Smith Family Reunion

Every other year my mom's family gets together for a reunion. It's a ton of fun. At every reunion we have a race against my grandpa, who just turned 80. His time for the mile this year was 10 minutes 16 seconds. He's really fit. This is a picture of me and Jade with my younger brother Joshua (on the left) and our cousin Kameron.
Here's everyone warming up for the race. We did it super early, 7 am, Dan decided to skip the chance at earning 5 dollars and decided to sleep in.
Here is Jade getting her five dollars for her first grandpa race.
We went to the Tuachan theater in St. George, we saw The Sound of Music. It was done very well, great sets. It's an outdoor theater so they set off some fireworks at the end, Jade loved them!
We got to see so many cousins. These are my cousins kids, Bromley is in the back, he's my cousin Natalie's boy. Jade is in the middle there. Marley is in the front, she's my cousin Monique's girl.
We had such a good time catching up with everyone and celebrating my grandpa's 80th birthday.

Maddox and Jade

Yesterday I watched my friend Emily's little boy Maddox while she was at work. He is about a year and a half and so much fun. He kept Jade entertained, that's for sure. At one point I was making dinner and I looked in the living room and he was sitting on Jade's stomach! I guess he wanted to get a real good look at her. As I was trying to feed Jade dinner he was wandering around the kitchen totally distracting Jade. She could have cared less what was for dinner, she was more interested in where Maddox was. We had a lot of fun though.
For a few hours I got a glimpse of what it would be like to have another child. I hope I'm brave enough to go for another one someday.

Drinking from a cup

Jade is learning to drink from a cup. She's picked it up pretty quick. Maybe we'll just skip sippy cups all together.

Jade can sit by herself

We've been practicing sitting with Jade for a while now and last week while we were in Idaho she really got it. She hasn't gotten into a sitting position on her own yet but if we put sit her down she can stay sitting for quite a while, until she reaches for something way out to the side.

Three cheers for the Orem Police

Early Saturday morning we woke to find this! Our car had been broken into sometime in the early morning. We had been out to see Indiana Jones the night before so we were with our car up until about midnight. The next morning around six a.m. as we were getting into the car Dan noticed the window had been broken and that the navigation system was gone! Things also missing: Dan's golf clubs, the manual for the car along with all of our lease information, and our cds.
Well, I took Dan to work and came home and called the police. An officer came by and checked out the car, he said he didn't see anything to fingerprint but he noticed a footprint just inside the rear passenger door. He told me how there had a group of about five men who came from Salt Lake and had been out that night stealing from several vehicles. He said he'd call when he had more information. After about a half an hour I got a call saying that they thought they might have our stuff and they'd call back later.
At about eight a.m. I received another call saying I could come to the police station to identify our items. Dan called me on my way over and as I pulled into the police station parking lot I noticed that the police were escorting a young (mid-twenties) man into the back of a patrol car. He was hand cuffed. I said to Dan 'I wonder if that's the guy'. Dan of course wanted me to get out and punch him in the mouth.
An officer came over and Jade and I went inside to identify our stuff. Everything was there and more. He had also taken a power converter with a charger for our nintendo and my lotion from victoria's secret. :) All in all, everything worked out ok. I am very impressed by the Orem police, I had my items returned to me just over two hours after I'd found them missing. Way to go police.

This is the picture of Jade that we used for her passport photo.

Mini flood

Well, Jade is napping so I thought I'd take advantage of this quiet time to update our blog. Last week we visited Dan's family in Idaho. It was a lot of fun, his cousins (who live in Rexburg) came down to visit with us. We had a BBQ with our friends Chris and Darcy and their little girl Penelope, and Brandon and Elaine Delos Reyes (I don't think I spelled that right).

On Saturday we took advantage of the warm weather by going to the driving range and hitting a few buckets of balls.

Jade has been sick for the past week or so, she was a trooper while we were vacationing but she wasn't quite like her happy, cheerful self. She had some shots on Wednesday, the day we were driving up to Idaho. That night she got a fever and it got worse from there, she couldn't sleep and she was so feverish for the next couple days. Finally, her fever went away but then she picked up a cough, so she's starting to get over that.

