Cousins Came to Stay!

I had my sisters kids for 4 days and they had a blast playing in the snow and then we went down to Willard Bay to see the lights and Santa and his raindeers were there. They had fun building forts with every blanket in the house and playing. They get along so well it's nice.

Festival of the Trees

This year I got the opportunity to be on the committee for the Festival of the Tress. It was such a great experience. There was lots of late nights and a lot of driving an 1 1/2 hour drive each way but I loved it. I was in the gingerbread department. I can't believe how many talented people there are. This castle was 5 ft tall made all out of gingerbread auctioned for $2000, the house is a twilight house with Edward in the tree went for $500, and the handblown glass tree went for $26,000. There were so many awesome items with touching stories that broke your heart. I can't wait to do it again next year.

Teenage Parties!!!

I can not believe I now have a 15 year old. He is driving with a permit and thinking that he has to hang out on the WHOLE WEEKEND!!! He doesn't think me and his dad need to have date night any more because he needs to go to parties or have parties all the time. I don't know what I will do when he actually starts dating.

New Business!

I have been slacking in my blogging but there is a good reason, I am in the process of buying a new business and have been spending alot of time with that. It is a Internet MODEST Clothing line called Great Lengths Clothing. There is a link on the right so check it out. I just flew down to LA to meet with a clothing manufacturer and bought the new line of Prom dresses. I also decided to bring in day dresses and skirts for women and pre-teen.
I would love your feedback on the site and any ideas you may have would be greatly appreciated. I am so excited about this I hope it goes well.

I Cut My Hair!!

I finally did it, I cut my HAIR!!! I cut 11 inches off and donated it to Locks of Love. I have always wanted to and my hair got long enough to do it and so I did it. I was afraid that it would be to short after but its not and I love it. I feel 5 pounds lighter. I miss quick ponytails but I feel younger with this new do.

A Great Movie with a GREAT Moral to it!

We just took our kids to a refreshing movie. My friend suggested it because she had seen it and really enjoyed it. So for family night we invited my dad and sue to join us for this movie.
The movie is "Forever Strong" it is about a boy who gets in trouble for drinking and is sent to a juvenile detention center here in Utah, he is a rugby player and now is in his rivals territory playing with them. Watching the changes he goes through and seeing how it is done is so inspiring to want to be better examples to your own kids. It speaks of triumph of the human spirit over human weakness. The part the coach plays is so incredible, if I could parent as well as he coaches I would be awesome.
The best part is there is no language or sex scenes. You walk away feeling so uplifted. My dad loved it so much he sent his college class to see it as homework.
All my kids loved it from Payton who is 7 up to Thatcher who is almost 15. Make sure you stay through the credits it shows pictures of the real Highland team and it is amazing what this coach has done in his career.

Lake Powell without KIDS!!!

Mike & I just got back from Lake Powell. We went with 4 other couples for a week. Talk about pure HEAVEN!
I have never been without kids and it was nice not to be worring about when the kids were at all times, if they had on enough sunscreen and who had on their life jackets.
I even learned how to wake board. That is so fun, it's not to hard to get up, but the staying up and the VERY PAINFUL CRASHES were not so fun. I am no longer young and I felt the abuse the next morning. But it was worth it.
I felt bad Mike had to go with his foot in a cast but that didn't stop him from having fun and totally relaxing. Which is what both of us needed. After spending the summer selling and moving houses it was a great break for us. I am so greatfull we had the chance to go. Not to mention the weather was incredible, high 90's in the day and cooling down to the high 50's at night. My only complaint is that it went way to fast.




I

Getting Gas is now a DANGEROUS thing!

Who would have thought that just getting out of your truck to get gas would be dangerous, only if your my husband!!


He stepped out to get gas and rolled his foot. He walked around on it for a week as is kept swelling and turning black and blue. His only response was its just sore and spranged, if its not better in a week I'll have a doctor look at it.


So when I got the phone call telling me that the long bone on the outside of his foot was broken clean through, I laughed, talk about a sympathetic wife, I laughed because he was so sure it was not anything to worry about.

