Caleb's Pillow.

I remember, a long time ago, Dad was trying to convince Adam that he needed to get up to go to some priesthood session of conference that was at 7:00 in the morning and Adam told him that he couldn't go because he had an appointment. When Dad scoffed "With who??" Adam replied "Mr. Pillow."

Well. We have a Mr. Pillow at our house. It's Caleb's pillow. He won't let us put a pillowcase on it because he loves the tag. Thus, the thing is NAP-PY. Nasty and heinous and it should be BURNED.

But he sure loves Mr. Pillow.

I have no idea how I'm going to "lose" something this big...

Will Family its been quite a week, Mom's Bd on 26 and Jared Bd on the 28th and all mom wants is a trip all over the country to see our family.
Jared on the other hand just wants two or three softball team to play for so he can have all seven days covered. O ye "MY NEW BAT" paid for, back ordered and just not fun !@#$%^&*() and to hit those home run's I have been dreaming about for so long.! :)
Levi on the other had wants to hook the BIG Fish, and a lot of them he is now learning to through a net into the lake so that he can stop paying for bate. He is working a "Old Goute" and I stopped that the shop the other day and he look's good under the hat, and is working will with others.
For me I am looking fowarded to Thursday to get to go through the STA Line's, be body searched, and get out of hear! Dave and Cable look out hear gram-pa Don to balance out the numbers at your house. Just to get a way and play... If I have messed up the spelling just mark it up to one that has creative pen!
Love you all

Dad

Harry Potter

This week we threw caution to the wind --skipped a little homework and stayed up a little too late, but we finished number 6 in the Harry Potter series. I started reading it to the kids just before Lafe was born--poor Addison was really getting grief from the librarian about how long he had had the book checked out. We finally got the book on tape and sailed through the last half. Friday night we watched the movie and ate way too many Twizzlers. So our recommendation of the week is Harry Potter on CD--You won't regret it!

Happy Birthday Jared!

Ain't he cute? How easy it is for me to look back (almost 24 year later) to what a fun, funny kid Jared was. The nice thing about it is that most of you are old enough to have to some memories of your own of Jared's babyhood. I loved how he would sit on the kitchen floor in our West Mountain home and, by kicking his feet, slowly rotate himself in a circle. I pulled him off of the dishwasher door more times than I can count, and at 3:15 on any given afternoon he would go to the living room window to watch for his brothers and sisters to get off of the bus- he was never late, but often early, just waiting for his buddies. My heart stopped the night he fell down the stairs, end to end mind you, not just gently rolling. He was about a year old - I've probably never moved faster than that. And then there is the memory of him perched on Adam's shoulders while Adam ran him through the house and out the door into the yard and out into the apple orchard. Jared would laugh and laugh, drooling onto the top of Adam's head... but Adam never seemed to mind.
Happy Birthday, Jared! You have experienced some things that the rest of us have never even come close to (well, except maybe for dad) and you have just hung in there until you have been able to figure it out. Like the Kool Whip on my pumpkin pie you finish our family... we weren't all here until you came. I love you! Mom
I know, I know! Isn't this picture just choice? It was taken on the day Jared was blessed, and I could look at it a long time. Notice the WHITE SOCKS (how can you not?), the "My Little Pony", Ben and Becca holding hands, and the bow ties. ( Do you think Adam had put his foot down by that time?) Becca finally had some hair, Levi will always have his smile, and Ben will always have his cow-lick. Thank goodness Jared did NOT keep the cone-head. And there in the middle is Jen (Jenny, back then...). The ultimate big sister, responsible oldest child... she was so unhappy with me when she realized she did not get to have Jared's crib in her room. What in the heck was I thinking? Oh, maybe it was the fact the Darth Vader hid in that hallway. (hee hee hee). What a family! Love you!

Happy Birthday, Mama.

Dear Mom,

You are 59 today. The world was pretty different on the day you were born.

Just google image search the cover of "Life" magazine on the day you were born:

Yes. The world was cuter then, on the day you were born. (Which, speaking of, I don't think I know any details of your birth. I assume your dad wasn't there. I assume that you were born at some time, on this day, and that they thought you would be named "Myra." I would like more information, please.)

But today you are 59, which means that you have one year left to do all those crazy things you were going to do before you turned 60. I believe they probably included:

• Get married.
• Have children.
• Accidentally flash people by showing them how you could still fit your feet behind your head when you didn't know you had a split in your pants.
• Watch every episode of "Nova" ever filmed.
• Slap your spouse for flipping your bra strap.
• Laugh at your spouse when he gets stuck on the roof, then take pictures, but forget to take off the camera lense cover.
• Walk on the wild side and eat the end of the orange slice candy that your fingers actually touched.
• Develop a bit of a swearing habit.
• Give up wheat for New Year 2005 and decide you like it so much, give it up altogether.
• Still cover your mouth and kind of screech when you really laugh at cards in the card aisle.
• Keep the Danish Dessert company in business.

