Line upon Liney

Caroline is full of so many funny things that it is time I start blogging them so we can remember them in years to come.

At the doctor's office, "mom if I am cute and reverent, will I get a sucker?" she doesn't know what to do when, she just knows those are important ones.

"Daddy is my best friend, but it's okay mom you can be my best friend too."

Lunch time almost daily, " Can we go get the kids now?"

We were talking about what sports Rigdon and Livi wanted to do in high school and Caroline says, " I want to be a stop signer when I get old enough just like at Rigdon and Livi's school." Apparently she wants to be a crossing guard, so we can take her out of gymnastics and save some money!

Loving Life

This is going to be the name of all my posts that simply share my feelings or insights about my life at the time. If you only come for pictures these will not appeal to you, if you think my last name has a connection to my intellectual prowess these may prove different. I am someone that sees the sunny side of life most of the time. My kids have really tested this side of me, although they truly are the sunshine in my life. I don't like laundry or mopping the floor, homework is a thorn in my side, but other than that I am extremely blessed. I love life. Right now I am loving our beautiful weather, LOVING that I made my first apple pie from scratch (crust and all). Loving Friday night football games with Rangi, the kids and lots of friends.

Yum!

Just thought I would post a picture of sweet baby J. enjoying her macaroni and cheese. She devoured it like it was candy, and it probably has the same health factor.

Adjective fest!

Last week my friend Jennifer and I went to go see the BYU ballroom dancers. It was truly breathtaking. The dancers were SO talented, their costumes were stunning AND modest. They each changed costumes for every dance, the music ranged from salsa to swing, and there was never a slow moment. I recommend it to anyone that wants exquisite and wholesome entertainment. Next time I am taking my whole family. Thanks for a charming night Jennifer!

general conference

What does this little back pack baby have to do with general conference? I LOVE them both! General Conference is a weekend where we get to stay home and listen to our living prophet and apostles (just like Moses and Abraham of the bible) teach us about the gospel of Jesus Christ. I love to make it a special weekend with our family that focuses on how lucky we are that God still puts living prophets on the earth. We love to get comfy and the weather this year was perfect; cold and a little rainy. We also went on a fun little hike/picnic in the new nature reserve by our house!
Here is everyone hiking away... meanwhile I am trying to hone my photography skills in the few minutes I get a month!
Hooray... we made it to the picnic table and had a very relaxing and uplifting weekend!

Life in general

Here the kids are practicing their skills at the skate park
Rangi is still looking pretty skilled
Three guys that I love headed up to the top of San Gorgonio
Rangi doesn't do anything BUT intense in every sport he plays and that includes broom hockey at church. (13 stitches later, 1:00am and my visiting teacher all helped out with his intensity).
We finally renewed our passes to the happiest place on earth because Caroline is at the prime age and we couldn't deny her any longer. All three kids with no cavities also added to the celebration!
I have been working in the yard, planting fall mums, and making ghosts that light up, to make it look like fall here. Unfortunately this picture only documents Rangi's handiwork in trimming this cute tree we thought was an out of control bush. We did not plant the yard so we have to figure out what everything is... in this case a pygmy date palm and we love it now!
Enjoying our first Dodger game! ( Hey I was raised in an Angels family) We were lucky enough to be given great tickets, and take only the two oldest to a game!

L.A.County Fair

This year at the fair we had a variety of life and death encounters ... the shark
The heat... it started out hot!
The T-Rex... you can see that Rangi and I are leaning away from his deadly jaw.
Maybe the most deadly was an actual taste of chocolate covered bacon, not as bad as it sounds, turned out to be not so deadly.
THE MOST DEADLY... worlds biggest chili cheese fries, and giant turkey leg... heart attack on location could occur!
Rigdon still alive and kicking after punishing the whole turkey leg, as for the chili fries...the plate was just as bare-we are watching our cholesterol levels until the next fair.
Caroline was the only thing to be feared in the petting zoo. She would hug the animals with a death grip until they fled for dear life.
Itch attack is what I would be afraid of here, but the kids climbed happily over and through the hay "maze" for quite awhile.

