It's a Girl!

For those who don't know yet, we are having a girl! We pick names pretty early, and we like the name Sophie Lin. Not sure if that will change or not.

With Mallory all by herself in her bedroom, a girl fits in great! She has always had her own room and for some reason lately, she doesn't seem to like it. Even in the middle of the day, if she wants to play in her room she makes one of her older siblings go in with her because, as she says it, "I'm scary". She means 'I'm scared', but that's how she says it, pretty funny.

Our new addition is due December 20th, and I'm hoping my doctor won't mind taking me a week or two early, just to try and get it as far from Christmas as possible. I always felt sorry for people with a birthday so close to Christmas, and now I've done it to my own child! But, she was a big surprise. I'm halfway done & still can't believe that this is actually happening. I felt strongly that Mallory was my last, I was done. But Jared felt just as strong that we were supposed to have one more. He was out of town when I realized I might be, and after taking no less than 5 tests, I called him & gave him the news. I was in shock & denial, and he was ELATED! He now thinks, of course, that he is more in-tune to the spirit than I am and as the priesthood holder I should listen to him more often. I always listen to him, but sometimes after I listen, I decide to ignore what he's said. It's a wife thing...

Days of '47 Parade!

The parade on Pioneer Day has been a life-long tradition for the Smarts. Jared & the boys packed up the day before and left the house around noon to go save a spot. They are usually the first of our group to get there, Jared always gets us the same great shady spot. By nighttime it's a full on party! I only stayed all night once, when we were engaged. So Thursday night the girls & I get to have a "Girl's Night Out". We maybe do some shopping, always go to dinner, and watch a movie at home. This year we got up at 5AM, got dressed & headed downtown. We eat breakfast & sit around until 9:00 when the parade starts. By 10:30, 11:00 it's all over. As soon as we get home, eat some lunch & the boys take a much needed shower, we all crash & sleep the rest of the day! I love traditions!

Conner & Ashton...heaven knows what time they finally fell asleep!

Someone on the trolley was throwing taffy & tootsie-rolls out!

My nephew Mikey came right to me when I showed him I had licorice. Look at that face & those big brown eyes! He's too cute....

Standing for the flag

Jared didn't even fall asleep during the parade this year, a first I think...

Mallory, Kelsey & Emma all fell asleep on the ride home. It's hard to wake up that early!

One of my favorite parts is laughing at/with my crazy brother in law, Tyler! I must say for the grown ups, he makes the parade more fun. This year he had a notepad and a pen and help up notes. Things like: "Your wife is hot", "Your husband is hot", "Jailbait".....it's fun too see the reaction he gets. One year he wrote down his phone number & ran up to floats and gave it to people. He even got a phone call from olympian Picabo Street. And, of course, everyone's favorite part is when the "Mama's Faith" float comes by. It's a black gospel choir from the Mama's Faith church. Every year he gets on their float with them & sings & dances. It is hilarious! They shop at Macey's, where my Mother-in-law works, and have told her that they love him & look for him every year.

Ashton the corn cob

Macey's is having a big "Corn Festival" this weekend. They have all sorts of fun stuff going on and some great deals. They were so busy that a bagger who was supposed to dress up as a corn cob and pass out little bags of candy corn was busy doing other things in the store. Denise asked if Ashton would want to do it (yeah, yeah, child labor....). It was only for a couple hours, and he stood just inside and gave kids candy corn. When she first asked him he seemed hesitant, then she said "I'll pay you"....then he was all for it! He can be so entertaining sometimes, you wouldn't think he's very shy, but he is.

No nap and all play.....

Mallory doesn't take naps anymore. Ever since summer started, we are either out doing something, or the house is too loud for her to actually fall asleep. Last Sunday she started to fall asleep playing her "Crayola" game on her DS. I had to take a picture, and that sort of woke her up, sort of. She rolled over, picked up her roll, took a bite & fell back asleep. Choking hazard! We made her wake up and chew it.

