~19 on the 19th~

James had his 19th birthday on the 19th of June!!  He is such a remarkable young man and we are so proud of him.  He is working so hard @ Zion's bank to save up $$$ for his mission that he will be serving very soon!

As I was looking through some pictures, I felt a little sad, that he is growing sooooo  fast, but I am also happy at the same time for the amazing person he is growing up to be!  His birthday fell on Father's day this year, so he shared his birthday with his dad!  They both wanted Banana Cream pie, so that is what they got!

Happy Birthday Jamers!!!  We love you!!

 

BEFORE!!

 I loved these candles, however they melted before James was able to blow them out!!

James loves beef Jerky....he also got an Oil vile and some ties for his mission.

AFTER!!!
Thanks for 19 fun filled years :)

"He is 17 going on........ 18."

Jacob had his 17th Birthday,  he had a fun day of school ;) and then went with James later that night to a Bees game.  We actually celebrated on Sunday with the family.  His special dinner consisted of.......

 *Dutch oven Pork ribs

and Potatoes with onions and bacon  and of course veggies.

We played a good game of 5 crowns

 Jacob loves "Chocolate cake"

I even used my cute birthday decorations.

"17"

James, Ashlee and Jake!

"Fancy Dancer"

Ashlee had her end of the year recital on Saturday night.  She has worked SO hard and has waited So long for it.  She was absolutely amazing (no Bias here) ;).  We spent ALL morning at her dress rehearsal, which is always the not so fun part....it takes so long....But we managed  to get through it. 

She was in 2 dances, Jazz and Ballet.. and she nailed them both.  I couldn't have been happier than to see my (not so) little girl do such a great job after working so hard.

Love you ASH!!!!

The Fray & U2

~May 24, 2011~

Last night  Don,James,Jake and I went to the U2 concert.  WOW!!  We were so close to Bono at times we could have touched him.  I think I enjoyed it more than anyone.  It was such a GREAT show.

I got tickets last year and wasn't able to use them because they cancelled it due to Bono's back injury/surgery.  We actually got a refund for them, and then when we were sure they were going to reschedule, we bought more.  It was a "beautiful day" and night.  There was no rain whatsoever, and we could even see the stars....ha ha!  Anyway, it was an AMAZING show, so glad that we went! . 

"The Fray"

another one of my favorite bands!

**I loved the claw and the effects were amazing**

Love the mountains behind them.....

I love this picture, there was just so much smoke that it looks foggy.

this was during the song "City of blinding lights" very cool.  

********

Today my ears are still ringing and I am so tired because we didn't get home until after 1 a.m.!!!  BUT it was so worth it! 

