Like mother like son!!

I don't know if many of you know, but mashed potatoes just happen to be one of my favorite foods of all time, so it only seems natural that I would want to give them to my kids when they come of age! Well, the coming of age has happened for Payton, and we gave him his first taste of this blessed food just the other night! Here is the outcome!

The finished product!!! He LOVES those potatoes!

Payton is SUCH a ham! He LOVES the camera, and as soon as I pick it up to take pictures of him, he assumes the position, and we get a stellar shot! He LOVES his excersaucer so we snapped a few shots of him doin what he does best...charming everyone! He also knows that he is relatively safe from his brother while in there so he has a great time!

Sneaky big brother!!!

I know that it was just a few days ago that I posted, but we have had some pretty funny things happen around here! We have been pretty sick, Lincoln and I, so we all have been staying pretty close to home, so one night, we were playing outside in the backyard and Payton was being SO sweet, so we started to film him...then a sneaky little STINKER snuck up behind him and SABOTAGED him! You will have to watch to get the full gist of it...I CAN'T believe we got it on camera! So enjoy! (I couldn't stop laughing, and we were trying to discipline Lincoln a little bit, so the movie is kind of long...you can stop it after just a few seconds if you want to! Plus, both Cole and I are feeling REALLY bad that we put Lincoln into timeout at the end, so just disregard that! We really are good parents most of the time:) )

The reason that we were outside is because we were taking pictures of the bench that Cole's Grandpa Meyer made for him! Grandpa Meyer is amazing at wood working, and has made all of Cole's brothers and sisters these cute little benches and he made all the pieces for Cole for Christmas, but we couldn't get the bench home assembled, so Cole has put it all together and stained it and it is SO awesome! It is such a fun thing to have to remember Grandpa by, and we will cherish it forever! So here are some pictures of at least Payton on the bench! Lincoln wouldn't really cooperate, so there are just some silly ones of him!

Lincoln looks HUGE here! I can't believe how BIG he is getting!

There and Back Again...

A Smith's tale...by Mindy Baggins (er...Smith!) (this is a LONG one...happy reading!)

So, we have been to Utah and back again! It is always SO much fun to go home! We had a great time! I am sure you are wondering about the Lord of the Rings reference...well, that is what we listened to via audio cd on the way there, and on the way back! There was NO way we were going to finish the whole thing because it was 16 CD's long! WOAH! But we sure gave it a go!

Anyways...we had a GREAT time in Utah! We had a fun time on the car rides too! On the way out, we decided to take a little bit more time so we stopped and visited a few places! In Steamboat Springs, it was the opening day for the tram so we were able to ride it for pretty cheap, and the boys thought that was AWESOME!!! We had such a fun time!

SO that broke the trip up first, then a couple of hours later, we were able to stop in good old Vernal Utah and visit some friends that just moved there from here! The wonderful Labrums met us at the Dinosaur Museum there in town and we perused the dinosaurs for a couple of hours! Lincoln thought that was the BOMB! Payton was just glad to get out of the car for a couple of hours! All in all, they did a GREAT job in the car on the way home! It was quite a pleasant experience!
In the tram looking down onto Steamboat Springs...the boys really loved this!

Could he BE any cuter! What a ham!
With the T-Rex. His favorite part about this was that it was OUTSIDE! Cool!

We had fun while we were in Utah too! We stayed at my parents house for the first couple of days. We had a great time just hanging out, and helping them get ready for their big trip! We even got to go to the Treehouse Museum up in Ogden-which was WAY cool!
A BIT tired at the treehouse museum. Thank heavens for the Bjorn!
He played on this stuffed horse the majority of the time!

