Autumns new blog!

Since our family hasn't been on this blog for almost 3 or 4 years and our family is  busy I will be taking over. 11 months ago we had a new addition to our family. He is a very adorable baby boy who is an early beginner. His name is Evan and has even began walking. In exactly 1 month he will have his birthday and start his new year as a 1 year old. I am 10 so you will be looking into a tweens perspective of the world. I will give out tips for parenting with tweens and teens. So get ready for a whole new....                            
SMITH FAMILY FIVE BLOG!!!!!! (adults not included)

Happy 1st Birthday Baby Noah

On this day 1 year ago, the much awaited arrival of our baby boy was born. He came into this world early Sunday morning. He was Beautiful and Perfect. A year has gone by now and our lil man is growing up. In the year he has learned to hold his head up, sit up, crawl, interact with others, play, walk, run, dribble the soccer ball, climb, eat more and more foods with the 8 teeth that came in, sing, throw hand straight up in the air and say touchdown, dance, talk a little, hug, kiss, pull hair, wrestle, shoot hoops(with his little basket), sleep through the night in his own bed, laugh, giggle, screech to be heard, and explore the world around him. He is sweet as can be and our family will never be the same.
Having our 1st boy is so much fun. He is so different than the girls. He is pure boy and its amazing how from the start he has been like that. I was a little worried he would be a daddy's boy but he is totally a mommy's boy. I love that he adores me so much. I am excited for this upcoming year as he grows up more and to watch his little personality really grow.

We celebrated his special day with chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast.He watched his favorite movie "Rio" with mom in the morning. Then grandma Smith came over. He played with grandma for awhile until nap time. In the afternoon daddy came home early so we headed over to Chuck E. Cheese's to play. Lil Noah had a blast riding rides, singing and dancing, and playing a few games. We ate his favorite food chicken nuggets and fries for dinner. He opened up all his big boy presents. He received a lawn mower, Cars ball pit, race track, balls, cups, play cell phone, and a plasma car. Then he got a big slice of chocolate pudding cake. Boy did he like that...Yummy!  Happy 1st Birthday my big boy! 

Happy New Years!!!

Happy News Years!!! One of my new years resolutions is to update my blog or at least keep it a little up dated. I may go back if time allows, but over a whole year has passed and I never did a thing. So I promised myself I would keep it updated as well as I can with 4 kids. I think 4 kids threw me off my schedule a little, but finally I feel like I am getting it together. I want to share our family newsletter for 2011 which will bring us up to date on the happening in our family thus far besides the most obvious one...our little baby boy Noah...who I can't believe will be 1 year old in 8 days. Time sure does fly.

Our Family Christmas Letter 2011

This year has been Amazing for our family. We were blessed to have a Baby Boy come to our family in January. We loved spending time with Noah’s family for Memorial Day camping at Noah’s sister Rachel’s house in Boulder Creek near Santa Cruz, CA. It was fun spending time with her since she will be moving to Japan for 3 years in January. Anissa and little Noah also had the opportunity to spend time with her family and attend Anissa’s sister Amber’s college graduation from BYU-Idaho in Rexburg, ID. Little Noah enjoyed his first plane ride and snow. Noah and the 3 girls enjoyed camping for the weekend at Del Valle while they were away and fished and endured temperatures below freezing at night. This summer we had the opportunity to take a two week, 3,000 mile road trip to Colorado and back with stops in Utah and Las Vegas. We enjoyed visiting both sides of the family in Colorado and had the special opportunity to reunite with Anissa’s 3 Aunts and Uncle and their families that we had never met before during a Martinez Family reunion. Anissa’s dad had not seen 4 of his siblings since he was 9. For fall break we enjoyed a week at our favorite spot on the north coast at Manchester Beach

Noah celebrated 11 years working for Neil O. Anderson & Associates. He still enjoys his job and this year was the most profitable for his office since opening the bay area Branch in 2006. His office grew enough this year to move to a new office building double the size. The company continues to bounce back from the downturn in the economy and has grown over 20% in the last year. Noah was released from his calling as 1^st counselor in the Young Men’s Presidency at church after serving for 5 years. He is now teaching the Gospel Principles class. Noah was able to coach Aubrey’s soccer team “The Tremors” this year.

Anissa gave birth to a beautiful baby boy this year and has been adjusting to life with 4 kids. Despite the 4^th child she has been able to help in Aubrey and Autumn’s classes at school. Anissa was released as the Activity Day leader this year and is now serving as a Visiting Teaching Supervisor. She enjoys spending the little free time she has scrapbooking, playing with Noah, and socializing with her good friends.

