Heath, Tara, Myra, Elsie, Lilly, Kian & Caitlin Smith

Why do I do this?

2010-01-31T22:15:00.002-09:00

This was my fourth running and by far my worst run. This was the first time that Heath didn't come up with me so I rode up with Marty and Fran early on race day. Its nice to have a driver for the ride home. It was about 75 degrees and so many people had a rough day on the mountain. Runners were passing out on the trail, some even collapsed just close to finishing. Just crazy.

I got my first huge blister on the side of my heel. I had to wear my sandals for about a week for that to heal. I remember the feeling after I finished and I was walking back up the side of the road feeling completly beat and thinking I should'nt do this again. Then total strangers will just say congratulations and way to go, then I remember that I just did that crazy mountain and I feel very accomplished and proud of myself:) So heres to another year.

summer fun

2010-01-31T22:00:00.002-09:00

We live here just for our incredible summers.
This year Kian went on his first salmon dip netting trip on the Kenai river with Heath. He also played a little soccer. Elsie and Lilly both tried out softball. They both did really well and enjoyed playing. Though not an mvp player by any means I thoroughly enjoy playing on my coed softball team with Heath. Cant wait til summer againg.

I know, I know!

2010-01-31T21:45:00.003-09:00

It's been a little too long! and i am so behind. I did a few pics awhile ago and im just getting to them.

One of my favorite things to see in spring are the new moose calfs. Always a treat even after all these years. I also got lucky and found this family of swans here on beluga lake which was a first. Did you know swans mate for life? Sandhill cranes are pretty common around our house in the summer as well as colorful pheasants. Then ofcourse the occassional pesky black bear trying to get to our garbarge. Not so welcome.

2009-10-04T22:16:00.000-08:00

I love Alaska

2009-10-04T22:05:00.000-08:00

This is one of my favorite classic Alaska sightings.
We have had a very busy summer and I would like to catch up on some of our activities.

Who said I don't have a green thumb. Oh that was me!

2009-07-05T22:50:00.003-08:00

These are my tulips that I just love. They come up early spring and sadly do not last very long.

The Biggest Fat Lip Award goes to Caitlin!

2009-07-05T22:39:00.002-08:00

Kian ran Caitlin over with a scooter up at the track where we play softball.

Serious track rash! She's one tough cookie.

She has recoverd quite nicely.

What are you doing?

2009-04-21T19:50:00.002-08:00

It is rarely very quiet in my house, so when this happens I usually know someone is up to no good.
I start the search for a possible world war III ready for anything. I soon find Kian and
Caitlin in Myra & Elsie's room. They are on hands and knee tucked into a corner of the room which house's Myra's pet hamster Tootsie Roll. Her cage sits up high on a desk.
I say what are you doing?
Caitlin responds with the following answer... I'm trying to get tootsie roll out of the corner but she doesn't understand what I am saying!

So one of them got her out of her cage and put her on the floor where she scampered into a corner just out of there reach between the wall and desk.
Tootsie Roll appears to be fine,
Gotta love these moments!

Cheese

2009-02-27T22:56:00.000-09:00

STUPID HURTS

2009-02-27T22:42:00.001-09:00

OOps! I guess that if you rear end someone its always your fault.
On my way through town on none other than Friday the 13th, I had a little incident. The truck in front of me came to a quick stop after he realized that the car in front of him had actually stopped for a pedestrian instead of slowing to turn. Well I was the one sliding into the back end of the truck. As you can see the front bumper had to be removed because it had been pushed up into the wheelwell.
The story goes on, 3 days prior I was pulled over and warned for going a little to fast. So needless to say Heath was not too pleased to come to my rescue.
However after returning from my ordeal is when I found that Valentines Day had actually arrived a day early at my house.
Never a dull moment!

Love, Loving, Loved, Lovely!

2009-02-27T22:23:00.001-09:00

Who doesnt love flowers? A Valentines Day favorite.
Its quite a sight to come home to beautiful flowers, chocolate and five baby chocolate hearts each with a sweet note for the kids. Kuddos to the man of the house.
I told Heath that I have fallen in love many times....
always with him.

