The Adventures of Sheena Cody & Taylor

Getting rid of the Molluscum

2011-02-27T14:00:00.001-07:00

So a few years ago I notice this tiny bump on Tay’s bum. I originally thought that it was a zit and it would go away. Well it never did so months later at her two year well child check up I finally brought it up to her Pediatrician. He told me it was a type of wart that would go away on its own. I trusted him, which I now regret! Months later I started noticing they were starting to spread everywhere. She had a patch on the back of her knee that contained 3 of them. During the summer months they didn’t really bother her, as soon as the cold came I started noticing that they were itching her way more often. She eventually scratched them all off of her knee! I made an appointment with a dermatologist, that was a month away. a couple of weeks before our dermatologist appointment we had and appointment with an Allergist. While telling her about our hellacious summer battling Taylor’s seasonal allergies, Taylor interrupted (which she does often) and told the Dr. about her “warts” all while pulling her shirt up to show her where they were on her belly. I didn’t think much of it but I basically see the light bulb above her head turn on. She took a closer look at it and Said “aha Molluscum!” She turned to me and said “Those are Molluscom. They are a virus that attacks people with weak skin, or eczema. That is another sign that Taylor is suffering from one allergy or another. Lets test her!” Testing her for allergies was such a traumatic experience for the two of us!! That is a whole other post, we go back in 4 months to test her again!! She ended up giving us some Aldera for the warts and sent us on our way. She told me not to cancel the appointment with the dermatologist because she was giving us the medicine that the other Dr. would, she was just helping us speed up the process. I guess all insurance companies make you try the Aldera first before they will pay for any other treatment. Thank you!!!

So three weeks later we are the Dermatologist and again another traumatic experience. The Dr. came in told us we were going to try a method called Blistering Beetle Juice. I was clueless so she explained what would happen ( click on the link above).

Taylor was still traumatized from the allergist so I had to wrestle her down, along with the help of another nurse and numerous other ones coming into the room to see if they could distract her.

They finally applied all the medicine to the Molluscum and hours later this is how my baby girl’s body looked

The above pictures are all 12 hours after the medicine was applied. They really were full fledged water blisters. We were getting in the shower and I finally had an opportunity to count them 27 !! Poor little thing I felt so bad. She couldn’t sit, lay down and they hurt her too bad to play.

The pictures below are 48 hours after! the blisters are popping and starting to heal.

We went back on Friday for our two week check-up and had to do another treatment. This time only 12!! The big ones usually take 2-3 treatments. Hopefully this last round will take care of everything! She is not allowed to take a bath or go swimming until the molluscum is gone. This virus is highly contagious in water. Swimming season is almost here and our little fish loves the water!!

Winter X Games 2011

2011-02-27T13:08:00.001-07:00

For years now my mother has been taking me on a vacation for a Christmas present instead of things. I love it!! Several of those years I have chosen to go watch the Denver Broncos play. I have been to 6 home games and 1 away game (San Diego was worth it). This year I wanted to try something different out. So we went to the Winter X Games in Aspen Colorado (“where the women flow like wine!”). I have never been to Aspen so it was fun to see a giant sized Park City!! The people watching there was amazing. Here are a few pictures of some of the events we saw and places we hung out

Bad Billy’s Bar….Not sure how many Bloody Mary’s these two had drank

This was such a fun place we went here twice. Great Bloody Mary’s, huge TVs and good food

This was the Snowboard Street. 3 of the 7 contestants were from Utah

My mom taught me to never waste!!

Boogeys Diner

We had Bloody Mary’s pretty much everyday

Skier super pipe

This cute little pizza place…we got half way done with our second pitcher of beer and I had to leave. Drinking all day will do that to you

The two pictures above are of a bar, yes a bar!! You could walk off the mountain and jump in the heated pool or hot tube in your undies!!

Bobby Brown

Snowmobile Freestyle. This was my favorite event!! These guys are crazy and so talented!

Who carries around a fire hydrant?!

The infamous Yeti!!

Such a fun trip! I would definitely go back again!

Taylor’s 4th Birthday Party

2011-02-27T12:36:00.001-07:00

Taylors 4th birthday fell on a Wednesday night. Cody and I both worked that day, so we decided to have a nice dinner at home and let her choose what she wanted. Taylor picked Chicken nuggets, french fries and broccoli!

We had her birthday party the next day. She wanted to go golfing, so on to Hollywood Connection we went! We told her she could pick two friends to go with us! She did not hesitate one second and picked her two boyfriends, Rhyder and Justice!

These two boys love her so much and she loves them back!

Sue Sue PaPa and Aunt Aidee met us there! We rode rides, mini golfed and rode the bumper cars.

Taylor didn’t care much for this ride! it went round in circles and she screamed the whole time!! It was funny to Dad and Mom but not so funny for the birthday girl.

After Hollywood Connection we met a huge group at Taylor’s new favorite place Leatherbys!!

This is her telling me where we are!! Does she look excited

These two boys are so cute!!

Thanks to everyone who helped us celebrate Taylor’s birthday this year!!

Celebrating the most amazing 4 years, so far…

2011-01-08T20:35:00.001-07:00

January 8th, 2007

I was HUGE. I was 9”shorter around than I was tall!!! That is 52” around. I was SOOO uncomfortable, my feet were swollen, I had developed Gestational Diabetes, I couldn’t sleep and was just ready to meet our baby already! I was going to see the Dr. in three days Hoping he would say alright lets induce you. January 11th came and NO induction, I was disappointed. I pleaded with Dr. Kaelberer to help me out, with no avail .

I asked him jokingly if women really went into labor after big snowstorms, which we were currently experiencing. Three inches had fallen already and it was still coming down. He told me that it tends to happen that they are busy during big storms but wasn’t proven to be a fact. I jokingly told him I would see him tonight at L&D because I knew he was on call all night and I was hoping to be one of the lucky ones who would be able to take advantage of the snowstorm. Little did I know that exactly 12 hours after I left my appointment I would be walking back to the hospital after my water broke.

I rolled over in bed at 2:30 am and it happened. Instead of panicking and running around losing my mind, like you see in the movies, I started a load of laundry, read ‘What to expect, When expecting’ and started packing our bags for the hospital. I waited about 45 minutes to call my mom. I just wanted to make sure this was really happening before I woke people up in the middle of the night. Debbie panicked when I called her at work at that time of night, and told me she was leaving work and heading to the hospital. She told me I should probably wake Cody up and do the same. Yes I was letting him sleep. I would have never heard the end of it if I had woke him up and cried wolf, so I did.

The drive to the hospital was one of the most calm moments of my life, and probably my last! The roads were dark, covered in snow and empty. I was so excited to be heading to the hospital knowing that sooner or later we would be meeting out miracle. I was hoping for sooner rather than later, but was I wrong

Walking into L&D I thought it was strange that they asked me “what are you in for?” I wanted to say “a root canal, what do you think?’ but I’m pretty sure that amniotic fluid leaking through my pants would give me away. They set me up in my room and soon after that a half asleep Dr. Kaelberer walked in. he informed me he would be going home to take a nap and watching my contractions from his home computer. I settled in, Cody found a chair to go back to sleep in

and my Mom headed back to our house to get the laundry out of the dryer that I had started and finish packing for me. I watched T.V. and tried breathing through the contractions, that didn’t last long. The nurse only asked twice before I gave her permission to call the Anesthesiologist. That was one amazing move. I do not handle pain well and knew that I would accept the epidural from the beginning. I have so much respect for women who give birth without it.

I was in labor for 11 hours before I realized that every time I would have a contraction the nurse would get a call on the phone from my Dr. I knew he was watching from home, but I was plenty distracted by all of the friends and family that had come to the hospital anticipating Taylor’s arrival. The nurse came in and said “well do you want the good news or the bad news first?” I replied with “good news!” She proceeded to inform me that we would be meeting Taylor with in two hours, the bad. I had to have a C-Section. I was not progressing in my dilation and she was under stress with every contraction. This was something Cody, Dr. Kaelberer and I had discussed. The Dr. was more concerned with the size of the baby being an issue ( you have seen her father, so you understand that there was a good chance that she would be a big girl). Dr K was on his way back in and Cody and I were getting prepped for surgery.

Cody and I were so excited. My Grandma was scared and crying as she kissed me goodbye before we went down the long hall to the operating room. Soon after entering that amazing man who gave me my epidural also loaded me up with more drugs and before I knew it I was getting tugged on and all kinds of pressure, no pain just pressure was coming from my torso. Cody gets quite queasy when it comes to blood so he didn’t watch, him and I discussed middle names. 40 minutes into the procedure Dr. K said “Sheena A LOT of pressure right here, take a deep breath…” “and she is here a baby girl with all 10 fingers and toes!!!” he held her up over the paper wall and there she was. I could barely see her. I wear glasses and they wouldn’t let me wear them in there. I could hear her screaming, my eyes welled up, I looked at Cody as he starred at her in amazement.

3:48pm Taylor Mae Smith was born at 7lbs 15oz and 21” long

She was perfect!! The "Paparazzi”(a name the nurses gave them) of family and friends waiting outside the doors all awed in unison as Daddy carried he into their view. I still had to be closed up so the family took advantage of the moment to eat her up before I came back into the room

4 years ago our lives changed and what a beautiful new beginning it was!! Taylor you have taught Mom & Dad so many things and given us so much joy. We love you so very much I hope your 4th birthday is an amazing one!!!!

Catching Up

2010-11-11T23:08:00.001-07:00

I have been seriously slacking on this blog of mine… A few friends and family of mine have started new blogs and it made me realize how much I enjoy reading blogs and also putting my together for those of you that still follow it I promise to you that are left that I will keep up on this. It will be much easier to keep up on now that the weather is getting colder and I will be spending more time inside….

here is a few pictures to show you what we have been up to this wonder Summer of 2010

Taylor is saying the Pledge of Allegiance, while the rest of us are singing The National Anthem at our first Real Soccer game. We have never been to a professional soccer game. It was so much fun and I plan on going to more next year. Thank you Webers for taking us to our first game.

Cody and I were able to go see some incredible bands this summer at Usana Amphitheater with some even better friends. Kings of Leon is an incredible band and I cannot wait to see them again. 311 was amazing as always. I cannot believe I have been going to see them in concert for 10 years now. WOW where has the time gone?!

This year was so much fun for outdoor activities. We did lots of camping and boating. Taylor loves nothing more than to be out side playing in the dirt. Camping is a perfect fit for her. She can get as dirty as she wants and run wild all day long.

the only challenge was using the bathroom in the great outdoors…Cody is such a genius!! He dug a hole in the ground stuck two rail road ties over it and sat her training potty lid right on top. She thought she was the coolest girl in the world. It was so nice to not have her peeing all over me and herself all weekend. It was just too bad he came up with this the last camping trip of the year. Better late than never though!!

