...And for the Grandmas...

I figured it was about time to post a slew of pictures of our darling girl, so here they are. As you'll notice, she's really cute. And I mean really, really cute.

We went swimming the other day and had a great time! Lois was having a blast until something quickly flipped her switch and...

...wait for it...

Ta-Da! She was screaming.

Seriously, we had no idea why. Nothing happened between the time she was happy and seriously screaming her lungs out.

Like I said in the last post, we're seeing A LOT of these faces lately.

What's with the tantrums already?!?? Sheesh.

Lois loves playing in these fountains. The best is when she slowly bends down and tries to get a little "lick" of the water. I'm having a hard time getting it on camera, but it's hilarious.

Playing with the paddle board

Eating her penne pasta and juice. I love how she's got it all the way up above her eye. Shortly after this picture was taken, she had her finger in her nose. It was awesome.

She got this little duo as a party gift at a birthday party. What's funny is that Jason and I would make the "ARRGH" sound, she'd crack up and try to make the sound herself. We were dying of laughter...

Having fun with Daddy!

She was getting a kick out of this because we were laughing so hard!

Would you like some ham-fried rice?

Strike a pose!

Yep. There it is again.

Ever put your tongue on a strainer? Feels pretty cool. At least Lois thought it did. She walked around with this on her head for about thirty minutes. That's right, she's a genius!!

YUMMY!

Look at those big blue eyes!

Wait, I lied. You know how I told you she was really, really cute?

She's not. She's really, really, REALLY, over-the-moon, fantastically beautiful!!!

It's okay that I'm a gushing mother, right? It's my blog and I'll gush if I want to!!

August Rush...

Is summer really gone? Yikes!! I've been meaning to post some more pictures of our trip back to Utah from August. We were delighted to welcome home my little brother Mackie and enjoy family and friends! Here's some pictures from our adventures!

The happy, glowing returned missionary - this is on our boat at Hebgen Lake in Montana on Labor Day.

My grandma and the rest of the crew on our Labor Day boat ride. It was FREEZING that day. Can you tell by all our fleece jackets?

Stella and Uncle Raleigh

Hebgen Hoodie: $20

Beanie: $10

Swimming Suit: $25

Wearing flip flops with socks - but not really wearing socks: PRICELESS!

*Nice farmer's tan! Note to Preston: Do you see something wrong with this picture?? When you have to wear a hoodie AND a beanie as to not freeze to death, it's probably not a good idea to go swimming and/or water skiing in already freezing-cold water! You're a crazy-nut.*

This is what you find when you leave your camera sitting around in the Smith household.

Raleigh and Mack

Enjoying some good books on the porch of the cabin.

*This is the weekend I was sans Lois. Kind of nice, but I missed her so much!*

This is my 22-year-old cat, Patches. She's why they say cats have nine lives.

Uncle Raleigh with Stella and Lois

Handsome Preston

Chloe, me, Lois, Clara, Marielle and Cecily

All my girl cousins on my mom's side

Here's the whole Smith gang (minus Stella who was napping)

We're finally all back together again!

Me and my four brothers - LOVE these guys.

My sweet family!

Oh, dear. We're seeing a lot of this face lately.

Jason holding Phoebe - the newest addition to the Smith clan!

Gorgeous ladies - Cecily, Deanna and Chloe!

My pretty grandma holding Phoebe Rose

The two that started it all - Mammasita and Daddy-O!

Thanks for beings such awesome parents.

Love you guys!

HOLy FreAKin' GuaCAMOLe!

Did you guys see this? This little Indonesian baby was born weighing in at

19 pounds 2 ounces.

Seriously...LOOK AT THE SIZE OF THAT BABY!!! He was born via c-section (um, did she really have a choice there?) and reports say that his mom had diabetes. Hmmm... Maybe I shouldn't control my blood sugars during my next pregnancy and see if I can beat this record...

Um, I don't think so. Sorry, Guiness Book of World Records. It ain't gonna happen.

You may have a problem if...

I admittedly love Diet Coke. I try not to keep it in the house, otherwise I'd drink way too much of it, but if I'm out and about, I sometimes go through the McDonald's drive-thru and order just a Diet Coke (which often gets me some pretty funny stares, I might add.) I also have to admit that McDonald's has - by far- the best fountain Coke products on the market. I actually heard they have a designated quality control person to make sure their coke always has a perfect syrup to carbonation ratio. I think it's true, because seriously, it's always perfect.

