Smith Christmas Weekend Extravaganza

This past weekend was the annual Smith Christmas Weekend Extravaganza. I love this weekend. Basically it starts with tree hunting and ends with exhaustion. There's also tons of shopping, eating and fun having in the middle.

This is my tree. It's a lot bigger than I thought. For some reason they always look much smaller in the forest. It is HUGE! I can't seem to get a small tree!

Here's the famous Sandra Smith tree. It will look amazing with all the stuff she puts on it.

We also celebrated Preston's birthday! He got Scrabble and a bike! You can see how excited he was!

We ate at Joe's BBQ. It was good. You will notice that there are a lot of empty plates!

This is what we all felt like at the end of the weekend. And yes, Squareknot is laying on the diaper cake Mom made for Mindi. I have no explanation.

All in all we had a great weekend. We hit all the stores we could and even got to go see Preston perform/direct at Jesterz! I already can't wait until next year!

Baptism

This is my little adopted niece Annalise. She just got baptized. I'm never disappointed at baptisms. I've been to a few and I always think that since I've been to a few this particular one won't be so special but they always are. Every baptism is special. I always feel the Spirit and it's always especially strong. Annalise's baptism was no different. This little girl was taking a very important step and her Heavenly Father was very pleased with her. I'm glad that I could be there to see it. Congratulations Annalise. You're such a special girl and I love you!

Moving

Guess what...we've moved but not to New York. We've decided to stay here in Mesa. I have to say I'm a little disappointed but excited too. Making decisions is hard but in the end both Zach and I feel a little better about staying here than moving. I guess we'll just have to wait a little longer for our adventures. Anyway, I'll be starting school in June so I'll have some time on my hands the next few months and I'll be filling that time getting my new apartment all set up. Moving is always an interesting experience. Below you will see Zach stuck below the mattress he was trying to put into the truck. If this was a video you would hear him yelling for help and see me running to get the camera. He did finally get out without any damage to him or the mattress.

Below you will see my closet.

And this is Zach's closet. I don't think I need to explain much. I sure do love this husband of mine!

Turkey Trot

This past weekend I ran my first 5K. I know that's not a lot to most of you out there but it was to me and it I'd never done it before. I ran the whole thing and did it in 35 minutes!

This is after the race with Zach and Squareknot. As you can see I'm still standing and yes I'm wearing my Dad's alien hunter doorag.

This is with my best bud Aubrey. I was so glad I got to see her because I don't get to very much. She's amazing and ran it in much less time than me. She's even run a half marathon! What a stud.

Bishop Allen

Bishop Allen is one of those bands that is beloved by everyone in my family and recently we all got the chance to go together. We had such a great time dancing and singing. Squareknot even came. He really wanted to dance to "Rain," which they played first for us. Squareknot got down! They put on a great show and if you ever get the chance to go see them...even if you have to walk for miles and miles...I would do it!

This is all of us after the show with our shirts. Dad is doing the "Rain" dance!

One of the opening bands was also enormously entertaining. I don't remember their names but here is a clip of one of the many dances they did for us. It was awesome!

Slot Canyons

This past weekend we went up to Southern Utah for a visit to the slot canyons with my parents. We had such a wonderful time. We went to 3 different slot canyons and took a bike ride through a beautiful part of Bryce Canyon. We had a blast! Below are a few of my favorite pics.

This was the first slot canyon we visited, Buckskin Gultch. Gorgeous!

Notice that I was the first one up!

This was us before the bike ride down Red Canyon. Squareknot told us it was a 4 mile ride all downhill. What he failed to realize or mention was that the bike trail had been extended 4 miles, all of which were uphill. It was beautiful though and we had a great time!

The beginning of day two was a hike to Upper Calf Falls. It was a beautiful hike and a beautiful waterfall.

This slot canyon was called Peekaboo. Perhaps you can see why.

The only picture we have of all of us. There aren't a lot of places to put a camera when the walls are 100-200 feet straight up!

This slot was called Spooky. It was so narrow I was very concerned that we would get stuck. It was definitely spooky.


We finished up this trip with a quick walk to Horseshoe Bend. This is an annual trip for my parents so anyone who wants to go next year is invited! We don't eat at any chain restaurants and there is a lot of hiking and walking but it is a one of a kind experience.

Decisions, Decisions

It has been quite a while since I last posted. Let me see if I can catch everyone up. I stopped working at my old job and have been enjoying some home time. Since I last posted we have managed to blow the engine in Lucia, my Mazda (not my fault), fix it, wreck it and fix it again. In the mean time we traded in our old Saturn for a new 2008 Nissan Sentra. Her name is Iggy and I love her. Not only is she beautiful but she was a great deal!!!
We also helped my brother and sister in law move into a new house and got the exciting news that we are going to have a nephew. Mindi found out that she is having a little boy! We are very excited and have already began spoiling the child with cloths and stuffed animals. Mindi is 5 months pregnant. We are so excited for Preston and Mindi and can't wait to welcome little Jude or whatever name they decide on into the world.
I have also continued my quest for PA schools. As everyone knows I was accepted to Albany Medical College earlier this year and I just found out that I've been accepted to AT Still University's PA program here in Mesa. So now the question is...do I stay here in my beloved Arizona and start school in June of 2010....

or do I venture completely out of my comfort zone and try a brand new city where we have no family or friends or anything really and start at a brand new school in January????

