Past times

I was searching for something specific the other day...digging through boxes, flipping through binders etc...when I stumbled upon this little treasure, and was taken back about 100 years.

Or 14 or so.

One day when I was 17, I dropped a quarter into a fortune telling/compatability machine , and crossed my fingers that the machine would bring me good news.  Jordan was away at college by this point, and had no idea of the silly shenanigans I was up to.  I was young and in love with a college boy.  

He......was off dating other girls.

I saved the print-out and showed him years later after we got engaged.

  It's fun to read and see how our personalities  match up to it now.  Despite what it says in this so called analysis,  I really don't find fault with everyone, and what?  Not spontaneous?  I would like a chat with the person in charge.

And here's a little blast from the past.  

M.A.S.H
 J and I did this when he was about to leave for his mission.
I've put a lot of trust in the results here, so we are looking forward to the mansion and Lexus...and this 4th child we are supposed to have one day.

J's missionary farewell program.

I was sitting in the pew on the right.  I was the girl with the  perma grin on her face: All proud, and so in love.

Post-Mission summer.  This is Jordan with a neighbor friend,  after we just weeded her front yard.

Look at all of that hair on him.

 Below on the right is Allison, a friend we adopted while we were dating in college.  She had suffered a stroke and lived in a home for people with disabilities.  J laid the charm on pretty thick whenever we'd go visit her....I think she may have had a little crush on him.

Proof I was a good student.

Exciting news in my mailbox.

I kept this to show what we paid for a marriage license way back in the day.  What do one of these sell for now days?

I can not TELL you how many funny stories I have from the days before cell phones. 

We couldn't call each other and tell each other where we were going to be, so there were a lot of mixups with times and locations.  One day, after a long walk home from class, I found this on our apartment door.    

He was just wandering around BYU campus looking for me.  Do you know how big that campus is?  

Fast forward a few months... we STILL didn't have cell phones, but we developed a system so that if J had some information he needed to get to me, he would drop it off at the Nutrition Department Secretary while I was in class....

I would visit the secretary before heading home and see if he had left any notes for me that day.

Here is one of those notes.

I laugh just looking at this piece of paper.  This was J's academic 'bible',   He would pull this thing out almost EVERY SINGLE WEEK,  to look at the classes he had to take next, and to make sure he was still in line to graduate on time, etc.  Sometimes he'd pull this stupid thing out just to make me laugh.  Because I did, every single time.  Whenever he got to take his little black sharpie out and cross one of these classes off, it was the greatest little moment in his life.  I had to keep it, and maybe one day will throw it in a frame.  

Graduation.

Ok this one is hilARIOUS.  

When J is about to make a difficult phone call, he sometimes writes down a practice script to follow.  (And by the way I'm posting all of these WITH his permission)

Years ago,  he was about to call a credit card company and ask for lower rates, but was trying to determine the best way to deliver his message.  I found this laying around one day and could NOT stop laughing.  I thought it was so adorable...especially the second paragraph where he's threatening to leave the company if they don't meet his demands.

My Race bibs from long ago.

Below is the bib from the first race we ever ran together.

I had just finished running a half marathon a few weeks earlier, so I was still in pretty good shape.

Jordan had never run a race before so he wasn't sure what to expect, especially since it was 8 miles long.  Every few minutes he would say "Whoa Honey you have a good pace goin'"  By the end of the run, he must have said it like 30 times.  (Totally cracking up right now)  To this day, he'll say that if he wants to get a laugh out of me.

We came in almost last, and in the paper the next day, Jordan was listed in the results with the women instead of the men.

He was a good sport about it, and I was proud of him for running the entire time, when the most he had ever run before was only about 3 miles.

He is always the perfect date,  and had me laughing the entire time.

On the way back home, we stopped by a friend's house to pick up our kids, and we walked into a surprise party  that he and a friend planned just for me! 

 He never ceases to amaze me.

So glad I stumbled upon these memories today.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go find my husband and kiss all over his handsome face.

Phases

 I pronounced Hayley's fish 'dead' at 10 am on Saturday.  

When I yelled up to Hayley, who was on the top floor, and informed her of her fish's passing, she hollered back, "Okay!"

