SSHHHHH! Don't tell

Don't tell anyone that Brady was actually sitting by Paige willingly. If you look closely you can probably see the girl cooties jumping from Paige onto Brady and he isn't even minding. A rare moment!!!

Sunday

I had to take this picture simply because I could. We were ready for church early and we were actually all getting along!!! Now that Darren is in the bishopric I alone get to yell at the kids to stop yelling at each other so we can get to church on time! "There is beauty all around..."

Blue and Gold Banquet

We attended the Blue and Gold Banquet for cub scouts where Brady was awarded his Bear. Way to go Brady!

MUD!!!!

Our life is mud. Literally. I don't know how I'll survive! 5 acres of mud, mud, mud. Kids that LOVE being outside. The washing machine is going to burn up. AAHHHHH! Thanks goodness I heard Darren on the phone with Chris last night talking grass!
As soon as we can we will get going on our sprinkler system and get some grass seeded. We are also planting sagebrush, yes you heard that correctly, planting sagebrush. We have a lot of space to take up and we want a natural landscape. Darren has been out on many sagebrush collection expeditions out by the canyon. In the fall we will be able to seed the burm around the property and some flat areas with a natural fescue grass that takes no irrigation and little maintenance.

From Surf to Snow

We took the kids skiing at Magic on Saturday. Darren and I were so ready just to be home, but we woke up Saturday and told Paige to tell the boys we were going skiing. They didnt't believe her of course! They got things ready and Justin packed the lunch. This is a self portrait of Paige and me on the lift.
Justin and his friend Braeden.
This is the first time we let Paige and Abbey on the lift by themselves! They thought they were hot stuff! I probably told them not to lean over to look down about 100 times. The lift guy put them on and wiping a fake tear from his eye, sniffled, "They grow up so fast." My sentiments exactly!

These are videos of Paige skiing. If you're not her parents you probably won't be enthralled like we are. But she skiied "Lift Line", a black diamond, and we are so proud. So is she! She wanted to do it again and again!

Home again

After flying all night from Honolulu, missing our connection in LA, sitting through hours of delays, and then having the plane turned around seconds before take off, we finally made it to a snowy SLC. This is a picture of me with my dad in front of his office in downtown SLC. We appreciate him being so flexible in being able to pick us up at the airport even with our many time changes! I am still wearing my flip flops and even stepped in the slushy gutter up to my ankle, I just wasn't willing to give up Hawaii!
It was so good to see the kids when we got home. We heard how well behaved and helpful they were while we were gone. Justin brought home a 4.0 report card while we were away!





We brought the kids some foods we found in Hawaii. Here they are trying the Korean Ramen noodles. I thought the picture of the child on it with the words "Kimchi" meant they would be mild, but as you can see, they were not. We also brought dried, whole squid that will make the rounds at show and tell. (Hopefully before Brady eats it)

Last day in Hawaii

What a great last day in Hawaii! The weather was the best yet, and we had more adventures. We started with more surfing, this time the guys tried using the kayak paddles to get themselves out to the waves. We all had bruised rib cages after the last time we went surfing. It looked like a blast but they said it was still a lot of work. Darren and I swam at Temple Beach, and rewarded ourselves with Malasadas (donuts with filling) and a Diet Coke and hung out at Bikini Beach. What more could you ask for in life? Troy taught us breathing techniques to build your lung capacity. No one passed out, but Darren held his for 1 min. 10 sec., I did it for 1 min. 20 sec. and Troy for 1 min. 45 sec! This is so relevent because we will use this skill everyday when we go diving - oh wait, we live in Idaho!

The adventure for the day was a hike to Malakehana Falls. You know the Smith boys, no hike is going to be just a hike, just like diving isn't good enough when there is daylight, you have to do it at night. Well, this hike was no exception, it was so cool! It was a total jungle! It took us a total of about 3 1/2 hrs. Darren swam through a pool of water to climb to the upper falls, while Troy and I decided we didn't want to risk getting the parasite said to live in the water. Wait how did Diane get out of this? Something about responsibilities and teaching piano lessons (whatever). I had new sandals that didn't fit right, so that added a whole new dimension to the hike, but I survived! At least my feet looked the cutest! The price of beauty is high.

We have to say many thanks to Troy and Diane. Hawaii is so much fun with them. Mahalo! See you in Idaho in June!

We're heading to a BYU-Hawaii basketball game, then off to catch our plane at 11:30pm. See you tomorrow afternoon kids! Ready to eat some squid?