perfect Dopey for Disney's Snow White. And we were right! I made Joshua's costume but my mom was such a huge help in the whole thing! Thanks Mom! It was so funny because after our Ward party on Friday we ran to a few stores and we couldn't get anything done because people would stop us to talk to Josh. Some were even taking pictures with their cell phones. It was hilarious! We have an annual Halloween party with friends and family that we started the year we got married and it was super fun this year as always. We did miss Cody's sister Lindsey and her family, but hopefully we can have them there next year. Here are a few pictures from the night's festivities. Enjoy!

This kid is constantly moving these days, so it made it kinda hard to get a great picture of him. Here he is coming in the back door which he at least has to slow down for.

This is our little family as Prince Charming, Dopey, and Snow White.

Josh with his Daddy out trick-or-treating.

Josh and his mama hanging out at the party. When I first came down he wouldn't let me hold him. Guess he wasn't a fan of my dark hair.

Here is Joshua with his Grammy reading after the party.

This is my brother Richard and sister-in-law Kara. They were Robin Hood and Maid Marian. We though their costumes were awesome! They designed and made them themselves. They really are so talented.

These are all the kiddos that were there except for our friend's little guy Hunter. He was the cutest lion.

Uncle Richard and Joshua

Joshua getting prize candy from Grammy's spooky treasure chest. It creaked when you opened it. It was a big hit with all of the kids.

And here is our sweet niece Holly taking a shot at the ghost target. My mom made that and some other really awesome games for us to use each year at our party. What would I do without her?

We had a great Halloween despite all of the chaos of getting the costumes made and preparing food and decorations for the party. My mother-in-law made the best chili, my mom picked up dessert and punch, and everyone pitched in where they could. Thanks to everyone who helped! Especially to my mom who basically finished a costume for me that was only 1/4 of the way complete. She pretty much pinned me into it. Thanks mom! I love you!

Cartooooooons!!

2009-10-21T21:15:00.000-07:00

Cody's dad is a Bishop up in the Countryside ward here in Tucson. He is involved in the scouting program and decided to attend Woodbadge this year which is basically scout camp for grown ups. He belonged to the bear patrol and each day they would do different things to promote their patrol and encourage spirit. Last night Cody drew this for his dad and then digitally colorized it. I thought it was awesome and wanted to share it on our blog. This is the first cartoon he's done and I was very impressed with the finished product. Way to go Code!!

1 year and growing!

2009-10-11T19:35:00.000-07:00

Our little guy turned one in August and we finally were able to get his 1 year pictures taken! We had a really fun day and were so happy with the picture. It's great that they show his personality and the funny guy that he is. He is such a blessing to us! There were SO many to choose from it was hard to decide! Enjoy the picture overload!

It's time for an update...

2009-09-28T21:52:00.000-07:00

So life at the Smith house has been pretty chaotic the last month or so. It seems like we are always running somewhere. I thought I should just give a quick update as I still have not gotten around to posting pictures from Josh's party. I don't want to get too far behind. Here is what our life has been over the last few weeks in a nutshell.

Joshua has been growing and developing in leaps and bounds. He has been walking and talking for quite a while but it seems as though he has had a developmental and physical growth sput all in one. He is basically running around. He signs more, eat, and all done very well but he will also say eat, mo (more), Gam-pa, Momma, Daddy, addy (maddie our dog), doggie, nigh-nigh, uh-oh, baloo (balloon), and our favorite Let's Go! He has had 2 more teeth cut. Unfortunately for mom and dad it was his molars. He's been a good sport about it for the most part. He is soo funny and keeps us laughing constantly. He blows kisses, he gives loves (hugs and kisses), dances like a pro (he will even shake his booty if you tell him to), and is a great listener. We are lucky because even at 13 1/2 months he follows directions really well. He is a constant explorer, always wanting to find new and exciting things he shouldn't be into. We love him so much and each day we are blessed to have him our love grows more and more.

I have been staying busy working on our food storage. I have now canned peaches, pears, raspberry jam, apple butter, apple pie filling, apple sauce, and potatoes. We had a great day where two of my sister in laws and my mother in law came over and we canned together. It was a lot of fun to spend the day together but we also learned a lot along the way. Other than that I have been working on school work and photography stuff when I have time.