****

~~~ G.N.O (Girls Night Out) ~~~

Erin and Jordyn have been very good friends of ours since.the girls were 3 years old.  We try to have a girls night whenever we can, but it's been a while, because Erin was in Nursing school.  Well now that she has graduated we found time to do another.

We went to see the movie "Soul Surfer".  The movie about Bethany Hamilton who was attacked by a shark and lost her arm.

Can I just say this was one of the best movies that I have seen.  Very motivating and inspirational.  It did have a few bloody scenes and Ashlee was a little queezy  during those, but you couldn't help but feel good when you left the movie!

After the movie we went to "OUR" favorite restaurant, the Bonsai.  I say favorite because whenever we have a girl's night with the Updyke's we go there.  I guess you could say it's tradition!

We love watching them cook our dinner in front of us....It never gets old!

~Ashlee & Jordyn~

I'm just glad that they found a use for their chopsticks!!!

The Easter Bunny strikes again~~~

We had a wonderful Easter this year.  I love this time of year....We had a chance to reflect on the real reason for Easter, and it makes us so grateful for all that we have.  My kids also got Easter baskets, it doesn't matter how old they get, they LOVE to get them....We had fun spending time as a family, decorating an Easter cake, it turned out cute but not quite how I wanted.

This is the one we made*****

This was what I WANTED it to look like!!  I guess I'll be working on it so it turns out better next year
(fingers crossed)

 

Coloring Easter eggs.  I promise they were having a good time.

In their Easter clothes.  Ashlee bought her own dress.  I can't believe how grown up my kids are.  It is a little bitter sweet for me. Sometimes I wish I could just freeze time.  Before I know it they will be all grown up.

AND here is our Easter dinner.  I was going to be brave and make some Lion House rolls, but when it came right down to it I decided it would be too much work with everything else I had to do..so I decided to drive tho the Lion House Pantry and buy some frozen rolls that I just had to thaw and bake. (now that's more my style.)...They really were just as good, just not as much trouble!  

We hope you had a happy Easter:)

Grandma Smith's Easter Egg Hunt 2011

Every year Grandma has an Easter egg hunt for all of the grandkids and the great grandkids.  She outdoes herself always.  This year was a weird year for me because it was the first time that not one of my kids participated.  **Very sad for me.  The kids had lunch, colored eggs and frosted and decorated cookies.  They looked for eggs, and got their very own Easter baskets with candy and toys. 

~And what is an Easter party without bunny ears~

Look at all those happy faces.  Grandma made some darling chick cupcakes.  

There was even a jar of jelly beans. Whoever guessed the right amount won $5. 

The Lucky winner was Vanessa...she guessed 74 which was the exact amount.

Congrats Vanessa.

~Kind words~

As a mother I always see the good in my children, but it's always nice when others see it too. 
Hardly a Sunday goes by when someone doesn't approach us and tell us how wonderful James is .Today  I also got this sweet note in the mail from a friend of mine in our ward.  It just made my day.  James is such an amazing young man and we are so proud of him and all of our children~

*Thanks Lisa for the kind words....they mean a lot!

What's for dinner. . . . . .

Spaghetti and Meatballs?!?

Nope,

If you take a closer look, you'll see that that these are cupcakes.  I made them for an April fools joke. . .

I thought the kids would love them, however they didn't....it surprised me because they were actually really good!

She finally did it. . . . . . . . .

ASHLEE got BRACES!

We have known since Ashlee's permanent teeth came in that she would absolutely need to see an Orthodontist.  She has a small mouth and big or lots of teeth, either way, her mouth was really crowded.  I really didn't know how bad her teeth were though, until I saw a picture.  She was so patient and sat like such a champ.  We are so excited to get this taken care of. 

 sidenote: She even looks cute with braces :)

True friends .......

are like JEWELS. . .

I love my friends.  Some friends are just special.  Holli is a friend that I have had since I was in grade school, she remained my friend all through Jr high and High school.  She was in my ward as a child. I loved her, but after high school we went our own ways and lost touch, with the exception of seeing her around town, we didn't have a lot of contact.

About two years ago we "reconnected" and I am so glad that we did.  She is absolutely amazing.  We sort of just picked up where we left off.  Around Valentine's day I posted a picture on Facebook of a Bracelet that I really wanted, but that I knew I'd never get. 

On Saturday, Holli and a few other really good friends from the old ward got together for Breakfast.  Holli was late.  She said she forgot something and had to go back home for it.  As we were sitting there talking she pulled something out of her pocket and handed it to me..

It was the BRACELET that I had posted a picture of.  

My sweet friend had created and made the perfect bracelet for me.  I can't tell you how much that meant to me.  I absolutely LOVE my bracelet, but more importantly I love my friend :).  

She is simply amazing, and I want her to know that!  

Thanks Holli, you're the best friend a girl could ask for :)

A very L~U~C~K~Y DAY

We love to celebrate holidays @ our house.  Any reason for a party (or at least cupcakes)...right? Actually we celebrate St Patrick's day for Casey.....who is 100% IRISH!!! 

Notice the sign above him it says "KISS me I'm IRISH"

 We had Fettucini Alfredo,  not very Irish, but so yummy, a salad, french bread with green sesame seeds :)

I cut up green peepers and noticed they looked like 'shamrocks' , I thought it was a cute little touch. and of course, CUPCAKES....a desert for every occasion!!!

Our Irish puppy is wondering where his special dinner is. . . .oops!!

*** for anyone wondering~ we found gold at the end of our rainbow :)

Sleep Deprived?

This is a story to which every mother can relate…”An older, tired-looking dog wandered into my yard. I could tell from her collar and well-fed belly that she had a home and was well taken care of. She calmly came over to me, I gave her a few pats on the head; she then followed me into my house, slowly walked down the hall, curled up in a corner and fell asleep.
An hour later, she went to the door and I let her out.
The next day she was back, greeted me in my yard, walked inside and resumed her spot in the hall and again slept for about an hour. This continued off and on for several weeks.
Curious, I pinned a note to her collar: ‘I would like to find out who the owner of this wonderful, sweet dog is and ask if you are aware that almost every afternoon your dog comes to my house for a nap.’
The next day she arrived for her nap, with a different note pinned to her collar: ‘She lives in a home with 6 children, 2 under the age of 3.  She’s trying to catch up on sleep. Can I come tomorrow?’ ”

Such a funny story.....I know there were?are  days that I sure felt/feel  like that!! 

~~SNOW DAY in MARCH?!?!?~~~

The weather has been so beautiful for the last couple of weeks, I was starting to get my hopes up that the snow was gone and that Spring time was really coming!  WELL, last night we were pounded with a snow storm that threw us for a loop!!  We woke up to

THIS!!!!  

When we opened the Garage door to take Jake to Early Morning Seminary, this is what we saw!

YIKES!!!

This was the view from the other direction. The snow was so wet and heavy that the branches couldn't handle the weight of it.  Multiple trees of ours and our neighbors were split in half  blocking the driveway completely..

 The only way for us to remove the  branches  off of the driveway was for Don to use a chainsaw and saw the branches to make them small enough to lift....THEY WERE HUGE!!!!! When he went to turn on the saw, he noticed that it was not working at all.( of course, Murphy's law). So we waited for time to pass so we could call someone to take him to the hardware store to buy a  new one.... It was only 6:00 a.m.  He finally got to Home Depot and started the cleanup!! After a lot of work from Don, James and Jake amd a new chainsaw

 the branches were gone, but there was a power line down at the end of the driveway.  So we declared it a "SNOW DAY" .But  around 11:00 the power line was fixed,  the kids were off to school and Don was off to work!! 

We still have a ton of work cleaning up all of the smaller branches.  Springtime cleanup should be LOADS of fun!!

Welcome March:)

Well it looks like March is coming in like a lamb.  It has been such a beautiful day.  Sun is shinin' and I think I even heard some birds singing.....Could it be that the "groundhog" was right and that Spring is right around the corner?  I really hope so because I have a bad case of "the fever".....Spring fever, that is:)!!!