We were able to take Taylor to Lagoon twice this summer. She has never been before so it was so much fun to watch her play all morning at Lagoon A Beach and float the lazy river, then run from ride to ride (sometimes two and three times) asking to ride this one “PLLLEEEEAAASSSEE”.

Pretty sure that Papa Rex had as much fun as Taylor did that day !

The annual Coalville Demolition Derby. For the last three years we have been going and spending the afternoon at Echo with Cody’s Grandparents and family, eating good food and catching up with everyone. We then head to the “Crash ‘em up derby” as Taylor calls it. We always have such a good time. How can you beat incredible mullet watching and cars pulverizing each other?

Last but not least…Cody’s birthday party was a Luau themed party…

what better food to have than smoked pork shoulder at a Luau party…

Well you need a smoker to make that right, so here is Cody’s birthday/finishing his Electrical Journeyman schooling. Susan, Rex and I went in on this incredible smoker/grill/oven. Better known as the Big Green Egg. He has never smoked before, but he has always wanted to learn. He loves this thing, he cooks on this thing more than I cook inside!! He has finally found something that can keep his attention during the off season (snow skiing of course).

Cody, Taylor and I have had such a great summer together. I cannot wait until next year

Memorial Weekend 2010

2010-06-21T22:56:00.001-06:00

This year we spend Memorial Weekend up at Cherry Creek( right by the Sand Dunes). This was the perfect place for this group of people to camp. The two 4 year old had just received their own dirt bikes for Christmas!! You should have seen these boys riding around and around and around our campsite! They were cruising around trying to go off pre-made jumps and anything that looked more fun than the normal circle they made. Taylor finally decided that she wasn’t afraid anymore and took a solo ride.

Needless to say she did a great job, with Mom stressing out rite by her side, never letting go of the handle bars. She loved it. Up until this weekend she was a little fearful of 4-wheelers but those two cute boys, both being her “boyfriend” made her changed her scaredy cat ways :]

Meet Marley. She is the absolute cutest puppy we have ever laid our eyes on. She is only a couple of months old and has SOOOO much personality. This picture is how she spent most of the weekend. She has her own chair which the kids know not to touch. She sits in this chair sleeps in this chair and anything else she wants to do in this chair. SHE LOVES THIS CHAIR!!

Taylor and sand are like Oreos and Milk. You can not have Oreos with out a glass of milk and you cannot have sand with out my kid COVERED in it :]

Well we were there for three days and Cody was fully mobile for 1.5 days. half-way through our trip, there was little accident. Nobody was critically injured. The handle bars were a little bent and Cody’s foot was sore for a week or so but nothing major. Thank goodness.

The pictures above are of “snake and lizard hunting” in other words just another reason to go on a ride.

We had such a great weekend with some really great people. I hope to do it again soon!!

First Day of Preschool

2010-05-19T21:48:00.001-06:00

My little Poser. Well the inevitable has happened. She is growing up!!!

This year has been so eventful so far, with her milestones. January She turned 3. February she finally peed in the potty and was officially potty trained. March she went skiing for the first time. April Dad turned her crib into a “big girl bed”. May she started PRESCHOOOL.

If the backpack didn’t give it away this is her doing a little dance on the front porch because she was soooo excited to finally go to “school”. I wasn't able to get as many pictures as I wanted because she kept telling me “MOM we have to go, we are going to be late!!” I'm sure that she has heard that out of my mouth before.

After many weeks of searching for the right place to take my precious baby girl, I finally found the perfect place for us. It is an all day Preschool in Murray She loves it.

I thought for certain there would be a little hesitation from her when I would leave that first day. Boy was I wrong!!! She was doing her little dance again and asking me to leave. The teachers were giggling and telling me how cute she was, like I didn't know that ;)

So as I left my eyes were the ones filling with tears, but I said to my self “you cannot cry if SHE is not crying!” The only tears that were shed were when she saw that I was there to pick her up!! Once again the teacher, Ms. Heather, started giggling again. I asked her if this was normal and of course she let me know that this is QUITE the opposite of what she has seen in the past.

She has been three weeks now and she is still enjoying it. I cannot believe how fast time has gone by and how much she has grown!!!

Lupus Walk 2010

2010-05-16T15:22:00.001-06:00

As most of you know. My great friend Shalyse has been living with Lupus for the past 13 years. She has gone through more procedures and surgery than anybody I know personally. Long before Shalyse and I had even met she had endured a crazy procedure called Pericaridocentesis( click here to learn what this is) she also had her gallbladder removed all by the age of 17. When her and I first met she was doing Monthly Chemo-therapy treatments, we were 17. If you have ever known anybody that has had to endure this horrific therapy, you know that the side effects are not the least bit friendly. Chemo couldnt hold her down, Shalyse managed to slide through her senior year with amazing grades and she wasn’t taking the usual easy courses that most Seniors take. She lived her life as though she was healthy as her peers, and nothing stopped this girl. She is such an amazing person. This was the beginning of how much strength I would see from this teenager. When Shalyse and I first met I was in complete shock about how many pills she had to remember to take on a daily basis. Im not talking one or two, three times a day. One time we counted and she was taking almost 30 a day!! Can you imagine?? I could barely remember to get myself out of bed and go to school, let a lone keep track of all of those meds.

When were were 20ish her health started declining. She knew it was coming, her proteins in her urine has been getting higher for a while now. She ended up in the hospital in complete Renal Failure. Her Kidneys had given up they lost the battle to Lupus :(

Next on the agenda, Dialysis. Wow, that was such a change in lifestyle for her and everyone that surrounded her. Dialysis is time consuming, three times a week for four hours a day. It may not seem like a long time but it was. The very strict diet that she had to follow. We were all together so much that we all had to follow that same diet, lol. You learn to like things without salt. Pretty sure Ms. Dash was her best friend. That was the only thing she could use to get flavor in her food. She had to read every ingredient, ask so many questions when we would try to go out to a restaurant. The constant questions about her central line, that was fun though making up stories to tell people. “I was shot” was my personal favorite. She had such a great companion in her sister Tish, she was there constantly for her big sister. She was nurse Tish and took such great care of her during all of this. Shalyse is one lucky girl.

The good thing about dialysis is that it didnt last as long for Shalyse as so many other people that we saw there. She was healthy enough for a transplant!!! So we all went down to the hospital to get checked out. BINGO Dad was a match. We did it, we found her a living donor that was the best possible match and we did it SO fast. What an amazing sacrifice that he made to give life to his daughter, again :)

January 15th 2004

Not only is that my beautiful Mom’s birthday but also the day that Tom began living the rest of his life with only 1 kidney and Shalyse started living her life with 3. I was living in Moab at the time so I got up and started the 4 hour drive to see the Lopez family at the hospital. I was pulled over for speeding, but when I told the officer that I was headed to SLC to see my best friend who was receiving a kidney transplant he let me off with a warning. Thanks officer.

Tom was out first healthy and a little lighter. Shalyse came out a while later obviously and her body handled it great. So now with a new kidney came more pills lots of more pills and very strict time constraints. There is so much testing that goes on in the beginning to make sure the prograf is at the right dose for her body to not reject the second chance at life.

Rejection happened twice in the first year or so, but she has been doing great and living life to the fullest with her extra kidney. I am so grateful to have such an amazing woman in my life. Shalyse is beautiful, funny, smart, resilient, giving, caring, and most of all the best friend a girl could ever ask for. In the 10 years Shalyse has been in my life she has taught me so much. I would have to write a whole different post to tell you all of the things this young woman has taught me about life, by just living her life. I love her so very much and that is why it was so important for me to join the Lupus walk with Shalyse and her family this year( and many more years to come). I was able to make a donation page and had so many generous friends and family donate to help find the cure and other research to keep my friend and many others here with us for as long as possible.

THANK YOU to all of you who donated to such a wonderful cause.

below are a few pictures from our day at the park to support Lupus.

Check out the greeter in the background he was hilarious

The long line of supports and survivors

Taylor getting ready to show her support for Aunt Sha

This was just one of four Utah Cyber Sluts. click on the link to see what amazing things they do to help our Charities and other events like this one

Our Team. Shalyse, Tish Jazylynn, Tom, Toni, Debbie, Sheena, Taylor and Alyssa.

Sha and I. Yes it was freezing and raining while we were walking but it turned out to be an absolutely beautiful day.

The walker that had Lupus were given these butterflies

Our Team Tie dying our Lupus shirts

Taylor showing off her purple lupus butterfly

Even Big Buddha from fox 13 was there showing his support

March 2010

2010-05-05T19:36:00.004-06:00

Taylor and I went to our first Disney on ice this year. She had such a blast dressing up as Tinkerbell especially since Tinker was the highlight of the show. I was quite impressed with the show. I thought it would be cheesy, but it was so cute.

Granny still enjoys being a kid!!!

Coloring Easter eggs was fun She had such a blast. She colored one two different colors and then when she was finished she held it up and said "yook mom I got skills" in her cute little Taylor voice. I just love her.

Cody has been skiing since he was three so he thought he would teach Taylor. She was really into it, until she got on the slope. She went a total of two times and was finished. So Mom had to drive up and get her so the rest of the family could enjoy the beautiful spring day. Good thing mom likes to stay home :]

There are lots of birthdays in our family in the month of March, but Taylor's favorite birthday party was her cute friend Korben's birthday. She loves Jumping Jacks and she loves Korben. This child is fearless, she was going down the biggest slide head first and knocking older kids down. She is hilarious!!

February 2010

2010-05-05T19:09:00.004-06:00

The month of February was a short one but a busy one.
My Granny and I took Taylor to the Safe Kids Fair, she had so much fun. She has a thing for firemen. Every time she sees one she has to go say hi and thank you so driving the fire truck was such a huge deal for her, she talked about it for days lol.
She doesnt like "police-cops" as much she is a little afraid of them, which I cannot under stand why but, firemen are usually better looking anyways lol.

they had face painting there and she was wearing a giraffe dress with giraffe print tights on, so I thought it was fitting that she chose to have a pink giraffe on her face

Taylor had a sick spell for a few weeks. She is a rather healthy child, which I am SO grateful for, but she visited the Doctor three times in a week and a half which was more than she saw him for the entire year of 2009. She had a sinus infection, which lead to a viral lung infection and bacterial lung infection as well. She had to have one breathing treatment which she hated every minute of but was a completely different child after that. Thank you for modern day medicine. I think her being sick was harder on daddy and I than it was on her.

February means Valentines Day. This year in replace of real flowers Cody bought me this delish fruit arrangement, it was so good and pretty too. I want these instead of flowers from now on!! This year I surprised Cody with a fully decorated hotel room downtown and a night just to us. We dont get out very much so it was fun to walk around downtown and enjoy bar hopping. We aren't much of club folks so we found all of the small dive bars and had so much fun. I want to do it again!!

