Addison's Blessing

Our beautiful baby girl was given and name and a blessing on Dec. 13, 2009. She looked so pretty. Addison wore the same dress as the rest of her sisters wore on their blessing days. The dress was made by her Grandma Crane. Grandma Smith bought Addison a bonnet and socks & shoes for the special day.

Craig and I were glad to have both of our parents there to support our family. It was a nice day.




in the care before going into church

Proud Daddy!


Grandpa (Ken) Crane, Addison, Craig, Grandpap (Bill) Smith

with grandpap and grandma (Betsy) smith

The men that stood in the circle. Grandpa Crand, Grandpap, Addison, Craig, Jessie Hensley, Ryan Lamb

Addison her parents and grandparents

Craig and I are so excited to have our baby girl.

Grandma (Andrea) Crane, Christina, Addison, Craig, Grandpa Crane

Ryan Lamb, one of Craig's good friends.

Jordan, Christina, Stuard, Morgan, Craig, Addison, Patrick, Raeleigh, Samantha

That evening we had a nice family dinner with all the grandparents.

Addison and her name sake, Grandma Smith

And a game of Red Neck Scrabble before bedtime.

We've had plenty of Rain!

In Sept. the kids were so excited about all the rain we were having. Our end of the street flooded! So they went out to play. Even the bridge that we use to cross over the normal "mote" that we get from a rain storm was floating on the water. The picture where the kids are standing in a line, they are standing at the lowest point of the driveway; Jordan, Samantha, Raeleigh and Stuart. The last picture was taken about 30 hours after the first, notice how much water there still is! (I took these pictures from my second story bedroom window.)

Labor Day

I am becoming more like my Mom the older I get. She always made us work on Labor Day. Well this year I did the same. Housework and Yardwork. When we finally finished we went to a park for dinner. Morgan sat at the picnic table the whole time, because she was so tired. The other kids played on the play ground. Samantha also brought her rip-stick that Jordan is riding in one of the pictures. Patrick spent the day mowing and G&G Smith's, so he missed out on our picnic. Of course Craig was at the grill cooking dinner. He was really worn out after doing yardwork all day and then cooking over a hot grill.

David Archuleta's Fireside

On Thursday, July 30, 2009, we took our family to a fireside where David Archuleta, singer, was the speaker. David was the second place winner on American Idol, a reality TV show for singers, in 2008. David is an 18 yr old young man with a strong testimony of the gospel. Kendra Lowe, David's accompanist, also spoke.

I know the pictures are tiny. Sorry about that.

Things I want to remember from the fireside:

Kendra said that we have each been given gifts of the spirit. She asked us to read Doctrine & Covenants 46. She also reminded us that we can ask the Lord which gifts he has given us.

David, of course, sang: "We Will Bring the World His Truth", "Be Still My Soul" (his favorite), "The Spirit of God", and "How Great Thou Art". Beautiful hymns that bring back positive memories for me. David shared with us his spiritual journey about learning to sing and eventually being on the Tv reality show, American Idol. He said he learned that the Lord cares about every detail of our lives, even being a reality TV show. David also talked about going to the temple for the first time. He said that the temple feels like going to his grandmother's, a place where we are always loved and welcome.

I am glad we drove the almost two hours to the fireside. We were all tired, but uplifted by hearing Kendra and David's testimonies and hearing the hymns sung.

Not just on TV

Craig and I came home last week to the kids telling us that the new dishwasher was leaking. Neither of us were very happy about that news. Then Craig opened up the machine to find MANY soap suds. I immediately started to laugh, Craig was not to thrilled. I also said "I thought this only happened on TV!" It was Patrick's dishes day, he discovered we were out of dishwasher detergent. At the suggestion of his sisters he used regular dish soap. Craig and Patrick scooped out the visible suds, then started the dishwasher again.

Of course as the machine continued to run more and more and more and MORE SUDS appeared on the floor. Thus all the towels! It took four runs of the machine to get all the suds out. Now we all know to only use dishwasher detergent in the dishwasher! It was/is definitely worth a good laugh.

Independence Day!

On July 4th, Independence Day, Craig and I took the four younger kids to the downtown celebration. There were several things to see. The kids had brought their own money to spend, that is always great. Raeleigh really wanted to jump in the bounce houses. That is until she found out that it would cost her $5 for five minutes of jumping. She decided to save her money for something else!




