England Party!!

Thursday brought us a party in Kamas with the England family, and some lovely relatives. Swimming, pigging out, movie watching and smores. I failed to post about it last night because I was so tired, with the pregnancy and all.  My baby is the size of an orange...seed.

Hillary, John and AUnt JoAn.

Playing in the hot tub.

Playing in the big pool.

Owen going down the slide.

Hillary and Me.  I like her sunglasses. They're new. She got them at Costco.

Annie is holding my cousin's man-cub. He's darling! And Annie is in baby heaven! 

Votes Needed

Today had some very real highs and one major low. Highs: Visiting Teaching, Being on TV, and Owen's Taikwando belt test. The depths of despair low was the migraine.  As in a real bona fide, genuine, rather have the flu than a migraine kind of a migraine. It's arrival ensured that I didn't get to attend our neighborhood, church women's group potluck lunch party gathering. Booooo.  But to end on a high note, by the time the evening rolled around I was feeling loads better, which meant that my pal, Cyndee Tarsha, was able to take some head shots of me.  So which one is the best?  Which one should I send in?

Let's call this one: Red Brick Beauty

or option A

This one shall be titled: Whimsical Whisk

or option B

Owen is in the middle with the gold belt, but not for long. Green belt, here he comes!

On TV!

What a delightfully packed and entertaining day!  My sister Hillary acted as my sous chef today while the t.v. show Studio Five taped a demo I did on Barbecue Slaw Burgers.  It was loads of fun and I think it went very well. It airs tomorrow at 1:00pm!  Then we took our littles swimming. Simon and Calvin had their karate belt tests today, and did well.  Crazy good italian dinner to follow, and then hanging out with some neighbors on walks.  I love my neighbors!!!!

Mmmm. Barbecue slaw burgers and cooler corn.

The filmed outside today on the patio.  It was very hot outside, and super fun to cook in an alternate location.

An action shot.

We love this darling dog.

A picture of Hillary and me inside the studio.

After swimming.

Hold the board up while doing leg-ups. Tricky Calvin.

All the belt testers today.

Blueberry feta salad, Fettucine alfredo, rotisserie chicken, blueberry bruschetta,  pesto and baguette crisps.  

EFY or Bust

***Chances that peace and quiet will permeate the Smith household have increased by 20 %, with one of my five children gone for the week. Preston Edward Albert Smith is in Provo Utah for a church camp. The camp is called EFY, which stands for Especially For Youth.  It is aimed at 14-18 year olds.  Preston is lucky enough to have his cousin Sam with him.  I'm sure they will play hard, laugh harder, and hopefully come closer to Jesus Christ.  Peace and quiet for us, testimony building for them.  A win, win.

Looking handsome with his lanyard!

This counselor is trying to convince the boys to sign up for the talent show... he was successful.

Happy Moms!

See, they really are at EFY.

This is Preston's roommate, Tyler.

Ryan is my roommate, but Lesley is my wombmate.

To celebrate the night and the arrival of the Websters, we went to Nielsen's Frozen Custard.

You can tell Ryan and John are enjoying themselves because they both have their legs crossed, all matchy-like.

Enjoying custard, fries, and family.

*** This post is for Monday, July 14th, 2014***

Harold Merrell Stander's 94th Birthday Party!!!

What a lovely day of family!  I don't always get to attend church with my parents, my twin and her family, and my sister and brother in law. What a treat.  The day began with walking to church.  The night ended with a huge family gathering, celebrating my grandpa's 94th birthday.  He was born on 7/11, and he sure knows his way around a slurpee. My cup runneth over.

My sister in law, Shelly and I are pregnant at the same time.  See, we're holding our belly's, so it must be true.

We had some special guests at Grandpa's birthday party.  While visiting my grandma's gravesite on Memorial Day, I ran into a woman who told me about how my Grandfather has influenced many generations of her family.  When he was her father's Young Men's leader, he gave him a silver dollar and some words of wisdom as he departed on his mission.  That was over 40 years ago. He took the coin with him, and every missionary in her family ever since has done the same thing. It's a family legacy... a heritage of faith.  This kind woman came to Grandpa's party, along with several of ehr family members, and shared their story.  She also made this lovely cake, with fondant silver dollars fro decoration. It was such a wonderful moment.

I promise, the candles read "94" to him when looking at the cake from the other direction.  According to my mom, there were around 94 guests tonight, which was incredible!

This is Jayne Brown, the other guest of honor, who shared the silver dollar story with me at the cemetery, and then tonight with my family.

Aren't my relations good looking?!

Lots of grandkids in attendance.

My parents with Opa. He is holding a gift that Jane Brown made him with pictures of the missionaries who took the silver dollar on their missions, and the countries where the served. Totally cool!

Me and my Opa.

Q: What does one give a 94 year old man on his birthday?

A: Postum, of course.

Birthday Weekend

The first half of the weekend has been wonderful.  My Aunt Jayne had a wonderful birthday party today at the Spaghetti Factory, and tomorrow my Grandpa Stander will have his 94th birthday party at my home.  Family is trickling into town for these special occasions, and which means we all get more time with siblings, cousins, and grandparents then we normally get.  Today, the girls went to luncheon, and the boys went to play gold with my Grandfather.  A win, win.

All the boys at the driving range with Opa.

Look how happy they all are! Ryan isn't in it because he is taking the picture.

My Mom, the birthday gal Aunt Jayne, and my Aunt Jeannette.

Silly girls at lunch: Anna Howe, Jade Mathis and Annie.

Gotta love a candle in spumoni ice cream!

Helping hands, happy cousins.

The day ended in a water party, which basically means it was a smashing success.

A Saturday to D.I. for!

It is just so much fun playing with the Howe family. Today consisted of biscuits and gravy, a DI shopping run, lunch at Lewis Park, Baptisms at the Bountiful Temple, barbecue dinner, my parents arriving in town, and The Lego Movie. Everything IS awesome!

Parkin being sily. Anna watching the show.

Anna making sure that Cricket is comfortable.

Owen found the boxing dudes at the DI.  They had a blast with them at the park.

Just as we were climbing inot the car to leave the Bountiful temple, I realized that I didn't have any names for the special occasion. Bummer.  So here is one of Lesley, right in the temple parking lot. Her Daughter, Bella, has prepared over 200+ names for temple work (it's a genealogy thing, and I am so proud of her!)

Movie night: The Lego Movie.