Carson or Zac??

We've had so much fun with this.....Carson has a small, okay, rather large, innocent obsession with Zac Efron. Quite a while ago, he asked us to call him Zac. He started writing his name Zac on his pre-school papers, he watched High School Musical over and over, which accounts for why Cody knows all of the lines throughout the movie (maybe he has a small crush as well, I don't know) :) and we have a Disney Sing-a-long thing with a microphone and watching him belt out Zac's songs is so fun! He even has his dance moves down from the movie. We haven't been sure who he is exactly on any given day. He even tells us things that happen to him and Gabriella, in the first person. If you haven't seen High School Musical, you're lost right now, but he comes up with all sorts of things about Zac like they are one and the same. We've laughed so hard. We have a High School Musical game with the characters pictures as the game pieces. He came up to Cody before we left for Utah and told him he had his ID in case he needed to show it to anyone.....he had Zac's game piece and kept it in his pocket (until I washed it accidentally) so that he could show people who he was. He's such a fun kid!

He started to grow his hair out because he wanted it to "shake" like Zac's so he has refused to let me cut it. When we went to Utah in July, my cousin cut all of our hair, EXCEPT Carson's. He would only let her cut a little over his ears. I personally think Zac is pretty cute, but I'll have to stick with Carson! That smile with the one dimple gets me every time! You bring a lot of laughter into our home and we love you, Zac, I mean Carson! :)

Zac...I mean Carson
Carson....or is it Zac? I get so confused

Zac/Carson's "hair cut"

The real Zac.....I think :)

My Potty Princess!

It's been a really good week! As you can tell from her chart.....SHE had a fantastic week because with each of those stickers came a Starburst or a Hershey's Kiss (and also a kiss from whoever took her to the potty)! She's been dry every morning and runs right to the bathroom in the mornings and stays dry all day. She has had accidents here and there, but for the most part, she has been amazing! She has had 5 people in her cheering section and you should hear everyone when she goes....her face just lights up and her smile is a mile wide. She's so proud of herself and we're all very proud of her too. Way to go, Avery! Now on to putting her to bed by herself.....well, maybe next year. :) That's one thing I don't mind at all!

It's Potty Time!!

So, you can probably guess what's going on at our house! I have so much blogging to catch up on, but I'm so happy about this. We finally decided to tackle potty training after putting it off, mostly because I wasn't sure I was ready, but I can honestly say that she was totally ready for this! I put it off because of trips and work schedules and I wanted to have a few consecutive days to devote to the process. We decided to start on Friday and after a couple of accidents, she kind of got the hang of it. Cody and I went to a movie with Mattsson's and left her with Brit in charge. She was up to the task and went and got her this little potty seat and she sat on it all night in the family room. I'm surprised she doesn't still have a red ring around her little bum. :) She loves it and none of our other kids would even sit on one of these. She did really well yesterday, stayed dry last night and has been dry all day, until just a few minutes ago. I don't want to jinx it but so far, so good! She's so proud of herself and we made her a little chart that she can put stickers on when she goes and it looks pretty good! I'm so proud of her and I can hardly wait to start throwing away the Costco diaper coupons. :)

Mother's Day

I had a really wonderful Mother's Day this year although it probably sounds a little sad after reading this but I really do love this special day. It started out with breakfast in bed, which I love. The kids and Cody made me french toast and they took care of everything all day long. They are so good to me and I wonder what I did to deserve them. I'm also surrounded by such wonderful women and mothers and I'm very blessed to be a mom to some pretty wonderful kids. What a great day and I usually really try to focus on the terrific women and mothers in my life and as me as the mom, but I had a pretty hard time this year with missing my mom. I think of her every day but some days it hurts a little more. I have some pretty great friends who were there during church and I appreciate them being there with their arms open. There are just times in life when you need a mom and I miss that. I've learned to live with it, but it'll never get better. I'm very blessed to have so many wonderful women in my life who take such good care of us. I know Heavenly Father watches out for me through others and I know there are people in my life who help to fill this void. My mom was such an incredible mom and I wonder what my life would be like with her still here. I've learned not to dwell on these things because it makes me crazy but sometimes I can't help but wonder. I'm so blessed to have had her for my mom! What an example and what a sweet, caring and loving person she was to everyone. I hope that I can be like her "when I grow up." :) Thanks, mom! I love you!

