Scott -- Definition: A Fun Dad

I'm struggling with blogging, can you tell? Oh, who cares if my posts aren't funny and end up really lame, right? At least I'm here.

So last weekend I had a little scrapbook "getaway" with a few girlfriends. Actually, we didn't really get away that far. We were supposed to go to Scott's family's cabin near Ashton, ID but due to complications, we ended up staying home but scrapping Friday night and all day Saturday at Traci's husband's dentist office (thanks again Jaeson for having us -- I had a hard time keeping those tiny pesky eyelets under control so if you find any stray ones on the floor, send 'em my way!).

So, Scott faced with a Saturday alone with the kids, did what I would for sure do -- headed to Yellowstone Park (the joke there is that is NOT what I would do, far from it; not that I'm anti-Yellowstone, I LOVE Yellowstone, but driving around all day with two wiggly kids is not really my favorite activity). But guess what? They loved it!

The highlight of the day? They watched a grizzly bear from less than 100 yds. away for about an hour! Scott said the kiddies were fascinated! Henry wanted to be up close and personal with the bear so his binoculars were a necessity. Ruby kept growling at the bear. (She's so cute these days, I can't even take it!)

The spring is our favorite time to visit Yellowstone because all the animals are so active, trying to replenish their depleted reserves from the winter (which was especially harsh this year).


The animals, however, don't look their best in the spring. The bison always look so mangy. But the baby bison are SO cute, we're willing to put up with a little mangy-ness.

If you look closely, you can see that baby's face. Awww!

Speaking of mangy ... someone get this fella a new hairdresser!



Here are the kiddies checking something out ... (sorry, I'm not such a great tour guide. I don't have the specifics.).

A few weeks ago on our way home from Utah, we passed a pair of bison cows and their new calves near West Yellowstone. One mother still had the afterbirth hanging out, which was pretty gross, but still, very cool to see such a new little wobbly baby.
We are so lucky to live so close to Yellowstone -- it's definitely one of our favorite places to visit!

Here Today ...

... Gone Tomorrow.

Okay, not really, but after just getting back from a week long trip, we'll be gone again the next two weekends. I think we travel too much.

Here's where we were...


Okay, not really Paris, but at the Paris hotel in the fabulous, sinful city of Las Vegas! Scott was presenting at a conference for the American Planning Association so we decided to tag along. My brother, Spencer, and his family live there so while Scott did his work thing (and climbed with some friends who were in town), we hung out with Heather and Ava.

Although she's a year younger than Henry, Ava is one of Henry's favorite cousins. Those two are the craziest peas in a pod you'll ever see. They never fought and kept each other amused for three days -- it was glorious. Here they are bonding at the park.


Seriously, these two were inseparable. It was so cute!
All they did was run around screaming after each other. I'm sure the other pool guests loved our being there. We're such respectful pool mates.
Here they are swimming under the Eiffel Tower ... how romantic ... even for cousins.

Looks like fun, right? I should clarify that fun was definitely NOT had by all on this trip. Here's what Ruby was doing during Henry and Ava's shenanigans ... Sick as a dog. Of course.

The weather was so great while we were there. It felt so strange to wear t-shirts and flippies and STILL feel warm.

You know you're from Montana when visiting a warm climate (i.e. Las Vegas) and you say to your 3 1/2 year old, "It's hot out here. We need to get you into some shorts." Without missing a beat, he replies, "What are shorts?!?"

Can you tell which kid in the next picture doesn't get out in the sun much? Hmmm ... that's a tough one ....
Ruby felt well enough to be involved in this one classic cousin bonding activity, although it didn't last long -- she screamed to get out after less than five minutes and immediately fell asleep.
Every night I planned to go out and get pictures of the kids on the strip, especially in front of the Bellagio water show. As sick kids and long days predict, we were absolutely exhausted every night. Good thing we had a view of the Bellagio from our hotel room because this is as close as we were gonna get. Henry didn't care. He stood at the window transfixed just barely hearing the music but enjoying it all the same.
Here's Spencer trying to tame Ava's 'do. That girl seriously has the craziest hairdo known to toddler-dom.
Here's Henry checking out the outcome. I wonder if that's what Spencer was going for.
Thanks for letting us come stay at your house Ava! We already miss you AND your crazy hairdo!

Happy Birthday Dear Scotty!!!!

Woo hoo! I'm not the only 30 year-old in the house anymore! Welcome to the 30s Babe! Come on in! The water's fine!

Here he is, my one and only...
He doesn't get his voice heard a lot on this blog. I think there are two reasons for this: #1-I'm a yakker and #2-He's not as interested as I am in hearing my own voice (wait, what? what am I talking about?!?!)

So, how fitting is it that my little tree hugger's birthday just COINCIDENTALLY COINCIDES with Earth Day? Happy Earth Day y'all! (Before I forget, Scott doesn't want any presents. He requests that any present money be sent to the greenest conservation organization of your choice. Or, just go out and hug a tree.)

So here's my tribute to the guy many of you might not know very well...

He was the cutest little tyke on the planet (until our kids came along)...

He loves his family...

(I think I mostly love the mustache in that picture. Grow it back Hal!)

He and his brother, Cody, are the two cutest little pals! As the picture so aptly demonstrates, they are total opposites. One of my favorite stories of Scott's childhood is when Cody was learning to talk, no one could understand him (and from what I understand, this went on for QUITE some time). So Scott did the only thing a big brother could do, he acted as Cody's interpreter.

So, I haven't really done the research to back this next statement up but I'm about 98.7% positive that it's true -- it is HARD to find a 30 year-old man who loves his grandparents as much as Scott loves his. Scott calls his Grandma Mary and Grandpa Hal regularly just to check in and make sure they're doing okay.