Cody has been working hard as always. Unfortunately his company along with the rest of the country is not doing as well as it would hope. They made cut backs and all hourly employees will be cut back to 32 hours a week and salary employees will take a 5% pay cut. It was a bit of a blow. However, we had a chance to take a trip up to the temple the evening they broke the news and we were very comforted that everything will be ok. Hopefully it will only be for the 4th quarter. In the meantime, he will be doing side work with netcomm (the company he previously worked for) on Fridays. And when that's not keeping him busy we will be trying to get some exra projects around the house done.

All in all, we have so much to be grateful for. Even with these tough time, I am so thankful for a healthy family and for the many ammenities I can enjoy. I just hope I will keep this perspective as long as I need to. I love having the blessing of the church in my life and the reassurance that it all happens for a reason. I am SO excited for fall and the upcoming holiday season. Fall is my favorite time of year. We will be kicking off our 2009 holiday season with our 3rd Annual Halloween Party!! I am really looking forward to the fun and festive few months ahead of us!

"Will you be using your air conditioning today..."

2009-08-26T22:14:00.000-07:00

Well I just drove in from the face of the sun and I'd like to acclimate myself, here's your sign..."

I am sad to say that we have been WITHOUT AIR CONDITIONING since Sunday evening. It has not been a fun few days. We are still waiting to hear back from the company that fixed it two months ago. And because of our schedules this week, Josh and I have had to stay at home ALL DAY! This morning it was 90 degrees at 7:30. I just don't know how long we can hold out in this heat. Thank goodness Joshua is handling it well. I still feel sorry for the little guy and Maddie too! I just hope we can get it fixed soon!

Update so far past due! Josh, Me, Cody, and Photography!

2009-08-26T21:56:00.000-07:00

We have had such a busy life the last few weeks. One of the more exciting happenings was Joshua's first birthday. We had a fun shin-dig. We had a fishing party for him and I will find the time soon to post pictures and blog about it. I did post the invitation we designed for it just for fun below. I will also have to post about Joshua's achievements too. Keep an eye out!

I am on my final week of a class I thought would never end. I'm sure Cody will be just as happy it's over as I will. He was my tutor basically for the past five weeks. Math is definitely not my best subject. I don't know what I would have done without Code. I know my homework would have taken me a lot longer has he not been there to help.

Cody has been very busy as well with school, work, and being in the Young Men's presidency at church. He has started his bachelors program and is working so hard to get it all completed. At work he is designing a program for a label printing system that has become quite the project. I am so proud of him for the amazing thigs he is doing to exapand his knowledge and make himself more marketable. I love his so much and I am so grateful for each day I have with him.

We both have been so busy with our photography hobby/business that it seems like we don't have time to take pictures of our own family anymore. Definitely something I will have to change. Cody has been great and has become basically my assistant for lack of a better word. He has such a great talent for candid photogrpahy. When we are able, we borrow his mom's camera that is similar to ours and he shoots along with me. It is a lot of fun! We got new lighting a couple of weeks ago which has been a lot of fun using and makes editing a lot easier. Not easy, just easier. The pictures (well digital files) are piling up and I have so much editing and sorting to do! I will have to just buckle down for a couple of days and get it done.

We enjoy staying busy but it has made for some long and tiring days. Hopefully the fall will bring a few quite weeks. We're not counting on it!

It's Official!

2009-07-25T09:42:00.000-07:00

We are very excited to announce that our photography hobby is now on it's way to becoming a home business!!! Lately we have had the pleasure of many opportunities to take photos for various families. With their referrals, and more business coming in, we thought it would be best to do things the right way. We will be applying for a business license in the near future and will soon have our very own official photography business. Cody has also recently started Cody Smith Computer Consulting which has also been fun to watch develop. We hope that we will be successful in each of our endeavors. Wish us luck!!! The picture below is my "logo" for now, as Joshua is my favorite subject and the reason I have been working on developing my photography skills. It is the header for my photography blog. You can view it at eloisesmithphotography.blogspot.com or there is a link on the right hand side of our family blog.

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Gone Fishin'

2009-07-25T09:31:00.001-07:00

Joshua is almost 1!!!! I can hardly believe it. It makes me so happy and a little sad at the same time. To celebrate his birthday we decided to have a fishing themed party. We created his invitation ourselves which I will share later. He hasn't had his party yet, but I thought I would share some of the pictures from the quick photo shoot we had to get pictures for his invitation. We were lucky to miss the rain. It started to sprinkle so we packed up and headed back to the car just before the down poor. We really liked the way they turned out and can see him as a great fisherman alongside his dad, grandpas, and uncles one day. And maybe even his mom too!

