Temple Tradition

The start of this year we made a pack with the Seaman's to go to the Temple together once a month and do Sealings. The first time we did it we went out for Sushi afterwards. Then it kinda became a thing. So now every month we do Sealings and Sushi with the Smith's and the Seaman's. Haha. 

The temple sure knows how to garden. The Tulips are always so stunning. They are just my favorite. Reminds me of our wedding day!!!

It's been so nice to go attend the temple on more of a regular basis. I have found that when I have prayers to be answered it really helps to take them to the house of the Lord.

Easter 2017

Dying Easter Eggs together is always an adventure. This year was funny with Fynn. He wanted to be right in the middle of the whole thing. His preferred spot was on the table right next to the supplies. Well can't be having that happen or else we'll have a big mess on our hands. But because he didn't get what he wanted he through an occasional fit. 

But all in all it was fun to be together as a family making the memories. 

These 3 and how concentrated they are on their egg decorating.

Notice Fynn's whole entire hand in the cup of orange dye? Ya that was his method. Haha.

"Easter Bunny" paid a visit that night and brought them some cool stuff.

Jesse had to go to work this morning, so it was just me and the boys together on this Easter Sunday. Several years ago I made these bunny faces for the boys for Easter. And Ryker requested that I make it again. So I did.

Before we started the Easter Egg Hunt I had to get a picture of these rag-a-muffins with their morning hair and their Easter Baskets.

Kind of a silly picture of Fynn, I think he might have been mid cough when I caught this. But he just loved finding the eggs and putting them in his basket. The "Easter Bunny" left some out for him that were easy to find. Granted those were the ones that Ryker and Cy found too, but they would just give it to Fynn.

After that was all done. I put Fynn down for a nap and gave a lesson to the Boys about the real reason we celebrate Easter! We studied a little more about the Crucifixion and the Resurrection of Christ. I wanted to ensure in them that the reason we have Easter isn't because of the Easter Bunny, Baskets and eggs. It's Because of Him! Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! He suffered and died for us. He is Risen! And He LIVES!!! I know it of a surety and these boys do too!

I love seeing their eyes light up when we talk about Jesus and all that he did for us and still does for us. I'm forever grateful for Christ who made it possible for us to return to Him as Eternal Families. Cuz I sure do love these boys deeper than I can ever express and I want to be with them Forever!

Happy Easter!!!

Flag Football Spring Season

You know it's officially spring when flag football starts up again. So excited to watch these 2 boys play this season. Ryker as usual puts his whole heart in the games. We are a little biased but think he's the best player on the team so far. Haha

Cy already has shown improvements from the fall season. His first game he pulled about 5 flags. That's more than he did the whole fall season. It's good to see him really making an effort by watching the ball and listening to his coaches.

And even though it's spring it's still not warm yet. So we freeze on the side lines cheering on the big boys.

He's in his winter coat and it's "SPRING" time. Haha. Doesn't feel like spring it feels like winter.

Heart of Gold!

I have to share this story about Ryker because this kid continues to impress me with his big heart of gold.

Every Monday at 4pm Ryker goes to piano lessons. He takes from Grandma Goodrich who lives a few blocks away from us. If it's a nice day he'll ride his bike there. Around 6pm tonight he hadn't come home yet. I called me grandma to find out where he was and she said he had left a little while ago and he should be home anytime.  Sure enough by 6:10om he came walking through the door. He started to apologize for being later than normal. He said he left grandma's house at 5:30pm. And before I could get upset at him because I was worried where he was, he told me that on his way home our neighbors were cleaning up a tree that had fallen over from the snow storm yesterday. So he stopped to help clean up. 

My upset worried heart turned to mush as he finished telling me why he was so late coming home.  How can he really be this good? Without being asked he offered up his services to clean up? Wow! 

What an example he is to me. And to all of us.

During dinner we had a knock at the door and the neighbors brought $10 over to Ryker for helping! He was so excited!

What a lesson to be learned from my 9 year old son. 

While, I'm bragging about him I should tell you that Ryker fasted for the first time yesterday, bore his testimony in Sacrament meeting and prepared his own Primary talk all by himself.

He continues to inspire me to be a better mother and a better person!

Love this kid so much!

Papa Smith is 60!!!!

Mike turned 60 years old this week too. So we celebrated as a family in his honor. Heidi set up the whole thing. For our first time ever we all went to an Escape Room. They are really popular right now. They lock you in a room (all different themes) and you have to search for clues to get out. Sounds like fun right? Being locked in a room for an hour. Luckily nobody is claustrophobic. 

But it was actually really fun. We had an hour to figure it out. And we could ask for clues along the way. Which we had to do quite often.  

