Summer 2008- a recap:)

Wow! I was reviewing the pictures since we've been back, and there could be about 200 seperate posts. So I've decided to just post a bunch of pictures and put captions underneath! For those of you who didn't know, Harry left for Canada to stay with my mom until we came. What was going to be just a week-long gap turned out to be a month. Harrison loved being the center of attention with Nana and grandpa, and only mentionned missing us about 2 days before we left. Can I just say...I love Canada! The summers are so beautiful...and long! It really doesn't get dark until around 11pm every night. I especially want to thank my mom and dad for all of the love and time they spend with each of the kids. It really is a second home to them. Now we're back home in AZ. So great to see Scott again, even though it has been in minute increments. To me, coming back is bittersweet because we have to get into high gear right away with moving and Harrison starts school on Monday. AHHHHH! Who knew as a parent you would hate to see the summer come to a close just as intensely as when you where in school yourself! Goodbye lazy summer days!


Regan's 1st Birthday...June 12th:)
I cannot believe it's been one whole year! Time flies too fast.
But on the upside, perhaps I'll be more mentally stable for her
second year of life...here's to hoping!

Kids getting ready for Canada day parade:)

CANADA DAY!!!! July 1st!
We had a great day the kids were in a
parade and Scott was there with us..so fun!

STAMPEDE TIME! Here are the kids at one
of the infamous 'stampede breakfasts'. My
nephew Anderson was with us...love that
little guy!




Swimming Lessons at Acadia Pool
Harry & Ava took swim lessons at the same
pool I did when I was growing up.
This was the teacher they both had, but
they were in seperate classes. They had fun!


The wave pool! I took the kids here
about 10 times sometimes twice a day! They
loved it. By the end, Ava was hauling down
the big dark tunnel slides by herself. Harry
was totally self-sufficient EVERYWHERE!
They were both fish in a previous life I swear.

Jumping on the tramp in the rain!
The minute they heard thunder they'd run
out to the trampoline. Safe? Not sure. Fun? For sure!


'If the Savior stood beside me'
Harrison and Ava sang in my parents' ward
and sounded awesome if I do say so myself


Ice blocking in Rexburg! On our
drive home we had some extra time and I
hadn't been to Rexburg in years so we pulled off.
Thanks to a nice family, we joined them in
ice-blocking. A new experience for the kids.



'HONEYMOON SUITE!'
So the ONLY room left in ALL OF REXBURG
was a honeymoon suite entitled 'Planet 10'
Harrison was in heaven, my mom and I were
creeped out! This was the lava rock tub.
The rest of the room was filled with stars, and
planets ofcourse. If you turned off the lights,
fiber-optic stars would cover the ceiling! Yikes!


Visited the infamous 'Bear World"
This place is awesome. It is in Rigby, ID. You drive around in your car
and there are literally live bears all around you.
Then there were rides, a petting zoo, and treats for the
kids after wards!

Petting zoo at bear world


'Three bears cafe' in Kanab, UT
A must see if driving thru. I love the ice cream...
obviously the kids do too!


24 Hour car ride! I cannot thank my mom
enough for having all the patience in the world
driving from Canada to AZ. It was a little anxiety
ridden especially when we took Ava to the urgent care
in UT and found out she had hand foot and mouth virus.
No wonder she was cranky! But honestly, my mom and
I couldn't get over how good the kids were. Good enough
to plan on doing it again next year. The scenery is
breathtaking. I don't ever want to fly there unless its
in the winter time! Too dangerous!

FORGET WALDO! WHERE'S JILL?????????

CANADA my friends...Canada! Here we are in Canada for our third straight summer keeping out of the inferno called AZ! We are having so much fun doing the usual, wave pool, swimming lessons, walks with Nana's dog Mitzi (we pray every summer that she'll still be around) stampede fun, parks, rain storms, trampoline with sprinkler underneath, reunions with extended family, you name it. Are you surprised that the kids don't want to go home in a week? The only thing we need here is Scott...who is busy getting ready for our stake's trek, and the move to our new house. We miss him terribly.