Today I noticed that she is getting one of her bottom teeth! I will post a picture when it is more noticeable. I'd imagine that that was part of the reason she has not been feeling well.

Right before we left for Idaho we noticed that the carpet in Jade's bedroom was pretty wet, I thought that maybe it was just from having the humidifier on at nights when Jade sleeps but when I moved stuff around and it still didn't dry out then we called the landlord. Apparently some pipes needed to be fixed outside, so this is our yard now:and as a result this is what Jade's room looks like:

Just enough room to walk in and lay her in her crib and if you're lucky you can also close the door. Oh well, I guess it could be worse. We could own the place and have to deal with this problem ourselves. Ah, the joys of renting.

Happy Mother's Day

My first official Mother's Day was wonderful! Dan had to work so Jade and I went to visit my mother. We took some time just to relax on the lawn and catch up. Both of my sisters were able to come visit too so we had a blast. Jade is getting so big these days, she's not really a little baby anymore. She is such a joy to me and I couldn't be happier to be a mother.

My dad got to stay for a while after Michael and Jess's wedding. He stayed with us, even though he had to sleep on the couch we're so glad he decided to stay at our place. Of course, he had a blast hanging out with his first grand baby, Jade. He is such a cute grandpa.

One day after doing laundry I put Jade in the laundry basket and she seemed to think it was fun, but she was sliding all over the place. She has some of the cutest smiles.

This is a picture of my brother Paul playing with Jade on Mother's day. My little brothers are so eager to help Jade do things like, learn to crawl, catch a ball and help her stand. They are so much fun to be around. Jade is fascinated just watching them do boy things like swing on the tire swing and wrestle.

My brother got married

Michael and Jess at their reception. They got married on Friday, May 2nd in Manti, UT. We had a very good time at the reception. There was delicious food and cake and ice cream and even a pinata! My sister Katrina and Jade. Jess's family had a beautiful wreath of flowers made for Jade. She looked so so cute!
Our friends Brian and Melissa (in the middle here) are moving to Arizona so we had dinner with them at P. F. Chang's on Saturday night. We will miss them terribly.
This is me at Katrina and Mike's house getting ready to ride their new scooter. It was sweet, I'd like to get one. Katrina made delicious homemade lasagna and we pigged out.

Chicago

This last weekend we got to go to Chicago! We had so much fun visiting with family. Dan's dad and his wife Venus and their son Alex flew in from Hong Kong. This was our first time meeting Alex and their first time meeting Jade. While we were there we got to relax and catch up with Stefanie and Kevin (dan's sister and her husband), and we got to eat at some of our favorite places. Jade and cousin Rylee. Rylee is tenderhearted and tends to cry easily, she is a sweetheart though and warmed up to Jade eventually. Toward the end of the trip she would even say "HI Jade!". It was so adorable.
Jade and Grandpa Chow
This was the view from our hotel room. This was taken the last day of our trip. It was rainy. Luckily the rest of our trip we had fair weather. Well, I know I took more pictures so prepare for a Chicago part two.

Jade's Fake Cough

View fullscreen HERE

The Red Couch

On Monday my sister Katrina and I went hunting for the perfect dress to wear to Michael's wedding. Which is in two weeks!! One of the stores that we looked in had this adorable couch for little Jade. It looks like she's just louging around watching cartoons.On Tuesday we went with our friends Brian and Melissa Barnett to Joe's Crab Shack and had a delicious meal. I had steak and the rest of them had a big bucket o' crab. Apparently, it was delicious.
On Thursday I met with some girls from our ward for a Mommy and Me playgroup. We went to Chuck E. Cheese. It was so much fun. They had the whole Chuck E. Cheese band. So I had to get a picture to remember her first time. I remember when I was little we used to beg my dad to take us to Chuck E. Cheese. That's even where we celebrated my 16th birthday! Good times.

