Happy Birthday Colton!

What? This is the most recent picture of us? (Nov '05) I guess you weren't smiling because you were really going to miss me those two years you were in Florida Ü Ü Ü Ü

Paige Comes to Visit!

My sister, Paige, flew in for a visit on Wednesday. What did people do before cell phones? I forgot mine at home and had NO idea how I would find her at the airport without it. I was anxious and didn't see her anywhere (it didn't help that I couldn't remember if she was blonde or brunette). I circled for 35 minutes before I finally spotted her:

Not an actual photo from her arrival, for dramatization purposes only.

I was impressed with how light she packed---Just one pink purse!
Then I did some math:
1 Fashion Queen + 4 days in UT = More than 1 bag.

She was late because her bag didn't make it on her flight. Luckily, they promised to deliver it to my house for free within four hours. As we drove I apologized for the heat (90 degrees). She raised an eyebrow saying it was 118 degrees when she flew out of Phoenix. Then she said, "Is that.....snow?"
We left the airport and I took her to the grocery store. I told her to pick out ANYTHING she wanted to eat for the week. I had two purposes in doing that: #1) Being a college student whose diet consists of oatmeal and applesauce, she needed a home cooked meal; and #2) I'm hoping that she will spread the word about how awesome "Hotel Hunt" is so that more Arizonanites will come to visit Ü. She is one diverse girl---we purchased food for Thai Night, Italian Night, and Mexican Night.

On Thursday, we went to a water park in a neighboring town.

Paige in the wave pool
(center of the photo, yellow tube, with her arms out)

I love this precious picture of Deac and Nate
Deacon had NO fear! He kept trying to swim towards the deep end!


Then he crashed on the way home.

On Friday, I woke Paige up early for a 3 mile walk/hike. I hope that doesn't dissuade anyone else from visiting. There's a perfect shaded path that winds behind Lagoon (local amusement park). Apparently Paige has been living in Tucson without a car too long because she drove the stroller right into a tree Ü

Things we saw while on our walk/hike:

On Friday, Nathan and I crashed a wedding reception at The Heritage Gardens in Sandy. Luckily Paige knew the bride.

Paige, Amy, Jerrick

The reception was gorgeous, the food was decadent, and I had to whisper to Paige, "She knew she could have it at the church for free, right?"




That night she watched Deacon so Nate and I could go to the movies. We saw the new Indiana Jones flick. Saturday came too soon and we had to send her back to AZ




I had to take a picture of an outfit that only Paige could pull off:

Please note the gold "utility" belt....
....that matches the gold shoes.
As I helped her pack to go home, I counted FOUR purses! When I asked her, she said, "Well yeah, one for each day I was here." Ü

I pulled a Dumb and Dumber when I dropped her off at the airport: "Goodbye my love!"

I Married Royalty

Did you know I married into Royalty? Well I did.

His 'Holey'ness........Nathan of Huntsville.

I need to add a disclaimer that I did buy him a pack of new socks last month that he still hasn't opened!

smithdon cousenielsen

Testing. Testing.
Just ignore this if you use Reader.

Weekend Update...with Aubrey Poehler and Nate Meyers

(If you came here from the peer pressure link on Monica's blog, then scroll to the bottom of this post.)

On Saturday we had a huge yard sale with five other families in our cul-de-sac. I was exhausted afterwards, but glad to get rid of some junk.

Apparently Deacon took exception with an item I was selling:

He kept crawling into it & wouldn't get out!

I wasn't feeling well before the sale (rhyme), and was even worse afterwards. So, for the first time in six and a half years----dat,duh,duh,dah---I called in sick to work. I thought it would be all traumatic for me, but it wasn't. I might try it again sometime. Haha. Ü

That afternoon, Nathan called up another student from the hospital (the one he went on a date with) and they went for a motorcycle ride on this very winding, dangerous road!!!!
Nathan in his new riding gear.

On Sunday, Deac helped make breakfast in bed for Dad. Waffles with fresh strawberries and whipped cream. Then we gave him the card/photo album that we worked on this week:


I'm Gonna LEVEL with you.....

You're the best Dad I ever SAW!
(Surprisingly, it was only mildly awkward posing with the power tools at Wal*Mart and taking my own picture)


No one else can MEASURE up.....


.....you can AXE anyone!

Sure you're a NUT sometimes.....

....but that just makes us love you all the MOWER!

You've got "#1 Dad" NAILED down.

You're TOOLY the best.
Happy Father's Day to a dad who's loved by one and AWL!

Easily Influenced By Others (Part II)

Speaking of being easily influenced by others.....

I found this site with fun dating ideas and they recommended this book:




















So I bought it.

One of the ideas in the book is to have a "Month Of Love," where you do something special for your spouse--everyday---for a month. It may sound daunting, but it is mostly simple acts/gifts.

Here are some cute ones we did this week:









































(or you could use baby oil)







This was the best activity so far! We had so much fun paging through a book I made during our first few years together. So many memories we had forgotten! I'm glad we wrote them down and it makes me want to be more diligent with our blog.