So much has happened since my last post! Scott and I just celebrated our 12th wedding anniversary. Two words...time flies! Okay, three more words...love that man! Regan celebrated her first birthday. Some thought she may not make it with Ava constantly hovering over her minutely but she came through and is such a sweetie to have around! She honestly gets cuter everyday and since we've been in Calgary, she's now not only walking, she runs in every direction! And may I just say in the most family friendly way possible...I'M NOW OFFICIALLY DONE BREASTFEEDING!!!!!!!!!!! Oh blessed day! Anyone who knows me knows how I do it and I don't know why I do it because I hate it! Okay, hate is a very strong word but you love something that keeps you craving junk when you want to lose weight! (I act as though I have no control over the matter, but it feels that way) I would have quit sooner had the little munchkin ever took a bottle! Okay, next...my sister Suzy has moved to Kentucky for Nate to start med. school. I can't stand the thoughts of returning to AZ and not having her there:( As mentionned above, we have bought a new home not far from our current one. It is truly bittersweet. I literally cannot stand the thoughts of leaving my ward and neighbors. If I think about it too much I get depressed. How stupid, I'm going to be 2 minutes away...but it is just not the same. Anyhoo....onward and forward. I am getting major help from my sister, and sisters-in-law with the home decor aspect of things. I knew before that I wasn't a guru in home design, but I am now certain I know nothing. It is a daunting task choosing paint colors, etc. but I'll be fine. You know your life is pretty darn good if you're stressing about home decor....

Well, I'm writing this not having a photo available to post since I didn't bring my camera wires and my mom's computer only is equipped for those so I'll post tons when I get home! There are alot of great ones from this trip!

That was short lived!

I'm not a quitter I swear! So we brought Rocky home and it was great...at first. Come to find out I am allergic to rodents...who knew? I get to feeling the same way I do around cats...when I breathe it feels weird and I cough. But anyways....main reason to let go of Rocky was that he brought out some friends to our home that I wasn't aware of MICE! I will not be offended if you never visit my home ever again!!!!!! I honestly think it was the hamster food. To make a long story short, my good, dear, wonderful, friend Tina who talked me into this insane idea in the first place, is temporarily babysitting him for us until we get the mice thing dealt with. I had the pest control guy come today to place traps EVERYWHERE. But he said he couldn't find any signs of life (droppings etc.) around so maybe they were short term visitors. Since we took Rocky to Tinas..no sight of his buddies anywhere. But the rodent man will be coming every 2 days to check the traps. We have 2 open lots and a couple empty foreclosed houses around us which he said they could be coming from. I guess my neighbors have seen some too! SICK! Scott thinks I'm insane to publish this. But I am not proud, this is my life and a big part of it right now thank you very much!!! Wish us luck! ARE YOU DYING????? I'll keep you all posted. (no pun inteded)

A new family member for the Smiths

"ROCKY LOVEY SMITH" is the newest member of our family. I hope to sound excited but frankly, my blood pressure is sky high. We brought him home yesterday around 3pm and in less than 24 hrs. I literally cannot count the number of times I have made references to death...whether it be about Rocky or my sweet children. Harrison chose the name and at first Ava was fine with it, but then when given enough time to think about it decided that it should be named "Lovey". So this little hamster has a full name now and everyone is happy. I was so scared because the pet store people kept telling me how much they bite, but my friend Tina (who inspired me to get one for my children...who swears it is so much easier than a dog) said they don't that much. This little rodent (ew!) has not bitten the children once! He is so friendly. And that is a bloody miracle after watching Ava man-handle the poor little guy. They want to sleep with him and play with him every living second. Taking turns is so painful. Wish me luck that we don't lose, or kill him in the first week. What was I thinking??????????????????