So i just added these photos because it was such a fun night out with friends watching the fight and drinking PBRs :]

January 2010

2010-05-04T23:09:00.003-06:00

January 2010
Ok so I will never be able to fully catch up blogging in the almost 9 months since I have last blogged...So I will just start from the beginning of this year and move forward.
I posted the pictures backwards, oops

Sundance 2010
This year I was super lucky to get to spend two days
in Park City this year. I saw two movies with the Girls, Jack Goes Boating and Dry Land. The above picture is the entire cast. It was a great show. If you haven't seen it you should definitely
look into it. I also was able to see the Winner of the Drama Category, it was an interesting show. The name of the movie is a blank...I guess that lets you know how interested I really was in the show :)

We have lots of birthdays in the month of January
Taylor January 12th
Debbie (my mom) January 15th
Virginia (my Granny) January 26th
not to mention the countless friends and cousins that also have January birthdays!!!

Taylor Graduated from her third course of Gym Class at The Little Gym
This was her final class. She loved it but it was time to move on. I am looking into dance classes for her to start. She is going to be a dancer :)

We had an Invitation to Tag-a-long on a trip to Steamboat Springs with Alisha to visit Andy. We had so much fun, Thank you two so much for letting us come along. The four of us created some memories I sure will not forget. I was able to relax and enjoyed some ME time which was soooo very nice. Cody Alisha and Andy enjoyed some fresh powder on the slopes of Steamboat Springs. Such a great trip!

We are back

2010-05-04T22:33:00.002-06:00

We are back in the Blogging World. Sorry for the long hiatus ;)
There is lots of catching up to do....
check back soon for more

Snails

2009-08-06T09:47:00.002-06:00

Our little girl loves to play in the dirt and where there is dirt there are bugs. I bought her this little bug catching kit from the dollar store and it was one the greatest $1 investments I have made, besides the sidewalk chalk. She has taken every adult in her life on a bug catching walk around our circle and has come home with some pretty fun stuff; grass hoppers, spiders, box elder bugs, potato bugs and one night we found this snail. This picture is one of my absolute favorites!!

Taylor let this snail crawl all over her for hours. She was absolutely intrigued by this creature she had never seen before, in real life that is.

She was trying to figure out what those 'sings are pokin out mom'?
She ended up putting her snail in the pockets on the front of her shirt and the snail of course left it all slimy and we took her shirt off, that is why she is naked in these next photos

And then she took her new friend on a drive around the yard. One of the most entertaining nights this summer

Taylorsville Days

2009-08-06T09:25:00.002-06:00

The last time I was in a parade was High school, until this Summer. Susan and Rex have this amazing carriage that is pulled by the beautiful Betsy and asked me and Mollie to join them. It is way more fun to be in a parade as opposed to watching them! Taylor, Mollie and I threw candy to the kids watching the parade and I'm not sure who had more fun Taylor or Mollie.

Taylor entertaining her self while Sue Sue was getting Betsy ready

And there she is, Painted hooves and all!!

After the parade we had some lunch and then headed to the carnival which is at the park just walking distance from our house. Taylor had so much fun riding all the carnie rides and we had fun watching her excited face! You could definitely tell which rides she enjoyed and which ones she could have lived with out. The giant slide has always been a fave of mine so I usually offer to take her on this one!

I was worried about this roller coaster. I really thought it would jerk her around too much and scare her, boy was I wrong! She was a little startled the first time it jerked around but the second time she just giggled and had to go on it three more times before we could leave!!
We ended the night with a huge bbq for our great friends the Millers! Brigg and Becky have their birthday about a week apart and so we invited over friends and family and BBQ'd, chatted with friends, and watched fireworks! Oh we also had a tribute to MJ that night too ;)

Road Trip 2009

2009-07-16T11:05:00.004-06:00

Well Cody and I went on the most amazing road trip of my life to date!!

Our adventurous friends the Hillmans invited us to tag along with them, boy were we so thankful that they did!

We started bright and early Saturday morning and drove to the cute little city right outside of Zion National Park, Springdale. We arrived in the late afternoon and just decided to relax and hang out by the pool, because we had a very busy week ahead of us. The best part about this trip for me was the fact that everyday was something I had never seen or ever done before. We woke up the next morning and had breakfast and headed into the park. I have never seen Zion in person only pictures. It is amazing!! We had a tight schedule so we were only able to drive through. I would love to spend an entire day there and hike around.

From Zion we were headed to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. If you have never been it is definately something that should be on your bucket list!! There are really no words to describe the beauty of this place. Picture do not due the Grand Canyon justice!! The place we stayed was less than a five minute walk to the actual edge of the canyon, which was great because we would walk down whenever we wanted. We were able to stay two night there and had a blast hanging out
with Nick and Mckenzie.

We woke up at 4 am for the next leg of out adventure! HavasuPai Falls (click on the link to see more)
I didn't really think it could get much more spectacular than the Grand Canyon but I was wrong! It is a 10.5 miles
into the campground. There are only three ways into this beautiful place, Hiking, Mules or a helicopter. We choose Hiking in with our packs!! I am not much of a hiker and was not really nervous to do this because I was ready to push my self!! I had started running in the mornings to prepare myself, which definately came in handy for the stamina that was needed!!! There were a couple of times I just wanted to quite and die right there on the trail, but we all made it out alive!! Most people leave at early hours of the morning to hike out, but we choose to pack up our gear and hike out at night. It was not an idea I was fond of at the time, but so greatful that we did. It was dark, but we put headlamps on and just kept going!! When I do it again I will hike in and out at night. We left at 5:30 pm and arrived at the top at 10:47pm. It may seem like a long time, but it took us less time to get out than it did to get in. They say it should take you 60-90 minutes longer to hike out because of the switch backs at the very end that elevate you 2,000 ft in less than 1.5 miles!!! If you would like to see more pictures I have them posted on my facebook page.

Cody and I at the end of the 30 mile round trip hike!!

We ended the trip with a wonderful weekend in VEGAS!!!! Cannot wait to see what we conquer next summer with the Hillmans!!!!

Mother's day

2009-05-12T08:22:00.003-06:00

This Mother's day was so nice. Cody and I gathered all the Mother's in our lives and headed to wheeler farm for a family picnic.

We are so grateful that we have such incredible Mom's. Cody's Mom and my Mom take turns watching Taylor for free so that I can work. I don't think they will ever understand how much that means to us as a family. They are giving us so many opportunities from extra money to do fun things with, I get to have a break and keep my sanity, and Cody is happy that I'm not the psycho house wife I would be if I was a stay at home mom. I have so much respect for all you Moms out there that have the strength to do the hardest job in the world!!! My Grandma is one of my close friends she is an amazingly strong woman who gave my Mom all of the tools to be a great mother and now the two of them are helping me be the best Mom that I can be for Taylor.

My mom is one of my best friends. I honestly don't know how I could have lived if she would have choosen to stay in Colorado and work. I have to talk to my mom at least once a day or I have withdrawls :) She is smart, beautitul, caring, funny, selfless all in all just incredible!! I love her so very much and I hope she knows that!!

I'm sure that Susan Could win the best Mother-in-law contest if there were one! She is thoughtful, caring and so giving. I hear all these horror stories about MIL being intrusive and pushy. She is so far from that. I love her and wouldn't trade her in for anything :)

Being a Mother is the hardest job in the entire world, but also the most rewarding. Taylor can make me so upset one moment and then the next she has me smilling. On Mother's day while I was getting ready Cody was occupying Taylor so I snuck downstairs to see what they were doing. They were in the kitchen listening to the ipod and taylor was dancing around and singing to her Dad. My eyes filled with joyful tears. I am so lucky to have such incredible people in my life I love you all!!

Such a beautiful thing!

2009-05-12T08:09:00.002-06:00

For some reason my photos loaded backwards :(
This was such a beautiful wedding! Devan and Kindra had their Wedding at Red Butte Gardens. If you have never been there it should be on your list to do this spring!

It is so wonderful to see a friend find true love. Crue is one lucky boy to have such wonderful parents!

I love this picture!

"you may now kiss your bride"

One last night out!

2009-05-12T07:49:00.003-06:00

Everyone knows that before a wedding comes a bachelor/bachelorette party! Well this night of fun was for Devan and Kindra. The boys had dinner and cocktails and Jeff's house then off to the bar in a limo, while the girls went to Sushi and then out to the bar for us! We all had so much fun. I think the best was the text the next day from Kindra "have you talked to Kenz today I have mustard all over my pants, like I sat in it. Hope I didnt get it all over her seats." Well when I called Kenz there wasnt any mustard on her seats, but I guess I spilled my doritos all over the seat!! I love those girls

Here are a few pictures from our fun filled night!

I had to throw this one in Cause I dont get done up very often and for some reason I never take pics with Cody when I do.

The beautiful Bride to be!

Christie, Kindra and McKenzie

Sha, Tausha, Becky and I.

Easter

2009-05-12T07:35:00.002-06:00

Easter was so much fun this year! Taylor is at such a fun age where everything is so exciting and new! Our Easter started on Saturday morning at the Taylorsville Park. They had a huge Easter candy hunt. She didn't quite understand the whole concept of trying to be in a hurray and get the candy before the other kids did. That quickly changed when I started running and stealing candy from the little kids, not really but that would have been fun.

On Sunday we Joined the Jones/"mexican" Crew. We had so much fun bbq'd drank beer and enjoyed alot of family time.

Taylor is still asking a month later if the bunny will come hide eggs when she is sleeping tonight. Needless to say we cannot wait until next year!

She was so excited she kept asking "ready, set, go mom?"

4th pic tag

2009-04-04T08:33:00.004-06:00

OK here is what you do. Go to your 4th folder in your pictures and pick the 4th photo and then post and explain what it is about.

Mine was take when Taylor was just about six months. We were at my Auntie's house I believe celebrating Maria's Birthday and Taylor was enjoying watermelon!!
Oh how I miss the baby stage!

Love you little miss Taylor Mae!!

I tag anyone who reads this, and that means YOU!!

Taylor's first hair cut

2009-03-19T16:05:00.004-06:00

Well today I took Taylor to one of my good friends Jamey to get her bangs cut for the first time. They were getting super long and Taylor was constantly sweeping them out of her eyes. She was such a good girl! She wasnt scared, she didnt cry, she kept pretty still for a 2 yr old as well.

She was so intrigued with watching her hair fall on the leopard print cover.

Here she is. I didnt think she could get much cuter, but boy was I wrong. She looks so big with her new hair do too. It is a sad moment when you look at your "baby" and say "There is no baby left in you. You are such a big girl now." She is so feisty and independent, everything is mine and me!! I miss that cute little baby but I am enjoying getting to know my big girl and her ever growing personality!!

