Time flies

Where did the time go Whitni and Krysta will both be graduating this next year. It seems like Whitni just went away to school and then she just got married and now she is graduating!!!!

We had a most amazing trip to Vermont. First time ever for me to be there and we got to spend a few days with our darling Whitni. It was beautiful and the leaves were still colorful which was a treat. I haven't seen fall in person for many years. SVU's women's soccer team made it to nationals again and they were playing in Vermont. With it being her Senior year and all this was our last chance to see her play college soccer. It was awesome! I loved seeing her in action and it brought back lots of fond memories of bundling up and watching her play at Westwood and AYSO. She does love that game. We got to do a little shopping and sight seeing and just being with her. The final outcome of their games was not what they hoped for however we had a wonderful time just being there and sharing the weekend with her.

THE HOLIDAYS ARE HERE.......THE HOLIDAYS ARE HERE!!! I think this is something that Chicken LIttle would have said. Dinners, concerts, parties, shopping, wrapping, and taking a moment to just walk at the temple grounds to feel the wonderful spirit of this time of year. The lights are so beautiful and the sweet spirit of the Lord is so wonderful.

The holidays are on us and I was determined not to be stressed however I am busy. Thanksgiving was very nice it was at our home with all our children and my parents there except for our sweet Whitni and Buck. Samantha and I spent the morning making pie crust and cooking pumpkin. I tried a recipe I heard on the Food Network for Banana Pumpkin Pie. I didn't like it at all so I tossed 4 homemade pies. Next year I will stick with the Libby recipe on the back of the canned pumpkin. LOL but we had fun and Sam made pie crust!!! The leftover crust we rolled out and put cinnamon and sugar on it. That disappeared in a minute. It brought back good memories of my Mom making pies when I was small and doing the same thing with the left over pie crust. Yum Yum! So everything else turned out great! I marinaded the turkey in a brine for about 20 hours and there was not any turkey left. So that was a hit. I think I will do that again at Christmas. So we had a nice day the the food was good. Of course we had a little football to go with it.

So we did Black Friday but started at midnight on Thanksgiving at Arizona Mills and then went to Walmart at 4 am and then Bed Bath and Beyond. We all got in line early enough to each get a $10 gift card at Tilly's We had a good time and surprisingly Az Mills was not that crowded. So I think will will do it again next year. Found some good deals too. Oh I guess that was the point of doing it. I just had a great time with some of my kids. They are so great! Cameron got to work at Aeropostal from 1 am on Thanksgiving to 1pm on Friday. We are hoping that they will hire him. As of yet nothing else.

Cameron has put out alot of applications this holiday season trying to find a job but he has not had any luck finding something steady. I guess Heavenly Father has something else in mind.

Fortunately he has had a day here and there for a little money. Say some prayers for him.

That is all for now...530 am comes fast. Good night and love to you all! Jesus lives and we are celebrating his birth!!! It is a wonderful season with so much to be grateful for....family, friends, the gospel, jobs, just everything!!!

Just another day at the Smiths

WE ahd a lot of dogs at our house and one very spoiled cat, that's Midnight. So one of our dogs is a mix and he is our pet and such a happy dog he is Trooper. We also have these beautiful German Shepherds, Arko, Vana, Debbie, Bella and Hanny. We bred one of our females (Vana) and she just had a litter of puppies. They are 2 weeks old today she had nine all together 3 female and 6 male. So Nate was off today and checked on the puppies alot and everyone was doing great. We seldom have problems with puppies after they are a week old. We this afternoon he found one of them had choked or something and died. We are soo sad especially when we spend so much time making sure they are healthy and growing. So now we are going to be even more protective of the puppies. TJ was here with Nate when it happend and we figured it happened between 4 and 5 pm. It just must have been meant to be. But I am still sad.

It is a start

So it is about time that I start a blog for our family since everyone is almost grown and gone......teehee. I will just have to pull some of the funny and embarrassing things about the kids from the past. So there is eight of us... of course Nathan and myself (Melanie) and then we started off with Krysta our always there to help oldest daughter. If you want it done she will find a way. She is gracious and determined and is a joy in our life. She has over come amzing obstacles and we are so proud of her accomplishments. We waited 3 years and then added TJ or Tim as some of you may call him. He is our ever changing son. You just never know if it will be pink or blue or mowhawk or ? He is the spice in our family and what a wonderful flavor he is. He has brought so much laughter to our family. Then 28 months later we added Whini Jo or Whitty or Whitey Jo. She is got it all figured out daughter. She was such a good baby that I almost drove away and left her sitting in her carrier in the entry way of our house once. She has had a plan for the start and has not ever gone too far off track. She does so much and does it so well. She is an absolute pleasure. Next we added Cameron 2 1/2 years later. From the very start he has always kept us on our toes. We think everything is going smooth and we have no worries then Cameron brings us back to reality. If Cameron wants something to happen he will make it happen one way or another. That is an amazing gift. He sings us songs and writes beautiful lryics. He is our funny, tender-hearted and wonderful son. After 21 months we added Samantha. She is our breath of fresh air. She is just happy to be here and enjoy everyone. She says some of the most adorable things. She has such a good heart (she gets that from her Dad). She is always helping someone or being kind. She has more phone contacts in my phone than I do...quite the social butterfly. Then we added out Collin... our patient and good son. He fills our home with the music from his guitar and our piano...something I missed when Whitni went away to school. He is our performer and loves to be involved. And so funny.. this kid just cracks me up all the time. We had to wait a long time to add our son in law Buck but what a blessing and pleasure he is. He love our sweet daughter Whitni and is so good to her and we love that. He and Collin are from the same mold. Love the theater and performing. As a bonus he is a great athlete which is fun for Nathan. So here we are and hopefully I will be good to keep this up