Football Party

More later, but I wanted to put some pics up tonight. Thank you Greg and Jessica for being such great hosts!

A walk in the park

A couple pix from our walk to the park yesterday with Triela. Avyrlie did pretty well holding the leash to walk her home, although at the moment Triela is growing faster than her and can manage to pull her around. Avyrlie didn't lose her grip on the leash even once though! Click below to keep reading our events from today...

Today Ian had an appointment at the sleep clinic. I made it early in the morning and let him stay up late just to make sure he looked the part (nothing worse than trying to convince doctors of symptoms...). All my efforts may have been a little much because after 10 minutes of questioning Ian (he does a pretty good job describing his concerns) the doctor decided to set him up to test for everything from apnea to narcolepsy. I've done this a couple times, and that seems a bit extreme, but it covers the bases which is what we're looking for at this point. Next Wednesday he heads in for his first sleep study. He has pretty mixed feelings between feeling weird and geeky like something is different or wrong with him, and just being glad in the realization that he has a bit more control over things he always felt were a bit out of control but couldn't decide just why.

As long as we were all the way down at PCMC, we decided (Avyrlie and I with Ian protesting) to stop at the zoo for ice cream and a bird show. The ice cream was very bad (don't get ice cream over by the zebras), but both kids loved the bird show.

I'd not seen the bird show at the zoo before, and after seeing a couple shows in the kid theater, I was not expecting too much. Ian was ready and anxious to head home, and Avyrlie busily eating her way to the bottom of a cup of nasty ice cream. Once the show started none of us looked away or quit smiling once. The humor was pretty good, the birds were amazing and the presentation was much better than average.

Avyrlie was a bit anxious about where the birds were going after they left the stage and were out of sight, but once I assured her they were not being eaten by anything, she was ok (not sure where she got that idea...) She was more impressed than I thought she would be with the birds flying overhead, although having a Golden Eagle graze your hair with it's wingtips is pretty impressive by any standard.

Ian is just an animal lover at heart and followed every bit of the presentation and was very attentive. Somehow I ended up there without a camera, but with season passes, and now having scouted the best seats, we'll be back for some pix another time (with an unsuspecting Aimee screaming as the Eagle Owl swoops a couple inches from her head!)

As I'm sitting here typing this, I'm literally surrounded by the foreign screams of multiple children. Much of the reason for the length of this post is the fact that I am hiding in the basement as Aimee entertains Rachel's horde outside with Triela. The dog is in heaven, finally having a pack large enough to be worthy of her beagle heritage and Aimee is in hell finding that she does not have enough arms to hold all the paper towels needed to keep that many children clean at all times. I had to laugh a bit (actually a lot) when I heard her exclaim, "Holy crap, there's already grass in the house!". Yeah, it's going to be a long weekend.

Perils of Iowa

Talked to Stephen this morning after hearing that Thayne had a classic 'Iowa rash' on his leg where the infection eats your flesh off and turns it into corn. He's doing well though, having enough Utah blood in him to stave off the grain gremlin germs, and thanks to a couple trips to have it sliced and drained (yuck). Preston just fell victim to the classic "It's all fun and games till someone looses and eye". Thankfully in this case, not lost, just black ;) Stephen's answer when I asked what happened: "Three brothers and a swing... Need I say more?".
Yeah, we'll revisit that quote when it's 'Four brothers and a swing'! 'Five brothers and a swing'! (Yeah, twins...)

Hello Everybody,

Only 1 more month & we'll be heading back to Salt Lake, YEAH!!!
Things have been going good for us down here in Sierra Vista, AZ.

Hayden is our "little" Joe Pesci (From Leathal Weapon), everything he says is "okay, okay, okay". He loves to eat the dirt (especially from the Ant Hills, after we've sprayed it with insect killer). Now that I think about it, maybe that's causing his repetiveness?

Seriously, Hayden is so much fun. Aaron & I can't believe how blessed we are to have him. We were watching Spider Man 3 the other night & when we got to the part where the girl is being held hostage in the cab up in the web & it started falling, so she screams with her hands on her face, Hayden thought that was hilarious & went around all night screaming with his hands on his face the exact same way. He makes us laugh all the time. He is so smart & has a really good memory. He knows that we always go for walks after dinner, so now at the beginning of dinner he'll go, "Walk, Walk, Walk", and continue until we shovel our food down so we can take him.