Discovery Gateway

We bought a year pass to the new kid's museum, Discovery Gateway. I want to be sure and get our money's worth, so I decided to take the kids there today. We invited Beka to come along and play (and help keep track of kids). We had a quick visit there last week, only about 20 minutes because they close at 6:00. We spent a good two and a half hours today, and the kids (and the grown-ups) had so much fun!

I think Kelsey may be a future news anchor!



Conner & Mallory had so much fun with this, they couldn't stop laughing.

4th of July

Every 4th of July we go to Sandy City's celebration. There are booths, food and fun activities for the kids to help pass the time. The weather was perfect this year, a little hot at first, but it cooled down pretty quick and there was a nice breeze. The fireworks display seems to get better and better every year! It's one thing we all look forward to when school lets out for summer.

Kelsey & Emma were helpful big sisters, making sure Mallory could get through tough spots on all the slides and obstacle courses.

My red, white and blue family

Thanksgiving Point pictures

Jared took several photos of the kids while we were there. He has found a deep love for photography! I knew he was going to take photos, but I didn't think about coordinating outfits or something, which may have looked a bit more professional. I think they are cute anyway!

Summer Fun

We've been doing some fun stuff with the kids so far this summer, but I never remember my camera! I only took it on our zoo trip.

For two years now we have purchased Hogle Zoo membership passes. We only have to go 3 times in the year to get our money's worth, and we love all the fun holiday activities they have. Last week Jamie and I took the kids up, got there early (beat the heat!) and stayed until lunch, then we took the kids to a McD's to play. I don't know how they had any energy left, but they did. This was my kids 2nd trip to the zoo this summer. They love it!

On the train! Kelsey looks a little upset, this is because Ashton & Lexi got to sit at the very back of the train & Ashton wouldn't shut up about it. I guess it's the best seat.

Waiting for the bird show to start. It didn't really hold these two little girl's attention!

Who would think that a 6th grader and a 2nd grader could be such good friends!? Kelsey, Emma, Lexi and Rylee get along great and love to be with each other.

Lucky for these two there were taller siblings handy to help them up.

This week Jamie and I took our kids up to Cottonwood Heights. This is a great place to take my kids, because I don't have to get in. They have a "beach" like area, very shallow, where Conner & Mallory can play, with a little slide and different spouts spraying water . They have also added 2 water slides (they've been there for a few years). My 3 older kids are good enough swimmers they don't need me with them, just a watchful eye. We got to the pool around 2 and ended up staying until close at 8:00. Jared was out of town, and Jason ended up joining us and bringing pizza. The kids had SO much fun! They are little fish!

We took the kids down to Gateway to go to the children's museum, Discovery Gateway. After seeing the video of Neil & Amy's boys playing there, I really wanted to take the kids. Unfortunately, we got there at 5:30 and they close at 6. We decided to spend the extra money and get a year pass, so now we can go whenever we want. I can't wait to take the kids!

I took the kids on Wednesday to see the new Ice Age movie. They loved it! It even kept Mallory's attention. We went to the first showing, and they ate so much popcorn they weren't hungry for lunch until 2.

Yesterday we took the kids to Thanksgiving Point. Jared took a lot of pictures, but I'll have to post them later cause they are still on his camera. We decided to take the kids to the dinosaur museum. I would recommend the museum part, there is lots of "hands on" stuff and dirt to dig in, but the movie costs extra and it was a waste of time and money. After that we walked around the grounds. The kids loved running around, and the grounds are so pretty. We were starting to get eaten alive though! Kelsey mostly, she got 6 bug bites. I said, "Your blood just tastes good", and then funny Emma said, with a serious "Edward" look on her face...."It's like a drug to them." We laughed so hard.....any of you "Twilight" fans out there should get that.

Tomorrow we will do the usual Smart tradition of Sandy City's fireworks. It's always SO much fun, even Jared & I get excited for the 4th! I'll remember my camera.....maybe.