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!

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!

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!

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.


.

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!

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.

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.