Smith Family

It's been hot around here. I mean HOT! Audrey always thinks she needs to go outside which is not fun because our backyard is nothing but dirt and did I mention it's hot? We have done some things to get her out of the house. She loves sidewalk paint. It always starts out innocent But by the end we are always both covered in paint. Down at the Promenade they have a yummy frozen yogurt place. Just outside is a little water play area that the kids love to play in. Ezra and Audrey have fun playing together, even though most of the time Audrey is running after him screaming, "NO, NO, NO" Riley is seriously the cutest, smiliest little baby. Audrey loves her. We got together with some friends to play in their pool. Audrey was too nervous to go out with all the other kids,  but she eventually warmed up enough to play in this tub of water And had no problem eating all of Gina's fruit! Audrey's cousin Isabel is here all the way from Australia, and they LOVE each other. ...

For Mother's Day Pete got me Wicked tickets. Best present ever! The play is beyond amazing and it was Pete's first experience going to a real Broadway play. My parents always had season tickets to plays at the Gammage and it was always a treat to go. I haven't been able to go to a play in a really long time, so I was beyond thrilled. After one of my favorite numbers I was covered in goose bumps and emotion and I turn to Pete and asked if he had a goose bumps and he laughed at me like I was silly. He just doesn't get music like I do, but that's okay. He really loved it. I was kinda bummed to find out Elphaba would be played by the understudy. She was incredible, but I always wonder what was she lacking that the other one had.  It was a fabulous evening. We're now planning to go see Phantom in a couple months.

We had such a fabulous 4th of July weekend. My dad needed someone to drive up the tent trailer for our reunion next week so we decided to help out and went up to the cabin for the 4th. I haven't wanted to go up there because it's a long drive for Audrey, and I didn't know if she would sleep there. Surprisingly she slept like a baby and she did pretty okay on the drive up. The Whiting Homestead is a place my great grandfather and his family lived on and has been a place that we hold our reunions ever since. We have up to 1,000 people attend and it's just a really special place for all of us Whiting folk, I love how we have a place to go camping and visit that is all ours. We drove up there during Audrey's bed time so she would just sleep. Of course she woke up as soon as we got there. We couldn't find the spare key so we waited for my dad who was about 30 min behind and by the time we got in Audrey was wide awake. She did end up going back to sleep after a while ...

Last week my mom, Audrey, Amy and I had a fun day out.  I LOVE this ribbon store in Mesa, and they have a new one closer to me in Chandler. This is just 1/16 of the store, I could spend hours in this place and spend way too much money. They offer classes and I really need to sign up for one. We had to get ribbon to make a 4th of July bow for Audrey.  In Scottsdale they have a very cute cupcake shop called Sprinkles that I've wanted to try out for a while. It was so yummy. But, guess how much one cupcake costs? $3.50! For ONE cupcake! I can buy 3 cake mixes for that. I know they use the finest ingredients because the flavor and texture is out of this world, but it just seemed a little crazy to me.  We surely did enjoy them though. Well, unfortunantly Amy couldn't because she has a hard time keeping down sweets. Then we headed to Fashion Square Mall. I love how classy this mall is. We spent a lot of time at the Pottery Barn for kids. We could not get Audrey out of these beach cha...

I have wanted one of these gems for a LONG time, but they are too expensive so I just always dreamed of the day I could have one. The other day I walked in to Michael's and about had a heart attack when I saw they were 50% off.  $100 is still A LOT of money for us to spend, so I stared at it and dreamed of all the possibilities, I may have touched it, but in the end I walked away. It remained on my mind for 2 complete days, so I talked to Pete. We decided I could get it!! This is how excited I was... and still am This is the first thing I've made, and I've seriously used it every day. I wish we could afford a lot more cartridges, but I'm happy with what I've got. 

Audrey wants to hold my purse whenever we go anywhere, which normally causes her to fall over because it's too heavy. So I've decided to keep her purse and dollar store baby in the car, and she is beyond thrilled when she gets to hold them to a store. It amazes me how observant she is. I think it's so funny she notices all the ladies with purses so she thinks she needs one.