FYI

Just so everyone is aware, I am not ignoring your blogs, nor your comments on my blog. I am in Oregon right now at my best friend's house having an awes0me time. I will be home around August 12th, give or take a day. I doubt I will get to much blogging while I'm here, but I will be sure to catch back up when I get home. I hope everyone is doing great and enjoying the last of summer!

WAHOO!!! I finally did it!

I spent the last three days studying until my brain literally feels like it might explode, but it was all worth it because I finally passed one of my Real Estate Tests. I have two more to take, but the first hurdle is done!!! I am so happy!

This is a picture that Dan took of me studying, yucky!

Spanish Fork Carnival

I know what you're thinking, why on earth would Saedi post this picture on her blog? Good question........the only answer I have is that it made me laugh. Dan and I got a new camera this week, so we've been practicing with it alot. He was taking all of these serious pictures of me, so while he ran to the ATM, I took one of myself that was a little more fun.

This was Dan's favorite, don't ask me why. It looks like I have something in my eye, but I was supposed to be winking at him. We are such goobers!

This was my favorite of Dan. Shoot, isn't he so hot?

Me and my cute little monkeys!

Dan and Aidan sharing some yummy nachos and italian ice.

Mason and Ethan riding on the dragon ride.

Mason, Ethan and Aidan riding on the car ride.

We ran into Ryan and Melissa and their family while we were out, so we got a quick picture with them. They're the cutest!

This was my only ride of the night. I don't do well with scary rides, but I love the ferris wheel. 

Mason, Ethan and I were so excited to get to ride the ferris wheel together.

Dan and Mason had lots of fun on this ride, but I can't remember what it's called. Ethan was about to get on, but he changed his mind at the last minute. We had such a fun night, it all ended too quickly for all of us.

Girls Night

Last night I had a girls night with my sister-in-laws and Mother-in-law. We went to Celeste's house and watched a movie on their outdoor big-screen and projector. Matt (Celeste's husband) was awesome enough to set it all up for us.

Here are all the girls that came.Bottom row (left to right)  Shalyn (Lori's daughter), Angie (she didn't realize she was supposed to be smiling), Celeste, Megan. Top Row, Lori and Mom.

Matt was so cute, he bought these special "Theater style outdoor chairs" for us to use. They were way fun and comfy.

Here's Matt, hard at work, setting up the projector.

Here's Megan and I, sitting back, enjoying our comfy seats.

And here is the movie. We watched "The Devil Wears Prada", which is one of my favorites. Celeste had never seen it before, so we knew we had to watch it for Girls Night, because there aren't many movies that Celeste hasn't seen. She is a major chick-flick fan. We had a great night, I love getting to spend time with these amazing women!

Mason has been tagged!

1. What does your Mom always say to you? No, I can't play games

2. What makes Mom happy? Hugs and Kisses

3. What makes Mom sad? Being naughty, not getting kisses or hugs

4. How does Mom make you laugh? Being silly, that's how you make me laugh

5. What was Mom like when she was little? Barbies and even Spiderman

6. How old is Mom? 16, 17, 20? Are you 20? (Yes, I am son. Yes I am.)

7. How tall is your Mom? 20

8. What is Mom's favorite thing to do? On the computer, and kissing her boys, and getting married (that sounds really funny)

9. What does your Mom do when you're not around? We should find you (this explains why i never have a moments peace. If the kids aren't around me, all they can think about doing is finding me!!!)

10. If your Mom becomes famous, what will it be for? Being handsome, or being cute

11. What is your Mom really good at? On the computer, and doing pictures

12. What is your Mom not really good at? Turning Dad's game on

13. What does your Mom do for her job? like, do your homework, and do your coloring, and eat your food

14. What is your Mom's favorite food? bananas and cereal and real food and candy (don't ask me where the bananas and cereal came from)

15. What makes your Mom proud of you? To clean up my room and put my shirts on and eat my food and do my homework

16.If your Mom was  a cartoon character, who would she be and why? A superhero girl

17. What do you and your Mom do together? Clean up my room

18. How are you and your Mom the same? We have the same hair

19. How are you and your Mom different? Because you growed when you were little............Mom, I wish you were a little girl, so I could play with you, that's what I been wondering about

20. How do you know your Mom loves you? Because I came out of your tummy and I gave you flowers and hugs and kisses

We tag, anyone who wants to do it!!!

