The Smiths

this is joan passed out

2009-06-18T16:37:00.000-06:00

Scrapbook pages Sean and I made together, more to come later

2009-06-17T00:36:00.002-06:00

spinach enchiladas

2009-06-05T19:43:00.005-06:00

Sean and I made spinach enchiladas for dinner and it was delicious and simple! We've been trying to find good and easy meals that are cheap and not time consuming to make. And we've found one! Here's the recipe:

INGREDIENTS:
* 1 tablespoon butter
* 1/2 cup sliced green onions
* 2 cloves garlic, minced
* 1 (10 ounce) package frozen chopped spinach , thawed, drained and squeezed dry
* 1 cup ricotta cheese
* 1/2 cup sour cream
* 2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese
* 10 (6 inch) corn tortillas
* 1 (19 ounce) can enchilada sauce

DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
2. Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic and onion; cook for a few minutes until fragrant, but not brown. Stir in spinach, and cook for about 5 more minutes. Remove from the heat, and mix in ricotta cheese, sour cream, and 1 cup of Monterey Jack cheese.
3. In a skillet over medium heat, warm tortillas one at a time until flexible, about 15 seconds. Spoon about 1/4 cup of the spinach mixture onto the center of each tortilla. Roll up, and place seam side down in a 9x13 inch baking dish. Pour enchilada sauce over the top, and sprinkle with the remaining cup of Monterey Jack.
4. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes in the preheated oven, until sauce is bubbling and cheese is lightly browned at the edges.

Notes:
This recipe is ok with or without the ricotta cheese. We had it without and it was just fine. Also, remember to grease your baking pan.

The kittens

2009-05-27T16:55:00.005-06:00

So we got some kittens.. Two of them. I know its difficult to believe because Sean HATES cats and I can take them or leave them. This is the story behind the cats..

We'll we thought that Joan found a scorpion so we called poison control and we were pretty freaked out! Wouldn't you be? It ended up being a beadle but cats catch bugs and spiders and all of those creepy crawly things. So they're our new pest control just in case. Always be prepared right? After all thats what it says on the Lion King movie. Franklin loves them!! He goes and checks on them when they're meowing. The orange kitty is named Clymer and his brother is Sherman. So now we have 3 of the 8 names that signed the Declaration of Independence. Hope they dont start a revolution.

We've been taking Franklin to the dog park every night for the last few weeks and it has really helped get all of his energy out. Our dog trainer said that he is a high level energy level and the walks that we were taking him on everyday just weren't enough. Its becoming our nightly tradition. We love it and we're sure that Franklin loves it more.

Whats going on:

2009-04-26T20:41:00.005-06:00

Okay so there haven't been any real post for a LONG time! Sorry about that. Here's the run down of what's going on in our lives.

Well at the end of last month Sean, Joan and I were able to go to the Temple and be sealed for all time and eternity!! What a blessing that is! So this is how it worked: My family flew in on Friday morning and I had to pick them up at the airport. Sean didn't get out of school until 11 (he got someone to cover some of his other classes he teaches) and since I had our car down in Mesa he had to barrow my Grandma Betty's extra car. I received my endowment that day at at 3:30. It was a really LONG day! Then on Saturday Sean had a all day long test he had to take called an AEPA test. This test is crucial because you have to pass it in order to teach school. (we get the results tomorrow at 5). The test wasn't over until 4 and our sealing was at 5:30. It was more than hour drive for him with rush hour and he still made it on time and stopped an got me flowers! After that Sean, Sarah, Jason, Joan and I all went out to eat at one of our favorite restaurants called Rigatony's. It was really yummy! Then on Sunday Joan got blessed during church. It was really special and sweet. There were some amazing things said in her blessing and it was just a really sweet moment for us. What a busy but beautiful weekend.

Sean gets off for summer in just a little over 3 weeks! He applied to work as a summer school teacher but we wont know if he got it for a while. Sean has to take about 21 credit hours of class this summer too!

We're planning a trip to Sea World at the end of July! I am so excited! I've only ever been to Sea World when its been really bad weather as far as I can remember. So yeah for Sea World!!!!

The Smith family is planning a camping trip at the beginning of June. We're planning on going for a day or so but Sean needs to work on school (his job depends on it) and we dont have any camping gear and I really dont want to camp with a baby.. just doesn't sound that appealing. But like I said we might go up for a day.

