The Best 19 Years Ever!!!

On July 27th, John and I shared our 19th Wedding Anniversary. Somedays I wonder where all that time has gone and other times it seems like it has already been eternity. We were able to leave straight from my parents and drive down to Mesquite to spend the night and both have massages. It was John's very first massage and he had quite the chatty little guy who was very into homeopathic healing and basically never shut up the whole time he was being massaged. I had a great gal who asked if there was anything in particular that I wanted her to focus on and she did a good job. It was nice to get away and talk about the last 19 years. It was actually quite funny because while we were driving I asked John if he only had one word to describe these last 19 years what would it be? He thought about it and kept saying he had more than one but I told him it could only be ONE word. He finally said, "WONDERFUL." Well of course me and my sick mind went to all those places that hadn't been so wonderful, but after thinking about it-- they BECAME wonderful because we worked through them TOGETHER--just don't ask me to do it again. He then asked me my word and I said "INTERESTING." Well of course, John takes that in the negative way and I am thinking that it has been a very interesting ride full of love, happiness, growth, sadness, trials, and adjusting--but again we did it TOGETHER. That having been said, I can think of no other person that I would have rather have spent the last 19 years with. I love you Johnnie!!!! Happy 19th Anniversary Baby!!! Here's to ETERNITY!!!

At the Casa Blanca Pool in Mesquite...

Family Time, Pioneer Celebration, and We Finally Get To See Fireworks!!!

We spent some time down at my parents over the 24th of July Weekend and Nicole and Curt with their families were also able to be there. We had us a good game of wiffle ball, and the kids had a home run tournament. Everybody had a good time but Nicole unfortunately twisted her ankle, which affected 5K day (see previous post).

Trev batting for home runs...

Baylee up for her turn..
Mandi and Kadie make a great team...

The Big Boys Resting after the game...


On the 24th, after our 5K, Mona had a little town days celebration that had several blow up slides and toys to play on.
JJ screaming all the way down...

Check out Bryson's face...

And then of course, the Three CUTE Amigo's...


We spent the afternoon looking at vacant houses around my parents neighborhood and dreaming. I just have to include this shot of my dad. He was having a hard time finding his tennis shoes so he slipped on his cowboy boots and was going to take Davey to lunch. I still don't know if he was really kidding (I actually think that if Nicole and I weren't laughing so hard he would have left the house looking like that). I love my dad so much he brings me lots of happy memories. Anyway, hopefully you won't hate me dad but here goes...


Finally Mona City had Fireworks. We were so excited because the Fireworks in Nephi for the 4th of July were cancelled due to bad weather and we weren't able to make the reschedule so we were so excited to be able to see Mona's display. And boy oh boy, was it ever a display. It was a big, beautiful and long display. Didn't get any pictures of the up in the air fireworks but John was good enough to buy a little pack for the younger kids.

John being the official firework lighter...

John's Audience (notice Byson's face again)

Davey joining in for the Celebration's...

What fun memories we have created these past couple of weeks. I am ready for more!

Mona 5K (yes we did it again)

After running the Ute Stampede 5k, the competitive spirit of the Smith side came out, and my dad, me, and my sister decided that we needed to run the Mona 5K and beat our previous time. I personally was a little worried because my dad and sister had been training together and they pretty much knew the route (the actual route ended up being better than what they originally thought). Also I had been in Fish Lake and only ran/walked once. However, I knew I could do it if they could. Justin also ended up running the 5K and kicked my trash. It really makes me mad that I work out all the time and at least attempt to run a couple of times a week and he does NOTHING and totally beats my time by like seven (yes I said 7), minutes. Good for him, but one day he will be 39 too. Unfortunately, the night before, we were playing a family wiffle ball game (later post) and Nicole turned her ankle. She was still a little sore the morning of the race but determined to run. However, part of the route included a dirt road and she twisted that same ankle in a rut--she was not able to finish. But bless her heart, a couple of days ago she ran the route just to prove that she could do it. (Smith competitiveness again) My dad and I both took FIRST (yes, I said 1st), place in our age divisions (not the overall race winners). Brayden and Baylee (Nicoles kids took third in their divisions). Justin ran a dang good race but was competing against half of the Nephi Cross Country team. We improved our time by almost 4 minutes--not bad for a 39 and 62 year old. Here are a lot of different moments of our 5K.

A few shots of Justin, my dad, and me running by my parents house (yes, it was on the route)

Justin looking like a runner...

Here we come...

Still coming...

Trying to convince Nicole to come back and join us...

And there we go...

A shot of all us runners (minus Baylee, she was running her 1 mile race)...

Dad and his two girls...

Me with my very FIRST ribbon EVER in running...

My dad getting HIS ribbon...

And finally a collage my sis put together of our combined races...

Fish Lake

This year was our 4th year in a row of going up to Fish Lake. We have grown from 2 families to 8 families, and it just keeps getting better. Here is a shot of our lovely campsite.

Our family spent a total of 5 days there, and it still wasn't enough for some (hint hint: Trevor and JJ). My favorite part of camping is just sitting, relaxing, reading and enjoying a good round of hand and foot. My boys on the other hand enjoy air soft wars, fishing, swimming, and exploring. This was the first year that they actually swam and we drove over to Capitol Reef and enjoyed some waterfalls and a swimming hole. Here is some the crew enjoying the cool off. (Gotta love that red dirt!)

Justin jumping off...

