Tatum's wedding

Yea!!! Tatum and Chase were married. We were so happy we got to be apart of this happy day. Tatum let me and Niko come along and take some pictures. There is nothing fancy about the photos. It was just fun to document the day.









Leaving for the Temple.


Just Married!


Chase Rasmussen Presidential Candidate in 2028 or 2032!


Brandon and Camden. I thought this picture was so cute. However she was probably causing her body to be limp because Brandon was dragging her somewhere she did not want to go or maybe they were dancing.

The dresses were so cute on all of the girls.



Trey and Camden. Camden has become quite the smoocher on this trip. She loves handing them out.


My mom and dad.

My lovely sister Tobi.

Tara my sister and Matt her husband.

My beautiful mom.

My mom and the granddaughters. We could not get the boys over fast enough to get a picture with all of the grandkids.

Camden innocently playing with the water fountain.

Camden now quenching her thirst at the water hole.

Now she is just sticking her face in.



Thankfully we were in AZ and the low was probably in the 60's. The wetness did not seem to bother them too much.

My brother Tait and his wife Bethany.

Brandon and Trey. It is too bad Brandon and I don't have any pictures together.

There is me. I rarely post pictures of myself. I am going to take a challenge from my friend Beth to post some self portraits of myself. I challenge anyone reading this to do the same.


Tatum the Bride.

Tatum and Chase cutting the cake. I really liked there cake. Very cute.


Most importantly the present that wins the prize for being the cutest package. What was in it Tatum? Maybe they can win the prize for best present too.

AZ Trip

Well it has been awhile since I have posted on our blog. I sincerely apologize to all of my loyal readers. Thanks mom for always being there. We were recently in AZ to visit with family and most importantly my sister Tatum got married. Yipppeee!!! I will post more on that later.

Well some of you may know that Brandon and I recently bought ourselves a new camera. I was lucky enough to take some pictures of family members while I was there. It was a lot of fun. I love practicing with this camera. It is a blast using all of the different settings. I think I am in love with her. I think I will call her Niko. You guessed it, short for Nikon. Another name she could go by is Ebony. However, that one was the name given to our Honda Civic.

Here are just a few of the many pictures I took.

Are you as content as a 4 year old?

Little life lessons can be had simply by listening to keen observations of your children. Recently, I learned that you do not have to solve every problem the way the world expects you to. Sure, you have to understand the rules of life, but the way you approach a problem, the framework in which you perceive issues and concerns, can help you tremendously.

When playing with an activity book, Brooklyn came upon some mazes. She asked how to play and I showed her. "You must start at this point and try to get to the other point without crossing a line. It's like a real maze and the lines are walls." She proceeded to play and I spoke with Tassi for just a few seconds. Brooklyn interrupted me to tell me that she was done. Upon looking at the book, she did, in fact, have the pencil tip pointing at the end. When I asked how she completed the maze so quickly, she illustrated with her pencil and said "I start here at the beginning, draw until I get to a line, and then jump over each wall."

Sometimes I wish I could change the framework in which I see the world. Brooklyn clearly understood the problem of the maze. She had to get from point A to point B. But because I didn't provide one detail (no jumping walls), she decided to introduce a perfectly reasonable solution. Children are not jaded by life experiences and thus approach situations without sarcasm and negativity. Thus, I have to remind myself to be childlike and that, in many cases, simply thinking positive keeps you out of life's mazes.

A funny thing happened while riding on the airplane

Airplanes and children do not like each other. Our family recently took the perilous four hour journey across the United States by way of Southwest airlines. This was the first time that Brooklyn (4) was old enough to appreciate certain experiences on the airplane. For instance, she wanted to sit next to the window so she could look out and see the ground. She was very aware that we were up in the sky.

However, I was not prepared for one of her observations. On takeoff, Brooklyn noted that we were about to go through clouds. Almost upon immediate entry into the white fluff, the airplane experienced turbulence. Perhaps related, and perhaps not. However, she commented, that we must have "bumped into the clouds." After making it through a brief clearing, she saw we were about to enter into another cloud. "Clouds, Daddy, hold on!"