4th of July Fun!!

2009-07-25T08:55:00.000-07:00

Our 4th of July was fantastic! It was Joshua's first 4th of July and we had SO much fun watching his reactions to everything. We spent the weekend in Safford with my family. My sister Shannon, my brother Richard and his wife, and Cody and I were all able to come from Tucson to share the holiday with my parents. We started the day with a hometown parade which Josh loved. Then to escape the heat, we went to see Ice Age 3. Next, Cody, Joshua, and I went back to our hotel and swam for a while. It was so funny to see Joshua in the "big" pool. After we got done swimming and fixed ourselves back up, we went and took some family picture to remember the day. We were all dressed very patriotic so we thought it would be fun. I was very excited to get to take them!! We had some good laughs and got a few good pictures before it started to sprinkle. You can see a few of them below. After pictures, we headed back to my parents to BBQ and then headed for the fireworks. Joshua LOVED the fireworks. He was really tired so he didn't make it through all of them. He fell asleep on Grammy's lap. It was a great holiday and it was wonderful spending it with my family. I'm very grateful for our freedom and the many blessings living in this country provides.

Joshua's First Steps!

2009-06-18T23:22:00.000-07:00

It is amazing how quickly a newborn infant develops into nearly a toddler. Joshua took his first steps tonight!!! As his mom I was so excited and proud I could hardly contain it! He of course is still wobbly and would not do it again for the video camera, but he is well on his way to being completely independent. I feel like before I know it he will be 19 and heading out on a mission. There really are not words to describe the feelings you get when you watch your children succeed. I never would have thought I could be so proud! We love Joshua so much and look forward to the many other steps in life he will take.

2 years later....

2009-06-02T09:24:00.000-07:00

This is right after we came out of the Temple the morning we were sealed for time and all eternity! It's one of our favorite pictures from the day. We had a great photographer Ladd Bryce who captured so many precious moments for us.

This is another of our favorites. It's the picture we display in our home of our wedding day. I love the smiles on our faces and the beautiful temple in the background. We are so grateful for our faith and the blessing of knowing we will be together for TIME AND ALL ETERNITY!! It's a good thing we like each other. :)

Sunday, Cody and I celebrated out 2nd anniversary. It was a wonderful weekend, but it has been an even greater adventure the last two years. We have grown even closer and welcomed our first born Joshua into our family. It has been very chaotic between work, school, doctors appointments, starting side work, being parents, and of course finding time for each other. It has taught us how valuable our time together is and has helped us to learn to really appreciate the little moments.

This weekend was full of fun! We started out on Friday by going to dinner and then went to see Up. It was the best anniversary movie we could have gone to. It is an AWESOME movie. We would highly recommend it to everyone. Joshua was very well behaved. He slept the whole time. But that didn't mean he failed to entertain. Joshua has recently made the association between the word hi and waving. It's quite adorable in my book. Anyway, he was dead asleep when a comical part came on and he started to stir. The dog Doug said, "Hi there" and Joshua started waving in his sleep! It was priceless. He's not a sleeper, so we were grateful he was out the whole time.

Saturday, my brother and sister in law Richard and Kara were so kind and watched Joshua the WHOLE day for us. I let Cody sleep in and brought us breakfast in bed. We dropped Joshua off, stopped by the mall and then headed out to Breaker's Waterpark. We had so much fun! We went on all of the slides, relaxed in the wave pool, and laughed... a lot. We got cleaned up and then caught an unplanned showing of Wolverine. It was such a great day.

Sunday, we attended church, had the home teacher's stop by, and then had a nice candlelit dinner at home. It was a WONDERFUL weekend. It was so nice to have time together and not have any agenda. We are so thankful for Richard and Kara's help and the chance to remember what it was like before we had kids. :) We love each other so much and it grows everyday. I look forward to many more years together and hope that they are as wonderful as the last two.

Gone Fishin'!