The "littles" made things a little bit trickier since they wanted to get into things that we needed them not in. But they are cute little puzzle solvers in their own way.

Afterwards we all went to dinner at one of Mike's favorite Chinese restaurants. We were able to give him his birthday gifts. One of them being a scrapbook Heidi had put together. It was compiled with pictures all of the family had send her along with our own personal letter to him. He loves it! And it was fun to see how it turned out.

Heidi made an amazing carrot cake (that I ate too much of). But it was so yummy, I could't help myself.

I was telling Jesse and really anyone that I know about Dad's birthday and I said that Mike really doesn't look a day  older than the first day I met him. And that's the truth. He seems so young to me still. And that's probably because of how active he is.

Spring Break

Yay for a break from the everyday hustle and bustle of school, work and chores. Leading up to this week we were asked if we were going out of town. And the answer was was No! And I was excited about that. Just to be home and be us.  Jesse worked Monday and Wednesday. I worked Wednesday through Saturday.  So we really couldn't go anywhere really. 

But Monday it looked like it was going to be a warm day so I took the boys to the park. We were tricked. The blue skies were inviting but the temperature wasn't. We only lasted at the park for a half hour. But while we were there it was fun. Fynn sure thinks he can be like his big brothers and do all the same stuff as them. It makes my mothering heart so anxious watching him climbing all over the playground. 

Just a little see-sawing to put a smile on all three of their faces.

Fynn and Cy seem to have quite the little bond. Fynn has started to say Cyrus' name. It sounds like "SHY-ISS". Oh how I wish I could bottle up his voice and all the words he's saying to listen to them in each post. Haha. I get a kick out of Fynn following Cy around and sitting next to him eating an apple. Cheesy little grins.

Tuesday Jesse was home and we thought we would go to a movie with the older 2 boys. Chan was sweet to watch Fynn for us. He's at a tough age to take to a theater. The new Beauty and the Beast movie had just come out and the boys really wanted to see it. I was excited to see it too. It was a remake with live people. No animation. The castle characters where CGIs though. But the whole thing was amazing! I love the original picture, but what they did to enhance the story was genius. 

That evening after dinner we actually rented a new movie on VUDU. Haha it was just a movie kind of day. I loved it. As we were watching the movie the boys all came in and snuggled with us. The 5 of us were on only half of the couch. Haha. Jesse and I were both reminiscing over the fact that we don't have very many years left of them actually WANTING to snuggle with us or even wanting to be with us. So we soak it up while we can. 

One of my favorites lately is Fynn giving us kisses. He has to kiss you on the lips though. The cheeks don't suffice. He's the cutest thing. Very busy. But his cuteness out weighs that.

Mantle

Just like that Jesse made a beautiful Mantle in our home. Wanna know the coolest part? The top piece of wood comes from the same tree that his grandfather had milled from his yard so many years ago and made a crib out of with it. That crib is the crib that Jesse slept in when he as a baby. Matter of fact, Mike and Heidi still have that crib and all three of my boys have taken their fair share of naps in that bed. Cool right?

I gave Jesse alot a heat for hanging on to these pieces of wood for so long because they looked like garbage to me. And he'd always say that one day he would make something really awesome with it. And he did. 

Of course Fynn had to help too. Haha. I die over how cute he is. Look at his little mouth all open too. He's got his daddy's concentrating face.

Great work Jesse! You are always amazing me with everything that you are capable of doing. There is no end to your talents. 

Utah Collage of Massage Therapy Graduate!!!

Friday night we got together with my family over dinner to celebrate Chantel Graduating from Utah Collage of Massage Therapy. I arranged for everyone to meet at Mimi's Café in Murray at 7pm to have dinner together in honor of her.

We met in Murray because Tyler works in Murray and it was close to his work and thought it would be easy for him to hop on over to the restaurant when he got off at 7pm. But he ended up getting stuck selling a car right as he needed to leave so he didn't make it there until 8ish. So the poor thing had an audience while we watched him ate. Haha. No not really. We were all just happy to chill and talk with each other.

Cyrus was especially happy to order a Banana Chocolate Chip muffin as his dessert. I got a kick out of him going to town over this large muffin.

Never can pass up a good opportunity for a family photo.

I can remember when she came to me back in July telling me that she was going to start school. She had been nannying for me over the summer and we had grown super close. I was excited for her that she was starting school but also sad not to see her as much. Little did I know that she would be getting married and pregnant pretty soon and moving into our basement. So I really do get to see a lot of her still.