Also, my older brother Richard is getting out of the service next month and will be staying with us for a few months. Its going to be really fun having him around.

Pics of Franklin for Karina

2009-03-18T19:43:00.005-06:00

Joan with Franklin

2009-03-05T15:07:00.001-07:00

Joan, me and Franklin

2009-03-05T15:05:00.003-07:00

Joan being herself

2009-03-05T15:02:00.001-07:00

Here’s a yummy recipe!!

2009-02-24T08:15:00.003-07:00

Title: Glazed Cinnamon Apples

Description:
Have you ever had some glazed cinnamon apples for dessert or along with a stake at a restaurant? Well here’s the recipe and it is delicious!! And EASY! Made for a 4 qt slow-cooker. You can add less apples if your cooker isn't that large (thats what we do).

Ingredients:
1 slow cooker liner (optional) - saves you from having to
Clean-up afterwards
6 large granny smith apples, peeled, cored and cut in
8 wedges (adjust the amount to size of cooker).
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
½ cup granulated sugar
½ cup packed light brown sugar
2 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
6 tablespoons butter, melted
Vanilla ice cream, crumbled oatmeal or ginger snap cookies (optional)

Directions:
Fit your liner to your cooker. Place apples in cooker and drizzle with lemon juice. Mix granulated sugar, brown sugar. flour, cinnamon and nutmeg in a zip-lock bag (less dishes to wash). Sprinkle mixture over apples. Stir to coat apples. Drizzle with butter. Place lid on cooker.

Cook on low for 3 hours or high for 2 hours or until apples are done (tender). Serve warm apple topping over ice cream. Top with crumbled cookies if desired. Enjoy!

Number Of Servings:8-9 servings

Preparation Time:20 minutes

Family home evening...

2009-02-23T19:57:00.004-07:00

Tonight for FHE we're updating our blog! How fun is that?? Last week was a busy week!!! Starting with Monday: Sean was off of work for the holiday, we drove to Mesa where Joan had her 6 month shots and check up. She was SO sad when they gave her the shots! She weighed 16.6 pounds! She is still in the 90th % for length and weight and 50% for her head. She is getting so big! The doctor said that we can start introducing different baby foods to her but to be a little more careful because of her allergies. We can introduce a Sippy cup and she can start having plain water. She rolled over for the first time on February 13th! She loves rolling over but then hates being on her tummy. She is a hoot!

Later that day we installed a dishwasher at Laura's (Sean's sister) house then we hung out over at Sean's parents house for a while. Right now the book that we're reading is the The Good Earth. So I read it out loud on the way there and back. Such a good book! I try to read it once a year.

Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday were days of dealing with Joan wanting to change her sleeping habits. Sean worked on the garden getting it ready for this coming weekend when we are going to plant our stuff. Our Fruit trees in the back yard (plum, peach, apple and orange) are all doing well and blooming.

Franklin has learned "sit" and he's catching on to "stay". We're still working on the house breaking, he's doing a lot better but since he's not aloud on the carpet its really not all that horrible we just have to bleach the floor often. We took Franklin to the vet on Saturday for his check up and shots. He did really good. He now weighs 12.8 but the doctor said that he is going to be a large boxer! Which makes us very happy because we love big dogs almost as much as we cant stand small dogs! His next appointment is March 14th.

Then for date night on Saturday we used all of our new gadgets!! We have a Bosch, pressure cooker and wheat mill. We bought all of them when we were living with Sean’s family but we’re just now using them. We made home made wheat bread that was so delicious! Then we used the pressure cooker to cook up a fun recipe that we got from Sarah Robinson. It was so yummy! We were up until 1 in the morning doing all of this; we haven’t stayed up that late since we were dating! Man we’re old! Thankfully Joan let us sleep-in some on Sunday. We got up with her at 6 to feed her but that was it. Then she stayed asleep until 9 in the morning!

How things are going...

2009-02-04T13:39:00.002-07:00

Well today I took Joan to get the ultrasound done.. It went good, well sort of... Right when the lady touched her hand she started screaming bloody murder! She has NEVER been like that with anyone. After about a minute of this nonsense I noticed the lady had some shinny bracelets so I got Joan's attention and showed her. The lady was kind enough to take one off and let Joan play with it. She sat there and let the lady put the warm jelly on her hand and look with her machine. I'm not sure if the lady knew what it was for sure but she called it a cyst. I'll wait to hear from the doctor to know for sure. But it now has a name, even if it is a tentative name.