Jumping Jacks

2009-03-19T15:57:00.002-06:00

Last Saturday Taylor was invited to Korben's (Tausha's nephew) birthday party. He was having it at Jumping Jacks in West Jordan. If you havent been you should take your kids!! Everyone there had so much fun, we even had the battle wounds to prove it! Cody and I both had burns on our elbows and Tausha hurt her knee flying down one of the slides. It was so nice of Alaina(sp) and family to think of Taylor. She had such a blast!!

Hat shopping with Sue Sue

2009-03-19T15:38:00.002-06:00

Well if you didn't know my In-Laws are BIG into Horses(I think that may have been an understatement).
Susan and Rex's neighbor had two old horse drawn carriages and sold them to Susan and Rex. Well everyone knows when you have a Carriage you must dress the part so we needed to find Susan a hat to wear when she gets to drive her carriage. This is the one she chose, it is awesome I absolutely love it on her!!

Here is one that didnt make it to the register, but were pretty cute.

Cute pics

2009-03-15T12:35:00.002-06:00

Taylor received this super cute apron for her birthday from her Poppa Bill & Nana Linda. She absolutely loves to bake and has to wear this every time she does.

The best part licking the spoon

cleaning up after making the cookies

I had to include this picture because it was so cute. One saturday afternoon while I was cleaning up the house I walked into the living room and this is what I saw.
These two are so precious I love them so very much!!

Valentines Day

2009-02-17T08:47:00.004-07:00

Valentines Day was fantastic this year! On Thursday Taylor and I made heart shaped cupcakes for friends and family. They were delicious. Taylor has turned into Betty Crocker these last few weeks and absolutely loves it! I will measure everything out and she puts in all in the bowl and tells me what she is pouring in. It is so

She is counting her candies here

She was showing me how she was going to "dump dump" everything

Then on Saturday we took Taylor to the Aquarium with Tyler, Tausha, Becky and Brigg.
She loved the fishies!!

These two are silly!

After the Aquarium we hosted a valentines BBQ! Yes BBQ in February!! The girls were in charge of the grilling while the guys watched the All-Star festivities. This was my romantic center piece, with the roses that Cody and Taylor gave to me. They are so sweet!!

Every girl was in charge of a side dish, well Cody loves seafood and does not get to enjoy it much because I'm not a huge fan. Well I decided that I wanted to make him a shrimp side dish. He told me he wanted Shrimp Cocktail. Here are pictures of my creation. I was pretty proud of them so i took a few pictures.

I almost forgot that Cody made breakfast for me too! I was a wonderful day filled with family and great friends!

Taylor's 2 year progress

2009-02-12T14:47:00.003-07:00

Today was Taylor's 2 year well child checkup. At 2 years and 1 month Taylor is 34 3/4", which is the 70th percentile. She weights 27 lbs which it the 50th percentile and her head is a whopping 90th percentile. What this translates to is a tall, slim beautiful bobble head. Just teasing Taylor Mommy loves you.
She is healthy and growing just great. Dr. Cosgrove told me that at the pace she is growing at now she could be 5'6" that is if she stays towards the lower end. Now if she takes after father he said she could be up to 6'. He told me that most of the time he is pretty accurate when it comes to his patients estimated height, but he usually doesn't see this extreme of a height difference between the parents. So he is interested to see how Taylor develops.
For those of you that do not know. I am 5'1" and Cody is 6'6". Yes that is 17 inches difference. What can I say I have always had a thing for TALL guys.
She also had a shot today and did not even cry. She whined a little after the needle had been taken out, but was so quickly distracted by the Popsicle she completely forgot about the shot. we were out of the elevator walking to the car and she looks up and says "shot, ouch momma". I have been preparing her for a few weeks now that she was going to get shots and that it would not hurt. She is a brave one!

Proud to be an American

2009-02-10T19:02:00.003-07:00

This is a little late, but better late than never right. I honestly am thankful to have a President that I can stand behind and that I believe in! Yes he is a politician, and therefore not perfect but he is a symbol of change and hope to America. I am proud that I was able to cast my vote for Barack Obama(even if I live in Utah and my vote "didn't count").

Girls will be girls!

2009-02-10T18:45:00.005-07:00

A few weekends ago we went over to the Hillman's for dinner and cocktails with a few friends. While playing Guitar Hero Taylor Aunt McKenzie decided to bust out the make up for Taylor to play with. She knows where eye shadow goes as well as blush and lipstick as you can tell from the photos. What Am I going to do with such a "girly girl"? Those of you that know me well know that I dont wear makeup but once a month or so and hardly ever wear a dress and heels, unless the occasion calls for it! It is such a blessing that Taylor has so many wonderful women in her life to show her the ropes of being a female. I will teach her about football and cooking, and a few other things :)

P.S. She wears my heels more than I do.

Smith Family pictures

2009-02-05T18:56:00.004-07:00

We are one damn good looking family!!
Dont mind the dust particles. I should have cleaned my scanner before I uploaded them, oops.

Taylor's 2nd birthday

2009-02-05T18:45:00.002-07:00

So our little angel turned two back on the 12th of January! I cannot believe how much time flies by. Here are some photos on her on her big day!

She was trying to blow her candles out!

Aunt Caitie helped her get closer

Grandma Sue Sue made this wonderful barbie cake and Adriane did a fantastic job on the cute cupcakes!! Thanks girls you're the best!!!

Taylor growling at her cousing Kaylee, They are two days apart

I couldn't resist adding this one. Adriane decided it was a good idea to try to fit in the highchair. She had and easier time getting in, than getting out!

Taylor has learned how to escape...

2009-01-29T12:40:00.002-07:00

The reach for tad

Reach just a little further...

GOT HIM!!!

She is trying to get back in bed, but cant quite reach!!

Yes, she has learned how to escape her crib!! I put her down for a nap today and about 10 minutes later I hear Taylor talking to her Baby Tad. I knew he was in the rocking chair, I thought maybe she wanted him so I went in her room to give him to her and find her in the rocking chair with him! I went to get my camera and have her show me again!! She is such a stinker. I know what we are doing this weekend, making her crib a toddler bed. I have been putting this off for so long, I just want her to be a baby forever!!!

Convo & Cocktails

2009-01-25T11:56:00.000-07:00

Alright Ladies I have been talking about doing this since October. Now that the Holidays are all gone and we are not consumed with all the excitement they bring. I want to introduce a monthly LADIES NIGHT IN!! I am calling it "Convo & Cocktails". I do have to confess that I did steal this idea from "Real Housewives of Atlanta" They called their dialog and drinks and it was a couple's activity. I would like to create a place for all of us ladies to gather where we do not have to worry about creepy guys hitting on us, spending god awful mounts of money on drinks and be able to enjoy great CONVOsations with my friends while enjoying a COCKTAIL or two :) I would like this to be a monthly activity that we all look forward to! I would like to have them held the last Saturday of every month, so that it is easily remembered. I will host the first one in February, which is the 28th. Please let me know if you would be interested in joining in on this great opportunity.

Convo & Cocktails
Saturday February 28th, 2009 @ 7:30pm
Sheena's House 4906 S 3145 W
Topic: Our 44th President Barack Obama, and what he has accomplished in his first month in office.
I will provide the main dish for dinner so please bring a yummy side as well as whatever you would like to drink.
Please invite every woman in your life who deserves a night in with ladies!!
P.S. My awesome friend Tausha sells Scentsy products and will be bringing her stuff. We will have a chance to sample the new scents as well as the new burners for the spring a week early!!

Sheena & Cody

2009-01-19T08:31:00.002-07:00

♥ What are your middle names?
Chanel and Edward

♥ How long have you been together?
geez it will be four years in July

♥ How long did you know each other before you started dating?
about four years

♥ Who asked who out?
well it was a little more complicated...we dated with out really dating. We would go out to dinner and hang out together all the time, but it was just as friends for like a year.

♥Who said I love you first?
He said he was falling in love and a few days later I said I WAS in love with him and then he told me he was in love with me too!!

♥ How old are each of you?
26

♥ Who's siblings do/did you see the most?
mine, because his live in Texas and Cali

♥ Do you have any children together?
a beautiful 2 year old, Taylor Mae

♥ What about pets?
sore subject

♥ Which situation is the hardest on you as a couple?
Communication

♥ Did you go to the same school?
no he went to Taylorsville and I went to Murray

♥ Are you from the same hometown?
pretty close

♥ Who is the smartest?
We both have our expertise

♥ Who is the most sensitive?
100% me

♥ Where do you eat out most as a couple?

♥ Where is the furthest you two have traveled together as a couple?
Florida

♥ Who has the worst temper?
Cody

♥ Who does the cooking?
me

♥Who is the most social?
Definitely me.

♥ Who is the neat-freak?
he is more than i am

♥ Who is the most stubborn?
that is a hard one we are both sooo stuborn

♥ Who hogs the bed?
we have a california king, so we both have enough room that there is no hogging. If you are talking about covers, he does!!

♥ Who wakes up earlier?
depends on who is working that day

♥ Where was your first date?
cant even rememer

♥Who has the bigger family?
we both do actually, he comes from an LDS family and I come from a Mexican family.

♥Do you get flowers often?
NO WAY! I get them on Valentines day

♥ Who do you spend the holidays with?
equal time between the two families, that is why we had 6 stops for Christmas

♥ Who is more jealous?
neither of us are jealous people

♥ How long did it take to get serious?
about two months

♥ Who sings better?
oh him for sure, he is a triple threat!!

♥Who does/did the laundry?
I do!

♥ Who’s better with the computer?
me

♥ Who drives when you are together?
he does

♥ Who picks where you go to dinner?
we take turns

♥ Who is the first one to admit when they’re wrong?
i do

♥ Who named your pet?
once again sore subject

♥ Who wears the pants in the relationship?
???

♥ Who has more tattoos?
me--two him--none

♥ Who eats more sweets?
me

♥ Who cries more?
oh me for sure

♥Are you still together?
no we broke up before I could finish this, lol. of course we are

New Years '09

2009-01-11T17:51:00.004-07:00

New Years wonderful this year! Full of Friends, Apples to Apples and cocktails. Here are a few photos to show you our fun!!

what have you done??

2009-01-07T15:37:00.002-07:00

Copy and paste this to your blog and bold the ones that you HAVE done.

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice--Does the venetian count?
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie/commercial
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake

98. Owned a cell phone
97. Been involved in a law suit
99. Been stung by a bee

Christmas 2008

2009-01-06T09:58:00.004-07:00

Wow Christmas was a whirlwind this year!! It started of Christmas Eve, I worked until noon then we headed to Cody's Parents house. Taylor made a gingerbread house with her Aunt Alisha and Aunt Adriane

She was too busy eating the candies to pose for a picture.