And if you are afraid of crazy kids... run now!

We also encountered deadly sales people which is why I am now the proud owner of THREE poodle gloves (designed to make house cleaning a walk in the park) lightning should have struck the sales booth making it more dangerous than the food.

Despite all of the danger we would risk it again to be with good friends, free parking, fatty foods and farm animals!

Dear Garage Sales...

I LOVE YOU!!! Yes I got this table that seats six comfortably at a garage sale. I stained the tabletop and seats darker to match my cabinets. I love garage sales. My husbands family introduced them to me when we were first married, and I have been in love ever since! With garage sales that is. I now have a friend that may love them as much as me. One mans junk is another mans treasure... that is our mantra. I can't wait for the next one, have I mentioned I love garage sales and finding deals with someone who is as excited as you are just adds to the fun!

Apple of our eye...

Jillian truly is the apple of our eye! We love her so much! She turned 8 months old on the day I took these pictures ( took me a while to blog). She is now 8 1/2 months old. She claps her hands, signs "more" when she is eating, pulls herself up to her knees (time to lower the crib) and always wants to be where the whole family is. She will happily sit outside on the grass and watch all the kids play.

October...

October is the best of all

In the fall

Colored leaves come tumbling down,

on the ground

footballs flying in the air,

everywhere...

Everything a month should be

Haunting skies and Haunting sounds

Haunting colors all around.

Cool by night and warm by day

there could be no better way...

-Jane W. Krows

Happily Ever After! (Utah #3)

Rachel was stunning! She looked so elegant in her "old fashioned" dress. Rachel and Danny were married in the Salt Lake Temple on August 22nd. It was a great day, and the Salt Lake temple was so beautiful!
The kids couldn't wait to hug them. We love Danny because he is so playful and loving with our kids. It should also be noted that Danny did the most awesome rap at their wedding dinner the night before. He surprised Rachel and rapped in front of 100 people. I was laughing so hard I was crying, partially because it was so funny and partially because it was so romantic. The rap lasted over 3 minutes!!! That's a lot of rapping for a white guy!!!
Have I mentioned that I LOVE these two little best friends!
We all enjoyed lunch at the historic Lion House Cafe after the ceremony, Rangi especially enjoyed his "Brigham's Favorite" pioneer sasparilla!
The red headed girls.
The reception was so whimsical, with flowers and little details everywhere. My girls were like fairies...
Here's a really chubby fairy...(Jillian)
The famed family picture. Everyone in the Smart family spent weeks helping to get the backyard ready, because we are so far away this rockwall is the only thing we were able to help with, so I thought it was fitting that we take our picture here. Turned out pretty good if you ask me (the wall that is).
Caroline was definitely feeling like a fairy, she loved having her own bouquet and the flower wreath on her head. She danced around the yard the whole night taking in all the whimsy she could find from the grandkids garden to the fountain to all the lights.
The grandsons...who knew that such a boy heavy family would end up with so many grand-daughters! These boys sure are cute though!
Jillian loved man handling Rangi's boutiner. I know the feeling, I just want to kiss her to pieces sometimes because she is so beautiful!
What a bunch of hotties... sorry Ricker but this picture totally makes the tux's worth it!
hotties and a hunchback (3rd one in)
This kid loves fire!!! I don't know who was more excited about the sparkler departure for Rachel and Danny... but regardless it was awesome!
Happily ever after...

9/11

Yesterday, the kids all wore red, white and blue to school (actually for that matter we all wore red white and blue) It is a school tradition. Olivia also got to say the pledge of allegiance on the intercom for the whole school. She was so excited she signed up weeks ago and kept asking me when it would be her turn, which I had no answer for and that is why I missed hearing it. She told me she was shaking the whole time! Pretty funny and cute! I also went and met Livi for lunch (me and you Beetle) because she is a little nervous to buy. It was fun to eat with Livi and her friends, and to see all the kids in their red, white and blue. We had a gorgeous night also, there were lots of clouds and a beautiful sunset which we were able to enjoy while tailgating with friends before the R.C.H.S. football game. It just seemed like a day worth documenting (for me).