Aubrey's new words

Little Aubrey who is 14 months old today is talking so much. These are a few of the words she has been saying lately: more, eat, dink(drink), book, done, apple, dog, go, cookie, and ouwee. Each of these words that she says are done in silly ways. When she says "go" it is done with her arm straight out in front, finger pointing in the direction she wants to go. When she says "done" she does with her head to one side and a shoulder shrug.

The funniest thing is when and how she uses "ouwee". She used "ouwee" the other night when her sister threw a book off the bed and it landed on her head. Rubbing her head and saying "ouwee" we kissed her and hugged her until her "ouwee" was all better. But then she used the word repeatedly the other morning while I was combing, what little bit of hair she actually has. I noticed yesterday she was using "ouwee" when I buckled her in her high chair and car seat, when I was getting her dressed, when I was cleaning her messy face, and when I was trying to change her diaper. That little girl is using "ouwee" when she doesn't want to you to bother her or cramp her style. It's amazing who fast they learn things.

Our Loving Prophet

Our loving Prophet has passed away at the age of 97 and will be missed dearly. We got the news Sunday evening and we were very sad. My oldest Ashlyn was in tears when she heard the news. He is the only prophet she has ever know. We let her know that we love and will miss him. His humor and words of wisdom will not be forgotten. His body is no longer in pain and he is happy, because he has been reunited with his beloved wife. I am sure that he went right to work for the Lord.

Planning our sabbatical

Noah and I sat down the other night to plan out what we wanted to do for his sabbatical. This will be eight weeks of what ever we want to do as a family. Our first plan was to travel further up the coast of California to Oregon, then into Washington and over to Montana. Down through the tip of Idaho into Wyoming and down into Colorado our last stop before heading home. On the way back we would travel through the tip of New Mexico into to Arizona and finally back to Brentwood, California. We would be enjoying all the sights and unique places along the way.
After a good nights sleep we said to each other "What are we thinking?" We must have been sleep deprived to think that we could drive over 4,000 miles with 3 little girls and still be having fun by the end. We revised the trip, but that was still about 3,800 miles of open road and 3 kids being kids.

We asked the girls what they wanted to do. We got Disneyland, New York City, Grandma's house, Camping to that place we went a long time ago(no idea what they were talking about), and Hawaii. The last place Hawaii sounded so relaxing and like a great idea, that we decided on Maui for 2 1/2 weeks. Nothing but sun and relaxation(well as much as we can get with 3 girls).

Year in Review

The Smith 2007 Year in Review

This year has gone by really fast. I think having 3 kids has sped up the year. We did lots of fun things, went to lots of cool places, and had a great time enjoying our new home and new town.

Some of the highlights of 2007 were going to Disneyland for 3 days, going to Maui for a week with all 3 girls, Grandma Smith, and Anissa’s sister Tiffany(now that was interesting), camping in Big Basin with Noah’s siblings and there children(hope to do it again), going to Six Flags Discovery Kingdom a few times for special events, visiting grandparents in San Diego for a week and going to Monterey for a few fun filled days.

Ashlyn our oldest is six and is a big first grader. She finished her first official year of school at Marsh Creek Elementary in June. Ashlyn was the yearbook cover contest winner for Kindergarten last year and found out last month she had also won for the first grade level this year. We were very excited and proud of her. Ashlyn took swim lessons this summer and played soccer with an all girl team. She did an awesome job and learned a lot. She is enjoying playing on the bigger playground at school and has learned to make new friends. Ashlyn had her first visit from the Tooth Fairy and since then has been loosing teeth left and right top and bottom. She is a great help being the big sister and loves playing with her little sisters.

Autumn turned three in September. She started a mommy and me class at Black Diamond gymnastics and really loves it. Her favorite activities at gymnastics are hanging from the bars and jumping on the trampoline. She took swim lessons with Ashlyn and did a great job. Now she is much more confident in the water. Autumn gets to go to the park with church friends almost every Friday. She also started going to pre-school every Thursday. We rotate with 5 other mothers and their children. She loves to go places and be with her friends. She asks her mom daily “Where are we going today?” Autumn is very imaginative and loves to pretend. We have all kinds of party’s, weddings, pirate fights, and lots of hair style shop and dress up days.

Aubrey had her First Birthday in November. She has done almost all her firsts that you can accomplish the first year of life. She rolled over and sat up, crawled and walked early. She can say mama, dada, Ash, go, and tries to say Autumn. She enjoys running around with her sisters, kicking the soccer ball around the house, throwing balls, and chasing after them. Aubrey is silly, always full of laughter, and gives us the cheesiest smiles. We love to sit and watch her make us laugh.

Noah is working as the manager of the Walnut creek office of Neil Anderson and Associates, inc. and really enjoys it. His job offered exciting new challenges and some unique opportunities. He has been with the same company for 8 years and qualifies for a sabbatical which is 7 straight weeks of paid vacation. We are excited about this, because he will be taking advantage of his time off this coming year. Noah is still the 1st counselor in the Young Men's Presidency at church and over the 14 & 15 year old boys. In his spare time, which is a little bit since his three girls demand his time as soon as he walks through the front door, he enjoys playing his guitar, reading, and just relaxing at home.

Anissa has been adjusting to having three busy little girls. She is always cleaning and picking up after them. She is also settling into her new home and loves it. Anissa got a new calling at church about 6months ago. She teaches about 15 girls and boys in Primary, all 11 years of age. I don't know how she does it. She is also an activity day leader for the same girls in her class. She really enjoys being with those kids and teaching them.