The masterpiece

After the gingerbread house making we spent some time with Larry & Darlene. They are Cody's Grandparents from Mesquite. It was nice to see them and catch up. After that it was back to our house where we were hosting my side of the family's Christmas. Christmas was my Grandpa Ron's fave holiday so it has been a tradition for us to gather on Christmas Eve and open presents for as long as I could remember. So since he has been gone we have kept up the tradition!
My Mom bought a honey baked ham, which she had to wait in line two seperate times because Taylor puked on her the first time so she had to leave and she was almost to the front of the line when it happened!! There is always so much food where my mom is. She would never let anyone go hungry!
There were sooo many presents that they wrapped around the living room into the kitchen!! Taylor ended up falling asleep about 8 O'Clock so we saved her presents. My family stayed until about 10:45 and then it was time for Cody and I to exchange gifts. Cody's big present(skiing backpack) was held up in Oregon because of all the bad weather they were experiencing. I guess that is what you get for shopping on line ;) So I printed off a picture and put it in a box.

Christmas Morning started off at 6:30. A Smith family tradition is to get up early open presents with Susan, Rex, Grandma Bethe, Grandpa Bill, Grandma Linda and all the kids. Then it is breakfast time. Susan makes a big breakfast of biscuits and gravy, hashbrowns and scrambled eggs. Susan's brother Jim and his kids joined us as well as my Granny.

This is Taylor with her Dora Tricycle, from Santa

Taylor fixing her new baby with her tools, lol

The fam at Korahle's
Alisha and Rex wanted to be on my level for the picture

The rest of the day was filled with traveling in the snow storm from house to house. After Susan & Rex's house we still had three other houses to visit. We left our house at 8 and rolled in the garage at 9:30. It was an amazing day filled with family and friends and lots of love. I absolutely love the holiday season, but by the time it is over I am glad I have a whole year to recooperate!! I hope you all had a day that was as wonderful as ours was!!

Ugly Sweater Christmas Party

2008-12-28T09:20:00.005-07:00

Well this is super late, but better late than never!
So this year I hosted the 1st Annual Ugly Sweater/White Elephant, Christmas Party. It was an absolute blast, most people showed up in some hideous sweater they had conned one of their loved ones out of, or fought old ladies at the DI for!! There was a prize for the ugliest sweater and Brigg took that one hands down!! Thanks Granny B, lol.
The best part of the night was exchanging the white elephant gifts!!!!!!!!!!!! There were the silliest things ranging from almost empty bottles of liquor to bags of trash, dirty diapers included. The pictures below have most people with their white elephant gifts. Yes that is a vibrator that girl is holding. Thanks Shalyse, that was hilarious!

SANTA

2008-12-14T11:04:00.006-07:00

Every year My Aunt Sarah and Uncle Mike have all their grandchildren over to decorate cookies, well during the cookie decorating celebration Santa comes to visit.
The last two year we have been able to share in their holiday tradition with Taylor. She is fearless, not afraid of Santa at all. She was bopping him on the head with a balloon that he gave her, wanting to sit in his lap while other kids were taking their turn and telling him no, no, no! She was cracking everyone up!
Here are some pictures from the festivities!

The little things matter the most!

2008-12-13T10:53:00.002-07:00

So I am just gonna brag about how cute my honey is!! The other day I had a horrible day at work, I hadn't eaten lunch just a late breakfast, the people driving home from work with me that day were absolute idiots!! I was cursing and honking so much, thank goodness Taylor wasn't in the car, or she would have learned so new words ;) I walk in the door and Taylor is all excited to see her mommy, which I absolutely love coming home to that everyday!!!! Cody looks at me and says "rough day?" I proceeded to dump my days woes on him for a few minutes. I walk into the kitchen to set my purse down and notice that he had done the dishes!!!!!!!! Between Taylor getting excited to see me and Cody doing the dishes my bad day had disappeared! I love my family, I am one blessed individual!!

Sharpies

2008-12-04T08:05:00.003-07:00

So as Cody and I were cleaning up dinner last night, we were under the impression that she was watching cartoons. OH BOY we were so wrong!!!
She was upstairs with a green sharpie!!! The sharpie ended up on the carpet, paper, legs, arms feet, tummy, calfs, bottoms of the feet, fingers, toes, arm pitts....no need to go on!! I wanted to be upset, but all I could do was laugh.
Here are some before and after pictures.

This was while we were cleaning the carpet.

I "googled" how to remove permanent ink from childrens skin. found out that soap and warm water is a good place to start.
So these are pics of her after that....

...Then it told me to take a cotton swap and use rubbing alcohol to finish the rest. I applied lots of lotion so that her poor little skin wasn't all dry and chappy after.
It actually did quite well, there are just traces of it left on her skin.

This is her showing you where she colored on herself.

Christmas is here...

2008-12-04T08:00:00.004-07:00

So this year I was able to schmooze Cody into setting the tree up earlier than the week before Christmas!! So Monday night during the football game us three set up our cute tree. I love the ornaments because they are all the different ornaments that Cody's parent had given him over the last 25yrs!! His theme was Santa, so there is any kind of Santa you can think of, Skiing (of course), bbqin', baseball, etc.
Taylor had so much fun!! This year is going to be my fave Christmas to date. Tay has no idea what is in store for her! I cannot wait to see her over exaggerated excitement for gift she opens!!

Tuesday night Taylor and I decorated a gingerbread house. I am not a baker so I opted for the kits you buy at the grocery store, no brainer right? Not exactly. So I followed the directions on the bag, but decided that those weren't the best!! Next year I will buy a icing bag and I will heat up the icing so that it comes out more smooth. Well here is our gingerbread house, not the most perfect but pretty dang cute.

Taylor was so funny, she would stick her fingers in the icing as she was putting on the candy and say "nummy mama, mmmmm" It was so funny and every so often I would look up to see what she was doing and she would have candy in her mouth. Pretty sure she ate more than the put on the house!!

Here is the proud architect of the gingerbread house!!!

Thanksgiving

2008-12-03T07:47:00.005-07:00

Can I just tell you I love the fall holidays. Thanksgiving is one of my faves. Lets break this down for a min; an entire day filled with NFL from morning to night, family and no one looking at you with disgust when you go back for thirds!! What more could you ask for?
Like every year my side of the family does a dinner on a different date than the real Thanksgiving. So this year I decided to host it at our house the Sunday before Thanksgiving. Reason being I still wanted to watch football all day as well as enjoy a traditional turkey day.
So I started cooking at 10 am and didnt stop until we ate at 4 pm. I was in charge of the turkey of course, mashed potatoes & gravy, green bean casserole and the rolls, all of the other food was brought by the guests. That made it super easy. Cody was such a big help, which helped me keep my sanity through out the day, Thanks babe!!

I was so proud of my turkey this year I made Cody take a few pictures before he carved it.

The turkey was so golden brown and cooked perfectly, it was not dry at all. Let me give you my secret weapon. Bags, get yourself a turkey bag by Reynolds!!!
My mom was in charge of the pies, holy moly did she bring so many pies!! There was a double chocolate cream pie, two different kinds of cheeescakes, and pumpkin. They were all so yummy!!

There were a total of 12 guests, yes we were able to fit 12 people comfortably in our house. There were three table spread out through the dinning room right into the living room.

The pictures below are of Taylor experiencing aerosol whipped cream. She absolutely loved it. She ate more of the whipped cream than she did of Scott's pumpkin pie!!

The Follow Thursday was a much more relaxing day!! We had gone out to see One of my favorite bands, Royal Bliss preform their annual Thanksgiving show. So needless to say we were out late, but were able to sleep in!! We lounged around the house until it was time to Head over to Korahle's house for dinner with the extended family. It was a great dinner and we played so fun games. My little monster played with her little cousin and let me tell you those two are T-R-O-U-B-L-E!!!

HOLY WAR

2008-12-03T07:34:00.005-07:00

Well the big game was a blast!!
The day was a busy day that ended fantastically.
I started off the day Shopping for new Utes gear for the fam @ 10a.m. (if you know me at all, you know that is a big deal that I was ready and out of the house before noon on a weekend)!!
When I was done it was then shopping time for baby stuff, Cody's cousin Ashli is due Chirstmas Eve. Right after I found the gifts it was time to head to the shower. It was a fun shower. I sat right beside a Y fan. I wish I would have taken a picture!!
I unfortunately had to leave the party early to head to the grocery store to shop for turkey day a
my item for the pot luck.
My side of the fam had an early turkey day...that
is a whole other post.
I was in charge of wings for our holy war party, so as soon as I got home I threw those together. They were actually the best wings I have ever made. Thanks for the recipe J!! If ya email me I will share the recipe, super simple!!

FINALLY it was time to head to the Millers, YAY!!
Taylor slept threw the first half, so Cody and I were able to watch most of the game together. Which was nice.
When she finally work up she was the cutest little

Utes Fan That I have ever seen. I was sure to send this picture to all of my friends that cheer for the blue side!!

The party didnt really start until after the game. A large portion of our friends have season tickets, front row right behind the north goal post!! So when they came home the celebration really began.
That is why you only see girls in the first picture. Cody and Tyler were the only males at the first, which I'm sure they loved.

It was so much fun to follow the Utes this year, the undefeated season was an added bonus.

I dont take shots so I was incharge of the picture taking during this one!!

This is my beautiful friend Sandee and her lil Utes princess Izzy

I've been tagged

2008-11-25T18:27:00.003-07:00

Tag, You're It!

1. Where did you meet?
through mutual friends at his place, he was throwing a party while his parents were away.

2. How long did you date before you got married?
not married yet, but been together almost 4 years

3. How long have you been married?
please see above

4. What does he do that surprises you?
does dishes and cleans up the house

5. What is your favorite feature of his?
his beautiful eyes, and sense of humor

6. Does he have an annoying habit?
never being serious, even when he should be.

7. What is your favorite quality of his?
being honest

8. Does he have a nickname for you?
well it use to be babe, but since Tay has come along it is mom, lol

9. What is his favorite color?
I wanna say red, but I could be wrong on this, that is bad

10. What is his favorite food?
cereal, no not really probably chinese

11. What is his favorite sport?
skiing or baseball

12. When and where was your first kiss?
May 28, 2005

13. What is your favorite thing to do as a couple?
Hang out with friends

14. Do you have any children?
Yes a beautiful baby girl that is almost two, sheesh how time flies

15. Does he have a hidden talent?
he is an amazing skiier, from what i hear. I hate the cold so i actually dont go.

16. How old is he?
He just turned 26

17. Who said "I love you" first?
He said "I think I'm falling in love with you..." and then a few days later I said "I know I'm in love with you" it has been over since then

18. What is his favorite type of music?
screamo

19. What do you admire most about him?
He works full time goes to school and is the breadwinner and never complains. I love it. I love him so much for it too.