Aw, Mom. I wish I could be with you on your birthday, to see you accomplish all your magnificent goals. May all your dreams come true this year. I love you so. :)

Just for you--a gluten free cake wreck:

*Becca

Marching Along

Adam spent the week trying to become famous--we still think he has a shot

Lesli spent the week down in the back, but convinced a doctor massage may be just what she needs.

Addison started a Laser Club at school--anyone with $22.00 can join--please email him privately for by-laws etc.

Ellie-- spent her hard earned allowance on a jewelry kit and has been stringing all week.

Lafe is just cute. Who can argue with that

Taste of the Latest.

Ben snapped a few photos while Evie and I were back snoozing at the bed and breakfast.

San Juan Islands Lime Kiln Lighthouse, this is the place to see the Killer Whales, although we did not see live ones we did see the skeleton of one to at the museum at Friday Harbor.
Astoria was my favorite place, it had the most stunning scenery. We went to the Fort Stevens and also visited the Astoria column which I almost didn't do, carrying Evie up there scared the crap out of me, but she loved every spinning moment of the 164 spiral stairs. Astoria is also the place they filmed "Goonies" and "The Ring" which I did not know. The picture above shows the Astoria Megler bridge the longest continuous truss bridge in North America.

Holding Grandma's little note that she just got in the mail. The smile says it all Grandma!! Thank You:)
Fort Vancouver, currently an active military barracks was amazingly gorgeous!
I will make Ben post some more because going through 1400 photos is time consuming.

Smith Luck.

Hey everyone.

Let's talk about my week for a moment, shall we?
Because I dare any of you to top it.

Monday, I was talking to mom on the phone and cleaning my vacuum with a knife. This makes perfect sense, because you have to cut the strings off that are all twisted around the vacuum... thingy. The one that spins. Anyway. I slipped and stabbed myself in the hand. And then I fainted. With mom on the phone. Lucky mom. Dave came home and hauled me to the urgent care, super awesome good times.

Tuesday, Caleb ran smack into a wall with his face and broke the top of his nose/ocular cavity. (Say that three times fast "ocular cavity ocular cavity ocular cavity"). He is so darn TOP HEAVY, not to mention that he is the very definition of "bat out of hell." I mean, I'm just sayin'. It was at this point when I called Dave at work and he suggested maybe he should stay at work until the third bad thing happened. (Bad things come in threes, you know.)

So Wednesday I flew around getting the house ready for my in-laws to come on Thursday. I was headed down to South Carolina first.thing to help my sister in law pack, so everything had to get done. But then I got up Thursday and went to get the kids in the car when I discovered...

a flat tire.

You have GOT to be kidding me.
Four new tires later, (because, it turns out, our tires were NINE years old) and I'm thinking we're good, right???

I'm just kind of hoping that things only come in threes and not numbers divisible by three. Because, if that's the case, it's going to be an AWFULLY long week....

Failure.... Epic Failure

The title says it all.... I resisted as long as I could! I really tried, and I passed up 3 or 4 great opportunities but in the end I lost the battle... I bought my self a bat (dang you miken and your shinny products!) I got it online for a great deal and am now going through the agony of waiting for an online purchase to arrive.... To make my impatience greater still the company informed me that my bat is on BACK ORDER!!! GRRRrrrRRR! I shall call them tomorrow and insist they ship it that instant because I have a tournament in two weeks and it will take a week to get here from Michigan.. Ok ok ok I'll stop ranting and get on to the updates.

Nothing particularly new here worthy of mention. Work, work, work, and oh yeah work. LOVE IT! I pretty much work as much as I can and then play softball or sleep when I'm not at work. The air is starting to dry out which means summer is coming and that means warm weather... Finally... The only problem is I hate dry air, so if any of you know a solution to the problem or have some extra humidity you could send my way I would greatly appreciate it.