2009-05-28T12:46:00.000-07:00

This Memorial Day, we had so much fun. My parents decided last minute to plan a fishing trip to the White Mountains. It was Joshua's first fishing trip but definitely not his last. We left very early Saturday morning, drove to Safford and then up the mountain. We stopped at Luna lake just before heading on to Springerville. We stayed the night there and went up to Big Lake the next day. The weather was cold and rainy but we all made the best of it. We had sun, rain, hail, sun, rail, and more hail. The guys still hung in there and caught a few fish despite the weather. We had a picnic and then that night went out for a nice dinner and then watched a movie back at the hotel. We headed home on Monday and hit Luna lake again. This time Cody caught the biggest fish of the weekend thanks to Richard an Kara taking him out on the paddle boat and he was very proud of it. We had so much fun and have a lot of great memories spending time with our family. Here are some of the pictures from the weekend. There were just so many to choose from so there are quite a few. It was just too hard to pick!

The whole family except for Shanny at Luna Lake just before heading home.
WE MISSED YOU SHANNY!!

Joshua driving Grammy's car while staying out of the cold rain.

Cody and his fish at Luna Lake. 14" 1 1/2lbs!! Go Code!

Richard, Kara, and Cody coming in on the paddle boat.

Granddad and Joshua hanging out at the hotel.

Grammy and Joshua at Big Lake watching the guys fish.

Aunt Kara, Uncle Richard, and Joshua staying out of the rain. Josh was very entertained by pulling on the umbrella and making it hit Uncle Richard in the head.

Daddy and Josh fishin'.

I'm not only a legendary fisherman, I'm also a chick magnet!! LOL!

Mommy and Joshua cuddling at the hotel.

Cody at Luna Lake the first day we got there.

Mommy and Joshua hanging out by the water. He sure did LOVE being outside and all of the fun things to get into!

Happy Mother's Day!!

2009-05-11T00:49:00.000-07:00

I have to say, I am one of the luckiest girls alive! I am blessed with an awesome husband who tries so hard to do things above and beyond what I deserve. He treated me to not only a wonderful Mother's Day, but an entire weekend. Friday he kicked things off and we went to dinner with Cody's mom to thank her for all she does.

The next day, Saturday, I got to sleep in while Cody took care of Josh. I then was treated to an hour long massage at Spa One. It was FABULOUS! After going to our Nephew Noah's birthday party, we got to see the new Star Trek movie while my brother and his wife watched Joshua (thanks guys!!). It was fabulous by the way.

Then Sunday, I got to sleep in... AGAIN!! I woke up to breakfast, presents, and Joshua decked out in a MVP of Mommy's Team outfit. Cody even drew me a rose!! It is beautiful and I can keep it forever (I will post a picture of it later).

Needless to say, I am a very blessed girl. My first Mother's day was very memorable. I love Cody and Joshua both SO very much!

**I'll post pictures soon of my super fun weekend!**

So Far Behind!

2009-04-24T10:14:00.000-07:00

Life at the Smith's has been far too busy. We usually like being busy, but the last few weeks have been a little too busy for our taste. Here are the basics, or at least some of the major things making our lives so crazy.

Easter weekend we decided to put the grass into our backyard. It happened to rain intensely that day, along with quite a bit of hail, and a cold front. The day before and the day after were a perfect 75 degrees. It ended up taking everyone who was there all day finally wrapping things up around 8:30 that night. We ended up with a great lawn, a new water system, and a whole lot of mud. We are so grateful for all of the help we had. We never would have got it done without all of the hands that were there to help.

The next week, Cody was called to serve as second counselor in our ward's young men's presidency. Which we are both very excited about. It just happened to be at a time when there were a lot of things going on. He started with mutual Wednesday night. That night he found out he had a hike on Saturday morning starting at 5:30 (and didn't get home from until 2). Sunday was his turn to teach the lesson, which went well. This coming weekend he has a training and fireside Friday evening and all day Saturday. And next weekend he has another training he needs to attend. It's already been a great blessing and we look forward to getting to know the boys, campouts, and the many blessings that lay ahead.

All the while, I tried out babysitting a friends little boy for a couple of weeks. He is just a few months older than Josh and as time went by it quickly became apparent that the two were not getting the attention that they needed. We decided to wait until the boys were older before we tried it out again.

School has been very busy for everyone at our house. Finals for both Cody and I, as well as my sister Shannon who lives with us has brought a little stress. It seems like we have been up late everynight for the last few weeks trying to get school work done.