Anyway, as I was sipping down my Diet Coke driving back home, I read this on my cup:

"MANY DRIVE-THRU'S OPEN 'TIL MIDNIGHT OR LATER...

...Do you crave the taste of freshly prepared hot fries at midnight?

I'm lovin' it."

Don't get me wrong. Sometimes freshly prepared fries are totally delicious.

But at midnight??

Not so sure.

And this is when I think you might have a problem.

Exceptions, of course, but midnight and fries? Ewww.

And I certainly think that statement implies, "with a double cheeseburger and a coke" to go along with that.

Now, let's talk about ice cream. I could eat ice cream at midnight. Not that I do, but it seems like a better option.

What do you crave at midnight?

"What the heck?"

So, I had a "what the heck" moment while I was working a couple of nights ago. I would say the majority of WS's customers are classy, polite, well-dressed - you know what I'm talking about, right? They just seem like they'd be willing to pay $15 for a bottle of BBQ sauce. And then sometimes we get these true wild cards that look like they belong in a nepa hut, ready to be a contestant on Survivor or living out of a van eating tofu for every meal. I find it fascinating that these people even meander into our store.

Because here's the deal: They always have some crazy, wild child that comes with them. Always. As soon as they enter the threshold of the store, they completely forget that they even have a child. This is when we begin to panic slightly - because it's not like we have a "child-proof" store. For example, we've had crystal broken, jelly beans splattered all over the floor, kids eating our fake display fruit/vegetables, kids banging the pots and pans like they are in a rock band - you name it, we've seen it.

This particular night, for example, this man walks in with a little boy around the age of three years old. The man was dressed as if he had just come off the trails of Mt. Kilimanjaro and his kid was sporting a sweet mullet, wearing bright neon pink shorts. Why the mullet, I wonder? Why subject your child to this poor lapse in hair judgement? I hope he'll give his parents a good talkin' to when he's flipping through the old photo books a few years down the line.

Anyway, I digress. So as this man is looking around, this kid runs to the opposite side of the store to the wall of cooks tools that, with all fairness, looks like an exciting play land for a little boy with a mullet. My co-worker and I were both looking at each other as he begins to drop things onto the floor and comb his lovely mullet with a basting brush (SICK! We did remove it from the sales floor...) and then after that he ran over to our food mills and started turning them. This is when I finally start freaking out because food mills have blades. Blades, people! Um...hello, non-attentive man. Your kid is about to chop his finger off. I walked over, grabbed the mill from him and told mullet boy that the food mill wasn't a toy and told him it could hurt him badly. I guess this got his dad's attention and he came over and said, "Yeah, I guess that's not such a great thing to play with. Wasn't it funny that he thought that was a hair brush?"

Um, no sir, I didn't find that one bit funny. Actually, it's disgusting! People use those for their FOOD. What the heck? What planet are you from??

After two minutes of paying attention to his little man's whereabouts, the kid wandered off and was again up to his unsupervised terror, this time banging on the pots and pans we have displayed with a wooden spoon! It was SO LOUD and disrupting everyone else in the store. This went on for about a minute or so, and the guy finally walked over, got his child and left the store. Thanks, dude. Appreciate it.

So, what are some of your "what the heck" moments? I definitely get my fair share of them working in retail and for some reason, the mullet just pushed me over the edge and I had to write about it. Why do mullets push me over the edge? Or is it these parents that make me crazy? I don't know. Either way, what the heck??

Wedding Love

Here's some pictures from the wedding festivities.

My mother-in-law, Lois and me at the Orem reception

The Smiths represented at the Orem reception - my parents, brother Mack and cousin Marielle

There beauties are Jason's cousins and aunts

Mari (J's cousin's wife), Aunt Claudia and Aunt Kathy (MIL's sisters) and Kathy's daughter, Claire.

The San Jose reception was loaded with a lovely dessert bar - here's some pictures of what we nibbled on...

Red velvet sandwiches

Mmmmm...

Lemon tarts

Yummm...

Chocolate cupcakes

Jason's second love...

My parents-in-law, baby and my handsome hubby...

The morning after the wedding, all of my mother-in-law's family joined together and we had a delicious breakfast at Kathy's house. Here's the entire crew! What a fun bunch.

