Audrey takes the top at US National Whitewater Center!

What an amazing girl! And the field trip destination was cool too!  Audrey's class went there and we did an obstacle course, rock climbing and team building activities. Here are some pictures.

Happy 15th Anniversary!!

We have been married for how many years?!?  Well, the first few I was able to keep track of, but since kids came along, well the last 11 have just slid by! I am so thankful for Tim and the wonderful man and example he is to me. I anticipate lots of adventures in the years to come!!

We were able to get away to the beach this past weekend because Jill Harper has been staying with us for the last few weeks, and before she continued on her US road-tour, she willingly entertained the girls while Tim and I scooted to Savannah, GA and Charlestons SC for the weekend.  It was much needed  and just wonderful!

Here are just some pictures of the places we

Pencils, er, scalers ready...

The past few weeks have been full of me studying and dealing with memory/anxiety of testing for my Dental hygiene license 10 years ago. I am taking a clinical exam on

Summer Recap part 1: the beach

Here are some pictures of our trip to Wilmington Beach over the 24th of July weekend.  I just wanted to post them as they speak for themselves! We had a wonderful time, and are all aching to go back as soon as we can.  We visited the aquarium there on our way out of town, and just walked on the beach and collected as much salt spray in our hair and skin as we could. 

Don't blink...

Spring and Summer have nearly passed me by!  I have been doing my best to relax and enjoy my days with my girls and Tim (when I have him).  I have been battling some anxiety that I believe is related to moving so frequently in the past few years.  Anyway, in my attempts to keep it together, I've tried to limit my "screen time" like I do for the kids. Lead by example, right? I haven't taken nearly as many pictures this summer as I should have, but the ones I have I'll share soon.

School starts in only 2 1/2 weeks (which is weird for me, I'm used to starting end of July, beginning of August) so I want to make the most of this summer with the girls, then I have my clinical exam to get my hygiene license (yeah, I have to prove I can clean teeth before they'll license me here), then I hope to have a little less anxiety about "settling in" here in NC.

Thanks for reading! I've decided to make the blog private, just because of all the cute pictures of the family, so thanks for understanding!!

Drab to Fab, that's the theme~

I always listen to General Conference better while I'm busy doing something, and this time we were working outside, and blaring the TV speakers for the neighbors to hear (does that count as "sharing the Gospel?) so we could listen as we sorted plants, dug holes, planted shrubs and flowers, then spread mulch.  It was a great face lift for the front of the house, and a great spirit lift for us to have some color and life to welcome us home each time we arrive. I wish we had done it before Tiffany came last week, but now it is ready for Audrey's baptism and more family visitors in coming months.

So this is what it looked like,

Yay, Houseguests! Welcome Smiths!!

Yay!! We came home from Myrtle Beach at 11:30 pm, to meet Tiffany and her mini brood at the house at 11:45 pm.  It was late, but it was wonderful!!  I wish I had more pictures, but the ones I got are precious, because both of us wanted to just be "unplugged" from our electronics, and plugged into each other, and it was just awesome!!  They arrived late Wednesday, and were here with us for 6 glorious days until early Wednesday morning, April 2.

We played around the house, we played around Huntersville, Charlotte, and Mt. Airy, NC, more commonly known as Mayberry.  It was just so enriching to have my sister here, and to just be with her and her wonderful kids and for cousins to just be together and play.  Thank-you, Thank-you for such a wonderful vacation at our own house!! I will always remember this wonderful time!

Field Trip to Myrtle Beach, SC

Emma had a field trip to Myrtle Beach, SC on Wednesday, March 26. I was able to go as a chaperone, and it was a great day!  Myrtle Beach is about 4 hours from Huntersville, so we arrived at the school

Daddy daughter dance and what's coming next for the house.

Tim took the girls to the daddy daughter dance at school last Friday. He was so lucky to have 3 beautiful girls to go with. They had an enchanted evening. According to Tim, when

Crisp and Clean

Aaaaaahhhh! It feels so good on the toes, and easy on the eyes. Here are some pictures of before and after to show how it was (eewww and not pretty) to how it is now (aaahhh and beautiful)!