Then I sent them all off to Europe (lucky ducks) with a singing tour for my mom and her choir, and it was off to Richmond for the rest of the trip! We had so much fun playing on the farm, and Lincoln had another dream weekend with all the farm equipment and such! He went on tractor rides, four wheeler rides, and even a HORSE RIDE! That's right...he got on a horse and took that baby for a ride with his daddy! IT is so funny, because Cole's parents have a little stuffed ride on horse in their basement, and Lincoln has been TERRIFIED of it ever since they got it! He still won't even touch anything but the tail on the cute little thing! But he sure took a ride on a real horse! Explain THAT to me! Cleve and Maxine also have a new little puppy named Jax, and MAN are him and Lincoln two peas in a pod! They just followed each other around the whole week! It was so cute. So we had a great time in both places.
Cleve and Maxines backyard! Wouldn't THAT be nice!
I LOVE this picture of the boys and their "Grandpa Smiff" Thanks Cleve and Maxine for letting us stay!
This is the CUTEST picture of Lincoln with Cole on the horse! Lincoln was in HEAVEN and just wanted to keep on riding!

The ride home was less than pleasant, as they always are. Lincoln had him a sippy of Grape Juice when we were in the car right when we left, and started complaining about having a stummyache (cute...that is how he says it!) for a while, and then he started to cough a little bit, and I knew we were in trouble! So I stuck my hands back there in a little cup, and told Cole to pull over as fast as he could! Well, we were too late! PURPLE PUKE EVERYWHERE! Oh man, I haven't seen him projectile throw up that much in a LONG time! So about 45 minutes into our 9 hour drive, we pulled over for about a half an hour and cleaned up puke! Pretty undesireable. But Lincoln felt much better after that, so the ride went smoothly for a while! So then the kids were getting pretty restless and crying and screaming and stuff, so we stopped for lunch/dinner and I went to get Payton out of his carseat, and he was pretty much COVERED in poo! He is the blowout KING lately! What can you do! So we cleaned him up, then headed for home! But by then Payton had HAD it! So he cried for about the last 2 hours of the drive, but then we FINALLY pulled into the mile high city, and were glad to be home! It was a rough drive home, but we are SO glad that we went! We had a GREAT time with both of our families, and wouldn't trade them for anything!

Ruby Dantzel

Here is an update of the little squirt! She is SO cute!Is that not the cutest face or WHAT!!!
Mylie Jane is SO excited to have her baby sister here!
Drew is a little aprehensive about the whole thing, so he usually keeps his distance. What a stud!
Can you believe how BIG my sisters little family is! They are SO cute, and Court looks like a SUPERMODEL! Wootie-woo!

My New Niece!!!

My New Niece is FINALLY here! Åctually, I say finally, but Courts pregnancy went WAY faster then mine do! HOw does that work? anyways, I am so sad to not be in Vegas loving her, but I think that she is gorgeous and I love her so much already! Payton and baby Ruby are 6 months EXACTLY apart from each other! they are going to be good buds just like the other kids are (when they aren't fighting and taking toys from each other!:) Congratulations Court and Rock on a successful birth of my new niece!

Ruby Dantzel Derrick
The proud sister!
Court says that Ruby's hair is long and BLONDE! Who would have thought! Cute little squirt!

Memorial Day Fun

We had a great Memorial Day weekend! We slept out in the tent in the backyard a few times, went on a couple of fun hikes with the boys and some of our great friends, and had a really fun breakfast at the park with our ward! We also had a fun barbeque despite the lousy weather with some more of our great friends! We have the BEST friends here in Denver! The boys did GREAT hiking, and had a great time! Here are a few pics to highlight the fun times!Happy little Clam
My friend Steph and I on our hike in Castlewood Canyoon
Just a bit tuckered out after the hike! Can you tell he fell asleep on his zipper! Oh so nicE!
Paytons new trick is sitting up and we LOVE it! Although, Lincolns new trick is knocking him down! Hmm...we'll have to figure that one out!
Cute boys eh?
The best is at Paytons age right now, the only thing we have to do is make a little noise, and he LIGHTS up! Not bad for picture taking I'd Say!
Again, Lincoln gets just a bit tired during the afternoons! It's hard work riding in a back pack during a hike!
Little family shot! The other one is better- with both boys smiling and all, but I can't get it turned the right way, and I don't want to mess with it! So here you have it! The boys are still cute though right!