Puppy training is going great! Franklin is so incredibly intelligent!! He is catching on with the house training and some basic commands. He has a vet appointment on February 21st. We love him and all of the goofy things that he does!

Well...

2009-02-01T09:50:00.001-07:00

Joan's doctor called on Friday and wants the ultrasound done asap so we're going to go and get that done this Wednesday at 10:30. I wonder how it'll go. I hope her hand is alright.

Joan and Franklin hanging out

2009-02-01T09:38:00.003-07:00

Joan was laying down minding her own business when Franklin came over to rest his tired little head. Joan was on cloud 9 for the next hour. It was adorable!!

Hello to all

2009-01-29T11:26:00.002-07:00

Well here's the update... All is well in the land of the Smith house hold. Everything is almost fully in order for Franklin to come on Saturday. Joan is getting into a routine finally!! She has started sitting up by her self lately. It is really amazing how fast she is growing! On the 16th of Feb she has her Dr appt to get her 6 month shots and to get an ultrasound of her right hand done. They took an x-ray of the bump on her palm when she was 4 months (its been there since birth but has gotten a little bigger we think) but nothing showed up meaning only that it was not bone. It does not seem to bother her one bit but we would like the piece of mind of knowing what it is. But any who, thats whats going on with her hand. She has started to love to try to talk, although she is extremly shy! If you try to get her to do it she wont or if you look at her while shes making noises she will abruptly stop. She is a hoot!! Well she just woke from her nap catcha laters.

2009-01-28T08:35:00.002-07:00

2009-01-28T08:35:00.001-07:00

2009-01-28T08:34:00.002-07:00

2009-01-28T08:32:00.000-07:00

pup pics

2009-01-28T08:29:00.001-07:00

this was taken a few weeks ago when we met with the breeder to see Franklin in person. Joan loved him!

2009-01-19T20:01:00.002-07:00

We really enjoyed these words from President Monson's conference talk:

"Our realization of what is most important in life goes hand in hand with gratitude for our blessings.

Said one well-known author: “Both abundance and lack [of abundance] exist simultaneously in our lives, as parallel realities. It is always our conscious choice which secret garden we will tend … when we choose not to focus on what is missing from our lives but are grateful for the abundance that’s present—love, health, family, friends, work, the joys of nature, and personal pursuits that bring us [happiness]—the wasteland of illusion falls away and we experience heaven on earth.”6

In the Doctrine and Covenants, section 88, verse 33, we are told: “For what doth it profit a man if a gift is bestowed upon him, and he receive not the gift? Behold, he rejoices not in that which is given unto him, neither rejoices in him who is the giver of the gift.”

The ancient Roman philosopher Horace admonished, “Whatever hour God has blessed you with, take it with grateful hand, nor postpone your joys from year to year, so that in whatever place you have been, you may say that you have lived happily.”

We talked about this for our family home evening tonight. We've been greatly blessed. Thanks to all of you who have been a part of it.

Franklin

2009-01-16T19:22:00.000-07:00

We're getting a boxer puppy

2009-01-16T10:35:00.003-07:00

This is the new addition to our family!!!! We cant pick him up until the 28th, he is still too young to leave his mother. We think we're going to name him Benjamin Franklin and just call him Frank or Franklin because he has a lightening bolt on his back. We'll go and get to hangout with him tomorrow and we'll get our own pictures of him.

