Livin' la Vida Loca!

New Years Eve 2011

2012-02-08T18:51:00.001-08:00

So, at about 7:45, we moved the clocks forward a few hours and celebrated New Years Eve with the kids. They were so excited to be able to stay up SO late and celebrate! :) ha, ha! They were so impressed that they were up way past midnight and they weren't even tired. Ha! We had an awesome night of yummy food - thank you Heidi. I even bought that cheese in a can. My kids had no idea what that was and they were a bit nervous to try it. Cesar was excited to see something that he thought was only a special treat in Peru. As you can tell, I NEVER buy cheese whiz. It took me forever to find it in the store. Is it really cheese? Not sure...they say it is...does it go bad...doesn't need to be refrigerated...weird stuff!

We then had a very competitive dance off of Just Dance 2 with the wii. LOVE THAT GAME! Samuel or Heidi won almost every time, be we all had so much fun! Isabella was in the middle following along and trying not to get hit with flying hands or legs.

It was an awesome night! The kids were all in bed and asleep before ten, which left Cesar, Heidi and I to watch a movie and ring in the new year.

It was a great year, 2011, and we are excited about the adventures we will have in 2012!

Samuel Skiing

2012-02-08T18:47:00.000-08:00

Samuel totally loves to ski! With my both my brother's families over the Christmas break, Samuel got to ski quiet a few times with them and had a blast! My brother took video and pic's of Samuel for me...such a cute brother I have!

Lauren Skiing

2012-02-08T18:35:00.000-08:00

Cesar took Lauren up skiing over the Christmas break. SHE LOVED IT!!! And she did fairly well. Kids seem to catch on really quick. They went up 4-5 times over the break to either Alta or Brighton.

I love that we live 15-20 minutes from 4 different ski resorts!

2012-01-19T22:13:00.000-08:00

Isabella got a sleep visor thingy from Santa. She falls asleep a bit easier when she wears it,
which is almost nightly. Silly Bella!

BYU Basketball

2012-01-18T22:11:00.001-08:00

Really, is there anything better than BYU Basketball? Seriously!? Totally love going to a few games with my dad and family over the Christmas break. GO COUG'S!

Christmas Morning

2011-12-25T22:03:00.000-08:00

We had a great Christmas! For the first time in 7 years, we were at our own home for Christmas morning. I'll be honest, it felt good to be at home, but I was really sad to not be able to share it with my dad and my sister. I think I missed my sister the most. Just wasn't the same without her. I guess I have just been spoiled by having her with us for Christmas morning.

After a early morning church service, we hurried to my dad's house to share the remainder of Christmas with our extended family. It was a great day! Great food and great company. My brother from Houston was in town with is family, so we had a really fun Christmas vacation with them.

Cesar was sent on a hunt and finally found that Santa brought him some new/used ski's.

Off to Church.
Merry Christmas!

Santa 2011

2011-12-12T18:10:00.001-08:00

We saw our favorite Santa again this year at Ultradent.
Merry Christmas!

Halloween 2011

2011-11-03T19:40:00.000-07:00

My beautiful Vampire.

Samuel being a very famous (you'll have to ask Sam or Cesar who) Madrid soccer player. In this pic he is a dead, but for Halloween, he was the alive version of that famous guy, whomever he may be...I don't have any idea...

Isabella was Super Girl or a Princess, depending on her mood.

Pumpkins and Cookies

2011-11-02T19:23:00.000-07:00

Enjoying a little bit of frosting with the sugar cookie.

Grandpa and Lauren. Don't cut your finger off, Grandpa!!!

Silly Heidi!

We started a new family tradition of carving pumpkins and eating sugar cookies. We had a blast! Everyone designed their own pumpkin and away we went to making those imaginations a reality.

Halloween Preview

2011-10-26T11:41:00.000-07:00

Here she comes!!!!

Can these two always be friends? They are so cute together.

So Silly!

2011-10-24T18:24:00.000-07:00

Silly Lauren!

Pumpkin Patch

2011-10-24T10:00:00.000-07:00

My sister and I took the kids to a Pumpkin Patch for the first time, AND it was awesome! I totally loved walking around looking for that one perfect pumpkin. There were so many calling my name, I had a really had a hard time picking only one and so did the rest of the kids. We will definitely make this a yearly tradition!

Getting Ready

2011-10-23T18:19:00.000-07:00

Getting ready for the day, or getting ready for Halloween?
That is a good question when the costume box comes out. :)
Love this time of year!

TEN YEARS!!!

2011-10-18T18:27:00.000-07:00

Has it really been ten whole years?

I love you Mi Amor!

Scout in the House

2011-10-03T19:38:00.000-07:00

If you know any old ladies that need help crossing the road, let us know...
we have a SCOUT IN THE HOUSE!!!!!
He is taking his job of being a cub scout very seriously,
so don't hesitate to ask.

Samuel's Baptism

2011-10-01T19:16:00.000-07:00

Samuel was baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints on September 3, 2011. It is an awesome day! Much more emotional than I imagined and soooo, sooo good! We had family and friends that were able to come enjoy this day with us, and all I can say is that it was one of those great days that I will always remember. Zoila gave a talk on Baptism (in Spanish) and the Tanner gave the talk on the Holy Ghost. Cesar baptized and confirmed him in Spanish. There is something about Cesar doing those special ordinances in his own language. It is very humbling to hear him speak with emotion and to promise and say things that I know are coming from our Heavenly Father. Even though I may not have understood word for word the confirmation, I know what he said and I know that what was said was true. I am so blessed to have such a wonderful, loving husband to teach my wonderful, loving son.