Ashlyn is ten and is in the 5th grade. She had a great experience running for Student Body President this year although she didn’t win. However, it gave her time to volunteer in Aubrey’s kindergarten class and the Hawk Helpers Club. Ashlyn has been taking piano lessons and is in the school band where she is taking after her mom and playing the flute. She loves increasing her musical talents. Ashlyn has really enjoyed having a little brother and takes good care of him.

Autumn is seven and in the 2^nd grade. She enjoys school and continues to excel in her reading. She has also been writing stories. One story based on Cinderella about a butterfly was even considered for publishing. Autumn surprised us this year when she joined the Kindess & Caring club at school. She has really enjoyed serving and doing things for other students. Autumn started taking piano lessons this year and is playing very well.

Aubrey turned five and started Kindergarten this year. She is doing very well in school although she continues to demand attention by being the class clown. She is very outgoing and constantly breaks out in song with whatever pops into her head. Aubrey started playing soccer this year and enjoyed having her dad as her Coach. She scored lots of goals and looks forward to playing again next year.

Noah Thomas Elias was born this year on January 9. Noah was named after his great grandfathers. He is definitely a boy and different than his older sisters. Noah has a great spirit about him and loves to play. He is already a smart boy and started walking at 9.5 months. He appears to have a future in sports as he already dribbles the soccer ball around the living room and loves to shoot a ball in his basketball hoop. Noah is easy going and that is good given the nature of his older sisters.

The California Academy of Sciences

Our girls had the Friday before Memorial day off so we decided to go on a little getaway to San Fransisco for the weekend. Our 1st stop was to The California Academy of Sciences. This place is amazing with tons of things to look at and to do. Our girls had a blast exploring all the different areas at the museum. The 1st place we went through was Extreme Mammals, then on to the planetarium to watch a show about our planet and universe. Then we explored the 4 story Rainforest, massive Aquarium which takes you to different regions around the world, and natural history museums. It was really cool and the girls loved it. We will be doing this again.

Ashlyn's Field Trip

Ashlyn's 3rd grade class had a field trip to Historic Downtown Brentwood. I was able to drive some of the kids from school to the Downtown Brentwood Park where we would be taking a walking tour around the area and learn more about Brentwood. It was a lot of fun for the kids and it was really interesting to learn about the different buildings. Like the Brentwood Women's Club established in 1901, used later as the public library. This Red roof house was built at the Nortonville coal mines. When the mines closed they moved the homes into town. They moved them 3 times to where they are now. They were owned by teachers and staff in the 1920s. The building with the hallmark sign was the old Brentwood Pharmacy that included the Hallmark card shop. This was built in 1915. The sign was left as a reminder of its past.The Sun n Stuff was built around the same time and was a grocery store and post office. It still has the original wood floors and meat locker in back.This building was the Brentwood Press Building built in 1913 and in 1927 became the Bank of California. The kids loved walking through the old bank vault still there and being used as an office. What a fun time we had.

Mormon Helping Hands

Today was Mormon Helping Hands a Service Day organized by our church. Every Stake in the state of California participated in some way helping out their community by giving service. Our ward along with Oakley ward were given 3 designated areas to work on. We chose the group to be at the park. We picked up garbage all over the park and along the walking trail. The men were using weed eaters and lawn mowers to cut down the over grown areas. Our area was the biggest and had the other groups join us later. Afterward we meet at the church for lunch.

It was a great experience and something they will be doing next year. I hope this will become an annual event so that we can work together and give service.

The Best Mothers Day Ever!

This was the Best and most memorable Mothers Day Ever! Many of you know that Noah and I have been trying to have a baby for about 2 years now and on the eve of Mothers day we found out in 9 months our little miracle will be joining our family. I was so stunned I took 2 tests and almost a 3rd one, but Noah assured me that it was absolutely without a doubt positive. On Mothers Day it was hard not to shout it out to everyone we knew. That morning before church my girls and Noah had made me breakfast along with all of my gifts, flowers, and decorations out on the table. What a wonderful surprise.

Then later on in the day our family arrived to spend the day with us. It was hard not to tell them the good news right away, but Grandma Smith would have an extra gift to open. In a little box she opened up the 2 positive tests. Everyone was so excited. We told the rest of our family over the phone that day. It was a great evening, yummy dinner, and was able to enjoy 2 different kinds of cakes that my wonderful husband made.

It was a perfect day.

Something New

The girls are trying out new things right now and are really excited. Aubrey now has cute bangs and that she loves and once a week she goes to different friends home for a little preschool time. Autumn is trying a Tap/Jazz class until summer and can't wait. She even made her new dance teacher a card to let her know how much she is going to love it. Ashlyn is taking piano lessons too. She can play a few songs now and we think she may have a real talent in playing.