KIRK'S HAS ARRIVED!

Kirk in all his glory and PHX shirt no less loadin' up!



My 5 dollar find (picnic table) was a hit with kids of all ages!


boys and girls alike!

action scene

Well, my youngest brother Kirk has arrived at last from Provo to spend the summer with us! The kids could not be more thrilled...hopefully my other bros don't read this....he seems to be the fave! How could you not love an uncle that plays guitar, video games, outside, everything the kids want to do he will oblige. I love this kid! He will be the office "gopher" for lack of a better word at Scott's work this summer. He got here today around 3pm then Boo & Nate with little Parker, Adam (Scott's brother) & Joanna with little Kate, and ofcourse Phyllis, who is still here thanks to divine intervention, came tonight for a WELCOME dinner. We missed Eldon, Jodi, and Max so much they couldn't make it. Words cannot express how fun it is having family live in the same town as us. I used to dream of this and now my dream has come true. I am going to try to max out family time before Suzy and Nate leave to West Virginia for med. school. We have 4 out of my 5 siblings living here in AZ, plus Scott's brother and his wife who live 15 mins. away and we are so close to them as well. Life is good. Family is the best and as close as you can be to friends and I do love our friends dearly, I'm sure you all agree...there is just something about family that cannot compare! It's like breathing sanity:)

It's My LIfe!

Literally minutes before...I was taking this pic because I thought I'd do a post entitled "rub a dub dub" then things took a turn:)

Miss Ava in her own choice of beautiful clothing!

Nothing wrong with sword moves when feelin' the beat! Notice little cutie pie in the background...she's no walflower!

So I'm officially posting this on my blog so I can add even more pressure to myself! My gloves are off and I've finally decided to go for the gusto and get this baby weight off! I started my diet and training Monday. I'm doing this the good old fashioned slow and steady way so don't expect to see miracles in a month. (I'm just saying that for myself...again!) But I'm kind of excited about it and I've already lost 3 pounds this week! Even though that is extremely exciting...frankly, I'm not surprised at all. For the love of Pete I've been eating literally anything and everything that is in front of me, my kids are far too familiar with every fast food joint in the country, and when you wake up to your kid eating a sleeve of Oreo cookies and instead of punishing him, you join him...you know there's a problem! So I knew that even if I thought about diet and exercise I'd lose weight. Well...today on my exercise program I was told to do 60 minutes of cardio, and I could split the time between machines if I wanted to. Well, I did, 20 mins. of biking, then 25 mins. on the treadmill and realized I wasn't going to have enough time to hit Sam's club before picking Ava up from preschool, so I promised myself I'd do something for 15 mins. later. As per usual, the day got away on me. I was giving the kids a bath and it dawned on me that I hadn't done anything and I knew Scott wouldn't be home tonight for me to leave. So, I pulled out the infamous Bon Jovi hit "It's my Life" (Phyllis' fave-my mom) and I'm not even kidding the kids and I danced our brains out! They started off buck naked (straight out of the bath) then Ava brought out a church dress and princess shoes. Harry would have been completely content naked, but I made him throw on unders. (Hello...you're 7 let's not dance nude okay??) Even little Regan was going nuts. I just watched their little bodies flayling about and thought...I cannot forget this moment. And hey...I swear I sweat more swinging them around than I did doing my stupid 45 mins. on machines and let me just say, I had WAY MORE FUN! This particular form of exercise I highly recommend. And just a plug for "Jon" the song is highly inspirational!

PARKER ERIC HICKS is here....and safely thank the good heavens!

Suzy's baby shower on March 22nd, 2008.
(not a moment too soon!!!)

Parker Eric Hicks born 4.14.08
4:00a.m. 5lbs. 12oz. 18.5 in.

Somebody likes the chupie!!!!!
(He'll be in good company in this fam!)