He loves his sisters...
When I got to know Scott's family, it was clear that Scott had such a loving relationship with his sisters. Seriously, I melt when I catch those little glimpses of concern and love that he has for Becca and Kate.

He is patient! He'd have to be. Seriously, I'm not so easy to live with, folks. Shocker, right?.

Scott is passionate. He has always loved the outdoors and has a deep and profound love and respect for God's creations -- and I love that about him.

Is this not the proudest kid in the entire world?

(Scott particularly loves the desert. It's kind of an interesting little quirk about him. I would take the mountains or even the ocean anyday, but not him, he's a desert kind of guy.)
He is goofy! He makes me laugh (or at least smile when I'm grouchy) every day.

He is the best dad in the whole world. I really am convinced of it.

Scott loves to play the guitar. In fact, he gave me my first lesson our first semester at USU in 1996. Go Aggies!
Don't let his laid back nature fool you, this kid is PARTICULAR about what he will and will not wear. I've given up shopping for him ... well, almost ... my hope is still dangling like a thread that one day he'll let me dress him from head to toe ... maybe when we're 80.
Scott is very loyal. He doesn't let people in very easily but once he does he considers them friends for life and would do anything for them.

A little girl named Ruby has him oh-so-tightly wound around her little finger.

Scott is very intelligent, practical, quiet, down-to-earth, Christ-like, considerate, good at what he does, spiritual, and my personal favorite -- loving.

Happy Birthday Babe! I love you!

Bermuda ... Jamaica ... ooo I wanna take ya!

I'm back! Woo hoo! Finally! Two weeks ago Scott and I drove down to Utah, left the kiddies with his parents (thanks again Hal, Sharon, Becca, and Kate!), and jumped on a plane headed for NYC, stayed the night, and then boarded the ms Noordam with Holland America for a fabulous cruise to Bermuda. The peeps in our crew were: my parents, Adrienne (sister) and Jim, Blair (brother) and Kim, Mandy (Kim's sister) and Cam, and Nick (brother) and his friend Kyle. Here are some of the highlights:

When we landed in New York, we met up with the folks who were already there and headed over to Times Square. I felt so liberated, yet lost, being out at 1 a.m. without any kids, just cruising through NYC. It was so much fun! Cold, but fun:
The next morning instead of sampling NYC's cuisine (sigh) or shopping on Canal Street (double sigh), Scott and I walked over to Central Park and did a little sightseeing of our own, Scott-style (leave it to MY husband to find a place to boulder in the middle of Manhattan!):

Setting sail (NYC skyline):

Adios NYC!


Adrienne, making even a life preserver look good:

Our lovely room model, Scott, showing off the luxurious space in our stateroom (actually I think he was wallowing in misery about having to dress up for dinner):
Formal night #1 - Papa Mike and Grammy Kay lookin' sharp (Papa and Grammy? What?!? There were no kids along -- they were just plain old "Dad" and "Mom" to us for one precious week. What a novel concept!)
Dad on his hog:

Father/daughter bonding on a pier in Hamilton:

Blair, in some sweet shades, showin' off his great white ninja moves:
Kyle and Nick modeling awesome spandex with their svelte physiques (check out the color of that water!) on one of the famous pink sand beaches:
Formal night #2 -- Mandy, Kim, and I (at this point, Adrienne was in her room puking her guts out from a wicked combination of the rolling seas and early pregnancy -- am I allowed to divulge that little tidbit Adrienne?):
Probably one of the best/worst things about the cruise was the karaoke "Superstar" competition that Adrienne, Nick, and I entered. Best because it was highly entertaining (especially Nick's "risque" performances) and was super popular on the ship but also the worst because Adrienne and I would get so nervous every night before the show that we couldn't eat dinner and had to "use the facilities" (if you catch my drift) numerous times before each performance. We were, however, singing in front of 700+ people so we weren't just embarrassing ourselves to a piddly little crowd. Oh no! We Smiths like to go all out when it comes to public humiliation (although, I must say, we all did fairly well. Thank you. Signed photos can be ordered.). We concluded that our lame nerves and stress for a cruise ship karaoke contest just weren't worth it -- I mean missing out on fillet mignon because you're worried about how your Bonnie Raitt is going to sound? Come on!

Here's Adrienne working her magic on stage...

A few of Nick's colorful outfits...What's that? The air guitar whilst he whistles? Stop! Just too much talent for one guy (although I have to say, that Nick can whistle like nobody's business. I'm not kidding, I double dog dare anyone out there to challenge him to a whistle-off, the kid has some mad whistling skills).

Here's my tutorial on how to make it in the karaoke world:

First, flirt with the gay emcee...
Second... stomp your left foot (if you're left handed, however, stomp your right foot) while singing your heart out to the Dixie Chick's "Sin Wagon"...
And last but definitely not least, lean back and close your eyes ... pure karaoke genius... And although none of us won, we had a great time. On performance merit and crowd favorite criteria alone, we all think Nick should have won, hands down. Probably the highlight of each of Nick's performances was his wardrobe transformations. At the start of each song, he looked great, then either the wheels slowly started falling off the bus or the performance just got better and better and BETTER! depending on how you look at it. (I subscribe to the "better and better" mentality -- HOLLA Nick!)

This was his best night -- he started out in a tux, all distinguished and respectable...
Then just a hint of his personality emerges ... A little more personality ...
And then BAM! Full-on crazy! The best part is, the judges always seemed to like it...

Phew! Quite a long post. But it's been quite a while so I was overdue.

Thanks again family for such a great trip!