Women's Conference

I have been planning on going to BYU Women's Conference for the past few months now. I was so excited to go. I hitched a ride with Noah's mom, aunt Nancy, and sister Becky. Our time together was a great. We started it off Wednesday with a lovely spring storm with lots and lots of snow. It required us to put on chains as we went over Donner. We could only go about 20 miles. It delayed us a few hours and in Reno it stopped. We stopped at Cabela's for some yummy snacks. Once in Utah it started up again. We did enjoy an amazing sunset. We had off and on snow, sleet and rain almost the whole time we were in Utah. It was still beautiful and good thing we spent our days inside listening to the different speakers.Both Thursday and Friday we started our day gathered together with a full Marriott Center. Being able to listen to the Relief Society General President Julie B Beck on Thursday along with her 1st Counselor Silvia H. Allred and 2nd Counselor Barbara Thompson on Friday morning, was a really treat. Each day they have a closing speaker the 1st day we skipped out and opted to eat on campus at a Hawaiian BBQ place. We did however make it to the evening entertainment which included Hilary Weeks, The Fab Five who were on Americas Got Talent, Mercy River, Miceal Mc CleanDallyn Bayles, and Alex Boye. Elder and Sister Oaks gave their closing remarks on Friday evening. Both days were filled with 3 different classes Then went to check out the service activities. There was so much to do and so much to enjoy we had to take it slow. On Friday night I spent time with my cousin, his wife and adorable son and my sisters. Amber and I went to Sammy's where I tried their chocolate peanut butter cupcake . It was yummy! Saturday was sister day. We spent the day shopping at the BYU bookstore, craft stores,
lunch at Los Hemanos, mall shopping, and dinner at Chilli's compliments from my sister Tiffany.Sunday I meet up with Noah's family to start the long journey home. We stayed in Winnamucca, Nevada for the night and had a great time eating dinner together. We ate at this Basque restaurant called The Martin Hotel where they serve you family style.

They served us salad and beans you place on top of the salad. Next came corn, mashed potatoes, warm cows tongue, and our chicken fried steak. I at all my cows tongue. It was actually very tender and tasted good. I wish they would have cut it up the look of it made me realize what I was eating every time I looked down at it. We also enjoyed Aunt Nancy playing slots at Grandmas House. In Reno we stopped at Scheels. This sports/outdoor store is like a mall and mini amusement park all rolled into one. We spent a long time shopping and looking at everything. Once home I got in my car and headed home. It was a fast and fun trip, but I sure missed my husband and girls while I was gone and it left good to be home.

Aubrey's New Bangs

Aubrey has been telling me for weeks now that she has been wanting her bangs cut short. I have been meaning to cut them for her, but before I could do it. She took matters into her own hands. She got some scissors and cut her own hair. She did pretty good if the look she was going for was V shaped bangs. I did my best to straighten them out. I think they turned out pretty good and she really likes them. I think she looks cute with her new hairdo.

Our Weekend Getaway

Noah and I really needed some time to ourselves. So we called up Noah's mom to see if she could watch the girls so we could go on a weekend getaway. She was able to do this at her house so on Thursday evening we dropped the kids off and planned our weekend. Our destination would be to Half Moon Bay, but 1st we would stop by San Fransisco. We thought it would be fun to see some sites in San Fran that we often skip because we have the girls with us. So on Friday morning we drove to the San Fransisco Wharf and hopped on a bus to our 1st stop Mama's on Washington Square. They serve breakfast and lunch only. The line was out the door and around the corner which we read it usually is. After a 30 min wait we finally made it to the door where they ask how many in your party and have you get in another line to order your food. Noah ordered the Monte Cristo and I ordered the Chocolate French Toast they were both EXCELLENT and SO YUMMY! After brunch we we walked to China Town, then rode the trolley to Union Square and checked out the shops. Then we hopped on the cable cars and rode down to Fisherman's Wharf where we walked and took on the sights and sounds of it all.That afternoon we headed down to Half Moon Bay just in time to check in and get our couples massage.
We ate dinner at a little place called Flying Fish Grill it was excellent. On Saturday morning we got up bright and early to go horseback riding along the ocean. It was a ton of fun. We enjoyed every moment of it. After our little adventure we came back for a nap. We had lunch at It's Italia PIzzeria one of the best Italian places we have eaten at, and walked along the downtown Halfmoon Bay. When we got back to our hotel we took a walk on the beach outside our place, followed by a nice romantic dinner at the Mezza Luna Italian Restaurant.

On Sunday we relaxed, slept in, and checked out. On our way back home we stopped at Fitzgerald Marine preserve. Then Golden Gate Park to enjoy the many gardens including the Japanese Tea Garden.