Here is the picture of the most perfect little man, my nephew Parker! He is a special boy this one. There is no doubt he is meant to be here in this world right now. It is such a long story but in a nutshell, a week ago, my sister Suzy went into the hospital with complaints of a sore back. They hooked her up to monitor the baby's heartbeat just as a precaution only to find out that it was at a 60 (should be between 110-180) They rushed her to the operating room. Suzy said it was like the movies. Luckily his heart rate recovered before they cut her open. This happened a few more times before he was born. Suzy continued to be in major pain with her back. Fevers and chills set in. The Dr. said he couldn't figure out what was wrong. All her blood work and other tests came back negative. Finally, even though they didn't think it would help, they took an ultrasound of her back to find out that both her kidneys were infected and FULL of fluid. When I went in and saw her, I was shocked. Her face was swollen and red. All she kept asking for was something to drink. She couldn't get enough. I said I wouldn't make this long.....so Scott and Nate gave her a blessing that reassured she'd be ok. She got a tube inserted into her kidneys that allowed the fluid to drain. They also put her on major heavy duty antibiotics. By Monday morning, they decided to induce her labor. Basically her first major contraction the baby's heartrate took a major dive. Nate said the room looked like a hornet's nest with nurses and the doc racing around. They finally did a c-section and were shocked when they cut her open. Their doctor said in all of his years being an OB (and head of the OB dept. at Good Samaritan...for all those of you who aren't familiar with the hospital...people come from far and wide with every concievable problem, so he's seen it all) this is only the 3rd time he's ever seen this situation. Suzy had what's called "vaso previa" From what I understand its where the umbelical cord is attached to the amniotic sac instead of the placenta. Usually this condition is detected well before the baby is born and the mother is on bed rest and close watch. Because if her water would have broken, the baby would have surely died.

Our whole family has felt so humbled as we have watched the hand of the Lord in this whole affair. It is times like this that you really stop to reflect on your life, the lives of those you love and how important it is to cherish literally every moment you spend together. This particular situation reminded me again of how much I love my sister. On Sunday night before he was born, I just bawled begging the Lord to make sure that if someone needed to die to spare her life if possible. Such a desperate prayer! I realized that he was in charge and that there are people all over the world who lose loved ones everyday. I just knew I was not ready to lose her. The Lord was merciful, heard my prayers and the prayers of everyone and not only were their lives spared, they are both doing wonderfully well. To say I was grateful would be the biggest understatement ever. These are pics from tonight of little Parker going home. Notice there aren't any pics of Suzy. She refused to let me post her pics. To put it in her words, she looks like a crack addict with her roots being so long. She was going to get her hair done this week.

But when I walked into the room after her fever had broken, and she'd had the baby, she looked like an angel to me...far from a crack addict. She'd been through so much and she was doing well and that was all that mattered. I took a thousand pics of her.

This is my longest post ever. I guess it should be since I haven't posted for 2 months and SO MUCH has happened. Hopefully I'll get caught up. But this was so post worthy and a time in all our family's life we'll never forget.

Welcome home baby Parker and Boo...there just aren't words to express how much we love you and are so relieved and happy you are both healthy and well. But oh no....here comes breastfeeding...can she survive that???????? Keep the prayers comin'!!!!!

Love is in the air:)

Sorry I've been such a neglectful blogger lately! Phyllis (my mom) has been here for 2 wonderful weeks and is leaving tomorrow (boohoo!) We've had so much fun and she has helped me TREMENDOUSLY! I have not even touched the laundry once! I love you mom!

Here are the kids before church this past Sunday somewhat festive. And then, in the other picture, Harry and Ava are holding a little treat we made for our neighbors, Harry's teacher, and my visiting teachers. They were fun to make (cookie and chocolate flowers) but the projects are always so fun to imagine and start, but somehow by the end, the kids are covered in sugar and instead of feeling the "Valentine's spirit" if you will, I'm yelling at them as they're running out the door to deliver them with my blood pressure and anxiety through the roof. I pray that I'm accomplishing my deep desire for them to have these fun little traditions to hold as childhood memories. But I fear they'll only remember me screaming, "Get your grubby little fingers out of that!" and "I cannot believe you just dropped all the sugar on the floor!" May the good Lord grant some amnesia for those moments and only let them remember the happy moments during the journey, and ofcourse the happiness delivering the finished product.