Our crazy weekend and more

2008-12-22T22:50:00.002-07:00

Well on Friday it was Sean's last day for this semester and now he's on his 2 week break with me! HOORAY!!!! I love having him around! I cant wait 'till summer! On Saturday we went to the doctor for Sean's ear infection that he let go on for almost 2 weeks, they said it was 50-75% swollen shut!! They gave him some ear drops and sent us on our way. We then went over to Erin’s house (Sean’s sister) and made gingerbread houses. It was WAY fun!! I had never made one before so it was really neat to be able to make one of my own. We then went to church on Sunday and talked with the bishop and found out that everything is on track and that all of our records are getting sorted out. The date that we’ve set for us to go to the Temple is March 20th. I cant wait!! That date gives our records plenty of time to get sorted out and fixed… Along the way our records were lost… long story!... Then Joan let us take a 2 ½ hour nap! Can you believe that? I don’t remember the last time I was able to take a nap. A nice LONG nap. When we woke Sean’s ear was killing him so after a few hours it looked 100xs worst. His face was really swollen and his ear appeared to be all the way swollen shut. I finally convinced him that he needed to go back to the doctor so we did. We got there and the doctor on the duty said that he had never seen anything like his ear before because it was just so badly swollen and infected. The doctor on Saturday said that there wasn’t any infection behind the eardrum but the new doctor wasn’t so sure and now that it was totally swollen shut there was no way for the medication to get into the ear. So we got referred on to the ER for Sean to have some blood work done and a CT scan to see if the infection had reached his mastoid bone. Everything came back normal thank goodness because the only way to treat a bone infection is by having intravenous antibiotics administered for an extended amount of time. And with Sean having deadly allergies to penicillin and codeine that puts a damper on the medications that he can take because almost everything is in the family of one or the other. So we got back to the house at 1 in the morning. Thankfully Sean’s parents were able to watch Joan. Then today Sean and I went to sign the papers for our house. Now the sellers bank needs to sign and then they’ll hand us the keys. The guy said it should only be 3 days. But with Christmas being this week it will most likely be next Monday that we get the keys and we’ll be in before New Years!!! We are very excited! As for Joan she now has 2 teeth. Can you believe that? She is only 4 months old! My mom is coming for a week starting on January 6th. We are very excited about that!! I never wrote about it but the day after Thanksgiving my dad was in town and he was able to meet Joan for the first time. He got her a bear that she LOVES!! Every time she sees it she smiles and gets all happy. I’m glad that she is a happy baby and she’s ours!! Well that’s all for right now have a wonderful Christmas!

SHARP TOOTH! YIKES!!!

2008-12-17T11:41:00.003-07:00

Joan's first tooth broke through yesterday! Its was really crazy because she's always (since day one) loved to suck on her fingers and chew on them and she even loves to chew on other people's fingers too so watch out... she was chewing/sucking on mine all day yesterday and I didn't feel a tooth but last night she was sucking on Sean's finger and he was like there's a tooth!! I didn't believe him so I checked and there it was. he he he It was really exciting!! She'll be 4 months old on 12/20 so in just a few days. we took her to the doctor last week because we thought she had an ear infection because she's just been so fussy none stop - there's was no infection thank goodness and we were told that it was just a head cold (which was highly likely because Sean and I both were sick with one). we also asked could she be teething and she said that Joan was too young for the normal teething stage but I guess not. We weighed her while we were there and she weighed 13 lb 11 oz!! Just under 14 pounds. She's been eating rice now mixed in her milk for about 2 weeks because the formula just wasn't filling her up enough and that seems to have done the trick at least for a while.

To tour our house..

2008-12-02T08:05:00.004-07:00

The video was too large to load onto our blog but you can still check it out.... here's the link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZN6ZziIRqX0

Joan loves to laugh!!!!!!

2008-11-26T14:38:00.002-07:00

2008-11-26T14:24:00.000-07:00

This is one happy girl!!

GUESS WHAT!!!!!!!!

2008-11-26T13:57:00.001-07:00

WE GOT THE HOUSE!! WE'LL CLOSE AND BE ABLE TO MOVE IN SOMETIME BETWEEN NOW AND DEC 17th THATS ONLY 3 WEEKS!!!!!!!!

Baby Joan

2008-11-24T09:21:00.002-07:00

Joan is doing great and is now a few days over the 3 month mark and she’s slept through the night for the past 3 nights!!!! She loves to stand up as long as your holding her hand. She has a tooth that’s trying to come through but she’s too young for that gum numbing ointment (if you give it to them too young then it affects their heart ). She is growing soooo fast!!!!!!!!! We can not imagine our lives with out her sweetness!!

OUR HOUSE!! WELL ALMOST!!

2008-11-24T09:11:00.005-07:00

Well that other house that I wrote about a few post down is long gone so we had to go and find another house that we liked just as much this past Saturday. And great news we actually found another one that we LOVED! We put in an offer and on Wednesday at 9 a.m. we should have an answer a yes, no or maybe. Apparently there was a cash offer but it doesn’t look like they’re going to accept it (we think that they offered way less then its listed for). These are the things that we have going for us where they would want us to buy it rather then the other cash people: On Saturday we put down more then the usual amount in earnest money and we’re going to be putting quite a LOT down as down payment at COE (close of Escrow). It will be a loan where they will make interest vs a cash offer the price that its listed at and they agree on is the amount that the bank would get and nothing more. We have excellent credit. I have a score of 778 and Sean has a score if 826 and we have no other debts so we’re a REALLY good “risk” for the bank to take. We forgot to take video of this one so there aren’t any movies to watch. Here is the link to see the house. Please pray that we get this one! And if we do get the ok on Wednesday then our closing date will be December 17th or sooner and as of today that’s just 3 weeks and 2 days until we move into our own place!! And Sean’s 2 weeks of Christmas break start on Saturday the 20th so perfect moving time and a MERRY CHRISTMAS TO US!!!