Joshua has been growing in leaps and bounds. He got his top two teeth and it looks like he is working on some of his others. He has started crawling which has been so much fun, and has been a little sick while accomplishing it all. So needless to say, he has been a little cranky and we have not been getting a whole lot of sleep.

Even with all of the chaos, Cody and I decided to make a trip to the temple last night. The trip kind of went along with the rest of our crazy days. We got stuck in traffic, the temple was very busy so it was hard to do work in other areas. I got to do a few things while Cody spent some time reading and pondering. Even with all of the road bumps, we are so happy we decided to go. It was nice to be in such a calm and peaceful place. We are looking forward to going again next month when our friend Elizabeth comes home from her mission.

April has been a whirlwind month, hopefully I will be able to get some pictures up of Easter, our backyard, Cody's birthday, Joshua, and other fun things that have been going on. Next month we will celebrate our 2nd anniversary and are looking forward to a little bit of calm to the strorm.

Happy Birthday Cody!

2009-04-03T13:21:00.000-07:00

My wonderful husband had his 26th birthday on Wednesday. Yep, he's an April Fools baby. Cody was able to take the day off and we had a lot of fun spending the day together. We had lunch with my sister, picked up some birthday presents, and went on a date to see Taken while Cody's brother and sister in law took care of Josh. It was a great day. In honor of Cody and the great guy he is I thought I would write a post of the top ten reasons I love him so much. It was really hard to choose which reasons I love him because there are so many. Here it goes... Happy Birthday Code! I love you!

10. He does the best happy dance ever, and it can always make me laugh.

9. He is so patient, especially when it comes to computers and me breaking them.

8. He tries to make dinner for me sometimes just to be sweet and give me a break.

7. He always tells me I'm perfect even though I'm not.

6. He changes dirty diapers and has from day one without complaining.

5. He gets up with Josh at night...often.

4. He works really hard at work, school, and home all to provide a good life for our family.

3. He is a wonderful father!

2. He's the best husband a girl could ask for!

1. He loves unconditionally.

A Beautiful Blessing

2009-03-02T13:40:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, we had the opportunity of attending our nephew Blake's baby blessing. Blessing a baby is always such a wonderful experience. Cody stood in the circle as his father gave him a name and conveyed many wonderful blessings from his heavenly father. It is at these moments that I am reminded of the great blessing the priesthood is. I am so thankful that I was raised by a good father, grew up with an awesome brother and now have a wonderful husband who all hold the priesthood. I know that my home and my family are blessed because of theses great men. And I am also blessed to have many other priesthood holders in my extended family. My brothers and father in law are strong preisthood holders that bring strength to our family. I know that I can always rely on them and the power of the preisthood. Blake's blessing was beautiful. Dan did a great job. We were so happy to be there and be a part of such a great day!

Fun Family Home Evening Activity

2009-02-26T09:10:00.001-08:00

On Monday we had the opportunity to have a super fun FHE. We went up to Cody's sister's to take pictures of her new little guy Blake and all of her kiddos. They are such a wonderful family and we has so much fun. Thanks for such a fun night guys!!

Cody's Art!

2009-02-22T23:50:00.001-08:00

I am so very proud of Cody. He is such a talented artist. He is very humble, but I can't help but brag because I am in such awe of the artistic abilities he has. I have seen his talent blossom so much just since we have been married. He was gracious enough to create the masterpiece below of our handsome angel Joshua. This is the amazing part, all he used was a mechanical pencil, a dried out wet wipe, and q-tip. He amazes me! I am trying to convince him to draw on the side so if anyone has a need for a special gift let him know. He may be willing to draw it for you. I will post some of his other drawings later so everyone can see the other great work he's done. :)

Old Pictures, New Fun

2009-02-17T11:26:00.000-08:00

I was online blogging last night and I found an awesome effect to do on photos. I tried it on Josh's picture first and loved it. During lunch Cody and I were upstairs because I was working on some school assignments and I took a break to try the new effect out on one of our wedding pictures. Our reception was held at the Olney House Bed and Breakfast in Safford. It's an old plantation style home that I grew up in awe of. I always wanted to go inside and I got better than that. I got to celebrate my marriage there. Anyway, we did an old fashion theme for our decorations and my dress was all lace. Our wonderful photographer Ladd Bryce thought this would be a cool shot. I loved it. It was a lot of fun. I just thought I would share the new fun Cody and I had with some old pictures.