Conference weekend

Beware: picture overload. There are just so many good ones. Last Saturday we went to my moms house to have our annual Easter egg hunt. It was a little late this year I know, but we always do it on spring conference weekend.
The idea is this; you take eggs and blow out the insides through a small hole, then rinse them out and dye them, then fill them up with confetti. We hide them and find them, then run around the yard cracking them on each other's heads. It's a hoot.
Here's a picture of all the boys. (From top to bottom) Mike, Katrina's boyfriend, Michael, Dan, Nathanael, Paul, Joshua, Christopher, Matthew. All cuties.

Here, my mom is helping Jade crack an egg on Paul's head. :)Jade got a chance to sit on Paprika's back. She grabbed on to her mane tight, although she seemed to like it.

A week of pictures

Baby Jade loves her feet. It's that simple. So you can imagine my frustration trying to feed her messy baby food in her bouncy chair, meanwhile, food getting all over her feet, which she of course has put in her mouth. So.....we got her a booster chair.
She really seems to like it, and she can't put her feet in her mouth while she's eating, which is great!
Friday night we went with our friends the Saragers, the Shilligs, and Marlyse to Smokehouse. It's a barbeque place downtown, it was delicious. I had the pulled pork sandwich with a side of mac and cheese and Dan had the beef brisket with mac and cheese and mashed potatoes. All for under 20 bucks. Granted, they give you paper napkins and even plastic utensils but it was delish. Afterward, we went to Smart Cookie. Please, if you haven't been there, go! You can get an ice cream sandwich on homemade cookies for $2! Custom made with any cookies and any ice cream. So here is a family pic we took on the love sac at Smart Cookie.
This picture is just sort of random but as we were driving down University, toward the canyon I just realized how much I love the mountains in Utah. When we were in Minnesota the mountains were one of the things I missed most. I didn't realize how much I love them until they weren't there. I love how useful they are for finding your way around too. I always know the mountains are in the east.
My little brothers came to hang out with me Saturday. We had a fun but uneventful day just chillin' watching Saturday morning cartoons into the late afternoon. We snacked on pizza and watched Tom and Jerry. I forget how hilarious those cartoons are.

Book Tag

The Rules:
1. Pick up the nearest book (with at least 123 pages)
2. Turn to page 123.
3. Find the 5th sentence.
4. Post the next three sentences.
5. Tag 3 people.

So the nearest book was
101 Powerful Promises from the Book of Mormon.
By Wayne E. Brickey

5th sentence: "Let us put them in the school.

Next three sentences: Then they can be studied by our chilren and also everyone else." The older sister was more grown-up. She had adopted her mother's wish as her own.

I haven't read it yet but hmm..... i'm intrigued now.
I'll tag Lindsay, Jackie, and whoever else would like to join in the fun.

Husband Tag

So Thursday Dan was off of work and had to go out to run some errands. When he got home he came in with a stack of presents for me. Apparently they were for "being such a good mommy".

Here's a pic.

So he knows I've been wanting a Nintendo DS for so long and he just went and got one for me. Then the next day (after he saw how cool mine was), he went and got one for himself. :) Now we play together, in fact, a couple nights ago we just layed in bed playing Mario Party until the wee hours of the moring. It was a blast. So this post is in honor of Dan. You're a sweetheart hunny.

What is his name? Daniel Justin Chow

How long have you been together? We met on July 2nd, 2002 and Dan called me up the next day to ask me out. We have been together since.

How long did you date? Well, like I said we have been together since we met and got engaged on September 13th, 2002. Married on November 23rd, 2002.

How old is he? 28

What is he doing right now? He's working. :( It's sunday. I just got off the phone with him and he said he had to go so he could go take sacrament. I think it's nice he gets to do that at work.

Who eats more? Wow, I really think I do lately. He has been cutting back and he's looking great because of it. Meanwhile, I can't resist that fifth cookie.
Who said I love you first? Good question.......I have no idea.
Who's taller? Dan, by a full foot.
Who can sing better? Well, even though this whole post is suppose to be about Dan, I still say it's me. Dan will protest i'm sure.

Who is smarter? Dan, hands down.

Who does the laundry? I do the laundry.

Who pays the bills? Well Dan earns the money for them but I usually am the one to pay them.