Well, okay then.

I decided I would flush it a little later in the day, since I was in the middle of something else at the time....and it was a good thing I waited, because Jordan pronounced that tricky little thing 'alive' again at 10:15 am.

Miracles never cease to exist here in the Smith house.

I have been living life in the slow lane for the past little while here.  I used to make sure my days were loaded with activities, and that I had projects lined up to keep me busy.

Lately, it's just not happenin'.

Ty is going through some 'phases' which include, but are not limited to:

Yelling, ALL of the time.  Especially in public places

Hitting whoever sits next to him in the van and grabbing whatever is in their lap

Shouting "DOHHHHH!" (which means no)

Misbehaving in church

and continuously putting himself in dangerous situations.

Screaming is also his new form of communication for the 2-4am hours, for no reason other than he doesn't want to be in his bed.  

Sounds like the terrible two's, no?

I am struggling to keep my patience and am now realizing, that although I don't want to...it's finally time to play the "tough love" card.  

You think you got me wrapped around your little finger?  Think again buddy.

(But ohmygosh, how cute is he yelling NOOOO from the bathtub?)

Not wrapped around his little finger at ALL.

I let Hayley invite 3 of her school friends over for a birthday get together (as mentioned in a previous post).  It was a simple little party, but they had SUCH a great time.  

My little girl is 9.  

And what a beautiful little 9 year old she is.

 This party had it all:  Good food, lots of dancing...and reeeally cute boys.  ;)

He gives the best hugs these days.



More soon!

 Sometimes I stay on the computer late at night only because the laptop keeps my legs so warm.

So while I'm warming myself tonight, I figured I might as well do a little catching up.

Christmas morning was such a fun time.  I remember when we were growing up, Dad would make us wait ForEVER to go in and see the tree, because he had to shower, brush his teeth, set up the Christmas music, and get the camera ready. It was torture.  

Well, my husband does the exact- same- thing!  What about just waking up and walking down to the tree?  There really shouldn't be that much prep work involved. 

The kids were very good about acting excited about every silly thing they pulled out of those stockings.

 Ty is still trying to figure this whole Christmas thing out.

He was super excited about his new sippy cup....and the slippers you see on his feet.

He had no idea what to do with the presents.  

"Open it!"  we'd say.  So he'd sit there and look at it for a minute, and then start to bang it with his fist, expecting that to take care of his problem.

Even after we showed him how to rip the paper, he didn't quite catch on.

Eventually, I had to just open it for him.

Tia's box of cosmetics.

Hayley's stealth scope..

J suggested that halfway through our gift opening, we take an intermission and go eat breakfast.

 Who does that? 

Surprisingly the girls were on board with the idea.

I loved that my kids got so many books this year.  Ty would have his daddy read to him all day long if he could.

This was the most controversial gift of the day..  Tia's Fur Real Friend, walking, purring kitty.

The controversy was that Ty thought it should be his.  

Fights broke out between the two all morning over that thing.

A while ago, at Ty's doctor appt, the doc asked if Ty was starting to push other people's buttons to try to get a reaction out of them.  I said 'yes, it's pretty much his favorite thing to do.'

The doctor then gave me a little disciplining tip:  Pick him up and calmly say "Ty, No pulling hair," and then take him into a different room, place him on the floor and keep him behind your back for a certain amount of time, so he is not getting the reaction that he is after.  We have laughed at and exaggerated this form of discipline so many times (even though I do see the reasoning behind it) that it has become kind of a game to Ty.  Here he is trying to escape from behind J's back.   

Another of Ty's favorite things to do.  Whenever there is a blanket or sleeping bag on the floor, he wants you to drag him around on it.

This is one of a set of fabulous sharp knives we received from my parents.  They are so great to have.

Mom, I thought you should know also that this is the one I keep under my mattress in case someone  breaks into the house.

Hayley's birthday is coming up!

Just wanted to share a picture of her birthday invitations that we sent out in the mail this week.

(I'm having way too much fun with these bottles ;)

It will be a great time

Oh, this child.  

 His face is caked with refried beans in this picture.

Looking forward to a great year.  Maybe one day this month I'll get around to setting some resolutions.