Dreams really DO come True!!!

So it's been a while since the update, but we have a good reason! We were in Utah with the fam's just livin' it up whilst Cole was still in Denver studying his little brains out! But we SURE did have fun in Utah...I tell you what! It was so nice to be back and see our families and have the kids play with their aunts/uncles/cousins/grandma's/grandpas! Lincoln was a VERY busy dude while we were in Utah, and had a couple of his dreams come true thanks to his WONDERFUL Grandpa's!

Here Lincoln is on the Four wheeler AND the backhoe with Grandpa Smith. Oh man, was Lincoln in HEAVEN! He LOVES farm equipment, so to be able to ride on one with his Grandpa for a WHOLE HOUR was the best thing ever for him! He LOVED it! They even got to do a little work while they were out there! They moved some rocks, shoveled some dirt, knocked over some trees, and even caught the horses because they had gotten out of the pasture while they were out! He was in HEAVEN and is still talking about it!

Cruisin' on the "fouriller"- as Lincoln would say!
OH man, that is one happy kid! I didn't even have to ask him to smile!
Is that not the most precious picture you have ever seen!

Then, to top it all off, the next day, Lincoln was able to go fishin' with Grandpa Dick! Oh boy was he in paradise! (Pardon the pun dad!) Grandpa Dick took him up to his favorite fishing place, and they spent the entire afternoon together! He had the best time, and will still tell you how big of a fish they caught! (Of course by holding his arms out as far as they will go! He dreams big-thanks to Grandpa Dick!) He didn't even fall in the river while Grandpa fished! (That is what mom was worried about, can you tell?)


Here he is catchin his big one!
OH my gosh...could be entered into a competition---or at least SHOULD be!
He MIGHT have gotten a little bit tired after a little while, but he still had a great time!

He had the greatest time, so thanks to the two grandpas! But we had a great time with everyone else too! We did lots of playing, sitting, and I even threw my arm out playing with the Wii! I was a Wii virgin up until this point, so I had a great time playing tennis, and wasting Rachel in Bowling! (She may or may not have wasted me in tennis, but we won't talk about that!) SO thanks all you Utahns for letting us come and visit! We can't wait to see you all again sometime soon!

This is the CUTEST picture ever! Oh-so cute! Everyone LOVED to squeeze Payton...he has changed so much since they saw him!
Here's a shot of all the Grandkids and their Grandparents! SUCH cute kids! Rylie was a little bit mad, but we took the shots anyways!Can't get enough of Grandma B!
OR Grandpa Dick!
Thanks for letting us come! We were SO happy to be there!

The Dudes

So lately, Lincoln has TOTALLY been into his Sunglasses! We go running every now and then, and whenever he gets into the stroller, he HAS to have his sunglasses on if the sun is out! He will cover his eyes and moan and groan like he is going to die if I don't get them for him...and FAST! He also totally loves his brother! It is the cutest thing! He LOVES Payton! Anything that he has, he wants to share it with Payton. And if Payton is around, he wants to either hold him, or hug him or kiss him! SO CUTE! Every mothers dream! Don't get me wrong, he still gets his fair share of hazing...like in the mornings when Lincoln goes into Paytons room if he is awake...climbs into his crib, and proceedes to SMOTHER him with either kisses, hugs, or the blanket until we come down and save Payton! Thank heavens for the baby monitor! Anyways, so we were outside the other day, and Lincoln really wanted Payton to wear his coveted sunglasses...so we obliged him! But then of course, it was too cute to not take a picture, so I outfitted Lincoln with my own sunglasses, so here are the dudes!
Do my boys have ROUND HEADS or what!!! SO CUTE!