For spacious Sky's

2009-02-26T19:12:00.000-09:00

3rd stop-St. George Utah

2009-02-15T02:17:00.001-09:00

Once again it felt like I was flying home. Yes I love those red rocks of St. George. I was flying in during sunset and it was beautiful. I welcomed the warmer weather and sunshine! Oh and the dry roads. The time always goes by so fast. We took one day and drove to Brian Head ski resort so Ivy and I could take a snowboard lesson. The day could not have been better. We headed out all geared up to quickly shedding layers. It was so warm and beautiful out. My mom hung out on the deck for hours soaking up the sun and people watching. My brief snowboarding experience quickly kicked in we had a blast.
I only hope I don't wait so long to go again.
My mom is awesome! See you this Summer!

More visits

2009-02-15T01:56:00.000-09:00

This is Nichole and Noy. Nichole has been one of my longest friends from grade school. We had lunch and visited for a few hours catching up on our busy lives. Maybe the next time we meet it will be in Alaska!
I met Noy in St. George during my senior year and it had been almost 12 years since I had seen her. Good to know not too much has changed. It was easy to pick up where we left off and have fun.
It was great to see the both of you.

2nd Stop-SLC

2009-02-15T01:46:00.001-09:00

On to Salt Lake City. My dad picked me up in the middle of a snow storm, Im sorry to say it had been too long since I had visited in Morgan. But it still feels like home and I love the small country town feel of Morgan. I admit I think its kinda cute to see a newly built house with a tractor in the driveway. My uncle Mar and Dee were also visiting from Alaska. again sad to say I had to go all the way to Utah to visit even though we live in the same state. Anyway more good food and shopping. Sandy is a great cook but we wouldn't let her cook cause we were on vacation! Hope to see you guys sooner than later.

1st Stop-Seattle

2009-02-15T01:33:00.000-09:00

Seattle was the first stop of my recent vacation. And the beginning of a very indulgent feeding frenzy! This is the sort of thing that happens when you live in Alaska and all your favorite food places are in the lower 48.
It was great to visit with an old school friend Audra. We had fun reminiscing about the good ol' times when life was more care free and simple. However I left with unfinished business. So I will be returning for some lumpia!

Weird?

2009-01-16T19:39:00.002-09:00

Today had a weird turn of events. First i wake up and realize the furnace has shut down. lucky for us it is now in the 40's and not -5 like last week. Second the school nurse calls me to inform me that Lilly is not feeling well and has a fever. I did get lucky and score a doc appt right after i picked her up. She has been sick alot this year. Since the furnace was out that means we have no hot water, off to grandma's I go to shower. As if that was not bad enough. I came home to about 2 inches of hot steamy water in our garage! not the typical organized garage with every thing on nice shelving racks mind you. we just open the door and literally throw stuff in there. Been meaning to work on that. Not exactly what I had on my to-do list today.

2009-01-11T00:07:00.000-09:00

Caitlin's B-Day

2009-01-10T23:58:00.000-09:00

Caitlin's big day! She has a little friend in our church who shares the same birthday. So we went to Lillie Mae's for her first party. The next night we had a pink polka dot cake and ice cream at our house. My mother is in town and caitlin has been calling her her pink grandma or purple or brown grandma depending on what she is wearing that day. Too cute.
My baby is now three, what am I to do?

Christmas 2008

2009-01-07T16:50:00.000-09:00

We had another fast and furious Christmas.
Christmas morning we enjoy the new tradition of Heath's dad coming over and fixing his famously loved waffles. yum!
Later that evening we had a small get together for dinner at heath's sisters Hollyn's house. yum! yum!
Christmas is a fun time of year and we are thankful for the past year of health and many blessings!
Best wishes for 2009!

This is only a TEST!

2008-12-18T13:26:00.000-09:00

This is what happens when your 4 year old gets under the sink and sprays your fire extingusher!
Just moments before I was serving dinner, so we had to start all over because there was a fine chemical dust over everything!

Can you hear me now?