Our New Nephew!

2009-02-09T20:33:00.001-08:00

Our family welcomed a new nephew late last night. We were so excited to meet Blake (we haven't actually had the opportunity to meet him quite yet). He was 8lbs 15oz and 21 1/2 inches long. Congrats goes to Cody's older sister Mindy and her husband Dan. He's very handsome guys. :) That makes 15 grankids for Grandma Smith who is enjoying holding him in the picture below. WELCOME BABY BLAKE!!

6 months and growing!!

2009-02-05T15:23:00.000-08:00

Our little Joshua turned 6 months today! We can't believe how quickly the time has passed. He has been such a wonderful blessing to our family. In honor of his half-a-year mark, we stopped to snap a few pictures today. Here are a couple of my favorites. Josh's office visits are a little off so we'll have updates of his height, weight, etc. when he is 7 months. We will be sure to post his progress when we find out.

This is a generic version of his popeye the sailor man face that he does. It's hilarious!

And For My Next Trick...

2009-01-16T20:32:00.000-08:00

We are soooo ecstatic! Josh sat up on his own for the first time today. And he is already improving in leaps and bounds. With a little more practice through out the day he gained more balance and strength. We can't believe how big he is getting.

Smith Family Pics

2009-01-03T22:31:00.000-08:00

So Cody and I had the huge and overwhelming task of taking the Smith Family pictures while everyone was together for the holidays. It was not an easy task and I was so relieved when it was over. I was grateful for the chance to take so many pictures and get a lot of practice in. I had lots of opportunities to learn and tried to take each one in. Overall, the pictures turned out and Grandma Smith got the family picture she's been wanting for so long. :)

**Grandma Smith was sweet enough to take pictures of our little family so we could have one too. :)

Talley Family Pictures!

2008-12-03T09:24:00.000-08:00

On Thanksgiving my family decided to head out in the nice stormy weather and take a few family pictures. It made for a nice intro into a great day. We had a very small window to snap a few pics before it started to rain too hard to keep going. We had tons of fun! And some of the snapshots are just as good as the posed pictures!

Photography!!

2008-12-02T11:18:00.000-08:00

Cody and I recently purchased a new dSLR camera to help us capture the precious moments of Joshua growing up. I have always loved taking pictures. I get that from my mom who is an avid picture taker. But I have also loved photography for a long time. I've taken a photography class, and messed around a little but I never had a camera good enough to capture the pictures I wanted to. So now that we have a camera that is capable of doing just that, it's my new "project" to learn the true art of photography. So I took a half hour yesterday and took a few pictures of Josh. It was so much fun! So please let me know what you think. I love constructive criticism! I can only help me get better. I am having tons of fun learning and growing in what I hope to one day be a polished talent. :) I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! Our's was wonderful! Lots of good food and great company!

Apple Annie's in Willcox

2008-11-14T20:08:00.000-08:00

We had a GREAT time at Apple Annies. I have gone there with my family as long as I can remember. It was a really cool experience to take my own son there for the first time. :)

What October!?!?

2008-11-14T19:31:00.000-08:00

Cody and I were talking the other night and realized that we are already half way through November! What happened to October? It seems like Joshua was just born and he is already 3 months. He is growing so fast. We measured him for his height for his 3 month birthday and he grew another inch. He's up to 25 inches now. It's amazing how quickly they grow and change. He is "talking" so much. And he loves music and believe it or not tries to sing along. It's quite funny. We FINALLY found a formula that seems to be working so far. We are so relieved that we were able to find something that works for him.

We had a lot of fun in October and that must be why it flew by. We went to an all school reunion in Safford, Apple Annie's pumpkin patch, Agua Linda Farm pumpkin patch, had a great Halloween, and our annual (let's hope we can keep it up) Halloween party. So many fun and exciting memories. We love being a family of three and can't wait for the next few hollidays.

Our Family Blog

2008-10-18T21:05:00.000-07:00

So Cody and I finally gave in and have decided that a blog would be the easiest way to keep everyone updated on our lives, Joshua, and what we've been up to as a family. Hopefully we'll be able to keep it up to date and lots of fun for everyone to look at. Lots of Joshua can be expected as he is growing and changing so quickly! Cody and I have enjoyed our last 2 years together and love being a family of 3!! I look forward to sharing our love and happiness with everyone!