The very image...

It is a good thing Scott is so good looking....

Boston - 5 months
Scott 7.5 months

b-b-Bentley!

As if having Travis come home last weekend wasn't enough excitement, we also welcomed a new Smith cousin to the family! Josh and Shea had their first baby on Sunday. His name is Bentley Joshua Smith and he weighs 6lbs 8oz. We got to go and meet him in the hospital on Monday afternoon and he is such a cute little man!

Stephen was so funny about the whole thing..."what is that baby's name again?...oh yeah, b-b-Bentley...it starts with a B...he is little like Boston...I growed bigger...my mommy has a baby in her tummy too (not true btw)..." He got to "hold" Bentley and kept cooing over him in a high pitched voice, "ooooohhhh! he is so sweet! ooooooh look how cute!" He must have heard those phrases a lot recently.

Then Boston and Bentley "met" for the first time. I will let the pictures do the talking...

Welcome Home Travis!!

Scott's brother, Travis, returned from his mission this past Friday. He served in Orsono, Chile, which is the southernmost part of Chile. He came from freezing cold temperatures in the dead of winter to our sweltering Arizona summer!


We are so glad to have Uncle Travis home. Stephen was a little shy of him at first but warmed up to him after a day or two. Boston, on the other hand, was delighted to have Travis hold him and was full of happy smiles for his Uncle. We spent most of the weekend with the Smith family so that we could stare at Travis and reconnect with him.



Having a missionary come home is so much fun. As my sister Celsea said on the subject: "I wish I had more brothers who could come home from missions - it is such a fun day when they return!"

The Smith boys in Chilain soccer jerseys including the photo-elusive Dad!

Travis, Dad, Scott, Josh, Dylan

Boston was smiling really big before...
Missed the picture of Scott hugging him, but he looks pretty happy Travis is home.

It LOOKS like I was the first one to get a hug but its not true.

Camping With Daddy

Scott got to take Stephen on a quick overnight camping trip last weekend. They went with our friend Jon and his son Anden up to Payson. From the reports they all had a great time - the daddys enjoyed the cooler weather and getting to bond with their sons. And the boys enjoyed getting good and dirty, sleeping in a tent, and killing bugs. Scott said that Stephen was FILTHY dirty and he had to wipe him down with wet wipes before he could put him to bed. Stephen had so much fun and he can't wait to go again. His favorite part (he still talks about it) is building a "bug fire" with Anden. Apparently, a bug fire is a pile of rocks, sticks, and grass, with a few bugs on it for good measure. Add a good does of imaginary fire and TA DA a bug fire.

In the car on the way home.

Stephen and the tent.

Stephen and Anden smashing bugs near the lantern and creating their bug fire.

Hot dogs and S'mores around the camp fire...can't get much better than that!

Boston Social

Boston now weighs 20 lbs 8 oz (99th percentile) and is in the 91st percentile for his height. He is getting more social and has a fuzz of dark hair growing all over his head. He has finally started laughing and loves to be tickled and to "wrestle" with daddy. Boston absolutely LOVES Stephen. Stephen is becoming more and more helpful with entertaining Boston, and likes to bring him toys or give him his pacifier when he cries. I love to see the two of them interacting and building sibling bonds. The above picture demonstrates Stephen's efforts to entertain Boston while I was making dinner one night. He gave him toys, the pacifier, and the burp cloth. Finally, Stephen put his own flip flops on Boston's feet. I am not sure how this was meant to calm Boston but it seemed to work! Boston became distracted by the strange things on his feet and was so involved in trying to get them (he couldn't actually reach) that he forgot to cry!


Boston also has another friend - his two year old cousin, Atley. She is facinated with him and mothers him as much as we will let her. She is so sweet and loves to tuck him in with blankets and will "hold" him whenever she gets the chance. As you can see from the picture, Boston isn't too much smaller than Atley! They look a little dazed in the picture but they both really enjoy each other. I love seeing Boston winning over the hearts of those around him!

On my mind...

BE ADVISED: This post is long, possibly sappy, and some might even consider it cheesy. Just know that I wrote it at 12:00 am and it is the result of a mind allowed to roam free in an empty house. (Okay, Boston is here but he is asleep and Kloie is here but she never says much). Scott took Stephen camping and I have been gleefully running around the house doing all of those little things that take "just a second" but never actually get done. Somehow I wound up writting this totally random post. Mostly it is for my benefit, but if you want to learn about my inner workings you might like it too.... Read at your own risk.

I have a cardboard box stored in the closet with the words "dance stuff" written on the side. Such a simple phrase, "dance stuff." What this box contains is far from simple - to me it represents thousands of dollars spent, countless hours of grueling hard work, and more blood sweat and tears than you can imagine. It is what remains of the 16 years of my life that I devoted to dancing. If the average observer were to open the box they might see faded old leotards, a few pairs of ragged tights, and at least 30 pairs of old pointe shoes. A strange odor will waft through the air - not upleasant - just different. I love that smell - it is the smell of old leather, satin, dust, and reisin and if I close my eyes I can imagine I am there in the studio....