Craig and I saw this shirt at walmart. We had to buy it for Raeleigh, because she goes to Liberty Elementary!

















There were these cool looking military trucks/tanks. We looked at it. Stuart was especially interested. He stood in line for several minutes to look inside.

Stuart got up inside of the truck/tank. We couldn't take a picture of him inside, oh well. Stuart loved it. He even got to make it spin around, just like you would if you were shooting the enemy. He was very impressed by the missile shooting device on the sides, "they can shoot 4 missiles at once!"

A cool little race car. Stuart and Raeleigh also sat in it. Of course the boys said they would love to race!

Cooling off in the heat, infront of the fire truck. Stuart and Raeleigh decided that it would be cheaper for them to share the icee.

I love to watch fire works. I am grateful to live in a country that gives me so many freedoms. I am thankful to be a citizen of the United States of America!

July 3, 2009

As your kids get older, it becomes more interesting to have family outtings. At least when you have an 8 year age span. The teenagers are unhappy about going to things the little ones enjoy.

We went to a free Independence Day Family Event.

Patrick, Morgan and Samantha found places to sit and look grumpy while the rest of us walked around.

Stuart and Raeleigh loved the pitching practice. They each got to throw three balls. This is a picture of Raeleigh just after she pitched the ball. Look closely and you can see the ball in the air.

There were so many bounce houses. This one was like an obstacle course with big slide at the end. Stuart and Raeleigh both loved this.

There were four water bounce houses. This was the kids favorite. They loved to run and throw themselves down for a slide. Raeleigh is in the first picture and Stuart is in the second. Samantha eventually decided to try it out, she is in the 3rd picture.

Samantha, Stuart and Raeleigh had a great time getting wet! We were glad Samantha found something to be happy about.

While Stuart and Jordan waited in line for shaved ice, Samantha and Raeleigh played catch with a tiny football.

Just before we left the kids got a snack of dirt to eat. The dirt was in a big trough!

I snapped this picture of Patrick on the way home. He was so not happy to be with the family. Teenagers you just got love 'em and laugh!!!!

Baby Ultrasound

June 2, I had an unltrasound. I am 17 weeks along, so I asked to find out the gender of our baby. The whole family was looking forward to knowing.

The ultrasound was done at a Maternal Fetal medicine office. Because I am 36 I get to be more "watched" with this pregnancy. FUN!! They had told me that this would be a 90 min. appt.that seems like such a long time. The questions they asked were so detailed. I should have brought in a written history of both sides of the family. Some of the questions I couldn't even answer. Oh, well.

They asked about every medication I have taken. I was told I could start taking my asthma meds again, yeah!! My other meds are still up in the air. I did take Ibuprofen a few times during this pregnancy. I didn't realize there was a problem with that until this appt. The Dr very firmly told me that this pain killer also is not good for the baby's heart. Whoops! So this means another ultrasound in six weeks to take detailed looks at the baby's heart.

The rest of the appt went well. It is always fun to get a peek at your baby. The baby was very active, moving a lot. The feet were crossed and hands all balled up into fists. Very cute. The u/s tech said the baby weighs 8 oz. How do they know that?!

Craig couldn't come to the appt. with me. Disappointing, but the high school kids have to eat lunch. So afterward, I bought balloons to take to his kitchen to share the news. His smile broadened when he read the message!
Of course knowing that our baby is a girl I had to go shopping! (I can't figure out how to flip the pictures around, so just tilt your head.;)

Patrick was in Craig's office when I brought the balloons in. He didn't even crack a smile, just walked out of the room. I hadn't said anything to the rest of the kids, so Craig brought the balloons home. The first question from the kids was "Did mom by the balloons for someone else?" Craig's reply "Mom already gave the balloons to me." The kids, "Really, we going to have a GIRL." Then lots of excited chatter!

Latter Craig and I were in the kitchen making dinner. Raeleigh says "And the next one is going to be a girl too!" Craig loudly says "There isn't going to be a next one, eight is enough!!"

Sorry there are no ultrasound pictures posted. The kids took the mouse from the computer that is hooked up to the scanner, so I am using a different computer to post this.