Spanish Fork Parade

For our quarterly Primary Activity this month, we decided to join in the Children's Parade that Spanish Fork does every year. It's alot of fun, but also lots of planning and stress. I can't claim that I did much of the planning or had much of the stress, that was mostly the Primary President (Kristie McMurdie), she made it way more fun than I would have ever even tried for! The theme was "Traditions", so we stuck with Spanish Fork Traditions. The kids dressed up as softball players, cowboys (Anita Hales made these really cute little horses for the kids to ride), or pioneers. I'm just thankful that I was the one taking the pictures, so no one gets to see me in my pioneer outfit!

Here is Chanel and the most adorable cowgirl I have ever seen, sweet little Aurora!

Bro. McMurdie (Kristie's husband) made all the signs and banners and they turned out so amazing! He works for BYU making posters and signs I guess (atleast I think that's what he does). 

He also made us these awesome ships to represent the Icelandic settlers. They were way fun! 

The funniest part of the day was about a block down the road, the trailer got a flat tire, so we had to quickly pull over, get all the kids out, and then continue on foot. A little ways down the road, they had it fixed and caught back up to us and we loaded the kids back in and continued on our way. I think the kids all had a great time, I know mine did.

A Day with Brooke

I had such a fun day this week. My best friend Brooke, was here visiting from Texas, so I got to go spend part of the day with her and her cute little kids. Brooke and I became best friends when we were about  5 years old and I am so happy to say that we have managed to stay friends and keep up with each other pretty well over the years. I wish I got to see her way more, but I'm very thankful for the times I get to spend with her. She's an awesome friend, and I miss her alot! p.s. today is her birthday, so HAPPY BIRTHDAY BROOKE!!!! love ya!

Smith Reunion-Part 3

This was on our way home. We stopped off and got "Square Ice-Cream". Apparently it's a tradition in Dan's family to stop here on the way home from the reunion. We haven't been to the reunion since they started it, but we were sure happy to get to be a part of it this year. It was really yummy!

Aidan insisted on feeding himself with one of the mini sample spoons.

Here we are, sunburnt and exhausted and ready to go home!

Smith Family Reunion-Part 2

This was the rock, that all the kids were obsessed with climbing. Whenever I wondered where they were, it was either on the huge rock, or on their way up. It was a nice, because it kept them distracted from the river.

Three of the cutest boys ever created!!!

I didn't realize when we pulled into camp the night before that it was so gorgeous. When I woke up the next morning, my jaw dropped!

These two are the whole reason we went to the Reunion. We don't get to see Dan's grandparents very often. They're always busy on their farm, and they tend to get overwhelmed very easily by lots of people, so they didn't get to stay for very long, but it was awesome to get to see them. It's always amazing to me to know how hard it is to be around people, because they never seem the tiniest bit uncomfortable when they're there. They are two of the funniest people I have ever met. Dan's grandma had me laughing until my sides hurt. 
Dan wanted to be a total maniac apparently, and sumbmerge himself completely in water that couldn't have been more than 30 degrees. He did get a dollar from Melinda for it though. He'll do ANYTHING for a buck, I guess.
This is one of the many times that I caught Aidan eating dirt. I've said before on my blog that he is a good eater, but this proves that he will eat ANYTHING!

Smith Family Reunion-Part 1

I have to break this down into parts, because it's way too long to finish all in one sitting.

We left last Thursday afternoon and drove 6 or 7 hours to Palisades Reservoir in Swan Valley, Idaho to go to Dan's family reunion on his Mom's side. We arrived around 8pm, we followed Chris and Levor (Dan's parents). Robert and Melinda arrived a few

 minutes later with all their kids, and Angie, Gilbert and Andrew came a few hours after

 that. Bill and Kendra were already there (Chris's brother and sister in law) and so were Kimble and Genet (Chris's other brother and sister in law). Genet also brought her daughter Jenna and her baby Claire. Grandma and Grandpa Smith came on Friday

 morning and only stayed a few hours, they're always super busy and they only live a few hours away. 

On our first night we ate hot dogs and made smores and the boys wasted no time getting filthy dirty. We set up our tent-with some help from Levor.

  - funny sidenote, my Mom and Dad got us this awesome tent about 5 years ago for Christmas, and sadly, this was the first time we have ever used it. It's an awesome, huge, 3 room tent, easy to put up and take down, and we loved it.- 

I got a bed made for Mason and Ethan in one room, and one for Dan, Aidan and I in the other. We slept ok, but it was pretty cold at night, so we had to keep warming the kids up. 