I am stretching on the dirty floor and listening to the music roll through the hot room. My friends are nearby and we chat as we begin to lace up our pointe shoes. This pair is getting soft - darn, there goes another 60 bucks. Another ballet class is about to start and I groan inwardly, "pointe class again??" I whine to Anna. I cap my toes with the lambswool toe pad, arrainge it carefully, and gently slide my foot into the shoe. There is that raw feeling, caused by the box of the shoe pinching and rubbing on my toes in the spots where they already have blisters. "How long is rehearsal after class?" "Another three hours." Connie calls us to the barre and begins the torture. As my muscles stretch and flex I feel more and more alive...

I really can't expain very well in words what ballet and dancing meant to me as I was growing up but it is a huge part of me still. Even though class and rehearsal was often grueling it was all worth the effort when I got to step out on stage. I was addicted to the overwhelming joy I felt as I danced for an audience. I would get goosebumps waiting in the wings and then when I was on stage it was like my heart was on fire. Dancing was my first true love! I can't even write about without tears in my eyes.

One day I had to make one of the hardest decisions of my life. I knew it was time to stop dancing so that I could finish up my degree in education. I cried about loosing dance as much or more than I cried over boyfriends. You can ask my roommates at the time - they probably remember.

I still dream about dancing. I dream that I am supposed to know some choreography but I don't know it and I am wearing a costume that I have never seen and the other dancers are pushing me out on stage telling me to "wing it." I wake up frustrated because I can't enjoy my performance! These dreams are telling me that there is a frustrated dancer hiding inside of me. I will go back someday...when money isn't an issue (ballet is a rather expensive dance form to pursue)...when I have time...when I loose a few more pounds.

I have to say that one of the things I miss the most from my dancing days is my svelt figure. I never thought it was svelt at the time because staring into a mirror all day while wearing form fitting clothing is not very good for one's self-image. Looking back, I realize what a fool I was! I was in great shape and could eat anything I wanted and not gain a pound. Unfortunately, the eating habits have remained and the metabolisim is gone...grrrrr.

I know that the choice to stop dancing at that time was right because of what it brought me. Ballet was so consuming that I rarely dated and was often too tired to socialize. I never had a serious boyfriend until after I stopped dancing. Who knows how long it would have taken me to meet Scott and get married? I loved dancing with all of my heart and it will always have a special place in my heart as my "first love." But now I choose to be a wife and mother. My sweet husband and sons bring me a mature joy and happiness that will be with me my whole life, whether I look good in a leotard or not.

Smile!

Ward Photographer - that is my new calling. I didn't know that was a calling until they asked me to do it! I laughed (maybe outloud) as I said yes - my photography skills are not so good...but luckily I only have to take pictures of couples in the ward to post on the ward website. Those are simple and clear responsibilities - easy. I even have help from the ward webmaster. Ha! I have learned after two weeks that people DO NOT want to have their pictures taken for the ward website. My attempts so far:

• Announcement from the bishopric at the beginning of sacrament meeting, instructing people to go to the foyer before Sunday School and have their picture taken....result - one couple on my side, one on my partner's side. I had to accost the couple.
• Phone calls to 10 families on Saturday inviting them specifically to be photographed during Sunday School the next day - left seven messages and got three definite "yes I will be there." We got those three "yeses" and one or two more random couples that I had to accost in the hallway.
• Resorted to interrupting Primary and Sunday School lessons to take pictures of the teachers (our ward calls couples to teach all of the classes). We got the most pictures from this method but I managed to totally offend a lady in the ward. I walked in the room and saw a man and woman teaching the class and thought "they totally don't look like a couple." (in order to protect their identities I will not describe them but I will just say that they are an odd couple). So I said something stupid (I don't remember my exact words) but the message was "you don't look like a couple." If I had thought for about 2 more seconds I would have realized that of course they are a couple or they wouldn't be teaching together. Duh. Well, the look on the woman's face was not very happy - she looked pretty ticked off - must be a sensitive topic for her. :( I was feeling pretty stupid at this point but luckily her husband had a better sense of humor about the whole thing - he kept cracking jokes about it and laughing it off. When I finally got around to stating my purpose for interrupting their class, the woman flat out refused to have her picture taken! I told her I wasn't going to force her but the bishopric would really like to have pictures of all of the ward members. "Well, the bishopric already knows who we are!" She sounded so irritated. OOO Kaay. I didn't really know what to say and so I tried to leave as graciously as possible - complementing their class on their good behavior, etc. Sooo embarrassing! I felt awful for offending her and a little irritated that she wouldn't let me take their picture!

So, I am a little discouraged with the lack of progress I am making on my assignment. If anyone has a suggestion for a better method, I would love to hear it! If your ward has a photographer, support them and go get your picture taken! It isn't hard - all you have to do is smile!!