20. Do you think he will read this?
probably not

I tag: Tausha, Ciara, Steph, and everyone else who reads it

Oldies, but goodies

2008-11-19T07:28:00.005-07:00

Ok so I found an old camera disk while cleaning last week and these are what was on it. These are from 5 years ago!! I had to post them.

Me and the future Mrs. Hillman

Nik-o-li and I

Dame and his imfamous fro

Steve Yancey, Chad Karr and Tyler Davidson...they look sooo young

My Mom, Emily and I

This is My Gramps...He passed away almost five years ago...I found these pictures on his birthday!! Love you and miss you Gramps

TJ, Steve. Tyler and I

Me and my honey. I love this smile.

Cody, me, TJ, & Jaime. Heres to the good ol days.

"LUB GOO"

2008-11-18T16:49:00.004-07:00

So as Taylor is learning to use words there is a lot of confusion as to what she is actually saying. There are words that sound like others and some you just have no idea, but she says it ALL the time! Last night I was putting Taylor to sleep and every night I kiss her on the forehead and say "love you". Last night as I was kissing her on the forehead I hear her say "lub goo". I melted!!! I never thought that goo could be such a wonderful thing.
This is the stuff mothers live for. I love being a MOMMY.
lub goo you too my little tato-bug

I need help

2008-11-15T16:20:00.002-07:00

Ok so this summer we remodeled our kitchen as well as our main bathroom. Where Cody and I both work in the construction scene we were able to get really good deals and love our new additions, well when we remodeled the kitchen we got a new stove, so this year I want to put it to good use during the holidays. I have never been much of a baker but I want to change that! Susan & Rex gave me a Kitchenaid mixer for my birthday this year and I have been able to get some use out of it, but I need recipies!!!
So will you all donate your favorite recipies to my cause. I am looking for cookie and candy recipies. you may leave them on the comments for others to use or send it to my email Sheenachanel@yahoo.com.
Thanks everyone

Halloween

2008-11-09T13:19:00.003-07:00

I know it is late, but better late than never.

OUR LITTLE GIRAFFE
So Halloween was an event for Taylor this year. It started out with Taylor going to my friend Jamey's house in the morning because Grandma Susan had a DR. appt for follow up from her surgery on Wednesday. Jamey has a little boy, Rhyder who is almost a year older than her. Jamey and I have been friends since we were 12 so it is really neat that our kids are only a year apart(almost to the date). So she dressed our two little "animals" in their costumes and took them trick or treating to her Mom's work and to my work. They were so stinking cute. We didn't even plan to have them be safari animals together, but it worked out pretty cute.

Rhyder in his Zebra costume

Then Taylor was transferred over to Grandma Susan and the fun continued. Those two teamed up with Korahle (Cody's Aunt) and her granddaughter, Alexis. The two Grandmas took the kids to see Ashli(Alexis' mom) at her work for more candy
Taylor and Alexis at Grandma's.
Taylor and Grandma Beth
The kids were able to go to each resident and get candy from them, but there were a few people that were dressed up and "too scary" for her to get candy from.

Taylor would get so scared by things she would put the death grip on Susan's hand and cover her eyes!!
P.S. ask Susan about her experience with the gorilla, it will make ya chuckle!
After Grandma Beth's Susan drove around until Taylor feel asleep and then it was nap time at Grandma & Grandpa Smith's until Mom and Dad could make it back.
After work Cody and I rushed over to continue the festivities. We had some yummy dinner, Susan is an awesome cook. I love it when she makes us dinner. Then it was real "Trick-or Treating" time. Susan couldn't join us for all the walking because she had over done it during the day so Rex, Cody, Taylor and I gathered the essential for the night piled it into the wagon and off we were. Gracie is an "essential"
The best story of the night was at the very first house we stopped by. This house was know for the full size candy bars that were given out when Cody and his sisters were young. Well that family moved out this year. So were are patiently waiting for someone to answer the door and here comes the teenage daughter, the look on her face was, surprise, almost like she wasn't aware that it was Halloween. She told us she didn't have any candy, Taylor pouted, and she left us to go look for something to give her. Here comes the good part, she came out with a CANDY CANE, yes from last Christmas!! It was so funny, if you know Rex & Cody at all you know that they wanted to say something about it, but because the girl was trying to find Taylor some candy they held it back. Not for long, as soon as we were in the driveway all three of us were making comments.

Cody's Aunt Korahle and Uncle Ron live walking distance from his parents house so Susan had jumped in the car and we were going to meet her there.Us four made our way up to the house
Dont worry Taylor is not alone, Grandpa Rex is with her you just can't see him because he is in his camoflauge, lol.
she was scared at this point of the 12" plastic light-up ghost that was on the door step so Gramps had to Carry her.

Korahle had friends and family at her house so Taylor was able to play with some of her cousins which was fun to see all the kids dressed up.

Christine, Zak, Candice A.K.A Birdie, and Tato-Bug

Zak made the absolute best little Jack Sparrow. I wish I would have gotten an up close picture of him.
Korahle, Brody, and Nancy Drew (I think), A.K.A Brooklyn
Me and the little girls

Tato-Bug was pooped by the end of the night, so we piled into Grandma's car and drove home to watch movies with Rex and Susan. Halloween is one of my fave holidays. Cant wait until next year!!

THE JOSEPH HALLOWEEN PARTY

2008-11-09T12:46:00.011-07:00

Since Halloween landed on a Friday night we knew it would be impossible to find a sitter for any of the festivities so Jamey being the quick thinker that she is had her party the Saturday before. We had so much fun and here are a few pictures for proof. Thanks for having us over Stan & Jamey
The cherry pie eating contest winner & his cherry pie
Plug & Socket
Soon to be Mr. & Mrs Cavewoman

that is Harry Bush
the boys
the ladies
the geek
Jamey in her son's slippers

Beauty & the geek

Tag...your it!!

2008-10-31T16:47:00.003-06:00

Its the game of blog tag!!! I was tagged by my cousin Melissa, who was tagged by her cousin.

For those of you that I tag, here are the instructions. Copy the post, paste into a new post, and fill in your answers. Then you get to tag people!!!

I am... a mother and love being one
I know... EVERYTHING, LOL
I want... a massage
I have... a beautiful family
I wish... Obama to be our next president
I hate... McCain/Palin
I miss... My Dad & Grandpa
I fear... Spiders and bees
I feel... exhausted today
I hear... thoughts running like crazy in my head
I smell... crackers
I crave... sleep
I search...to be a better person
I wonder... what people that are voting for McCain are thinking
I regret... nothing.
I love... my wonderful family and friends
I care... too much about people
I always...worry about stupid things
I am going...trick or treating tonight
I believe...that love is love not matter what sex you love

I tag - anyone who will do this!!!!!!!!

Yes we can!!!

2008-10-30T14:33:00.002-06:00

OK I wont Say much about my political stance...but as most of you know I'm pretty democratic!
A friend of mine posted this on myspace and I wanted to share it with you all. Don't forget to vote on November 4th. It is a privilege, please take the opportunity to CHANGE the nation.

Stephanie Tagged me

2008-10-28T09:56:00.002-06:00

Tag

8 favorite TV Shows

1. CSI
2. NCIS
3. Sportscenter
4. Sunday football
5. BullS#$%(penn and teller's show)
6. Law & Order
7. Law & Order CI
8. Law & Order SVU

8 favorite Restaurants

1. Souper Salad
2. Cafe Rio
3. Chicken Express
4. Spaghetti Factory
5. Sampan
6. Tepanyaki's
7. Sweet Tomatoes
8. Arby's

8 things that happened yesterday

1. The coffee ended up all over the counter instead of the pot
2. I was late to work
3. I blogged
4. Talked to my Mom
5. We watched the world series and monday night football
6. ate pizza
7. Spent a few hours with my precious baby
8. crazy day at work

8 things to look forward to

1. Halloween
2. Thanksgiving
3. Christmas
4. what Taylor will learn today
5. Lunch with Grandma
6. Mom coming home
7. Going to the Broncos Game!!!!!!!!!!!!!
8. getting a dog

8 Things I Love about Fall

1. The leaves
2. The Smell
3. The Colors
4. Almost Christmas time
5. levis and hoodies
6. Halloween
7. Cooking Thanksgiving dinner for my side of the family
8. the meat that comes home from hunting trips

8 things in my wish list

1. Have my entire house clean for more than a few hours
2. a new wardrobe
3. Going back to school
4. a personal chef
5. TIVO/DVR
6. To lose some weight
7. To travel the world
8. To Keep in touch with all people that mean the most to me!

8 people I tag

1. Work friends: Jenna, Kristin
2. Family: Alex,Leslie
3. High School Friends: Amanda Turko, Nikki
4. Tausha
5. Mindy Johanson
6. Summer
7. Ashley F
8. Brooke B

Our 2nd Annual Pumpkin Carving

2008-10-28T09:22:00.008-06:00

So for the last two Halloweens we have invited our friends over to carve the big orange gourds at our place. This year was much more fun than last. Taylor and her friend Drea were into it a little more than last year!! Not one kid cried this year!

We had 16 people in the house, not all carved pumpkins some were watching the MLB playoffs(mostly the guys). Becky made dinner for everyone, her chili was delicious. It is such a great feeling having such good close friends that you want to share fun moments like this!

Taylor was putting the guts back in the pumpkins at this point.

Take it out of mom's and give it to Aunt Becky

Of course Shalyse was the last one there and the last one to finish, but her bat pumpkin was incredible.

Marissa the lil raiders fan working hard on her raiders pumpkin

the baby girls cleaning up together. It was pretty dang cute

Sandee was a speed carver. She was in and out in no time

For some reason becky and I had pretty small pumpkins but ours took forever!!

our cute simple pumpkins, just like our family!!

Witches at Gardner Village

2008-10-25T11:46:00.007-06:00

So after the Pumpkin Patch(see previous blog). We decided to stop by Gardner Village. When I was younger this was a yearly tradition, but it was called the Scarecrow Festival. It has changed drastically since then, but it was still fun to walk through the shops and see all the witches they had set up.

This witch was going for the hoola-hooping world record! She moved, she was really cute.

Taylor wasn't really sure what to think of the witches at first. Infact she was actually terrified when we first arrived but soon figured out they were not real.

This witch was trying to catch her dinner

The flying witch

"We wanna catcher not a belly scratcher" There was a pitcher but I guess she wasnt very cute cause I didnt take her picture.

My little Diva...she kicked off her shoes and started trying on any shoes she could reach, even if they didnt match. She is such a girlie-girl...what am I gonna do when she is older? Thank god I have friends and family that will help!!

Pumpkin Patch

2008-10-25T10:43:00.010-06:00

Fall is by far my second favorite season!! The scents, the activities, the beautiful leaves and most of all HALLOWEEN!!
Since Taylor is getting older and leaning by exploration I decided that I wanted to go to an actual pumpkin patch to pick out our family's pumpkins this year. I was so happy I made that decision.

