Mr & Mrs Smith

Well, Christmas was the first time we got snow that actually stayed. So, we attempted a snowman in the dry snow. I'll admit, a little subpar and duckish, but we let the girls create the overall design. A deer ate the carrot nose a few days later and now it is buried under a snow slide. As long as she is properly wrapped, she enjoys the snow. And thanks to G-ma Looper, we have some bibs that allow her to be so.   It's the infant gloves that are trickier. That Christmas morning, she totally biffed it out to the car face first, and that's not exactly the best way to wake up.  Any how - Alexis has been introduced to snow and appreciates the hat & gloves. It is entertaining to watch her walk around in the get-up. Ignore my asian eyes, the snow is incredibly bright

It really is entertaining to see the changes one year later, in the same dress. It was definitely harder this year to get her to hold still, so none of the angles were perfect and the lighting was off because I was just making sure I got something . ONE YEAR DIFFERENCE It is absolutely mind blowing to see this mini-me person with an attitude and opinions. It is amazing how much she understands and how much she tries to relate when you speak to her. We are frustrated with her one moment and the next moment I find myself laughing at her cleverness or sweetness. She still plays really well by herself, which mostly consists of pulling all the books off the shelf, dumping all the blocks out, pushing things around the room and basically just making messes. She also enjoys other kids, especially babies and those who can handle her rougher edge (unfortunately not one in the same). I believe most everything at this age is a game to them from playing chase to saying thin...

The first family portrait with swapped heads of the baby & Halle. Overall, I'd position a little differently, but it works, right? Wellll let me tell you.  No one really wants to get 5 children & 10 adults all together for a photo, but about half of us (mostly women) appreciate having captured moments to remember because we get old and our faces change, more people get added to the photo or less depending on who is able to get together that year. Life happens and it is nice when we capture everyone together OR SO ONE MIGHT THINK. Grandpa didn't want to change his attire. Mr Smith didn't want to be there period so his attitude was awesome. The other men tolerated the chaos, but no one knows how to tame the children and show off their best side at the same time. It is hard when you want the tripod to get the kids attention. Maybe next time we will hire a clown IF THERE IS A NEXT TIME. I could have been a little more prepared, but I knew it would be a fight eithe...

We ended up with a beautiful, white Christmas.  This picture is from the Sunday before the week of Christmas. The week went by pretty quickly with the whole Smith clan in town. We ended up sleeping at Rand & Savannah's house while they were out of town to free up a bedroom here. Sleep is important and already difficult enough with a packed house & toddlers. We have never been with the Smiths for the holidays so it was a nice change. It doesn't matter where you are, the holidays always seem to surround food and that is one of my tip top favorite things. Connie has been doubling portions around here and I have developed a food baby. BBQ pork sandwiches w/ potato salad Christmas Eve and then ham & funeral potatoes for Christmas with pumpkin pies if you were curious. Here is Lexi eating the potato salad: As far as Christmas morning goes, I took a picture of all the grandkids on grandma & grandpa's bed in their pjs. I just really liked the i...

"This Christmas, as the spirit of the season permeates our hearts, let us do something that expresses our feelings in an outward way, showing that we understand that the babe born in Bethlehem is the real Redeemer. President Howard W. Hunter (1907–95) gave some practical advice that helps us do that: “This Christmas, mend a quarrel. Seek out a forgotten friend. Dismiss suspicion and replace it with trust. Write a letter. Give a soft answer. Encourage youth. Manifest your loyalty in word and deed. Keep a promise. Forgo a grudge. Forgive an enemy. Apologize. Try to understand. Examine your demands on others. Think first of someone else. Be kind. Be gentle. Laugh a little more. Express your  gratitude . Welcome a stranger. Gladden the heart of a child. Take pleasure in the beauty and wonder of the earth. Speak your love and then speak it again.” Without Christ, there would be no Christmas. Without Christ, there can be no fulness of joy. Without His birth and His Atoneme...

Shopping can easily become an annoyance. So here is what I have found works for people like me (Tall really isn't that rare!) Old Navy - bless them, seriously bless them . They sell TALL pants AND tops and they really mean it. They have largely improved over the years with fit although they still run larger and sometimes their tops are too thin BUT you can't beat the fit for the price. I LOVE their Diva fit jeans. Now I just need them to come up with a good pair of kaki pants that look good front & back. Express - for quality work pants. They have a ton of options although it seem their Editor line is preferred (thicker pant). I just ordered a couple 50% off hoping one will fit. JCPenny - Although I feel like online is your best chance at actually finding Tall, I hear it does exist and they have the coupons that come in the mail. So out of department stores, JCPennys wins. And that's about it folks. There are several places that sell "long...

I got a job offer this week and I accepted. I'll be working part-time as a Technical Administrative Assistant for Certiport, a Pearson VUE business, starting January 5th in American Fork.  Although I will miss east coast pay rates, Pearson offers full benefits even for short-hour employees (and this position offers flexible and eventually remote hours). I am excited to see how the learning curve goes. It seems my two previous positions tie into it well minus I need to step up my Excel game.  They create the certification tests for such programs and software, and I definitely need a refresher from being out of the workforce game. I don't want to work full-time right now, but part-time is a great opportunity to challenge myself and hopefully improve many skills that keep me in the game. I am hoping this will make my time more scheduled and focused on Alexis when I am home instead of much of the idle time that currently occurs. Change and adjustment are hard and intimidating, bu...

It is the beginning of December and luckily we didn't have to bundle up too tight for photos. Mr Smith was minimally difficult (he knew I would torture him for months if he didn't give me family photos). I wanted a shoot with my parents since now it isn't easy to travel back and forth to Looper Rd. We are still missing Elder Troy Looper who comes home in May, but the rest of us are current. A tripod and a wireless remote did the trick. Go ahead and mention it, but we know we are beautiful.