Aaron's Birthday is Wednesday 8/27 & he'll be 29. Since his training has been a lot more hours, I wasn't sure what time he would be home on his real B-d. So I planned a surprise dinner at the Texas Roadhouse (the only decent restaurant here) last Saturday night. About 16 guys came (I didn't think he was that popular, but I should have known). It was a lot of fun.

Hope everybody is doing well, I've attached a few pics (please note that Aaron usually doesn't wear the Iraqi attire everday, it was a one time thing). That's another thing that reminds me of Hayden. Whenever we see another guy in uniform, Hayden will say, "Dad!". So cute.

Love,
Brooke, Aaron, & Hayden

Playing house @ Ikea

Playing house @ Ikea, originally uploaded by eouio.

Not sure if I love Ikea stuff, but it's easy and not crazy expensive. Everything we've snagged thus far seems to hold up OK and to top it all off, Avyrlie LOVES the place. It's like 100 different setups for playing house and computer finger painting and ice cream and tons of chairs and trains... We seriously need to set up a play date with Dylan!

You make me sick

You make me sick, originally uploaded by eouio.

Avyrlie decided that I was the person who got her sick. She came up to me very sweetly and said, "Dad, you make me sick". We'll work on past and present tense later ;)
Starting with Ayrlie, everyone has been sick at our house this past week with basically the same thing. High fever for several days followed by sore throat and coughing and congestion and nausea. Everyone has gone through the symptoms based on how many hours they sleep during a day. Avyrlie kicked it pretty quick, Ian still has a sore throat and nausea, Aimee is at the instacare as I type convincing them to medicate her with anything, and I'll be getting better just in time for the opening ceremonies in London.

As long as I'm upright and typing, I might as well fill in a bit on current events here at Smith House.

Ian missed one day of football practice with a 103 degree fever and was back at it the next day after his fever broke. We've been working on getting his medications adjusted and some testing done to see how we can help him with school coming up this year. He just needs to nail down some consistency and develop some good habits so we're trying to determine the best tools for that job. Occupational therapy evaluation, sleep clinics, psychology profile. and lots of doggy love ;) School starts on Monday and I haven't met his teacher yet, but I'm hoping for a bit more homework this year and a lot more communication. Not holding my breath though.

Yesterday I told Avyrlie that she is now potty trained and then moved her into a preschool class that requires it. No accidents yesterday or today, but she hasn't done any pooping. Anyone who remembers an 8 hour car ride with Ian screaming about his pooping pains will know how much I am dreading a possible stand-off with her.

Ian was stubborn, but had no agenda, plan, or goal. Just irrational stubbornness. Avyrlie, on the other hand has a well concealed, but detailed agenda that she uses in the formulation and execution of her daily plans for household domination. She is still struggling a bit on assimilating the randomness of Triela into her master plan, but each day she shows a bit more cunning in leveraging the idiocy of the dog to her advantage.

I've noticed a big difference just after one day of preschool in the number of songs she is singing. She has four new ones, but the only one I know or can make out is 'Do your ears hang low?'. Also she was very excited to be playing with Play-Do when I picked her up, and told me all about how she is big enough for the red slide now (preschool has their own playground) and gets to play on the 'puter. Hopefully all these perks will just outshine any issues she may want to have with potty pooping...

The dog is still alive. Barely. Were I able to catch her I may have killed her after she ate everything in my garden, chewed up most of the sprinklers and gnawed a hole in the propane line of the grill. Lucky for her, Avyrlie came to her rescue with her own set of puppy eyes begging for a stay of execution. Triela extended her life expectancy even further by actually choosing to go outside to potty yesterday. Normally she howls a couple time to get my attention and then squats as close to the carpet as she can get (I lock her in the kitchen) and give me her most triumphant look as she unleashes proof that she will never be housebroken. Yesterday she actually took off at top speed out the door, toppled down the stairs and did her business. Perhaps there is hope.

Salem Days

Posted a couple pix from the Salem Days parade. Jessica ran in the 5K and mom and dad watched our kids the previous night. Avyrlie and Dylan were actually getting tired of seeing candy about half-way through the parade! craziness...