http://www.realtor.com/search/listingdetail.aspx?fhcnt=4&loc=12536+West+Windsor+Boulevard%2c+Litchfield+Park+AZ+85340&bd=5&bth=5&typ=3F&pgsz=3&sid=71905f8afb71468289e95fb878c9c4bf&lid=1103297168&lsn=21&srcnt=22

Temple...

2008-11-06T19:17:00.005-07:00

Also this is the update on us going to the Temple: For some reason our disciplinary council results were never filed with the
church. Our bishop said it could take 3-4 weeks for it to be filed and then for him to get it!! Its already been 2 weeks so we're at-least half way there!! So we're thinking its going to be December 13 or later before we to go to the Temple but I want to wait till after we get into our own place that way the people that are coming from out of town will have a place to stay. Things happen for a reason and its really neat to actually see that being unfolded so we understand.

PS We're also going to wait until then to bless Joan.

this is the house that we're hoping to buy!!

2008-11-06T18:48:00.005-07:00

We're hoping that this is still on the market on December 1st when we reapply for the loan. We got approved already but because it hadn't been reported to the credit agencies that we've paid everything off we would have had like a 20% interest rate and we would have had to buy at least 3 points which are about $1,500 each. That 20% interest rate that we were quoted is with us both having over a 720 credit score so it didn't matter that our credit was already amazing. But if we wait until December 1st to apply then we'll most likely get at 6.5% interest rate. But if this exact house isn't there then thats ok because there are a lot of houses in this amazing neighborhood. This house was built in 2003 and in 2005 it sold for over $250,000 but now its listed at $115,000 and its still in brand-new condition! which is awesome!! Plus we're going to be able to put almost $20,000 down!! So our monthly mortgage payment will be about $750 - thats what we were going to be paying for rent! --- I'm not sure if I've already written about this in the blog already but just incase I hadn't now you know whats going on and why we're still living with Sean's family - which by the way they are AWESOME!!

Here is the link:

http://www.realtor.com/search/listingdetail.aspx?loc=litchfield+park%2c+az+85340&ml=8&mnp=110000&mxp=115000&typ=3F&sid=5e109b30f07641ac96b34c0d8459033f&lid=1104269295&lsn=2&srcnt=3

Joan gets excited about Halloween

2008-11-02T12:29:00.006-07:00

2008-11-01T23:32:00.001-06:00

A Little Encouragement!

2008-11-01T23:06:00.000-06:00

Well, we just got back from the adult session of Stake Conference. It was really great. We had been feeling a little discouraged about the recent developments in our housing situation (we need to wait another month until all of the debts we have paid off get reported to the credit agencies.) The message tonight was about weathering life’s storms. We felt encouraged and that we could make it through the wait…waiting for our own place to live has been difficult mainly because of the time I spend on the road away from Loriel and Joan. I drive around two hours each day, and have to leave really early to avoid traffic. So it adds up to a lot of time away from home which is hard on all of us. But we feel rejuvenated and ready to submit cheerfully to what the Lord wants us to do, and make the most of it.

We might be buying a house!!!

2008-10-21T14:56:00.004-06:00

Ok some amazing things have happened where we're going to be 100% debt free by the end of the month!! No more credit card debts, no more car loan debts WE'RE HOME FREE!!! So instead of moving into the apartments next month when they're finished being built we're looking into buying our very own house!! We want to be smart buyers so right now we're doing our research on what we need to know... We haven't decided 100% either way but what an option that a lot of people dont have just one year after they're married. How blessed we are!!

Joan has expensive taste!!