Not quite Sleeping Beauty.

Brooklyn's choice this year for Halloween is Sleeping Beauty. The pink is pretty much the only thing that resembles Sleeping Beauty's dress. When trying it on today Brooklyn stated that her dress was prettier than the real Sleeping Beauty. With that said I don't care about all the mistakes and uneven edges because my girl thinks I am awesome. So here are the pictures to prove that she loves it.

Eggplant recipes

Help! I need eggplant recipes. I would like to try eggplant rolls. If anyone has a recipe, please send it my way.

Garden update: Out with the old in with the new.

Out with the old . . .


. . . in with the new.



My plants are no longer glorious. It is time for fall and winter colors to take their place. I have not quite decided how I am going to fill up all of my flower beds. I am still debating on doing some fall and winter vegetables.

Ant Pile



As we are planning for winter so our my most feared insects. Seriously they are mean insects. They are piling up huge ant beds all around my plants. Every time I pull up a flower they come up scrambling from the ground. Well, I am beating them up. Maybe or probably not but I am seeing a lot of dead ants. I apologize to ant lovers if there are any. I boil a large pot of water. Once it is ready I take it out and dump it on the ant piles. The other day I did it and ant eggs came spilling out as did the live ants. I came out a few hours later and there were dead ants everywhere. I know it sounds so mean but I have nightmares of these things. At least I am not using chemicals, right?

Sorry for not adding texture to my photos Ralphie. However these pictures are not shown for artistic purposes. If I beautified my ant pile or dead flowers I might just keep them there.

Brooklyn's First Day of Preschool!!!

Hooray for Brooklyn! She was so excited for her first day. But she was very nervous and would not look at me or her teachers. She has warmed up to the idea and is loving it. She even talks to her teachers now. Having her friend Miles in the class has helped her not be so shy.

Definitely Red!

I find it very funny that being one of the only people in my family without red hair, I end up with the first red headed grandchild. The more her hair grows the redder it gets. She is so much fun to have around.

Are you kidding me!

I was completely shocked when I first viewed these commercials. I thought it was a joke. I was waiting for the punch line. I love how the people slur through the line, "It is fine in moderation." This is just like the tobacco, alcohol, and coffee industries trying to tell us that these different products do have health benefits. This is a bunch of bologna. Read your labels so you can avoid products that have the High Fructose corn syrup.

Function Loves Form

Here is a fun new blog to check out regularly . My friend Beth and her husband Jared are two very talented people. Jared will be sharing many of his delicious recipes and Beth will be sharing her many work of arts painted, crafted, and or sewn. Have fun checking it out. http://functionlovesform.com/

Dr. Horrible...

Tassi and I laughed and laughed at the three part series "Dr. Horrible." Tassi cried at the end. If you are into HD, you'll want to click here. Otherwise, enjoy the show...

The Allens: Photography Giveaway!!!

The Allens: Photography Giveaway!!!

Here is some great photos that my friend is giving away. She is a very talented painter. I have an original that she created for my birthday. It is so cute. Click on the link so you can see the photos.

Garden Party Frock GIVEAWAY!!!!

Garden Party Frock GIVEAWAY!!!!
Oh my goodness this is by far my favorite of the giveaways. I love green. I think Brooklyn would look so cute in this but more than anything Camden with her red hair would look like my little Irish girl. Click on the link to enter to win.

Push up Challenge Update

Brandon and I completed the second week of the push up challenge. We are progressing very well. We both have completed up to 40 push ups in a row. Those that chose to start the program, keep it up and those that have not started there is always time. It has been fun for Brandon and I to do it in the morning together. We even have both girls taking turns on the mat. Brooklyn claims she does one million and Camden raises her head up and down while grunting as if she is counting each one. Have fun!

Leotard Fantastic!!!

Sorry Ralphie but this video was just too good to leave it on your blog. To all my sisters how about doing this at Tatum's wedding reception or at another smith reunion. Okay so Tatum's reception may not be appropriate but for sure a famiy reunion, right?