Since these two refuse to declare their love on Facebook, I've decided to take it into my own hands by putting the evidence out there! I tagged them BOTH on facebook! There's no hiding now!! :-) Kristen and Nate: Your secret is out!

Lois was not a happy camper by the time the photographer got around to taking our pictures. She kept making this face at me - so I mimicked it back. She just too cute.

Lois' Grandma Wright made this cute little dress for her. She looked so darling and it fit her perfectly! Not too shabby for not having her there to make sure it fit, huh? She stole the show!

Some of J's cousins at the temple - Dave, Amy, Arthur, Clint and Mari

Here's my mother-in-law and all her sisters!

Nancy, Jan, Sandy, Kathy and Claudia

Claire and Joselyn were great babysitters while we were in the temple. When I came out of the temple, she didn't even care! She was having a blast eating the flowers in the background and playing with such cute young ladies...

Am I that boring already??

We're ALIVE!

We've done a lot over this past month - here's a recap:

1. We flew to San Jose on August 20th to see Jason's brother get married in the Oakland Temple. We had a great time with grandma and grandpa Wright, extended family and the happy couple!

2. Lois and I stayed a few extra days to visit with Kelli - one of my best friends from college - and her family. We had a great time and I loved seeing her little life there in CA! It'd been a long time since I saw her last - a little over two years. So we loved getting all caught up on our lives and reminiscing about the "old days."

3. We flew from San Jose to Salt Lake City to welcome home my brother McClain from his two-year mission in Vancouver, BC. While Mack was gone, THREE nieces were born, my brother Jordan got married and another brother got home from his mission. Needless to say, he came back to a whole new family! We loved seeing him and spending time with him. We're so proud of Mack and the wonderful mission he served. We also enjoyed his homecoming address in our local ward and had a great little party with friends and family.

4. We got ready for and attended Nate & Kristen's reception that took place in Utah a week after their wedding. This was so fun to see old friends and spend time with more family! Lois also got her first "official" hair cut from Aunt Janelle for the big event!

5. We hung out with all the grandmas and grandpas, cousins, aunts and uncles and friends. We met our beautiful new niece, Phoebe and Lois loved playing with her cousin, Stella. We love our families! They bring so much joy to our lives.

6. We slept and tried to recover from the crazy schedule we'd been keeping. This kind of worked. I feel like i could sleep for a whole week straight. I'm pretty sure this won't happen until I'm dead. :-)

7. I left Lois with Grandma Wright and headed to my cabin for Labor Day weekend. Grandma Wright was in heaven and I really didn't know what to do with myself without my baby - but good times were had by all!

8. Right about the time we were leaving to hop on a plane back to Tucson, Lois fell down my parent's staircase resulting in a quick run up to Primary Children's Hospital. Don't worry! Lois is doing just great. We missed our flight, but got on another flight the next day.

9. We made it home to Tucson after being gone for three weeks! Daddy was extremely happy to have us home.

10. We went for Lois' 15-month check-up and shots on Monday and now we're just settling back into normal life. She's 90th percentile for height, 70th for weight and 60th for head circumference.

Until I can get some more pictures posted of the wedding and other Utah adventures, here's some fun pictures of our growing girl!

She's "Lois" talking all the time now, has taken a great interest in shoes, loves singing the "itsy bitsy spider" and is starting to climb things. We just can't believe how fast she's growing and how much joy she brings to our lives!

Mmm...chocolate chip cookies. Gotta love that face!

Driving the fire engine truck at Kelli's house in Mountain View, CA.

Lounging with her baby at Aunt Kathy's house in San Jose.

We went to the park right before leaving for San Jose and she wanted to go play in the splash park so badly - so we stripped her down and let her go to town in her diaper. How adorable is that little body?

And on a totally random note: How much do you hate toilet paper commercials? AHHHH!!!! WHY? Why the stupid animated bears showing little pieces of toilet paper stuck to their bottoms?? Why the cute, yet annoyingly talking labrador puppy in a lab coat talking "scientifically" about TP or soaking in a bathtub full of rose pedals?? Come on, folks. Just for that, I will not be buying your product! Thanks for letting me rant...

While there are plenty others to rant about, these just happened to be at the top of my brain.

Are there any ads on television that drive you batty?