2008-10-21T12:55:00.008-06:00

Ok so for the last few weeks its been really difficult especially for Joan. She had been having colic systems... She had so much gas that she would crunch up her legs and cry bloody murder if she were moved. There was also spitting up all of the time even with the meds that the doctor gave her... yes babies do spit up but there is a fine line where its the normal amount or an excess. Her face was also always red but we didn't put all of the symptoms together until we went back to the doctor. We first tried switching her food from the soy to gentle ease and that too made her really sick so we went back to the doctor and turns out that Joan has food allergies (we already knew that because she was allergic to my milk) so she's now on Similac Alimentum hypoallergenic formula. Its $25 for a 14 oz can that last about 3-4 days!! But its worth it, she's doing so much better - her rash on her face is completely gone and she now is a happy baby!! :)

We're going to the TEMPLE! and Joan slept through the night!!

2008-10-01T11:13:00.004-06:00

Ok so we met with our bishop this past Sunday and he said there shouldn't be any problem with us going to the Temple!! He isn't sure if we have to wait exactly until October 22 to be back in full fellowshipment which is when we had our councils last year or if we can do it sooner. He said that in the manual it says about a year, maybe they were just extra strict in happy valley to discourage people from messing up and then only having to wait to go to the Temple a few short months later. So we don't have a date yet but we're looking at October 25th or November 1st to get sealed if we get the ok that way on Sunday, November 2nd Sean can bless Joan at church. It will most likely be November 1st that way the people that are coming from out of town can attend both. We want to be sealed before Sean blesses Joan. We're very excited!!! Its been a really LONG year and we really just want to go a head and put everything behind us. OH and Joan slept through the night!! That was the first!! She went to bed around 11 last night and slept till 5 then went back to sleep at 7:20ish and she's still down for the count and its 10:10!!! Sleep makes me VERY happy!

Hello there

2008-09-22T19:03:00.002-06:00

This wednesday at 7 we have an appointment with our bishop, then we're going out to eat for our anniversary. Just think by the end of next month Sean and I could qualify to go to the TEMPLE!!! Its been a long year but both of us have learned a great deal and have been able to really grow together and a year ago I didn't think that I would ever be able to say this but I am grateful for this learning experience. Joan went to the doctor today... she had to get a shot so she really didn't like it all that much!! Her face turned to violet like the girl from that charlie and the chocolate factory movie. It was so sad!! She now weighs 9lbs 13.5oz and 21 3/4 inches long. The doctor proscribed some medicine to help with her tummy. She seems to have some stomach acid problems and thats why she spits up so much and some times it spews out of her mouth where we both end up soaked. Then she has this love hate relationship with the bottle where she really wants to eat but then starts to cry. The doc says that its to do with the muscle in the stomach that holds down the stomach acid so she's giving her some zertic - I think thats what its called - Sean is going to go get it tonight from the pharmacy. She said that if that doesn't work then she wants to switch her formula. So we'll see. Well Sean should be home any minute so I'll let you go. Happy family home evening night ! love you guys!!

GREAT NEWS!!!!!!!

2008-09-17T15:12:00.002-06:00

We just signed for our own place this past weekend but we aren’t able to move in until they’re finished building, it’s looking like
its going to be around October 15th. It’s a block from Sean’s school out in Avondale. Right now we’re in Mesa, so it’s about an
hour drive both ways for him. So needless to say we’re really looking forward to being in our own place where its so much closer
and we’ll actually get to see each other.

http://www.livelunaire.com/home.php

2008-09-05T23:22:00.004-06:00

Having a baby went well as expected.. I was induced on Wednesday Aug 20th at 8:30am but Joan wasn't born until 9:59 that night. They were really worried about her all through out the day because she was hardly moving and I wasn't dilating. At 7 I was still at 3 cm which I had been at all day and I still had to reach 10 cm. The dr came in and said that if by 9 if I hadn't made any progress they were going to do a c-section. They came and checked at like 8:45 and I was at 5 cm then shortly after 9:30 I started to feel like I needed to push so the nurse checked and sure enough Joan was on her way. They called in everyone and then shortly there after Joan was born. Here are some videos of her. There are MANY movies that we've made of her but we haven't uploaded them yet. There are a ton of pictures also but again we haven't uploaded them either. if the links on the post below dont work here are the links directly to youtube..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IOS9MHqgeuw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8TAmTv2UKQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2ndZIxkrzo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kf9BctNLK84

She was born 8 lbs 13 oz and 21 1/2 in long!!! She was almost a 9 lb baby!! HUGE!!!! Everyone, including the dr., was expecting at the max a 8 lb baby but she was almost a full pound more!!!!! Well I should go.. if you want you should subscribe to my youtube account that way whenever I upload the other movies it will let you know.