I love this baby sister of mine so much. Super proud of her! It's still so weird to me that she's going to be a mom because I still think of her as my baby sister. But lets face it, I'm not 11 anymore and she's not a newborn. It'll be fun to watch her be a mom and I'm excited to have a new nephew coming to the family.

Our family is all dressed in our HARMSTRONG shirts since it's Friday. My dear close friend, Harmoni was diagnosed with Stage 4 HER+ Breast Cancer with a 5% chance of beating it at the start of this year. I haven't made a post about it yet since it's been overwhelming and a lot of information. I will next time for sure to fill in the details about it all. But for now we wear pink and/or our HARMSTRONG shirts every Friday because that is her chemo days. I will not miss a Friday. She's going to be doing chemo like this until June and then they'll reassess and see how things are looking. But she'll have to do it for a whole year for now. So sucky. It's been emotional to see her go through this. But it's given me a whole new outlook on life. She's quite the faithful woman and keeps me believing in miracles.

Silly Boy

Never a dull moment with this child. I learned today that he now knows how to open my bedroom door. Heaven help all my stuff in there. He goes through my drawers and night stand emptying and dumping. Reeking havoc on any possible organization I strife for. But I can't get mad at that sweet grin.  

He is always making me laugh. Epsecially when the camera comes out. He's the funniest thing.

Last night I made Chicken Fajitas for dinner. On the side I had some lime wedges to squeeze onto the taco. I was in the kitchen when this happened, but I guess he ate a lime and made the funniest sour face. So with my attempt to try and catch it a second time didn't work out so great. but I did get some cute pictures of him.

I mentioned this in his milemarker post, but he sees a selfie camera and knows exactly what to do. He puts his hand right up to get it to take a picture. Or he's just plain silly.

Sunday night we had Grandma Heidi and Grandpa Mike over for dinner. After dinner we chilled and watched a movie with (of course) popcorn. You see. Fynn is very protective over the bowl of popcorn. So this night I came him his own personal bowl and he was in heaven. We were all laughing at him getting up and down from the couch to the floor testing out all the comfy spots. And managed NOT to spill his bowl of popcorn. He's such a goober. I love him.

Cy & Fynn's Check-up

Since Fynn and Cy share each others half birthdays it's worked out this year and last, that we went to there check-ups at the same time. That wont be the case next year. I think once Fynn turns 2 he will be going once a year. Which is so weird that we are even close to that point. Wasn't he just born last month? Ugh. He's growing up far too quickly.

While we were in the doctors waiting room, I got a kick out of Fynn walking over to the chair, climbing up and sitting there like such a big boy.  

We finally get called back and they took Cy's vitals first.  Then the Assistant Nurse took care of Fynn's. Fynn wasn't too happy to have him check he out. But I finally got him to realize she was nice. Stranger Danger?

Dr. Sabey eventually came in and was relieved when he did because Fynn was ping-ponging all over the room. He really cant sit still unless he's strapped in somewhere.

Dr Sabey said they both are healthy and look great! Cy didn't have to get any shots, and Fynn only had to get one. Now Fynn is done until his Kindergarten shots! Hooray for that!

On the way home I rolled the windows down because it was such a warm spring day and Fynn was giggling with the wind in his face. I snapped this picture of him with the selfie camera. That grin kills me. He's so cute!

Cyrus' Stats:
BMI: 16.1
Height: 3' 10" (61%)
Weight: 48lbs 12oz (67%)

Fynnick's Stats:
Head Circ: 19.4in (92%)
Height: 32in (31%)
Weight: 27lbs 12oz (89%)

I didn't realize he was that short. No wonder he has the most yummy chunky legs because he's one solid kid. I hope he didn't get my short genes. If so I'm sorry little man.

Blessing my Birthday Niece

It was such a beautiful Sunday today! And it was great to spend time with family today as we all got together for the blessing of the newest addition to my side of the family. Little Mary Ann Goodrich. The baby girl who shares a birthday with me. She will forever be called my little birthday niece.

I really needed a Sunday to not think about anything but family. The past few days there has been some hurtful drama at the salon and it was weighing me down. I was so happy to step into a chapel and sing hymns about our Lord and Savior and to hear and feel the testimonies born. I needed the spiritual uplifting. 

Jesse was scheduled to work today, but was so great to find someone to hold over for him until he got there. So before he left I wanted to grab a family picture of us in our Sunday Best! It's been since Jan that I recall us getting together for a picture. It's spring, so it needed to be done. 

Tyson gave her such a beautiful blessing today too. Bummed I never got around to getting a picture with him and his family. But I got to snag my birthday niece for a picture with her.