My Hero-

What was it Becca said when introducing our family blog? Be in touch, quit gossiping through mom (s'resiously folks!), etc etc- I have loved this link for our family.
I would like to share what we have been pretty deeply involved with here at home and what we are learning. I know I've spoken with one or the other of you on the phone but I so quickly lose track of what I have said and to whom, and I would not want any in the family to feel they have been in the dark. For quite some time Dad has been being medicated for depression and has struggled with being over the top stressed, and over the top frustrated (which you already know dissolves into anger in about a heart-beat), or the opposite, which is apologizing and weeping in turns. For awhile now these things have been escalating to the point that I felt that emotionally at least, Dad was heading full speed into a brick wall if we could not get things derailed. He came home from work one day almost beside himself, a rough evening eventually led to a kitchen table discussion. In the end it was decided that getting him away from work for a couple of weeks was critical. He needed rest and he needed perspective. With a couple of days to complete his to-do list at work, he gave his boss notice on Thursday afternoon that he was taking vacation time starting the next day and would not be back for 2 weeks. Period. He spent the first few days with Jared- they went to a softball tournament down in Mesquite where Jared's team was playing, then did a great loop that took in Hoover Dam, the Grand Canyon, and more. When he arrived home, refreshed and finally detached from work- he decided to use the remaining vacation time to consult the VA about getting pharmacy benefits, etc. He had mentioned this before and more than once but never felt he could leave work as much as he would need to in order to make all the initial contacts.
It is interesting to me how things happen sometimes. It all started with a brief appointment at a branch office for the VA in Orem and launched from there. It has been about a month since that initial contact- dad has had a full physical evaluation, and a complete psych evaluation also. I was there for each and in each instance I was impressed at the skill and caring of the doctor involved. Your dad was a boots on the ground marine who received a Purple Heart, an Honorable Discharge, and should have been given a Service Medal (we're finding out what happened to that...). He was exposed to Agent Orange, and has a resounding case of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. (we sometimes tweek the PTSD abbreviation to PSTD and call it Pissed.) He goes to Salt Lake City twice a week now, once for a class/support group on "Coping Skills", which guides the vets in diffusing the negative emotions they deal with, and another helping with the PTSD. He meets with other vets, many from Vietnam- they are always taught, and then they talk. It has been so good for him. I think it has helped to see that he is not alone in suffering the after affects of serving when he did in Nam, and also to see that there are vets who are dealing with even more than he is.
It has been challenging- I have learned of some of Dad's experiences as I have heard him tell them or helped him write them, and they are horrific. He will continue to meet with his psychiatrist, a returned missionary from Vernal, who tells us that so much of what dad is suffering is directly associated with his disorder and can be overcome with a combination of correctly medicating along with counseling.
There are 15 medical conditions now accepted by the US Govt as being a direct cause and effect situation after exposure to Agent Orange. Type II Diabetes is one of them- dad qualifies for all his medical care through the VA at no cost for the rest of his life. Last, but certainly not least- is the change I am beginning to see in him as he has regular contact with people outside the family who honor his sacrifice and respect him for his service. Who knows, tomorrow may really be a new day for him, and I am so glad. In every sense of the word, your dad is a Hero.

SA...WEEEET!

So guess who has a Long Term, Good Paying, 4 Days a week job.... I'll give you 3 guesses but you should only need one. Thaz right suckas! I start at Liberty safe tomorrow morning dark and early... I say dark because my hours are from 5 am to 330 pm... that right there is the only part of this that I am NOT excited about. Take the good with the bad I guess eh? So soon I will have lots of money! Mwahahahah! That is of course counting on the fact that I can some how manage to resist the temptation Becca talks about on her blog all the time... Yes I admit I am awful at keeping to a budget but in my defense I am getting much better. I blame softball and all the fun things I can buy to help enjoy that pass time more fully for my lack of total commitment. Like new bats... Miken never fails to make me think.. "Ooooo Shiny!" Or a new Glove... or "bat Pack" or Boombah pants or a bucket of balls or ..................................... I think you get the point... Anyways, life is on the up here. Love you all and hope you have a wonderful sunday.

Jared

What is it?

2 years in

This week marks the two year aniversary of putting our RAV4 in high gear and getting the heck out of Dodge. We definitly found greener pastures, but realized that it would be awhile until we got another decent cider doughnut.

In honor of Anniversaries and it finally being a nice day. We headed to Samuel Taylor park for a hike and hot dog roast. All in all a perfect day.

cooking cooking, just keep cooking....

New Just for all of you, I ham cooking, cooking,just keep cooking.. I don't know what that means, but it sounds cool. I went fishing the other day with Levi and Ashly, hooked and realest 3 small rainbow trout it has been along time... Also hooked a long cell call from work not what I wanted to do, next time I'll do the sound that you get when the call is dropped, you know >>>><<<<< silence and then don't answer the phone. What do you think can I get a way with it? Will its time to brake into the dream:
Ready

HC Dogs, Hard Core Dog where the fun loving come for lunch, HC dogs are created for 100% all natural Beef, Pork, Chicken, Lame, fish and Turkey, also serving 100% vegetable

HC Dogs, Cooked twice to locking in all the flavors of the good old time with family and friends.

HC Dogs, Like any thing good when you work for it, thing just taste better, so as you dress it with your favorite topping the memories just keep coming rushing back, for more at a price we all can afford... HC Dogs

Will there's the pitch what do you think?