Who sleeps on the right side? I think I do. I guess it depends on if you're talking about when you look at the bed or when you're laying in bed.

Who mows the lawn? I do. I love to though, It's good excersise and I love the smell of freshly cut grass.

Who cooks dinner? Well, we both like to cook. Dan's better at just whipping something up out of whatever is in the fridge. I sort of have to have a specific recipe in mind with all of the ingredients.

Who drives? Dan

Who kissed who first? Well, it was pretty mutual. But Dan tried to kiss me like the second time we hung out. He claims I turned my head but I didn't even know he was going to kiss me. He ended up kissing my cheek.

Who asked who out first? Dan asked me out to lunch at Hogi Yogi where I managed to win him over by proving I can shove half a sandwich in my mouth.

Who proposed? Dan. But he claims I told all of my friends that we were definately getting married way before we talked about it. He's crazy, I wouldn't do that.

Who is more sensitive? Oh, me, by far.

Who has more siblings? I do. Tish: 8 siblings. Dan: 2 siblings.

I love you Danny!

CHICKEN POX!!

So, Jade had the chicken pox this week. She managed to pick them up from my brothers (who didn't have them yet when we were visiting). Then my mom called and said "paul has the chicken pox". I wasn't sure if she would get them though, seeing as how we were just around them for a couple hours, and no one even held her. So Monday when we woke up I noticed a big red spot on her neck. Just one lone chicken poc (hmm...what is the singular version of chicken pox?). Anyway, it started spreading and by tuesday they were all over her head and back, with a few random ones on her legs and belly. There were a few nights that it was pretty bad. She couldn't sleep and would just burst into tears. I slept with her on the couch a couple nights with a cold washcloth on her head to help keep her fever down. She's doing much better now, they're all scabbed over and a few scabs have even started to fall off.


We took this picture of Jade when she was supposed to be napping. When I laid her down I turned on her glow worm, which plays songs and it's face lights up, and then put it on the side of her crib. But she was reaching for it and wanted to snuggle with it I guess.

So at relief society I made this cute little headband for jade. It was pretty easy too, you just make them out of baby tights and then hot glue a flower on. Turned out pretty cute I thought.

Happy Easter!!

Jade's first easter basket. We got her a baby einstein video for signing. It will help her learn baby sign language. We're hoping it works. Also she smiled at that flower when we found it at Wal-mart so.......we had to get it.

Everyone came over tonight to have dinner. Dan made turkey and ham. I made potatoes au gratin. Katrina and mike brought jello salad and michael and jess brought green beans. It was a feast! We also had a cake for Michael's birthday, which will be Tuesday. Also, he's getting married!! We're really excited.

Dan and I are so excited! We're going to visit some friends in San Diego in about a week. Dave and Jen just moved there from Vegas so we've got to go check out their new pad. I'm hoping we might get a chance to go to the zoo. I haven't been since I was little.

Jade's half birthday!

Jade is now six months old! She has been so much fun and she's just becoming more fun (I was going to say funner, but that's not a word). To celebrate we went to Doc's pizza buffet and then over to Brian and Melissa's for cupcakes and to play Mario Party. We gave Jade a little taste of the cupcake frosting and she licked all she could off of her lips.
Also in other news: Dan and I payed off our credit card!! Yay! I know Dan wanted to invest the money instead but I'm super excited.

Jade has discovered her feet. She loves playing with them now, it's pretty funny. She's very flexible. She usually only does this trick when she doesn't have any pants on though.

Snowboarding at Snowbird

So Dan and I finally got a chance to go snowboarding together this season. It was a gorgeous day up Provo canyon. The sun was shining and I heard rumors that it was 66 degrees! It felt great! Dan even got a goggle tan. Grandma Lou came and watched Jade for us. We had a great time; our friend Brian came with us. He and Dan were quite a bit faster than me so I snowboarded solo (no, they didn't ditch me, it was fine). I took a pretty good tumble when we first started out but all in all I was pretty surprised at how quickly I remembered what I was doing. Too bad there are probably not too many days left in the season. Spring's right around the corner folks.