The morning of the baptism, we were all hurrying to get ready, and Cesar asked Samuel to get in the shower. Samuel replied that he didn't need too, he was going to "be washed clean when I get baptized."

The next day was Fast Sunday, and as people were bearing their testimonies, Samuel leaned over to me and said, "I can bear my testimony in church, now?" I replied that yes, he was always able to bear his testimony in church, but now he is officially a member of the church and if he wants to, he can. He spent the next 10 minutes trying to figure out what he was going to say. He tried to write it down like he has done before, but was too nervous with that and finally just sat still. He then turned to me and said that he was ready and that he wanted his dad to go with him. They went up together bore their testimonies. This little man has an old spirit and I am so humbled to be his mother.

Great to be Eight!

2011-09-30T18:31:00.000-07:00

Eight Great things about Samuel Thomas Rodriguez....

1. He is a GREAT big brother!

2. He is GREAT at soccer. He is right handed, but is left footed.
Cesar is super excited about that! He says all the great soccer players are left footed. :)

3. He is GREAT at making other people laugh and love him.

4. He is GREAT at skiing.

5. He is GREAT at dressing up and pretending.

6. He is GREAT at building with lego's. We found him a big rubbermaid of vintage lego's that he loves and spends hours and hours and hours building things.

7. He is GREAT at playing the Wii. (He wanted to make sure I added this one.) :)

8. He is GREAT by just being himself! I love him more than I ever imagined and I am so proud of the good son that I have been blessed with.

First Day of School 2011

2011-09-11T16:17:00.000-07:00

After a VERY long summer, school has started again. Samuel returned to Silver Mesa for second grade of the Dual Immersion Spanish program and Lauren started her first year in the same program. Lauren has been looking forward to going to school all day for about 3 years. It has been a LONG three years!

Cecret Lake 2011

2011-09-10T15:52:00.000-07:00

Totally LOVE Cecret Lake! When the Houston Smith's came up this past summer, they requested to do this hike again with us. There was still so much snow. Such a nice hike and so beautiful!

Samuel and Chandler.

Most of the Crew.

She did it without complaining!!!
(she doesn't really like hiking)

My brother Lee and Cesar.

Yellowstone 2011

2011-09-09T15:13:00.000-07:00

We had a great time this past summer in Yellowstone. This is the first official Smith Family Reunion and boy was it fun!!! We are already planning the next one...even though it may be years away. :) We had 8 adults and 11 kids in an Island Park cabin. Here is a photo journey of the trip...

The garage was HUGE and had two big swings that the kids all loved!

Grandpa, Jake, Samuel and Preston waiting...waiting...waiting...
it takes time to get us all ready at the same time. :)

What big horns you have.

Overheard...
Preston: I love you Samuel.
Samuel: I love you Preston.
These two went everywhere together and did everything together.

Faithfully waiting for Old Faithful...waiting...waiting...waiting...

Two of a kind.

Overall it was a great trip. I hadn't been to Yellowstone since I was Lauren's age. It was a long way to go, but definitely worth it. I love my brothers and sister and I am so glad that we all get along well enough to spend 5 days together. I especially love that my kids get to know their cousins better.

Vasoline vs Constarch

2011-08-26T11:45:00.000-07:00

This is what happens if you put an entire container of Vaseline in your hair. I forgot before pic's, but the cornstarch hair is funny. :) Unfortunately, the shorts and shirt did not survive. It still took days of multiple washes to not look gross. Who left the Vaseline out? And, why was the Vaseline out? All good questions....

Park City

2011-08-25T11:38:00.000-07:00

My sweet husband took me on a little over night getaway to
Stein Erikson for my birthday. He has a good friend that works there that got us a really good rate. I LOVED IT!!!! By far, my favorite place to stay in Park City. I hope his friend can work there for forever so I can go again and again and again and again! Also, can I always eat Banana Foster and fresh fruit for breakfast on my birthday? SO GOOD! For those that don't know my fruit thing, I am NOT a banana fan and the fresh fruit part is kind of questionable if I will eat it. Perhaps it was the fresh, homemade vanilla ice cream on the Banana Foster. Could be...I do love ice cream. Maybe I can just start going up every Sunday for brunch. Primary won't mind if I am a little late, will they?

ps thank you Heidi for taking our 3 crazies!

So Big!

2011-08-09T12:01:00.000-07:00

Look, Ma...No hands!

How is she so big? One day, she just started riding this little bike. Where is my baby going? She loves to ride around and around on the back patio. Most of the time the handle bars are backwards, but she seems to do fine. But, when she tips over, then the world has ended. I love to see my baby growing up.

Sleeping Beauty

2011-06-29T13:50:00.000-07:00

After 3 1/2 hours of putting her back to bed, Isabella finally feel asleep in her big girl bed. I was so excited to finally have her asleep, I just had to take a photo. :)

Random Pic's

2011-06-28T13:17:00.000-07:00

Why do I find random, weird self portraits my camera?