The Strep Triplets

That's right, strep, again. This is the 3rd time that my boys have had strep in the last 5 months. Does that seem excessive to anyone else? The Doctor told me that if they get strep 6 times in a year, that they might have to have their tonsils removed. Part of me loves that idea, and the other part of me hates it. I would love to not have to keep dealing with this issue over and over again, but I also think that your tonsils are a slightly important part of your body, and I'm not too thrilled at the idea of them not being there. I also HATE the idea of any of my boys suffering in any way, shape or form, so I wouldn't be too thrilled with that part of it either. Luckily, they got started on antibiotics yesterday, so they're doing much better today. Aidan came down with it while we were camping this weekend for Dan's family reunion (which I still need to blog, but haven't because of the sickies), then Mason and Ethan came down with it the day after we came back. It's been an exhausting week!!!

Happy now Val? What are you the blog police????

Family Home Evening

Brandee, Val and I 

(I just got out of the shower, our water was off all day while the water softener was being installed, that's why I look so lovely)

Jeremy, Dan (isn't he so cute?) and Ryan

Val with Brandee's baby boy, Stetler

Ok, so this was the funniest home evening ever. Dan and I are really good friends with two families from our previous ward, the Lloyds (Brandee and Jeremy) and the Davies (Ryan and Val). Well, try as we might, we never seem to be able to get together with both of them at the same time (which we love to do cuz it makes game nights so much fun). So, I invited Brandee and Jeremy to come over for FHE this week  a day or two before it and I wanted to call the Davies too, but I knew there was no way that they would be free at the last minute (they have 4 kids that are all involved in a million things). So, instead of doing the smart thing and inviting them anyway, I decided to save myself a phone call and sad rejection and assume that they wouldn't be able to come (that was my mistake!!!). Monday afternoon, I called Brandee to settle our plans for the night and she told me that she just talked to Val and that now she felt really stupid that we didn't invite them. I got excited and said "Could they come???" and she said, "Yes, but I didn't want to invite them to your house for you. Do you have enough food?". I laughed and told her I had enough to feed an army. WARNING: the conversation that follows will sound extremely rude, but I promise you, it is all said in fun. Val, Brandee and I find great joy in being rude and trying to make each other cry. I immediately called Val and before I can even say "Hi" she says "Is this a sympathy call?" and instead of telling her I felt bad, I decided to tell her, "It's all your own fault! If you guys weren't so busy all the time, I might actually make the effort once in a while." I then proceeded to tell her that if they would come, they would make my whole night. So, thankfully, they came over and we had a great night. I made cafe rio salad (thanks to Melissa Morehouse for the dressing recipe) and then we played some fun games. We played Druthers and Celestial Companions. Ryan and Val always win Celestial Companions, but this time, Brandee and Jeremy came very close to winning, they had to have a tie breaker at the end. (Hey Val, do you need a mint?) Dan and I always come in last when we play (we aren't very in sync when it comes to games). When they all left for the night I was saying goodbye from my porch and I yelled out "Maybe you could invite yourselves over for dinner again sometime!!". I think maybe I did make her cry, or at least I can hope!!!!

Swimming

This was our first swim in my Mom and Dad's pool this year. We have been wanting to go for a few weeks now, but it's never worked out. We've been swimming quite a few times in Dan's parents pool, but it's indoors, so it's not quite the same. We had so much fun, and thankfully, the kids were exhausted when we finished!!!

Aren't these two so handsome?

Here is my cute Mom and Dad. They're the best!

Now this, is the cutest thing I have ever seen! He makes me weak in the knees!!!

Mothers and Daughters 2008

Dan's family has some really fun traditions. One of my very favorites is the Mothers and Daughters. Every year (usually around the 24th of July, but this year was the 4th) the guys all go away camping for Fathers and Sons and the girls all stay and have Mothers and Daughters. So, Dan took Mason and Ethan with him and Aidan and I stayed home.

Day #1 

We all met at Target at 5:30 for our gift exchange. Mom gives us all 5 dollars and we all draw names and try to find the coolest gift for that amount. Then, we went to Teppanyaki's for dinner, which was delicious, of course. 

Day #2

We met at Olive Garden at 5:30 and had an awesome dinner, then went to the Hale Center Theater and saw Little Women. It was so fun, and totally fitting the occasion.

Day #3

This was our free day. We played card games, we had relay races, water balloon fights and lots of fun food and treats. Then, when it got dark, we played with sparklers. 

This is truly one of my very favorite times of year. I've had so much fun this year, and now I just can't wait till Dan gets home with my little boys. I hope they had as much fun as I did.