Gavin's Special Day

Since Gavin turned 8, he had the opportunity to be baptized on September 4th. Steve performed the baptism at the Stake Center, and on Sunday, Pappa confirmed him during sacrament meeting. Randy, Krystal, and Kyra came up to our ward, and it was nice to have Randy stand in the circle for the confirmation, since him and Krystal are like the kids second parents!
Grandma, me and the kids!

Family Photo before the baptism

Pappa, Steve, and Gavin

We are proud of the decision Gavin made to get baptised, and we celebrated afterwards with our tradition at Mauricio's!

Steve and Gavin

First Day of School

Kids are excited to go to Patriot Elementary this year. Ethan will be in forth grade, Gavin in third, and Averi is starting Kindergarten! Hard to believe that I will only have two children at home during the day!

July 2010

So July ended up being a very crazy month for me. I was still working part time for the 2010 Census, and Steve started working insane hours, and traveling a lot, mostly out to the desert. While the kids were out of school and looking forward to our trip to Utah, I still had a huge final to take before we left. It was 40 percent of my grade, and there were two major essays that I was facing. So, the day before we left for vacation, I went over to Cal State Bakersfield, and spent three hours completing my final, each essay ended up being 15 pages written. My arms was numb from the elbow down by the time I left, but I was just thankful to get it done. I decided then that I was not going to do any more school right now, and that I would wait a couple of years before finishing my degree. Hard decision to make when I only have five classes left! Plus, I wouldn't be able to finish it through BYU, and would therefore loose credits when I had to transfer somewhere else.
Some friends asked me what I was learning from working with the Census. My reply, "I have really enjoyed it and it is nice to have a paycheck, but the most important thing I have learned is that a mother of five children, (with a husband who works such long hours), shouldn't 'work'!!!" It was difficult juggling the five kids, work, keeping up the home, and preparing for a final!
I told Steve of my decision about school while we were in Utah, and he was disappointed. Being so close to the end, he thought that I shouldn't quit. But, I told him that someday I would graduate, just not right now.
After a relaxing vacation with family, I came home and checked my grade for the class. I ended up getting a 98% on the final, and a 96% in the class. I was amazed. I think it helped that it was a history class and I loved the information! So, since I accomplished that, I reversed my decision and am going to continue on, and have recently started another class!

Utah Trip 2010

We took a much needed vacation to Utah to see the family in July. Dad and Todd planned a camping trip to Yuba Lake that started out trip. Steve and I often sat back and laughed when the family talked about how hot it was there! It was only in the low 90's and it was wonderful, because I actually got cold in the morning sleeping in the tent! It was the first time in months that I felt cold!
Gavin's actual birthday fell the second day that we were there.

Even though he already had a party, Steve and I surprised him by following the Smith Family tradition.....since he was turning eight, he got a BB gun. The boys all had a chance to drive a few minutes away and shoot it into a mountain...(only in Utah!)

Ryan and Melia and their children joined us all for the camping trip, and Mike and Julie came down with baby Danika for dinner the second day. All together, there were nine cousins (all under the age of nine) running around the campground at all times!

Dad and Todd brought the boat down and we had a blast riding in it around the lake. The boys decided they want a boat. I told them they could have one if they paid for it!

I love this picture of Steve!

I laughed when Todd and Steve were joking around together for the camera. It was nice to see Steve able to relax. He had been putting in so many hours at work and was traveling quite a bit before we left.

We spent some good time down by the lake, and leave it to Wyatt to find the dirt and rocks! I love this picture, because it is so Wyatt....king of the hill!

Wyatt had a hard time keeping shoes on around the campground, and he constantly got stickers in his feet. Todd was about the only one who could get them out!

Averi loved the water!

And so did Gavin! He was so helpful and was always the first on there to help when the boat came in from the water!

Smith boys chatting down by the water!

I was surprised that Wyatt bonded so quickly with Todd! He let his uncle take him out in the water a couple of times. If I tried that, I know what would have clocked me in the face!

Relaxing....

Ethan really liked camping with the Smith family!

Ryan was teaching Raeney how to float on her back.

Beautiful moon coming up over the campground!

Todd was getting a bit tired of getting his picture taken by me, but it is always fun to tease him. I am proud to say that for the first time in fourteen years of knowing Todd, I teased him to the point that left him speechless!

Once we got back to Payson, I had a chance to meet Mom and Dad Cobb. They flew down from Washington for the week, and even Steve hadn't seen them since his mother's funeral. We had a chance to get family pictures taken and spend time with all of the family, many hours out on the front lawn talking.