What we started

Holy Snow!! Most snow in NC EVER!!! (on record at least!)

Well, we've been home for 3.5 days. In the house. Because we've been snowed in! I haven't been snowed in since I was in 3rd grade and lived in Rexburg and we couldn't open the back door because the snow was up to the roof!  Now, "snowed in" means something totally different in NC than it does out West.  There are just not public facilities to handle snow accumulation because it happens so rarely.  I don't mind, I have loved the snow. We have been fortunate though, Tim has been

Painting in Olympic proportions!!

The Winter Olympics started in Sochi Russia this past Friday. I love the Olympics and love that it pushes athletes to the best of their ability.  In light of that, our most recent event has been painting,  We bought paint then we borrowed a tall ladder.  When I say tall, I mean

Goodbye old friend...

This beautiful 1968 MG MGB was the first of at least a dozen classic Brittish cars that were a fun hobby and a great way to get out and meet people. We have enjoyed having this car and all the other ones too.  These cars have been a great investment through the crappy recession we've been in. We bought this one in 2009, when Kennedy was just a year old. I couldn't believe I let Tim do it, yet I am so grateful now I did.  I have a picture of the day we brought her home and the day we said goodbye. Now she's off to have adventures with someone else.  The cycle continues and we all move on to the next thing.  Our next thing from the sale of this beauty is to get going on making our house a home.


This is from June, 2009 at our house in Gilbert, AZ

New Blogging buddy

We have had a busy end of week. After the snow on Tuesday school was cancelled on Wednesday and Thursday. It was a nice quiet week.  Until Thursday...

Last Saturday, we were out looking at paint samples, getting ready to make some awesome color changes at the house, when we happened to go into PetCo where the Animal Shelter had some dogs on display.  There was a really cute puppy there, and she had some litter-mates at the Shelter about 40 minutes away. We thought, "Why not take a drive, we haven't been on that road yet." Which is rare, Tim's been on almost every road around here for his job.  We made it over to the shelter, it was a pretty drive.  There was one puppy we were wanting to see, with a little patch of brindle on her left eye. A boxer

Snow, Snow Snow!!

We have had some cold weather in the last 4 weeks since we've been here in Huntersville.  We had a 20 year cold snap and this week we got snow.  Doesn't seem like a big deal to me, having grown up in Rexburg, ID, but here where there is not equipment to manage snow and ice, it is debilitating.  We are thankful we weren't in Atlanta for this storm, they were declared a state of emergency! I've talked to friends and followed them online to see how awful it has been, and it's affected EVERYONE!! 

The girls got out of school early on Tuesday, and were out of school yesterday and today.  It is fun to have them here, we've been having a good time trying to stay warm and play in the snow before it melted.

I'm pacing myself with all the work I need to get done online, on the computer, and continuing to settle into the house a little more each day while I am home with the girls. 

Here are some pictures of the

The next Chapter... In Huntersville, NC

I feel like I'm ready for a new year, new goals, new house, new start.  I love to start fresh and I love the way Anne Shirley says it in Anne of Green Gables, "Tomorrow is fresh, with no mistakes in it!" ( Then, Marilla says, "Yet.")  I'm trying to focus on the "no mistakes" part and not the "yet" part! I admit, it is really

Pictures of moving in (a few weeks late)

Moving in pictures, a little glimpse of our new house!! It's got good bones, an awesome neighborhood and a wonderful location.  Warning, the style is seriously 1993 orginal! Brass and gold fixtures, golden oak, and original carpet... but not for long (soon as we can sell come cars!!) This is Thursday, January 2, before

Christmas 2013 at Wrightsville Beach, NC

Lots of pictures to tell the story of our memorable first Christmas in North Carolina.  We made the most of our situation, and it was a wonderful vacation from all the stress that surrounded us.  I am sorry it took so long to get this post done. Honestly, I want to remember Christmas, but I felt like I needed some time to