We leave for Lake Powell in a week and he is in a cast for 6 weeks. Life is just full of surprises.

Football is on again!

Football season is back and I have both boys playing. Saturday was Peach Days up here but we didn't even get to enjoy it because we had Mike's class reunion (30th) parade, then Payton had his game in Layton, while Mike and Payton went to that Rylee and I went to Karlee's baptism, then we had to hussle back to Brigham to make it to Thatchers game. After all that we ran up to get a funnel cake before the shops closed up for the year. That was at 10:30 p.m. What is peach days without wonderful funnel cakes.

Both of the boys won their game and they both played really good. Poor Thatcher is so little next to all of his team mates, but when he got in there it took 2 very big guys to block him from moving forward, I was a very proud mom!!! He may be small but he is tough as nails.

Payton on the other hand is a natural football player, he is very fast and agressive, plus he still listens to what you tell him. He is a running back and wants to be quarterback also. Between football and wrestling I am not very good at coaching, why my kids wont play a sport I know anything about is beyond me. Oh well I am learning and it is great to watch them.

We Are Moved In!!!!!

Sorry it took so long to update my blog, life after moving is pure cyos. I am 95% unpacked and organized I only have the basement with misc. stuff that I haven't figured out what to do about still in boxes. I am tired of breaking down boxes and going to the recycle bins but hopefully someone else can bennefit from them.

I LOVE my new house, it has lots of storage and extra room so I can breath normal again. I spent the first 2 weeks unpacking, cleaning and figuring out what should go where. All the stress and exhaustion was worth is though. The kids love their new rooms and even though I still have to repaint all the bedrooms we are very happy.

There is still alot I need to update and change in the house like CARPET on LINOLIUM, who ever invented that stuff should be required to stripe it. It took me 26 hours of steaming and scrubbing to get it to look as good as I could get it. Thanks to my mom for coming and helping me SO VERY MUCH!

I HATE MOVING!!!!!

What was I thinking!!! I have spent the last 2 months of summer vaction either cleaning to show the house or now packing.

Plus there is football for both boys, piano, swimming, school shopping, mutal for 2 kids, pigs for the fair, cleaning the property for the next group to come in and anything else that pops up.

After living in a house for 13 plus years I have a lot of CRAP!

I thought I dejunked quiet often but I was wrong. This is a record for anyone in my family, we have never stayed in one house longer than 4-5 years at a time. So this move will be the last I make. My kids have never moved and they just don't understand what it takes to get it done. Every day from morning to night I am packing. But after tomarrow, it will be done. Then the fun of unpacking and organizing just begins. Thank heaven the kids will be in school and I will have all day to do it. It will all be worth it in the end.

We Sold Our House!!!

I can't believe it finally sold! I was just about to move my kids out so the house would stay clean. What a hassel!! But it sold and I am so thrilled. The crazy thing is how it sold. We ended up buying Cahoons house, Cahoons are buying Nelsons and Nelsons are buying OURS!! is that crazy or what? Moving day is next Friday and I don't even know how it is going to work. The Elders Quarm from both wards are on standby and ready to just keep moving until all is done. I hope it goes smoothly.

I have mixed feelings about moving. I love my house I live in now, but we need more room, I am the only one in my family that has lived in a house longer than a few years. Its been 13 1/2 years I have been in this house. My kids have never moved before and they don't quite know what to think about it. I moved so many times before I was married I swore I wouldn't do that to my kids. So this is it the last move for us.

The new house is gorgeous, big and plenty of room. It needs a little updating but I love doing that so not a problem there. Were moving to a quieter neighborhood as far as traffic goes, but I am going to miss my neighbors here greatly if only they would all move with me. I have great neighbors and very dear friends I will be sad to move away from. Hopefully I will make great neighbors in the new area. One neighbor will be my best friend Lori, their backyard and mine are connected.

I have been packing for the last week and my house is pure chaos. It went from spotless to tornado overnight. Oh well what can you do?