We went on a Tuesday afternoon with Susan and that was nice because there was no body else there. We had the whole patch to our selves!! There was no rushing no pushing people out of the way to get the pumpkin you want ;) We took our time and enjoyed it. I found this cute lil place called Maybe's Pumpkin Patch in South Jordan. If you want the address let me know. They had so many different types of pumpkins, ones that I didn't even knew existed, lol. They provided wagons and even a tiny wheelbarrow that Taylor loved to pull around, unless she was sitting beside it in the big wagon.

This pumpkin patch had all kinds of cute little picture perfect areas in their yard as well. They had straw and corn stalks for you to purchase as well as take the opportunity to take adorable Autumn pictures.

SINGLES WARD

2008-10-20T13:21:00.003-06:00

So...there we were watching Monday Night Football(having a beer of course), and the doorbell rings. No one we are close with knocks on the door with out walking in shortly after. I guess everyone knows we are too lazy to get off our butts and welcome you in, lol. I was curious who would be here. I looked to see who it was and noticed I did not recognize who the two guys were standing outside the door. So I opened it, waiting for them to try to sell my something(Im such a sucker when it comes to those kinds of things). They asked for Cody Smith, I was thrown off guard so I asked who was here to see him and the taller guys replies "I'm John* with the local singles ward and this is Dave*" Of course I chuckle and told Cody who is at the door to see him. He comes around the corner with a confused smile on his face. Greets the two guys and right behind him is our beautiful baby girl. John* says "doesn't look like you are so single anymore." He was semi laughing as well. He then told us that someone had forwarded Cody's church records to their ward and they wanted to stop by and welcome him to come to church. We were all laughing. I kind of expected them to act like missionaries and try to push the lds card onto us but they were on their way as quick as they came. Then Dave* says as he is walking away "ya know you wont have to worry about us coming over any more, but sounds like someone wants you back at church so I'm sure you will see a missionary or two come by." We laughed cause we know it is like clock work that the missionaries stop by...except I havent seen any since the sister missionary started a yelling fight with me(that is a whole other story).
Living in Utah you expect to see missionaries at your door, but members of the single ward, that is just so amusing!!!
*names have been changed for privacy

Remember when

2008-10-15T13:13:00.005-06:00

Remember When... (Got this from the Woods)
MURRAY HIGH SCHOOL DAYS

1. Did you date someone from your high school? Well I went on dates with people from my high school, but never really dated steady until after I graduated.

2. What kind of car did you drive? mercury topaz...loved that tank until i wrecked it!!

3. What is your most embarrassing moment in high school? how about my soph year when it was the christmas assembly and we had pie tins thrown in our faces...well if ya dont remember i was the one that chased someone and fell on my butt infront of the entire assembly!! By far the most embarrassing!!!

4. Were you a party animal? Not until my Sr year

5. Were you considered a flirt? yeah you could say that

6. Were you in band, orchestra, or choir? nope not a band geek

7. Were you a nerd? in my own little ways

8. Were you on any varsity teams? i was on the varsity drinking team. LOL

9. Did you get suspended/expelled? they wanted to suspend shalyse and I and not let us walk with our class because of a fight...but that didnt happen.

10. Can you still sing the fight song? i didnt even know it in school

11. Who were your favorite teachers? White and Campbell

12. Where did you sit during lunch? my house

13. School Mascot? Spartans

14. Did you go to homecoming and with whom? Chris Francis my soph, Nate Barney my jr, and some cute jr that i can't remember his name for the life of me

15. If you could go back and do it again, would you? I enjoyed it and parts of it I really miss, but the drama is not something I want to relive

16. What do you remember most about graduation? Switching seats to sit by Brian

17. Where did you go senior skip day? who knows

18. Have you gained weight since then? yeah i have had a kid since then and drink too much beer

19. Who was your prom date? jr prom@ murray was Jake Thayne...miss that kid sr ball@murray Skylar Taylor sr prom@kearns Curtis Hauser sr ball@alta B Nielson

20. Are you planning on going to your 10 year reunion? hell no

21. Looking back, what advice would you give yourself? enjoy every minute

What were you doing 10 years ago? lol Student Government was my life

5 years ago? 2003. moving back home from Moab

Name 5 things on your to do list: INVENTORY!!

Name 3 bad habits: too many too name

Name 6 places that you have lived: moab, town house with girl friends, two bedroom apt with mom, granny's, apt with boyfriend, and house with cody

What jobs have you had in order: ACS(telemarketing), mr rags, dry cleaner, prints plus, diamond glass, wingers, childrens academy, banditos, southern exposure, unique tile, spaghetti factory, unique tile.

5 things people don't know about you: I'm a cry baby, I'm not cut out to be a stay at mom, I have only been sno skiing once in my life, I love to cook and I enjoy horror movies

Curly hair gone straight

2008-10-07T18:38:00.008-06:00

So a few weeks ago I decided that I would try to straighten Taylor's hair. I know what you are thinking "who in their right mind would try to straighten a toddlers hair?" She sat like a good girl brushed her teeth for a good 10 minutes (that is how I trick her into sitting still while I fix her hair). I was so surprised to see how long it was. She was completely bald in June 2007 and now she has this thick amazing pretty blonde hair! Keep in mind when you look at the pictures below, that she has NEVER had a hair cut in her short little life.

She was also amazed at how beautiful her hair turned out as well. Do you see those layers!! Girls pay a lot of money to have a cut and color this beautiful and our gorgeous little monkey is just blessed with it. She has no idea how lucky she is.

See ya soon Mom!

2008-10-07T11:27:00.014-06:00

So my Mom left today on her next journey of life. She boarded a plane to Pueblo Colorado for the next month. My mother and I have such a close relationship and this will be such a change for me and the rest of our family. I will miss her so much! I seriously talk to my mom on the phone at least once a day if not more. I see her a couple of times a week when dropping off Taylor or just to meet up for lunch, dinner or a beer while we watch football. This will be hard for me not to be 10 minutes away from her. Thank God it is only a month!!

You are probably asking why she is moving to Pueblo Co. of all places. Well for as long as I can remember the Labor Union has played a big part of our lives. I remember being 10 years old and on the picket line with my Mom and all of her co-workers. The word "scab" has such a different meaning in my vocabulary because of the union. The Labor Union has helped my Mom and her co-workers get paid what they are worth and help them keep their jobs, as well as having incredible health insurance.

So my Mom has worked her way up the Labor Union Ladder over the last 25 years. Being a Union Steward, Secretary, and Now Vice President of Fibers. Along with other misc jobs along the way.
Over the last few years they have been sending her to Union conventions all over the place, as a representative for Utah. With this being an election year the Labor Union is heavily involved in the campaigns. Just over the summer she has seen John Edwards speak twice and Barack Obama speak once. She loved it!! So the Labor Union is sending her to one of the biggest cities for the union, Pueblo Colorado. Bet ya never knew that Pueblo had the first steel mine, I sure didn't!
So my Mom will be organizing many election rallies for Obama/Biden in Colorado, as well as running Union meetings in Denver, Colorado.
I wish her the best of luck and hope that she absolutely loves doing this kind of stuff, so that she can get out of that hell hole that we call "Hexcel". I know that if she does that will mean that she will be gone ALL the time, but she deserves to take a break from working on her feet for 12 hrs of swing shift and forced overtime.
Good luck Mom I hope you love it!!!
I threw her a surprise going away party on Saturday night at the Puck. Here are a few pictures from the party.

I just wanted to thank all of you that came out to show your support and love!! That is why you are a part of my life!!

Girls weekend @ the cabin

2008-09-25T13:08:00.016-06:00

Us girls have been talking about doing this all summer long. We finally decided a date made sure everyone had the weekend off! My mom drove McKenzie and I.
We stopped at The Little Acorn...for those of you that don't know it is this tiny little drive in that has such good food. It is at the mouth of the Spanish Fork Canyon. One of those places that you went as a kid and you just have such fond memories of!! You should try it mmmm....yummy!!
We finally made it!!!! most of us showed up Friday night(we missed Tausha and decided that she will be coming next time for the whole weekend HE HE HE).
Well we heard a lot of slack from a few of the guys but one in particular(you know who you are), was convinced that we wouldn't be able to start a fire. He also believed that we would be home Saturday afternoon because we would be so cold and not be able to figure out how to stay warm. Needless to say we survived the weekend and no one ended up with frost bite!! ;)
We had all kinds of plans of fishing, hiking, and going to search out some fire wood. None of that ever happened. When were just enjoying the fact that none of us had anything to stress about up there! No kids to feed change or watch 24/7, no men to feed or worry about 24/7!!! Tausha and Ashley arrived late in the afternoon on Saturday and as soon as they arrived we were headed out to Mt. Pleasant. There is this lil dive bar in town that is right next to a pizza shop. We all ordered our pizza's and headed next door to wait. We had a few drinks, pitchers and lots of laughs.
We celebrated Jeni's 21/30 birthday. She was pregnant on her 21st so we made her 30th just as much fun as if she was 21 again. Her sister Krista brought this absolute hilarious blow up doll. He was super creepy but kept us laughing untill well after 5 a.m.

I had so much fun with all you girls. Cant wait until next year. Pretty sure I will start a paper chain to count down the days!!

Strawberry Wine...17...hot July moon...

I love my friends

Tausha & Kenzi

this was the picture that was above the girls toilet at the bar!!

Start making reservations now they will go fast!!
THANK YOU BECKY!!

STATE FAIR

2008-09-25T12:38:00.014-06:00

I love the state fair. I'm so glad I can use Taylor as an excuse to get Cody to go to it!! I was so sick that whole week but was determined not to miss out on the fair this year!! After work Cody's mom Susan, and his grandparents Bill & Linda came to our house to wait for Willie and Drea to join us.
We were finally on our way. We had the absolute best parking spot in the world. Thanks Brandon and DJ!! We definately had to go through and see ALL of the animals, because Tay loves animals. One of the best parts of going to the fair is the food, unfortunately we didnt get to try any of the delicious deep fried goodies you all heard about but we did enjoy foot long corndogs, funnel cake and popcorn.
.
Now it was time for the rides. Drea and Taylor had so much fun. Willie was such a trooper and took the girls on the roller coaster

Taylor loves to be on horses whether it is her stuffed one from her Auntie Alisha, the rocking one she received from Grandma Susan, the Merry-Go-Round, or the real ones that are at her Grandpa & Grandma Smith's house. The bouncing houses are another thing that she enjoys ALOT I actually had to take my shoes off and climb in to get her out, of course she whined a bit. The whining stopped once she saw the gigantic slide just around the corner. That was always one of my faves I wanted to take her. Im pretty sure it is still the same sacks and slide from 20 years ago!!

Go Broncos!!