Joan videos

2008-09-05T22:59:00.004-06:00

right after joan being born
our little elf
our little elf vid #2

Still no baby arrival and other stuff

2008-08-14T14:10:00.000-06:00

Well as you all are well aware Joan’s due date was this past Monday. Today is Thursday and still no baby. The stork assigned to Joan must be on vacation or something. Its VERY frustrating!!!! I’m done with being pregnant already. Yesterday was my dr appointment and hr said that I’m still fully thinned but still only 1 cm.. so I’m just not dilating. Also, he said that if by Tuesday of next week if still no baby then they’ll induce me, so at least there’s an end insight!! HAPPY HAPPY JOY JOY!! He said that when ever he schedules people to be induced they ALWAYS go into labor before then and last night I started having contractions but nothing regular and I’ve had them on and off all day (my stomach muscles are REALLY sore – well whats left of them) so that’s a sure sign that its going to be really soon… I’ve also had some other symptoms but they’re a little much for a blog..

My brother Richard is here in town but leaves tomorrow night. He’s been here all week… waiting. He is being redeployed to Indonesia I think. So he is pretty excited that he only has 10 more months left in the service then he’ll be free. Tami is also here to help me. Sadly she leaves next Thursday. Its been really nice to have her here.

Sean has really been enjoying his new career!! It makes me really glad to see him so happy with what he’s doing and feeling like he’s accomplishing so much! Looks like we’re going to be able to move into our own place by the end of next month with much of our debt paid!! Which means that we’ll be able to buy our own home in the next year or so!! That makes me very happy!!

So anyways that’s whats going on. Wish me luck that Joan will come soon and I’ll try my best to keep this blog as updated as possible.

SEAN GOT A JOB!!!!!!! WOW!!!!!!!!!!

2008-07-28T14:07:00.001-06:00

Sean got a job!!! About a week before Sean came down here he was searching online looking at all the districts in the valley – there was nothing to be found.. There was a school district up in Goodyear that had nothing posted but Sean felt that he was supposed to call them anyway. He wrestled back in forth with him self saying that there is nothing posted I’m not going to call as ask about something that was clearly not there. So he called and left a voice mail. No one ever called him back. So Sean had been crazy busy filling out applications everywhere.. grocery stores and anywhere that was hiring. It was becoming really discouraging! But we knew that we were promised that Sean would get a job. So on July 23 (Wednesday) there was still no job in site but then around 5:30 or so that night he gets a call from the school district down in Goodyear, they said, “Sorry that I’ve never gotten back to you until now but are you still looking for a job?” Sean of course said yes. She said that she would pass his contact information on to the principal and he’ll call to set up the interview and for Sean to go online and officially apply. We hadn’t heard anything by about 3 on Thursday so Sean called the district back to see if they got the application and to see if the principal had gotten his information. About 2 hours later Sean gets the call for an interview at 9 for the next morning. Also, Goodyear is about 40 miles away.. so he had to leave at 7 because he didn’t know how rush hour was going to be. The interview was over about 11 and he came home and 20 min later he gets a call from the district offering him the job! He is going to be teaching 2D art and ESL (English as a second language). They started him out with 5 years experience so his salary is amazing and so is the insurance!! Today is his first day… they’re going over district policies with all of the new teachers. This job was handed to us on a silver platter! When the Lord promises something and you do your part He will keep His part of the promise. With Sean having this job there will be no need for me to even think about having to go to work. I can be at home, where I’m supposed to be, with our children.

This is actually an entry that I mean to post on 7/22/08

2008-07-28T13:25:00.002-06:00

I wanted to tell you all of the amazing blessings that have happened since we decided to follow the spirit and move down here.