After the sacraent service everyone actually headed over to our house. We offered because the other alternative was going to my parents and it seemed silly to have the blessing in Bountiful and then make people drive all the way up to Layton.

By this point Jesse was gone, so I was a single host. But that's ok. Everything went smoothly.

We feel blessed we have the space to provide a party place and fit everyone comfortably. It turned out great. It really was an awesome day!

Cy's Birthday Weekend

What a week is has been with Cy. I'll be honest, it didn't start out too great. He has been so sassy and having a really tough attitude that I dont even know how to parent. Then to boot, we got a call from the school that he had thrown a snowball at girls head and had kicked her.  Ugh. As a parent I really don't want that to ever be my kid. But it is really him that threw the snowball. Dang it. 

Trying to come up with a punishment for him was tricky because he didn't really seem to care. And as the week progressed it got harder dealing with this new attitude. He was grounded from xbox for several days, but the way that his attitude was progressing and nothing seemed to help, we had to make a change on what he was doing for his birthday party. He wanted to go to DartSide like Ryker did. But Jesse and I decided we better downgrade it a bit so that he could understand what he was doing and how he was acting was not ok.

Oh but when I had to tell him what we had decided he was so sad. And then I just felt like a big fat jerk. Oh the joys of parenting. 

Friday night though was really nice. We took him to dinner. Just the 3 of us. Again, he wanted to do what Ryker did. So we took him to Mikado. In hind-sight we think he would have been jsut as happy if not happier if we went to Chik-fil-a. But that's ok. It was still fun to take him to some place special. 

I really do love having the one-on-one times with my boys. It makes for moments for bonding. 

He went to town on the edamame.

Saturday I took the day off so we could celebrate with Cy and his friends. We decided to take him to Kangaroo Zoo. Even though it wasn't DartSide he was still excited.

Cy invited friends from our neighborhood, his class, from our old neighborhood or family. His number one pick to be there is his classmate Kamden. But Kam came down with an ear infection or something and couldn't make it. But thankfull he still had several friends to make him feel loved.
Back Row: (left to right) Tanner and Bailey Bement, Ryker, Sterling and Sunny Snow
Front Row (left to right): Trent Mercer, Hailee Seaman, Jocie Snow, Cy and Kruz Jenkins

They all had a great time getting sweaty, thirsty, hot, hungry and tired together. It was interesting to see that the boys would stick together and the girls would stick together.

Mom and Dad were tending Sterling and Evie this weekend while Andrew and Emily were in Vegas with some friends. So we were so excited to get the cousins together. It was cute to watch Fynn and Evie play together in the bounce houses.

After an hour of craziness we took the kiddos across the street to a pizza cafe for lunch. While we were waiting for the pizza to cook we opened gifts. Jocie and Sunny had to leave early so they couldn't come so I didn't get any pictures of them at the pizza cafe.

He is kinda cute. Haha I think I keep him and all his trouble.

Tonight we had the whole family over for dinner, dessert and gifts. Cy requested Spaghetti, Ceaser Salad (he calls it Little Ceaser's Salad haha) and garlic bread. It was easy and a hit with everyone.

We opened gifts...

Took pictures...

And sang Happy Birthday! Cy wanted Peach dessert with whip cream. So Heidi made him a pound cake and brought her peach jam that didn't set up. So it's a perfect sauce to go on top of the cake.

Even though the week started out rough it most definitely ended great! Cy really is a great kid and we love him so much. I may not know how to parent him at times, but his personality will serve him well when he's an adult.
Happy birthday my sweet Cy. You make me so happy and so crazy! Thank you for stretching my parenting skills so that I can learn how to be a better mother.

Things about Cy at his age right now are...
-Loves Legos
-Enjoys playing with the Rubix cube with Ryker
-Loves his birthday
-Thrives with structure
-Could have a serious addiction to Xbox if we didn't keep it under control
-Flag Football Season is coming up and he's excited about it.
-Very picky with how his clothes feel on him. I actually had to take him shopping for his birthday to have him try on stuff so he wouldn't complain about them.
-When he's in a good mood he is the sweetest little boy
-When Fynn is sad Cy is always there giving him a toy or something to try and cheer him up.
-Loves being with his family. When we took him to dinner for his birthday he was actually kinda sad that Ryker and Fynn weren't coming.
-Picking up on his reading quite nicely
-Wets the bed (pullup) every night
-Requests Spaghetti for almost every meal.
-Can be very giving when he wants to be.
-Loves spending time with his grandparents. When I have to pick him up from their house and I've been gone, he actually gives me a sad face because he doesn't want to leave. I won't take offense to that. I'm happy that he loves being with them.
-Surprisingly likes cleaning toilets.