Ian getting ready for his first scrimmage

Ian getting ready for his first scrimmage, originally uploaded by eouio.

Hillcrest has their first scrimmage of the season against Kearns in about 30 minutes. I think the Offense is a little shaky so this will be great for them to stretch their legs and see what they can do

It was a good scrimmage to see where we are and what needs to be improved. As usual, our intensity could be upped a bit, but our play was pretty solid. Kearns was happy to see us leave after we punished them for a couple hours ;)

(click the pic for the gallery)

Grandpma and Grandpa in town!

Getting a horsey ride from grandpa.

Just a couple of pictures from some get-togethers with the Sutliffs while they were all in town. Almost all, Aaron is still in Arizona, but we did get to see Brooke and Hayden. Hayden is getting pretty chatty and loves to entertain people (wonder where he gets that from ;) Check previous posts to see how Aaron entertained himself in the meantime...

Conversation today with Avyrlie while leaving the Sutliff house:

-her: I had fun swimming with Grandpa!
-me: That's great. Do you want to go swimming with dad?
-her: No. Grandpa can hold me in the water.
-me: I can hold you in the water too.
-her: No. Only grandpa can hold me in the water.

Snake Wrangler (and Brooke is proud ;)

Got this from Aaron today. Click the 'Read More' link for the rest of the photos.

Hello Everyone,



This rattle snake measured 6'2" from end of the rattle to the tip of its head. I lost about 6" of the skin because I missed the head and shot it in the neck. Oh well, the snake still kicks ass!!



Aaron

Smith Family Reunion

As still as they get ;)

How do you plan a reunion for a family with this many little ones? Pick a place with a pool!

Lynne asked me for some family dates that she was interested in having, and I can’t help but imagine (this is where the trouble always starts…) that more people than just her would be interested in knowing an exact point in time that you and members of your family were held upside down in your birthday suit (hopefully that doesn’t happen a lot), or when you were finally able to tie the knot with someone willing to have children that look like you (She had three-inch-glass so I told her I look like Brad Pitt. Stupid Lasik procedure…).

So the favor is: leave a comment with any dates you are willing to share with us. Everyone able to view this page will be able to see and share your comments. I’ll compile them and send a complete (hopefully complete anyhow) list out to the email addresses you provide with your comments. So even if you have no dates/info to share, feel free to comment if you want an email copy!

—My advice, learned through losing many a digital bit, is to type up everything in a text editor (like notepad, word, etc..) and them copy/paste into the comment. I just mention this because anyone with Smith genes needs to actively garner habits that conserve hair follicles…

Superhero Swimmers

Superhero Swimmers, originally uploaded by eouio.

Ian and cousins @ 7 Peaks showing their stuff. To look at them you'd never guess they're related (aside from the outfits), but these guys have a blast together even if together happens only rarely. I doubt if even Chuck Norris could handle too much more of their togetherness ;)

Ian went on the Boomerang with his cousins (first cousins, once removed) multiple times. Apparently it's something to do with the super-suit...

Carnivorous Plants

Chellor and K were sweet enough to surprise me with three carnivorous plants from Sarracenia Northwest. Not sure what that association says about me, but what a most excellent gift, and they made a trip up here just to deliver it.
The next day I made it a little just-like-home bog, unpacked them and introduced them to their new digs. I was a bit concerned about Chellor’s little red favorite (Red Dragon Flytrap) as it had already taken a bite out of itself…

It only had one trap left open so I found it a nice big juicy beetle, pulled the shell off it (presentation is everything with food) and stuck it in. Barely fit ^_^;

That done, I figured I should give the company a call and make sure I’d got everything right with the transplanting and such. The guy I talked to was just a bit obsessive abut these plants and even gave me some ’soothing sentences’ I could say to the Red Dragon to help it open back up. He was pretty excited to see the pictures of the beetle and thought I was strange for pulling the shell off first (pot, kettle…)

Not sure if it was the soothing sentences or not, but the trap opened back up last night and is ready for action again.

Also, I finally snagged a flickr account for my video so you no one has to hassle with plugins and such (or you could all just use Mac’s…). It should make it much easier to post up some videos of which I have a ton. Here’s the first of the bunch. It’s the same one in the previous post, just as a flickr version:

This little guy was out back eating my lettuce. sweet revenge ^_^