Jarrett's New Do

Do You want to hear about some really bad Mothering!!! Jarrett found some scissors and cut his hair! Unfortunately he is not very good at cutting hair so it did not turn out very good. Apparently he has been taught to not use the long sharp scissors so at least he was obedient and used the blunt kid scissors. Regardless I ask the question "what was Mom doing". Of course the answer is talking on the phone. I should not be so hard on Wendy. She is a good Mother in other ways - just not when it comes to looking after the kids.

Tyler just finished with his middle school track team. The events he did were the mile, the shot-put and discus. His best mile time was 6:38. Impressive! Tyler also just finished his final concert for Honors Band and Jazz Band. Tyler performed magnificently and even had a saxophone solo in his Jazz Band.

Wendy and I just returned from a short vacation in Cabo. It was a company thing so there was lots of drinking (soda and virgin daiquiris for us). Great food, beaches, pools, snorkeling, golf, spa for Wendy - and a private pool at our Casita. Our Butler and Private Chef were at our beck and call. Wendy woke up and walked out to our living room in her pajamas and said to the butler "I want huevos rancheros !! Andale!! And within a few minutes the breakfast was served. Wendy said she enjoyed the service from the butler and chef more than me because my life is no different.

Christmas 2007

Merry Christmas everyone!!! This Christmas season is turning out to be a lot of fun for the Smith family. We have done hours of Christmas shopping, unpacked Christmas storage boxes, set up and decorated the tree, prepared hundreds of Christmas cards, put lights on the house, negotiated and coordinated time with family..... and the list goes on. To be perfectly honest Wendy did all the above. Tyler, Jarrett and I are having the "fun" while Wendy works hard. We will have to make it up to her somehow.

If you can make it over to our house this month you will have to look at our Christmas African Kudu head on the wall right above the Christmas tree. Lucky for us Wendy did a Noah's ark theme on the tree. A couple ornaments and a Santa hat and he fits right in to the Christmas ambiance that we were striving for in our house. Big "Thank you" to Wendy's Dad, Kurt Johnson, for the hunting trophy in our living room.

A quick update on our family:

Wendy is blissfully happy and is still a beautiful trophy wife to me. She primarily consumes her day with motherly duties and she is proud to admit that she is a stay-at-home Mom. On her spare time she does book keeping work to support her shopping addictions. From the credit card bills she seems to really be into Brighton, Nordstroms, Anne Taylor, and Kids Gap. She always looks beautiful. She is the strength of our family.

Tyler is growing up fast. He is in 7th grade at Ralston Middle School. His big goal is to run a mile faster than his father. His best time is 6:44. Pretty good for a 12-year old. He will probably beat his dad before his 13th Birthday. He is starting to look and act like a teenager. Its an exciting transition for him and our family. Tyler is still playing the saxophone and is in the Jazz band and the Honors Band at his school. He also loves his animation class and plays soccer. He wants a bike for Christmas.

Jarrett is 3 and he is good at it. He is entertained by his mother all day, every day. His favorite show is Tom and Jerry -you know, the old cat and mouse cartoons. He is really enjoying Christmas this year, we think its the first time he understands what is going on. Hopefully we can impress on him the importance of the birth of Jesus more then the Christmas Kudu. Jarrett also wants a bike and an ambulance for Christmas - Hopefully they are not related.

I am simply trying to keep up with everyone without getting left in the dust. Wendy thinks I'm going through my mid-life crisis as we both will turn 40 this year. I have been doing some bike riding . I never thought I would be one of those guys that wears the spandex biking clothes (sorry for the visual). I am still working at Carmel Partners going on 10 years. I also want a bike from Santa.

Things are going very well for the Smith family as we share our lives together. Our family has fun making wishes to Santa Claus, singing Rudolf the red nose Kudu, and giving and receiving gifts. But our real Holiday joy comes from our association with our family and friends and our celebration of the birth, life, and atonement of Christ.

Merry Christmas Everyone!!!

Love, the Smiths

Santa Clause

This year Tyler has had an epiphany....and has learned all. Boo Hoo!
Jarrett sat on Santa's lap and asked for a new bike. Later I ask him what he asked Santa for he
said,"I asked Santa for a new bike but he didn't have one." He does not quite understand the waiting concept.
We have our Christmas tree all decorated in a Noah's Ark theme. The boys love to decorate the tree and had a fun time putting the animals on the tree. (It sits perfectly under our stuffed Kudo head that my father hung on my wall). I am completely done Christmas shopping and everything is wrapped so now we can relax and enjoy our time together as a family on Tyler's time off from school. Well, OK I lied Brian still had some shopping to do ---you know he only has 1 person to buy for--ME!

Egg Explosion

Amanda are you sure you want recipes from me? Maybe not after you hear about this. Last Saturday I was boiling some eggs so Tyler can make deviled eggs that he was begging to make for the last 3 days. After I turned the burner on Medium high Brian and I talked about running some errands together so we left (me forgetting the eggs). We were gone about 1 and a half hours and would have been gone longer but our neighbor Cindy needed us to come home so Tyler could babysit. Its a good thing we came home. Have you ever seen an egg explosion!!! On the ceiling, one the cubords, on the floor, on the fridge on the table, chairs, counter. We had egg pieces on furniture over 20 feet from the burner. The smell....need I say more. WOW!
Happy cleaning.

Thanksgiving Dinner at Mom's

Right out of a Martha Stewart catalogue. Mom cooked a perfect bird and all the other stuff that goes with Thanksgiving dinner. After Dinner we had a ping pong tournament. Brian was victorious. Kevin was the first place loser. Wendy beat Dad in the loser bracket, it will take Dad some time to get over losing to a girl.

q-tip boys

We are so proud of our boys. This is a warning not to use q-tips in our house. Thanks Amanda for helping us get our blog started. Wendy promises to update it almost hourly with all the cute things our kids do.