Grandpa Smart

My Grandpa Smart passed away in May. He was almost 90 years old and he had a wonderful life. I stole this cute collage and picture from my cousins because it says so much about him. My grandma has Alzheimer's and he took care of her right up until he passed away at their house. They were the sweetest couple and you never saw one without the other. My grandma is lost without him and still believes he's just "away at meetings" and she's waiting for him to come back. They raised 8 wonderful children in a small, 3 bedroom house that they built together and there was so much love inside that tiny house. We all felt it growing up and we all felt special even though there were 36 of us grandchildren. We had many fun times with them bowling, which they loved, playing with our cousins at their house for family parties and eventually at the church because there were so many of us and especially at our annual Family Camp in Fairview Canyon. Those are probably the best memories for me because we had grandma and grandpa all week to ride horses with, share dinner with and eat grandma's cookies and pancakes. What fun memories for me as both a child and as an adult....they were a big part of my life and to have them for so long was a blessing for not only me, but for my kids as we spent time with them. He only seemed to age the last couple of years and I'll always be grateful for the example he was for me and for the testimony that he shared with all of us. I was able to fly home for his funeral and 34 of our 36 cousins were there as well as many of their children which says a lot about him and my grandma. What a wonderful life and a wonderful legacy he left for all of us! I love you, Grandpa!

Elmer B. Smart
Elmer B. Smart "A True Gentleman" Elmer B. Smart, beloved husband, father, grandfather and friend, passed away at his home May 11, 2009 after overseeing the planting of his vegetable garden; his last labor of love for his family.Born November 24, 1919 in Union, Utah to Franklin Arley and Harriett Flowers Smart. He grew up on the family farm where he learned the principle of hard work and his love for the creations of his Heavenly Father. He graduated from Jordan High School in 1937. He served an LDS mission to the Eastern States, and later with his wife in the Riverside, California mission. He married his childhood sweetheart Marian Holt on June 16, 1941 in the Salt Lake Temple. He served faithfully in the LDS church his entire life. He held many callings including Bishop. He especially enjoyed 15 wonderful years serving with his wife as ordinance workers at the Jordan River Temple. He loved farming, gardening and was an expert horseman, riding his horses well into his 80's. He enjoyed bowling in his later years and was adored as the permanent substitute on an all-women's bowling league. We will truly miss his kind disposition and his thoughtful words of wisdom. He is survived by his loving wife of 67 years; his eight children and spouses, Phil (Debbie), Glen (Carol), Neil (Shawna), Gloria (Steve) Allen, Ray (Sherri), Eileen (Mikel) Christensen, David (Brenda), Susan (Mike) Whittenburg; 38 grandchildren, 73 great-grandchildren, one great- great-granddaughter. Preceded in death by his parents; his brothers, Frank, Ralph and Irvin Smart; his sisters, Ethel Simmons, and Martha Sheppick; daughter-in-law, Janis Smart; and grandson, Glen Weston Smart. Funeral services will be held Friday, May 15, 2009 at 12 Noon, at the Sandy Utah Midvalley Stake Center, 1106 East 8055 South, Sandy. Friends may call at Goff Mortuary, 8090 South State, Midvale from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m., Thursday, May 14, 2009 or Friday at the Church from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. Interment at Larkin's Sunset Gardens. The family would like to thank all those who have helped with the tender care of our dear father and mother.

Closing Day - Softball 2009

They had such a fun closing day for softball. They ended the way they began, with a lot of fun blow-up waterslides and games and entertainment. Bailey's team actually took 1st in their division, which was awesome. They had the best little pitcher who trained with a pitching coach and was absolutely amazing. She had a few no-hitters and at 10 years old, she has a very bright future. She loved her team, her coaches were great and it was so fun to have Danielle on her team as well. She had quite a few good hits and walked quite a bit because the pitcher had a hard time finding her strike zone (go figure) :) We all had a great time and what a way to end the season.

Brittany had such a cute team. They combined the 11-14 year olds because they didn't have enough girls so there was a huge range for the girls. She was one of the youngest and smallest but was able to hold her own. Her team did great and they all got along wonderfully and they didn't win a game all season. :) I take that back, one night the team they were supposed to play didn't show up so they played the parents and they did win that game. :) It was really great to watch them all progress though and they improved so much from their first game to their last and they almost beat the best team in their division which was a really fun game. Winning or losing, they both had a great time and that's what was important. Brit had a team party and they gave out their statistics...she had 23walks (same goes for her with the strike zone), she scored 17 times and got 7 hits that put her on base. The parents called her "wheels" because she was so fast and could steal so quickly. She was 1st on her team for walks and 2nd for scores so that was great! It'll be fun to see how she does in her own age division next year.

Carson took such good care of Avery that I had to include these pictures....I love what cute little friends these two are and how loving and caring he is with her. We had fun from start to finish and I really appreciate the people who take so much time out of their lives to help these kids learn and play the game. We were really lucky to have the coaches that we did and they really made it fun for all the girls! I'm already looking forward to next year!!

Softball 2009

The girl's both had really wonderful coaches who helped them have a wonderful season with softball this year! We're so glad we were able to get them back into it and watch them progress and improve every game. We spent a lot of time at the softball park but I loved every minute! I think Carson and Avery did too...you can't believe how many times I told them to get off the bars, but you can see how effective that was. I think we made a lot of people nervous, but we made it! No more teeth knocked out, very few bumps and bruises and no one fell off backwards, which was my fear. I hope next year they forget the bars and will sit on their cute little chairs that we brought to every single game and I ended up sitting in....I can hope right?