2008-12-12T10:17:00.002-09:00

Sorry no picture for this post. I tried to make a recording but my camera wasn't able to pick up the sound very well.
Myra owned a pet frog for awhile until Heavenly Father thought he might be happier on the other side. Well then we still had a few extra crickets left (frog food). Somehow two escaped. One made it to the garage, so every time i open the garage door i am serenaded with a cricket. The other found its way under our refrigerator, he is one lucky cricket, he found himself a little cricket heaven. How often do you clean out under your fridge? I never heard these crickets make noise in Myra's room. Now they are almost non-stop. I actually really enjoyed this for the first few days as it reminded me of many summer nights in Utah as a child. Ask me in another week how I'm feeling about our little house guests.

Best Ever!

2008-12-12T10:15:00.000-09:00

This is the making of some very indulgent Peanut Butter fudge.
A family recipe from aunt Betty Randolph. Now a family tradition that gets made around the holidays in the number of batches I would be embarrassed to share.

Full MOON

2008-12-12T09:43:00.000-09:00

Some say weird things happen around a full moon. If you could have been a fly on my wall yesturday, you might be a believer.
These long dark winters are getting to me. We will soon start gaining more light again on December 21st. YEah!

Holidy Happenings!

2008-12-10T19:00:00.000-09:00

This picture makes me happy!

Our home teachers gave this beautiful wreath to us for christmas, it was sent to them but they were going to be traveling for the holidays. It is real and smells so great. We have never had the pleasure of a real wreath adorning our entry. Thank you.

So, from our house to yours,
We wish you warm holiday cheer!

Election Day!

2008-11-04T10:56:00.000-09:00

goolish savories

2008-11-02T18:33:00.000-09:00

I did'nt plan that my pizza loafs would turn out to look like bones but here they are. This is a yummy recipie that I like to make, I slice it up and then we dip it into warmed up pizza sauce or "blood" on the night before Halloween.
The pumpkin cupcakes were a creation of Myra and her friend Kyla for her class party.

2008 Halloween

2008-11-02T18:25:00.000-09:00

A whirlwind of a week! We had a witch that didn't like her hat, Ironman that only wore his mask at home, a beautiful queen whose costume was a bit oversized, Elsie had the easiest Karate costume and a very large awkword soda machine to haul around. I agree with my fellow blogger friend that indeed Halloween is a wierd holiday. My reward for all the trouble is ofcourse the oppurtunity to raid the candy loot when all is quiet and dark. As with most traditions we are happy to move on to the next and will again look forward to Halloween next year!

Fireweed

2008-10-30T08:31:00.000-08:00

Heaths pics

Dew Drop

2008-10-30T08:11:00.000-08:00

One of Heath's shots this fall, He says its not in focus but I like it anyway.

Whats halloween without a Pumpkin!

2008-10-28T21:45:00.000-08:00

How do five kids share the carving of 1 pumpkin? Everybody drew a pumpkin face on a piece of paper and then we used one part from everybody's face. Lilly's eye, myra's eye, kian's nose and elsie's mouth, and as for caitlin, she had fun squishing her hands through the inside. Tomorrow we will enjoy the much coveted seeds and then the much anticipated Halloween party on friday!

Little boy thoughts!

2008-10-21T18:30:00.002-08:00

We were driving along past this very small private cemetery by our house, it is gated in a nice black wrought iron fence.
This is Kian's comment, " Mom, I realy want to be dead in that thing!"
I wasn't sure if I should be laughing hysterically or crying, I just knew for sure I had to write it down for blogging!

Is this normal?

2008-10-06T21:25:00.000-08:00

This is what my house looks like about 90% of the time.

Lilly turned 7

2008-10-02T19:51:00.000-08:00

Our last birthday party of 08'. Lilly was so excited about her Enchanted Princess Party.
Lilly turned the big 0-7!! She had a great party, it was a cold but clear day and the kids spent
a good amount of time playing outside on the playset and big sister Elsie and cousin Lauren
arranged a few games to play. She recieved a digital camera from her parents and thoroughly
enjoyed taking pics of her own party.
A budding photography in training!
Lilly is a sweetheart to have around.
She enjoys playing games with her little
siblings. We all love her great sense of
humor and look forward to the young woman
she will grow up to be, although we can wait.
Love you Lilly!