I am well aware that the decision is ultimately mine and Zach's but if anyone has any constructive advice, I'd be very open to hearing it. I have to decide within about a week and needless to say, I'm a little bit stressed.

Finishing Alaska

I thought I'd quickly finish up Alaska. Skagway was probably my favorite place so these pics really don't do it justice. In Skagway we went on a hike and a float down the river. It was very cool. There are a few pics of Price Reupert which was our Canada stop and a pic of the glacier we saw. It really was quite an amazing trip. We had a great time and I hope to go back again.

Chopped

If any of you watch the Food Network you know what show I'm talking about. It's another one of those reality tv shows involving chefs. Basically, there are 4 chefs and one gets cut after each course of a meal. They cook an appetizer, dinner and dessert. This weekend Tessa challenged Dad to a Chopped competition. It was quite the event. They cooked dinner and dessert.

Dinner Ingredients: pork chops, bacon, avocado and a special cheese we found.

Winner: Squareknot

He made chili rellenos with spanish rice and guacamole. It was as good as it sounded.

Tessa made a 3 cheese, 3 meat breakfast taco with avocado, tomato salsa.

Dessert Ingredients: Sugar Cookie Dough, Brie Cheese, mango and coconut.

Winner: Tessa
She made a cookie sandwich with a cream filling mixed with brie cheese, mango, strawberries, and coconut. It was covered with strawberries and chocolate. It was amazing.

Squareknot made a mango raspberry cobler that was very tasty.

In the end it really was a split decision. Half of us agreed that dinner was the most important meal and therefore, Squareknot was the winner. The other half passionatly disagreed and said that dessert was more important and therefore, Tessa should win. It was a very close competition. All in all they both did amazing!

Our "Wii" kend

It's official, we have a Wii. About a month ago I told Zach that maybe we should give each other a Wii for Christmas. I had no idea the stream of events that would set in place. Needless to say, we did not wait 6 months before buying one.

I've hardly ever seen Zach so happy and excited.

The other part of our "wi" kend was Wicked! On the 4th, we had 8th row seats to see Wicked at Gammage. It was one of the most incredibly moving performances I've ever seen. Any of you who havent' seen it, I highly recommend it and sitting up close really is that much better!

Juneau

When I asked Zach what the blog title should be he said in a very Mexican accent, "It was really fun...ju know?" I said no. Anyway, to proceed with our trip, our second stop was Juneau. It was a beautiful place and a lot smaller than I thought it would be. We all ended up doing different things. Dad, Zach and I went on a bike ride, Mom went on a photography trip, and Tessa and Tasha hit the town.

Our bike ride was amazing. We started at a ski resort up on the top of the mountain and rode all the way down. We got a view of the Mendenhall Glacier from 9 miles away. Even that far away it was amazing! We had a little bit of time afterward to shop and Tessa found some amazing truffles and I found some huckleberry ice cream. It was a very successful trip!

This is a quick pic of the mountains around Juneau.

Zach with all his gear on.

Dad with his gear and the glacier in the background.

Me and Dad with our pant legs rubberbanded so they don't get caught in the chain.

All 3 of us adventurers.

Happy Anniversary!

Today was my Mom and Dad's 31st wedding anniversary! Way to go Dad for not screwing it up and way to go Mom for being charitable and patient! Just look at what you're 31 years have accomplished. I'd say you've done pretty well!

We love you and here's to another 31 years!

Ketchikan

Ketchikan Alaska was our the first stop on the trip. We all decided to go kayaking around some little islands. It was incredible!! The only disappointing thing was that Mom and Squareknot promised Tessa and Tasha some good looking guys for our guides...instead we got Eric with the missing teeth, father of a 2 year old and Betsey the Amazon woman. They did end up being very capable guides and even let us kayak a little bit longer than we were supposed to. I believe in this instance the pictures will speak for themselves.

Tasha the blueberry...

All of us with all our gear before heading out in the kayaks.

Zach, me, Tessa and Tasha. You can see some of the islands in the background.



It was very scary taking your camera out to take a picture while the kayak was rocking back and forth.

Two bald eagles...Preston named them Sandra and Squareknot.

It was our favorite excursion. We even got to see some whales. Awesome!!

Congratulations Tucker!

My brother in law, Tucker, got his mission call this weekend. He's been assigned to labor in the...



Argentina Resistencia mission.


I'm always jealous when new Elders or Sisters get their calls. I wish it could be me starting out on that incredible journey. Congratulations Tucker! It'll be the best, hardest, most rewarding, most challenging and all together indescribable 2 years of your life. Enjoy every minute because it goes by way to fast and it will be over before you know it!

Alaska

Though I'm still not fully recovered from our trip, I thought that it was time I said a few words!! WOW! That's really the only one that comes to mind. Alaska is some of the most gorgeous country I've ever seen and not at all what I thought it would be. I have so many pictures and stories that need to be shared that I’ll be breaking them up into a few different posts. We’ll start with Seattle!

We started with dinner at Bambuza (thanks Chelsey). Two things to notice in this pic. The enormous asparagus and the guy in the background with the wolverine hairdo! Awesome!

We then took a tour of the Seattle Underground. I would also highly recommend that. It was very interesting.


We didn't have much time for anything else but we did manage to fit dessert in before we went to bed!


The next morning we headed straight for the market!


This was the best clam chowder Mom, Dad and Tessa had ever had!