I have a buring pain between my should blades, and that tells me it's time to stop for now. Love each of you very much.
Dad

No Idea... At All

I have no idea what I should write about... I seem to be on some massive thing most people would call a "writers block" and it's rather frustrating if I'm perfectly honest. I've sat down 3 separate times to write both on this blog and my own, and either nothing comes or what does come seems to be kind of "bleh"... So the remainder of this post will probably be a waste of time for anyone who feels inclined to read it, but I'm hoping that just writing something will help. I guess updates are in order so I'll start there and see if anything worth while comes of it.

I've been working this week at Natures Sunshine which is great excluding the fact that doing the EXACT same thing for 8 hours, gives you time to think a little too much while appearing busy. Now don't get me wrong I have no problem day dreaming about softball and days in the sun or maybe a trip to somewhere exotic and out of this world beautiful when I win this bet with Becca. (victorious grin) But what gets me... Every... Single... Time.. is the big life questions that press on the mind of a mid 20's single male who to everyone would seem to be struggling with some of the important ones. I now openly admit that I am... And while I now have income, that only solves the physical aspect of things, which believe me makes me feel like a completely different person. But what of other things that help complete the picture? Here is where most of you can say "told you so" or as the filipinos would say "Teh!".

I although stubborn beyond belief and nearly impossibly difficult to live with at times wonder if there is some one who can or would deal with that willingly. As hard as it is for me to admit, I'm completely incomplete, and I've run from it long enough I feel as if the pieces of the "puzzle" might not be recovered. I can't help but wonder if the failings in the great chances I've had at said experiences lie with in me. As a friend once said "You can only have so many failed attempts before you realize that the weak link is you."

As I suspected it would be this post has mostly been empty ramblings that really in the grand scheme of things bare no real significance. Just kind of one of those things like in "You've Got Mail". This is something that I would like to send out into the great void. I don't really expect answers or some grand happening to take place.

This then is just the long lasting desire be no longer "completely incomplete" manifesting itself in my writing for the first time. I love you all and wish I had the means to come spend time with each of you. But for now I will just send you my love and let you know that I appreciate you all in ways I can't put in to writing owing to my lack of writing experience.

Love you

Jared

Sunday morning.

It is 7:55 Eastern time. Quotes from everyone in our family so far today...

Phone rings. I answer.
Dave: "Just wanted to make sure everyone is awake. Oh, and do you know it's fast Sunday?"
Becca: "Caleb, you really need to be nice. And happy. And you're kind of being a brat."
Emily: "I wanted to look pretty and this is HORRIBLE."
Caleb: growling "I NO WANT TO GO TO CHURCH."
Ainsley: WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.

It's going to be a great day. ;)

Becca

chicken dance

Lafe is getting on in honor of Friday!

Possibilities...

Dear Mom and Dad,

I'm trying to come up with things to do while we're in Washington DC next month.

Obviously, my first priority will be to purchase one of these for Ainsley:

But what next???

Well, we find out tomorrow if we get to go to the Easter Egg roll at the White House. (ohpleaseohpleaseohplease) And I'm waiting on Sue, my congresswoman, to see if we get to tour the White House itself. Reservations are made for the National Archives and the Capitol building. (I just hope my kids don't find some way to destroy the Constitution or derail our national government. You think I'm kidding.)

For food, please check out this link. I'm thinking, yes? This place looks amazing, but not child friendly. Or budget friendly. But certainly taste-bud friendly. Same goes for this. But this place has gluten free cupcakes, as long as we get there early enough to grab 'em. And I'm really thinking this fits well into our budget, not to mention that Lebanese food is in-credible. So that's food. I do not like chains. Sorry, Mom. ;)

What else? Shall we wander down to historic Williamsburg? The beach? Cross state lines into Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Delaware?

Let me know your thoughts,

Me

Spanky.

hey guys.

It was really fun yesterday to get on and read blog posts. Thank you for posting. :)

except jenny. no thank you. (bwahahaha. I'm just kiddin'.)

So I have this seriously obnoxious cold right now. It seems to get worse every day. Is that possible? What kind of cold is that, exactly? The awesome thing is that it's the kind of cold where you *sound* awful, which is always great, because you get sympathy and stuff.

But anyway. Last week I cut Caleb's hair. It looks aw-ful. AWFUL. Poor kid. Hopefully it will grow fast. But while giving him this haircut, I had a profound realization. Caleb looks exactly like Spanky from the Little Rascals.

I'm not even kidding.

And now he has a haircut to match. I am such a good mom.

We tried to put Ainsley in nursery yesterday for the first time, PS. That went over as well as a fart in church. They finally brought her to me and she totally looked like she'd been through a boxing match. Eyes all swollen and puffy. Snot running down her face. Big hiccuping sighs. I am not amused. This is not how our intro to nursery is supposed to go. Mostly because I expect these teachers to do their callings and not bring her to me, unless she's bleeding.

Ok. That's all. I have to go blow my nose.

Love you.