Remember that we love you all so very very much. Happy Valentine's Day!!

MOOAH! XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

Yesvember it is!

Ava is such a crack-up. Everyday it astounds me what she knows and is learning. Okay, so today, we were in Sam's club shopping, we passed the "birthday cake section" and Ava screamed..."It's my birfday, I want a birfdaycake!" With all the recent talk of birthdays, (mine on Jan. 5th, Scott and Harrison's on the 7th) birthdays are on the tip of her brain...obviously. So I say to her, "Ava, your birthday is in November, can you say November?" she copies me and we practiced a couple of times. A few minutes later she looks up and says, "Not NOvember, YESvember!" I had to have her repeat what she said because I couldn't believe she made that connection. I tried to explain to her that November was the "name" of that month and gave her examples of the other months, but she would have nothing to do with it. So thus, Ava's birthday from here on out is...YESvember 24th! She kills me!

What the Heaven? HARRY'S SEVEN!

Our little guy is not so little any longer. It absolutely kills me to put him into the "big boy" catagory now. I realize he's still young, but he's my first and I can feel myself requiring more of him and expectations are greater as he gets older... I suppose that is the way it is supposed to be. We haven't had a party yet, I'll do that at the end of January. But I did bring these "transformer" cupcakes to his school on his actual birthday. (Jan. 7th)

I get so emotional thinking of how his coming into my life (our lives ofcourse) but me as his mother has changed who I am and how I see the world around me. I remember after I had him, I felt like blinders had been removed from my eyes. The love I had for every child around me suddenly grew because my heart had learned to love in a way that was completely inconceivable to me. Through Harrison I've been able to see the world through the eyes of a child, and he's taught me so much about pure love and pure sweetness. This kid is something else! I'm so glad that he is our first child because he's such a wonderful example of how to be, and I'm so glad he's mine!


Seven Reasons we love Harrison:

1) He is pure...Scott compares him to Nathaniel of old, he has no guile.

2) This child can laugh! He has such a great sense of humor and laughs so easily and heartily.

3) He is so patient. Anyone that spends any time watching he and Ava together calls him a saint!

4) He is accepting. Doesn't matter if you're green, blue haired, cross eyed, or clinically crazy, this kid will love you up and appreciate you no matter what. He is a friend to all.

5) He is sensitive. You can explain anything to him in terms of how it makes someone feel and he will make sure he doesn't hurt anyone's feelings. He is very empathetic.

6) He is wild. Some days this could drive any sane human to jump off a bridge, but this kid is crazy!

7) He is completely uninhibited. He would greet you at the door tomorrow singing at the top of his lungs completely naked and not bat an eye.



Thank you Harrison for being you. We wouldn't want you any other way. You are perfect in our eyes!

Oh! HOLY NIGHT!!!!

A little hockey...



A little wrestling...



A little lovin'...

The grandkiddies: Ava, Max, Andy, Harry, Regan





A little blasphomy??? (Our manger scene, heaven help us all...we laughed so hard we cried!)





Hope you all had a great Christmas! Ours was wonderful and white in Calgary, Alberta, Canada...did I mention we were all sick every last one of us the entire time??? But despite everyone feeling a little under the weather we still managed to find time to be immature and crazy, eat great, gain weight all absolute musts at any "Sniderpalooza". Every night was a late one with lots of deep meaningful conversations, tons of laughing, cracking great jokes that only we get for sure, and ofcourse, guitar playing and loud singing! Loved it all! Here are just a few pictures.