Family Trip

2008-09-18T19:24:00.000-08:00

This was our family trip to the Alaska State Fair in Palmer.
We had promised at least one campout before the summer ended.
You may not have known that they actually make tents big enough for a family of seven. Yes, its true. We slept in a tent for two nights and had the only hot and sunny day of the two week fair. After spending a small fortune, all and all we had lots of fun. Maybe in another 5 years will go again!

The Big Catch!

2008-09-18T19:15:00.000-08:00

I wanted to take the kids out fishing all summer and this was the big day. We were there for almost 3 hours.
The kids were surpirsingly patient. The only catch of the day was a nice plump sea star! The silvers were in and enjoyed taunting our attempts at bringing one in. I hope to make it out more next summer. Better luck next time!

Elsie's 9th Birthday

2008-08-24T23:28:00.000-08:00

Elsie was pretty excited about her Panda bear theme this year.
We love having six of our seven birthdays in the summer months however no slip and slide parties this year. Too wet and cold. Buts still lots of ice cream and cake.
Elsie is growing up way too fast. She loves writing stories, songs and drawing cartoon like illustrations. She is very concerned about the welfare of the world and those living in it. She has just recently started her own campaign to save the Polar Bears. She has great plans and dreams to fulfill. Good luck and we love you Elsie!

Just a boy with a toy

2008-08-17T23:09:00.000-08:00

Kian's 4th Birtday

2008-08-17T22:57:00.000-08:00

Please notice the attempt at the spidy cake,
the frosting turned out pink but Kian reassured
me that he liked pink so all was well. Kian had
a great birthday, we enjoy having him around to
mix things up a bit. I always get cracked up about
the things he does and says, falling down simply turns into
some cool move and he sayes "awesome" or "I did't
see that coming"! He loves hanging with dad any chance
he can get, and I love to see the two of them together!
Kian is our awesome superhero! He gets big thrills when
I have him do a task and say he's saved the day!

Caitlin's Turn

2008-08-13T00:36:00.000-08:00

Do you see an Olympic swimmer in there?

See, I told you I saw a bear!

2008-08-13T00:16:00.000-08:00

2008-08-13T00:14:00.000-08:00

Myra finally downloaded her pics from her camera, I was surprised at what I found. Lots of silly photo shoots with kids, goofy stuffed animals and various things through the life of an 11 year old. I was pleased to know that someone else is around to help capture another side of our family album photos. Good work Myra. I started noticing a trend with Kian and funny faces!

2008-08-13T00:06:00.000-08:00

This was a nice evening at the beach for the kids, about 8:30-9pm. Thank you, Heath!

Two Headed?

2008-08-10T21:38:00.000-08:00

Myra's 11

2008-08-04T00:45:00.000-08:00

Myra has now turned 11, I think this is the stage that is being called the "tweens". Myra loves anything green and frogs. She now has a green frog named Lazy and hamster named Tootsieroll. I think she would have a small zoo if her mean ol parents would allow it. Myra is a light spirited daughter, we love her fun sense of humor and all she brings to our family. She is a great help and example to her siblings. We love you Myra.

2008-08-04T00:30:00.000-08:00

Mt. Marathon

2008-08-04T00:28:00.000-08:00

Here I am again, Im blogging! This is me documenting my third running of Mt. Marathon. I wish i had some nice post race pics to include. Im determined to keep challenging myself and keep knocking off some time each year. I felt pretty good after this race. However I seem to get a terrible exertion headache that puts a damper on things after the fact.

Go Kart Fun!

2008-07-29T10:42:00.000-08:00

We took the kids up to Soldotna to ride the go karts. It was raining in Homer and we needed something fun to do. So it poured down rain all the way up the road. Heath kept saying in his very unenthusiasitic voice " this is gonna be fun". So ofcourse im quietly praying the whole way up for a break in the rain so we could enjoy ourselves. About 10 miles to Soldotna the roads are now dry. So we arrived and it had stopped raining. I had to laugh when I saw that on part of the track there was a sprinkler set up over the course! We had lots of fun and yes we did get wet until Myra ran into the sprinkler!

Today!

2008-06-06T11:22:00.000-08:00

Today I just started a blog! I hope to journal and take more pictures with this new concept!
It may be a gradual work in progress as I get used to updating my daily adventures!