2008-09-09T14:25:00.005-06:00

My favorite time of the year is finally here. Sept-Feb are the greatest months all year. We Kicked off the first Monday Night Game at our place. The Denver Broncos were playing the Oakland Raiders so it was a must. It was a great day to be a broncos fan. Not only are we on the #1 spot of the AFC West but we also creamed the Raiders(which is the biggest rivaly around in my eyes)! I forgot to mention that the stomping of the Raiders occured at Oakland which made it even sweeter!! MAN I LOVE FOOTBALL.

So since Taylor has so many cute lil Bronco outfits I decided to get her and Drea dressed up in Orange & Blue. Well Drea's Dad is a huge Kansas City fan and he wanted to kill me. I had to take a few pictures before Willie took her out of it. It was so cute cause the girls thought they were so cute cause us three were matching!!

Oh Taylor had to show her "HULK" face too!!

Greek Festival 2008

2008-09-09T14:16:00.008-06:00

Taylor, my Mom and I headed up to the greek festival last Thursday. We watched the kids dance, we ate LOTS, we drank beer and watched Tay play her little heart out.

lets Rewind

2008-09-09T13:20:00.015-06:00

PEACE LOVE & CAKE

Once again this will be a terribly long blog, because I choose not to sit down for a few mins every couple of days but rather wait til nap time on a tues or thurs(when I'm not at work) and spend nap time blogging. So here we go....

Dog beds are so comfy...

So there we were hanging out with our friends at Brigg & Becky's house and Taylor just runs around that place like it is her own. Well Taylor snuck away usually she runs and plays in Dominick's room but this time this is where we found her, just relaxing on Whiskey's dog bed!! We couldnt get her off that thing all night long. Silly girl

Taylor loves book time

"whats that dad?" Look @ those cute toes These 2 are silly

The Salmon Disaster

We found these cedar planks at Costco and decided to try them out. We also bought a nice piece of to cook on the planks. School started for Cody so I thought I would be the cute lil house wife and make him dinner when he got home from school oh boy did that become a disaster! You have to soak them inorder for them not to go up into flames on the grill. Well my kitchen sink was not large enough to soak the whole plank by it's self so i thought that if I just turned it often enough that it would be fine. So Cody came home and I started the grill up, well about 10 mins into the grilling process the plank started on fire!!! Needless to say we didnt have "cedar grilled Salmon steak" nope we had all the side dishes that were supposed to accompany the salmon. It was really sad but make for a great story now.

North to Alaska

My mom just got home from a week long fishing trip to Alaska with some family and friends. My mom absolutely loves the outdoors and couldn't have asked for a better vacation. Now Alaska isnt my idea of a dream vacation, I want sun the beach and a nice cold beverage. Not Debbie, she was in heaven with all the wildlife and days full of fishing. She brought home something like 180 pounds of Salmon and Halibut that she had caught in Alaska so we decided to invite 15+ of our close friends and family to a lil fish party at our house. Dont worry I didnt burn any fish this time!! he he. My mom and I started to cook around 5:30pm and ate around 9pm. We made 10 main dishes with Salmon and Halibut cooked different ways along with 4 side dishes. OMG!! There was so much food and so much left over as well. I think almost everyone walked out with an extra plate of food for later!! I dont eat leftovers so I was fine with everyone taking it all away!! Here is a picture of my counter filled with all the food

He's Home

2008-08-29T18:08:00.003-06:00

YAY!!! So we finally found him. He was at the pound in Magna...so far away, not really sure why he was clear out there. I guess someone found him and brought him to the pound. He is healthy and just as crazy as ever. I am so relieved that I dont have to tell my mom that he is dead or that we couldnt ever find him. I was a group effort for the whole family and now he will never be let out of our sight!!

LOST!!!

2008-08-28T09:23:00.003-06:00

Monday night I let the dog out around ten. When I last saw him he was running around tryin to decide which spot of the grass was going to be the best to fertilize. I ran upstairs to get Taylor ready for bed and while I was doing that my smart little 20 month old shut the sliding glass door and locked it. I went to bed shortly after putting Taylor down and just completely forgot about the small 9lb dog in the back yard. Well we have a wood fence that has warped pretty badly in some spots so it would have been easy for him to get out. When I woke up at seven and tried to take him out he wasnt coming to my calls. That is when it hit me. I NEVER LET HIM BACK INSIDE LAST NIGHT!! I went into panic mode ran out side to see if he was still in the back. Taylor was right behind me with her hands in the air yelling something that sound like "STAPTY" her little head tilted to the side looking so confused. He was no where before Cody and I both had to be at work we each drove around the neighborhood looking for him. I went to and call the humane society and the animal shelter in Murray and My brother Jeremy and his girlfriend made a trip to the animal shelter in West Valley(they are real jerks at that one). I have been calling and making visits everyday since Monday and no luck. Sad thing is, he has his tags on and my mom's number is the one on the tags. Well she is in Alaska(that would be why I was watching her dog) and doesnt get service up there. The phone didnt even work(she has cricket) so no voice mail or anything. Well I was finally able to work something out with cricket and I got her voice mail up and running and put a message on there to call me if they find the dog.
Im so sad I love that dog. My mom has had him for almost 5 years now and he is part of the family. People will ask Taylor where scrappy is and she calls for him and when he doesnt come she gets super sad and comes to me and fake crys on my shoulder. I hope he makes it back home

Mullet slide show

2008-08-23T13:19:00.004-06:00

Ok so I love Mullet Watching!! I will take anyone's photo that is sporting a mullet. I would love help on this too. If you see a great mullet out there snap a photo and send it to me and I will add it to my Mullet slide show

Catching up!

2008-08-20T18:42:00.022-06:00

Wow ok I need to get in the swing of doing this on a continual basis. Sorry ya'all I will get better at doing it. But lets recap the last few weeks of our lives.

August 6 2008

The blaze put on a free concert at the Gallivan Center, that featured The Spencer Neilson Band as Well as a favorite of mine

If you arent familiar with them they are an amazing local band. When Taylor was first born she would scream bloody murder during bath time unless I had them playing on the ipod! You may think it is silly but true. So my Mom, her boyfriend Scott, my brother Jeremy and his girlfriend Caitie all rode trax down there for the festivities. My cousin Tiva and her two daughters met us there along with a few friends of my moms and their two kids.

Tiva and her girls

My Mom with Keitlyn and Taylor Dancing away

We had so much fun! Anytime seeing Royal Bliss is fun, but especially when it is free and the kids can join as well!

August 10 2008

My spontanious boyfriend (lol) had great idea to head up to the mountains and get out of the heat. Well we ended up at . It was so nice up there and so pretty. I hadnt been up there in years, but those mountains are Cody's second home during the winter months. It was so nice to just be up in the mountains and away from people. We did a little hiking, but not as much as we would have liked because Taylor and I had a birthday party to go to.

The birthday party was at the park and there were a ton of kids there for Taylor to play with. Grandma Debbie takes her pretty much any day that she has her. That maybe an exaggeration but not too far off ;) Taylor has been obssed with sports balls since she was tiny. Most little girls want to carry around a doll. Not our kid, if there is a basketball around she wants to bounce it and spike a football if you have one of those for her to play with. The Smith family may not be happy with this next comment, but they better get over it(he he). She loves to kick around a soccer ball occasionally she will even kick the basketball around. She does know how to throw a ball around too, not just toss but really throw. Just like her Daddy ;)

We actually had to leave early from the birthday party, because my Granny, Cody and I were heading to Wiseguys to see Marcus (from Last Comic Standing). Actually we went to see my Uncle Guy and Marcus but I found out after I had tickets that Guy was cut from the show and then earlier on Sunday was asked to do a last minute show after the one we already had tickets too :( It was fun anyways.

August 14 2008 MOTHERS DAY IN AUGUST

For Mother's Day this year my brothers and I bought my mom a gift certificate for all of us to go golfing together. She loves to golf but doesnt do it much anymore, so we thought we would go with her. There were 7 of us but only two with their own clubs so after scrambling to find enough sets for us to golf with and enough beer to fit in the bags :) we were on our way. Cody and my Mom are the only ones who really know what they were doing so im sure that the people around us were either super annoyed or extremely entertained

My brother's girlfriends in their flip-flops. That is my mom showing you were the green is and where her son's ball went. Cody my brother was struggling. It was so much fun I could really get into golf.

August 16 2008

Cody Smith's 26th birthday. We got up super early on a Saturday which isnt our style 7am to be exact and headed to east canyon. We went up emmigration canyon because of all the construction up Parley's. That is a much more scenic route, but I swear everyone who owns a bike was up that canyon just taking over the road. I know I know they deserve to be on the road as much as we do, but seriously is it really necessary to be in the center of the road so that we cannot pass you and then when we do pass you, do you need to flip us off? Dont think so!! Just stay on the shoulder and it wouldnt be so bad. There were signs up and down the whole canyon saying "please share road". No worries there were no mountain bikers that were ran over by the Murano that day. We arrived just in time for breakfast, Thanks Susan!! We tried to head out and play on the lake but it was so darn cold. Alisha had on sweat pants, hoodie and a wind breaker. She is our transplated Texan.

Finally it warmed up and we made it out on the lake for an hour or so. We had to leave early to get home and ready for a bbq celebration. It was a short trip but worth it. I love being away from the city! We had a big group of friends over that night and ate lots of food and lots of cocktails. Everyone had a good time, especially the birthday boy and the crickets. LOL

This is the end to the forever long post. I will work on posting more often.

Love your guts

Taylor Mae

2008-08-12T08:13:00.007-06:00

So last Tuesday I took Taylor in for her 18 month check up. Wow she is growing so fast! She is 32 1/2 inches (70%tile)tall, she weighs 23lbs 14oz (35%tile), and her head size is in the 90%tile. So our little monkey is a tall skinny girl with a big ol' head. Pretty much just like her daddy(he he dont tell him I said that). It seems like just last week I was pushing her to learn how to walk and now I miss the days of putting in one spot, running to the bathroom coming back to still find her in the same spot. Boy o boy is life different now! She is such a smart little girl, you only need to show her how to do things one time and she can complete the task. She is especially good and doing things that you do not want her to do, like open the child safety locks on the cupboard!! They are supposed to be child proof, but I swear she is better at opening them than I am.

Her language skills have developed a lot in the last few weeks, she still only says a handful or words that you can understand. She is making a lot of noises that sound similar to words, but not quite there yet.

She is 100% a water baby, ok well she loves to be on the boat with her life jacket on, but not necessarliy in the water! She definately love kiddie pools, but keep her away from sprinklers she is terrified!!

IM OFFICIALLY A BLOGGER!!

2008-08-12T08:05:00.003-06:00

Yes I am now sucked into the blogging world. You must bear with me I am terrible at these things, but I'm certain I will catch on quick. I should say as soon as Tausha teaches me how to use this thing I will do much better.