Reagen really enjoyed eating the grass!

She was teething and we learned to give her a cold can of Diet Coke to suck on.

We took a trip up to Cabellas and over to The Natural History Museum at Thanksgiving Point.

The kids especially enjoyed the hands-on exhibits.

They got to play with the water and sand tables to create different weather conditions, such as floods.

And they were able to dig through the sand for dinosaur fossils.

The Saturday before we left for home, we had a nice dinner at a park in Santaquin with Mike and Julie, and their new baby daughter, Danika. She was blessed at church the following day, and it was nice to be able to see that happen and for Steve to stand in the circle during the blessing.

Danika, the newest Smith addition!

Mike and Ryan

The cousins all had one more chance to play together at the park.

Gavin being a monkey!

Wyatt loved anything he could ride on.

The three oldest cousins....Ethan, Gavin, and Lea.

And of course my Wild Guy did a face plant in the one mud hole that he found at the park! We all got a good laugh from that one. Thank goodness my camera was handy.

Grandpa and Reagen

I had a blast at Deseret Book Store and of course The Quilted Bear. They were having a huge sale on fine art and I was able to buy the picture of the Nauvoo Temple that I always wanted for 75% off. Steve was nice enough to watch the kids one day so that I could go to the Olive Garden with Lani. I took Averi on a whim up to the BYU campus and we went to the creamery and bookstore.

I think Ethan and Gavin mostly enjoyed being able to go through Grandpa's arsenal of a gun safe and go shooting a couple of times. I went with them out to West Mountain once, and I am proud to say that I ended up shooting Steve's 22mm, Ryan's 9 mm, and then I even shot a 357. Scared the daylights out of me, and then Dad made me shoot it until the rounds were all gone! (Lani, I knew you would be proud of me for that!) Ethan is a really good shot. He got up the first time he shot the 9mm and hit the target! Me on the other hand...lets just say I need more practice!

We had fun coming home too and stayed at the state line at Buffalo Bills. I talked the boys into going on the roller coaster with me. I was so proud of them for doing so, especially since Gavin is scared of heights! The roller coaster even scared the daylights out of me.

I miss the Smith family and wished we lived closer to them so that we could see them more than once a year, but I am already looking forward to next summer so we can go and see them again!

Fourth of July!

The 4th of July is my favorite holiday. The kids were in high heaven this year, because they got to spend the entire day swimming. It wasn't as hot as last year, and the pool was rather cold, but it was still an enjoyable time.
I went to WalMart and got the kids some water noodles. Amazing how a $1.00 toy can be so much fun.

Even Reagen enjoyed the water!

And just kicking back by the pool.

At night, we took them to the fireworks show. I thought it would really scare Reagen, but she was just staring at them in amazement. Wyatt was a bit frightened when they first started, and after we peeled him out of the truck, he too enjoyed them. He kept saying, "awtome!" (awesome)

Best Birthday Party Ever!

For Gavin and Averi's Birthday, we rented a giant slip and slide. I had never seen one before, but let me assure you it was giant! It took up our whole side yard! I never imagined it would be as much fun as it was. We had a ton of family, neighbors, and friends over.
The kids enjoyed the slide so much that it was difficult to get them off to eat, blow out birthday candles, or even open presents.
If you bounced just a bit at the top, you would really slide down very fast.

I was surprised how much Averi enjoyed it. I thought that she may be a bit scared...but not at all. We even got Wyatt up there, even though I had to carry him up and basically push him down.

The adult turnout was great as well. I think we were all pretty amazed at how much fun the kids were having!

Once I got on the slide, there was no getting off. Steve was nice enough to BBQ hot dogs and hamburgers for the whole gang!

It was such a hot day....107 degrees, that we had to escape inside for some cool air.

We had to beg the kids to stop and sing Happy Birthday!

Krystal giving Reagen her first bite of cake.....and also her first drink of soda!

I knew it was a hit, no so much that the kids had fun, but also that all the adults got involved and went down the slide, some even with their clothes on. It was just too hot to sit around and watch.

My Mom and I we one of the first to get in around 11:00 a.m. and we were literally on the slide or in the pool the entire day! Here is a picture of us going down together!

Grandma!

Lori and her daughter

MaraLee Ziebarth just got back from girls camp and came over to join her husband and kids. She is so much fun that she just went down with her clothes on.

We have decided that we are going to make it a tradition for Gavin and Averi's Birthday to rent the slide every year! Even after all the guests left, the kids and I stayed and played until 7:00 that night!