Answer to prayer

So, my little Enoch has been difficult to work with the last few weeks. Aaron and I have tried to be patient, give good consequences that reflect the behavior he shows, but still nothing seems to help him understand. On a very hard day earlier this week I had to send him to his room for failing to follow directions I gave to him multiple times. When he again refused to go I had no choice but to double the amount of time in his room to show him that I meant business. He finally went, very mad and frustrated. The time pasted and I went to go talk with him. He was still upset and wouldn't talk with me or listen to me. So I told him that I would sit and wait until he was ready to talk. I closed my eyes to relax and said a little prayer that I might understand how to work with him and love him. I didn't have my eyes closed for very long until I heard a soft snore, he had fallen asleep! Relieved that I could move on I left him there to rest. I tried to wake him up for dinner, but he just looked at me as if he were confused and went back to sleep. At 7:30PM I finally decided he was going to bed. I turned out his light, put over the covers and let him sleep. He did so until 3AM, which make a crazy morning, but to have his absence for a few hours that evening helped me see what his personality brings to our family, where his weaknesses are and his strengths. No, life is not perfect now, but I feel I understand him and his struggles a little better and I can have more patience with him, he is different that the rest, but his love is so pure and we need him as he needs us. I know God will hear and answer our prayers.

Just my thoughts

I have been having a desire to write my thoughts and blessings I see each day so I can take time to remember how blessed I am. I don't know if anyone reads my blog but me, and I am NOT a facebook person, so I'm just going to take time here and there to write down the blessings I see and receive everyday. This is for me, just to debrief my life a bit, which is crazy will all these little kidos. Today was hard, the 8-month-old Alma is teething and needs lots of love, the 2-year-old, Ammon is not having the best day on the potty, he's had good days, and today was not one of those, it took a lot of patience and time. But it was family night tonight, we had our moments of chaos and let the kids learn and use their agency. Micah wanted to make "rainbow cupcakes" for the treat, so we made cupcakes and four colors of frosting. Eden, Enoch, Micah and I each used our "agency" to decorate the cupcakes to our choice, and it was fun to see their individual personalities in the decorating and the tasting. It sure brought a smile to my face to see them create and have fun together. These children are jems. I need to remember that even when things don't go perfect, because they hardly ever do.

Graduation and baby

After 2 years of hard work Aaron did it, he finished his masters at UVU!

Then 2 weeks later Alma Daniel Smith came: 

We love our little Alma, and these kids keep me busy, so it took me two months to introduce him, and I wish I had more time to write, but life is sure busy for us!

A change in the routine

Life has been busy as Aaron works hard to finish his Masters Program that ends at the end of April. President's Day weekend came up and Aaron wanted to just get out of town. Due to last minute planning and not having a lot of time to go far, we planned a surprise trip for the kids to Salt Lake City. Yeah, it's only 45 minutes away, but for our kids, staying in a condo and exploring Salt Lake is a treat! We went up Friday after school and came home on Valentines day after an exciting day exploring Salt Lake, riding trax, going up and down escalators at the mall and touring Temple Square.

 

Here, Aaron, Ammon and Enoch are looking into the reflection pool.

 

Eden, in her new glasses, at Temple Square

  

Micah at Temple Square

 Mother and sons at the mom and son statue, with baby Alma due on May 15th

Getting kids to pose for the Jesus statue isn't the easiest

But Eden knows how to make Ammon smile.

Summer is over

Summer is over, already, Aaron is back to work and school and Eden and Enoch are now is school...so what did we do this summer?

 

 We celebrated our family's 8th birthday (aka: our 8th wedding anniversary), and the kids decided we needed a treasure chest cake, the candy was enjoyed more than the cake.

 We went on a few family hikes, this one was to Little Moab

 

There were a lot of little caves like this one to get cozy in

 

And big rocks to climb down, it was great fun to explore and only an hour away from home.

 

Next there was a wedding! Aaron's little brother was married and we all dressed up. We love summer weddings! Don't those boys look cute in their bow ties? 

We celebrated the 4th of July by watching the hot air balloons rise

 We had a family reunion on Karla's family's side and went rafting and boating in Deer Creek

We also hiked to the waterfall and played in the cold water with our cousins! What fun cousin time!

 

Ammon turned one-year-old! He is growing so fast and moving just as fast too, what a boy he is!

 

 We then went to St. George as a family and hiked some more

 We went to Zions and found waterfalls and deer and went through tunnels and worked until we were exhausted, but it was so fun to be in the cliffs of Zion.

Here we are at weeping rock in Zions

 Here we are in our condo that we stayed at in St. George, eating a late night dessert, the clock proves it, just after 10pm, but it was so fun, the kids just loved it and can't wait to do it again. 

So that was our summer in a nutshell, now school is underway, Aaron has until April and then he will finish school and next summer we will enjoy more time with Aaron not having to share him with UVU. 

Family Pictures

Here it is, the Smith family growing so fast, hard to believe that we've lived here in our home for 4 years now and also we've been married for almost 8 years, and our family is now a family of 6! Wow, where has the time gone by. Here are the images from our latest family pictures, now a family of 6:

 I felt it was time Aaron and I got a new picture together, since our most recent of the two of us was our wedding day, we were definitely overdue.

 

 Here are the BOYS of the family

Here are the GIRLS

 Trying to get all of us looking, happy, at the camera at the same time is pretty tricky, so this was the best shot we got from our kids, and Eden is giving us a 'thumb up'

 I think this picture show truly our nature, each child is doing their own thing and having a great time doing that, this is what we lovingly call 'Team Smith'

Here are all the cute kiddos, personality and all, we sure love our little, lively bunch!

Finishing up 2013

2013 is finally over, it was a year full of events, both good and hard. We finished the year with birthday fun, Enoch turned 4 and Eden turned 6. Christmas was so much fun as our kids are getting older and bringing in such a fun, child-like spirit. On December 7th my grandmother passed away so two days after Christmas we packed-up our little family and drove to Oregon for her funeral. It was a quick trip, but we all enjoyed being together to show love for my grandmother. Now 2014 is here and we are excited for the new year and the new adventures we will have this year.

Enoch really wanted a watermelon and strawberry cake, so here they are, they were truly the highlight of the birthday for him. 

Enoch with his first transformer car

Here is 'Team Smith'

Eden wanted to have a dress-up party for her birthday, so here are a few friends at a princess party

Each girl decorated their own miniature castle cake for the party

Here is one of the highlights from our trip to Oregon, the coast! Eden and Micah loved the waves, Enoch was a little intimidated by all that water, but we had fun running from the waves.

After we ran from the waves coming up on the sand the kids then took time to find shells and things for their nature collection. Enoch's favorite find was all the crab legs, including a few crab claws.

It was a beautiful day at the Oregon coast, the sky was blue and the temperature perfect for December.

Even Ammon had a wonderful time with us on our Oregon adventure, we will have to go back again soon and spend more time exploring at the coast and go on a hike through all the giant trees, which was by far, Aaron's favorite part of Oregon.