John was a real trooper and took Trevor and JJ fishing a couple of times. There were so many shots of them I just condensed them into few.

Thanks to many creative minds (me NOT inlcluded), the kids had plenty of things to keep them busy. They could choose from making bracelets or fruit loop necklaces, painting rocks, playing bingo, face painting, hula hooping (BIG HIT), playing card games, or playing cars and trucks for the boys and playing dolls and finger/toe painting for the girls. One of the families brought their cute little dog, Dodger, and he provided JJ with ample entertainment, he especially liked to walk the Dodger on the leash. Here is JJ hula hooping (if that is a word?)

Our shade tent and picnic tables came in pretty handy and here we are eating our yummy hamburgers. (Aren't we just the cutest?)

We created many fun memories with GOOD people. Fish Lake has become one of our very FAVORITE places to camp. We always camp in the Frying Pan campground. Major plus is the flushie toilets. There is no way to show all the pictures that I took so here is a collection of different shots.

Finally, we like to end our trip by taking family pictures in front of the "FRYING PAN CAMPGROUND" sign. (Those of you who received our Christmas picture will recall last year's camping trip picture.) I have tried to get all the families that were there. First and of course the best:

The Welburn's

The Ahlberg's

The Cardon's

The Shaffer's

The Neilson's

The Holt's (minus mom and dad)

The Hamblin's (and cute little Dodger)

and last but not least, The Haws's



We can't for next year!!!!

Ute Stampede 5K Race in Nephi, UT

This past week my sister, Nicole, and her family arrived from Texas. We are sooooo excited to have them here. Well Nicole talked my dad and I into running the Ute Stampede 5K race. Well ever since the Moab Half Marathon that I ran three years ago, I have not been a very "enthused" runner--I tend to stick to fast walking and Jillian Micaels workouts. Anyhow, we promised not to leave each other and we all ran together. It was actually OK. We finished the race in a little over 36 minutes and felt quite "accomplished". Now all you avid runners don't laugh, we did it for fun and not for the "competition." I got some shots of all three of us before, during, and after the race. (I should really say that Nicole was the one that remembered her camera, so thank you Nicole for helping catch these wonderful memories!!)

Before the race...


During the race...


Crossing the finish line "TOGETHER"...


After the race...


You will notice that all three of us pretty much color coordinate. That was NOT on purpose. Just goes to show you that "Great minds REALLY do think alike." It was a lot of fun and we are actually thinking about doing another 5K on the 25th of this month. You just never know!!

4th of July Festivities

It is becoming a tradition for us to go down to Nephi and spend the day at the Park with John's brother, Jim and his family, and my parents. This year was no different. We drove down on Friday afternoon and the four boys (John, Justin, Jim, and Braden) all went golfing while Traci cooked dinner and I worked on my blog. We had dinner and spent the night with Jim's family. At the crack of dawn, the four boys again woke up and went golfing. It gave Traci and I a leisurely morning and then when the golfing was over, we all went down to the park. There are many booths that the younger kids can participate in and of course the older boys can find things to do also. Here are a few shots of the younger kids and their activities.

JJ after getting his face painted...


Katie, JJ, and Megan with their faces all painted...


JJ doing the ring toss...


Katie and JJ on the 4-wheeler train...


Cameron and Trev sporting their 4th of July shirts that they won in a race on the inflatable slides (thanks Cam for letting Trev win so he could get a shirt.)


JJ sporting and showing his prizes...


John and I "relaxing" under the big shade trees...


In the afternoon, the six boys entered a dodgeball competition. It was quite funny to see how nervous and anxious Jim and John were because there were a couple of "college men" teams and they were funny to watch and listen to with their stategizing. They never did end up playing those teams because they did it according to size and age. There was one really funny moment when the boys were playing another group of young boys and one boy said to his team, "Let's get the old man!" Well that "old man" they were referring to was John. (A funny moment for me but no so funny for John!) I got a couple of snapshots of them and a few video clips so here goes...

The guys lining up for a match...


The boys in action...


3 Buff Boys...



Justin and Braden "ATTACK" with Trevor joining in...


"Graceful" Justin...


They all had a good time but were NOT crowned the "Dodgeball Champions." They have something to "aim" for next year.

That night while we were waiting for the fireworks, the 4 younger boys convinced their dads' to play basketball with them at the local church gym. Although, the deal was that John and Jim would be able to get a 45 minute nap. The timers and alarms were set and then we all went over to the church. Justin, Braden, and Cameron were a team and John, Jim, and Trevor were a team. Of course with Welburns playing there was a "little competition" involved...hmmmhmmmm(Justin), but they seemed to have a good time. There were some funny moments with John strutting his stuff (didn't catch it on video), and "belly bumping." However, Trevor was the "STAR"of the night, he made the winning basket and I actually did get that on video.

Trev the "STUD"...


While they were playing on half the court. Traci was shooting with the girls and JJ had to have his picture taken of him dribbling the ball.

JJ's demonstrates his dribbling skills...


When we walked out of the church building there was quite the firework show going on with the weather--lots of lightening and thunder. Thus, the firework show was cancelled and we didn't get to see the fireworks or even light our own because the rain was so bad. We decided to call it a night and drove home so we could sleep in our nice comfortable beds. We had a great time with Jim and Traci and we are very grateful to live in a country where we enjoy all kinds of freedoms. Thank you to all those who defend those freedoms!!!!!!