West Family Reunion

The west clan got together for only the 2nd family reunion. We were up at our property in Paradise, it was great fun. We rode on the 4-wheelers, side by side, played in the river, shot clay pigeons, Grandpa West who is almost 94!! even took a turn and hit his target. Way to go Gramps!!! Jim West side of the family kicked butt against the Bob West side, we may not be able to win in kick ball but give us a gun and we have you beat.

The food was great, the entertainment was very entertaining, Leslie did a great job of keeping everyone busy with games and activities. We even had Rumikub tournaments each night.

I was so glad to see my cousins, whom we rarely see. It was a great time. Thanks to all who helped out with everything. What memories we now have.
The kids had a blast playing in the river and catching minnows and water snakes.

Family Get Together

The Smoot clan all gathered up at our property in Paradise for a family dinner and games, it was great to see the cousins who were from out of town come up and get to spend some quality time with them, thanks to grandma and the sisters who planned and prepared everything. It was great!!!

Kam showed everyone the plans for the cornmaze and haunted river walk that is going to take place this fall. The pattern for the cornmaze is a Aggie bull and Utah State it looks great. You can see it now when your up on the hill. Way to go Kam!

4th of July

For the 4th we went up to Mantua and took a big group of friends. The kids had a blast and we adults got to relax a little. Mike spent the whole day in the boat pulling kids and I stayed on the beach feeding the rest of the gang. Later that night Mike's family came over for rootbeer floats and fireworks. All the cousins were visiting so it was great to see them all again. The girls were showing the boys they could tube better than they could.

The weather was great, overcast but not to hot. We all had a great time. Thanks to everyone who came up. Lets do it again next year.

Lake Powell

Lake Powell was great, the weather and the company. We had such a great time having Becky, Mark and Brianna there. Hope they did to. We went to Rainbow bridge, hole in the rock, dangling rope. Mark had never been so we had to show him all we could.

School is out and so am I!!!

The day school got out we headed out of town, down to Lake Powell where we enjoy a week of sun and water. But on the trip down we stopped in Nephi to fuel up and Mike's truck just shut off at the stop sign. No warning or anything. So Matt's burb pulled us to the Ford dealership to get it fixed. Of course it was Saturday so no one was working. We called Kathy and Kam and they came to the rescue with bringing us down Matt's truck. 3 hours later we were on the road again. Lake Powell here we come. 12 hours after we started we arrived. Long day.

Good Things Utah

Sorry I am a slacker, with school almost out life has been crazy. I went to a couple of fun places lately. First off my friends and I took my good friend Misty down to the show "Good Things Utah" for a surprise birthday. It was a blast, we got to meet the ladies, received lots of freebies, took great pictures and had a blast. Then went over to the gateway for shopping.

What a way to spend the day and she was totaly suprised. Our next journey is to spend the day at IKEA can't wait.

Piano Recital

Payton played "To Catch a Falling Star"

Rylee played "The Sun Will Come Out Tomarrow"

Thatcher played "If I Were a Rich Man"

I am so proud of them all. Thatcher and Rylee have been taking for 3 years, but Payton just started 4 lessons ago and he had his piece memorized and did such a great job.

One Sock Joe!

Payton has earned this name, anytime he comes home, either from school or church or even playing, off go the shoes and somehow only ONE sock. It never fails to make me laugh.

Family Fun!

Wrestling is Over!!

I am so thrilled we have a break with wrestling. It doesn't start up again until June. Now we just have soccer, football and baseball will be starting soon. Dance performances are almost over, only one more compitition and then the recital.

These are two of Paytons dance partners, the one on the left is his cousin and the other one is a 4th grader (he is ony 1st) he also has two more partners. What a Man!

We had such a blast this last weekend, me and three friends went to Las Vegas to the Bon jovi and Chris Daughtry concert at the MGM. It was awesome, we shopped and walked and walked all day until the concert. I haven't had so much fun in a long time. I have waited years to be able to go and see Bon Jovi so when I heard he was coming with Chris I called my friends and told them I was going who wanted to come?

Bon Jovi & Chris Daughtry

Soccer, Soccer and more Soccer!