1) We were looking at plane tickets for me to fly down to Arizona but everything that we were finding was $175+!! It really stressed us both out – thinking how in the world are we going to be able to afford that plus the expense of actually moving all of our worldly possessions down. We decided to sleep on it to know if we’re supposed to buy that one or what. That night I kept having the thought come to me to look at Tuesday July 8th rather then the other days that we were checking out. So, the next morning we got up and did just that. It was only $72!!! With taxes and all of that jazz it only cost us $88! We saved over $100!!
2) Steve, our landlord, is letting us out of our contract and still is going to give us our deposit back as long as they can have it rented out by the 1st of August but Linda, Steve’s wife, said that she doesn’t think that there should be any problem – they’ve already have a lot of people wanting it.
3) We were able to pack and bring everything down here. The only things that we had to part with were the two couches and the computer desk… all together they cost us a wopping $50 so all in all it was not a big deal.
4) I found a dr down here that accepts my insurance! And so does the hospital that’s right down the road that’s a state of the art facility.
5) We at least have my income still and 6 weeks postpartum at 100% so we at least don’t have to worry about money coming in so it gives us some time until Sean lands a job which I’m not worried about at all because we were told that he would so I’m putting my trust in the Lord.
6) So far Joan is a healthy bun still in the oven.
7) The day before day before everyone was driving up here with all of ur stuff it rained which made things a 100% betting! Sean couldn’t use his A/C because it was to much extra work for his engine along with pulling a tailor. Not once did his truck over heat but when they got here we noticed that the his mud flap by the tail pipe was all melted which meant that there really was no way that his truck should have made it here. So with the rain cooling things off Sean was able to have his windows rolled down for nice really cool air (he said that it was in the high 60’s and low 70’s). By the way if you did not know Sean’s truck is a 94.
8) Every vehicle did AMAZING on gas mileage!! My car got 40 mpg – usually gets an average of about 33-35 max on the highway. Sean’s truck gets 20 mpg usual 13-15 mpg. Logan’s truck got 30 mpg – usual is about 25 mpg. The Lord was defiantly watching out for them on that trip!!

There have been so many blessings poured out to us for moving down here that I can not think of them all right now.

Manti Temple Painting

2008-06-25T17:29:00.007-06:00

Here's a painting I just finished of the Manti Temple:

Extra! Extra! Read all about it!

2008-06-25T17:13:00.003-06:00

Loriel enjoys icy cold beverages.

Garden and stuff

2008-06-25T17:00:00.003-06:00

Things are steadily coming together for our move to AZ. Step 1: getting the teaching certificate. The application is in, and hopefully we’ll soon have it in hand. It’s getting more and more exciting the closer we get to moving…and the closer Loriel is to having Joan and being done with her job. We’ve seen a lot of amazing blessings as we’ve tried to keep the lord’s counsel to have her stay at home. Elder Oaks referred to it in the Worldwide Leadership Training Broadcast, and said: “The lord never said it would be easy, but he has promised us that it would be possible”. We can see his hand in our lives.

On another note we’ve been having fun working in the garden. We went out to weed it last night – those things grow so fast! – and had a lot of fun talking while we worked. Plus we have one grape tomato that is getting ripe…first of the season!

really cool "whats been going on w/ us"

2008-06-22T12:28:00.000-06:00

Here’s a really neat example of what happens when you follow promptings.. We have been really trying to cut down on our spending on everyday stuff like.. groceries.. because its just getting ridiculous on how much food is costing. Sean has planted a garden where we have many different types of tomatoes, one bell pepper plant, and a few different watermelon plants. We’ve also been starting our whole food storage which consist of few odds and ins.. so its very bleak right now. But all the same we’re trying. Sean was in his Priesthood meeting brain storming on other ways that we could be more effective in food storage and one of the things that he though of was if we had a bread maker we could make our own bread instead of spending $20-$25 dollars a month on Farm Bread from Macy’s. So we started shopping around and a good bread maker cost $90! Which is a little much for our budget if you know what I mean. So we decided to just do it and follow the council that the Spirit had given us. GUESS WHAT HAPPENED!! Someone bought some stuff of Craig’s list for $20 bucks that we were selling then there was an extra $70 dollars on Sean’s check that we hadn’t budgeted for! WOW!! Then we ordered it off of Amazon with free shipping so it cost us $89.75!! We had .25 cents left! Today we got it in the mail and we’ve named it Walter after that new movie that’s coming out in a few weeks called Wall-E. We’re excited to know how it’ll do. We’re starting our first loaf in it tonight! YUMMY! – one only hopes.

Oh, here’s some really BIG news.. We’re moving to Arizona!! That’s also another example of trying to follow the spirit and getting blessings for it. We were looking for a way that I wouldn’t have to work and could stay home with Joan when she is born because that’s what the prophets have counseled mothers to do. We didn’t know how we were going to do it, it just seemed too difficult. Then we had a talk with Paul and Michelle – not sure if you remember them.. they’re Sean’s aunt and uncle – and we both really felt the spirit that Sean should start teaching high school and that just went a long with lots of other impressions that we’d both gotten. But last time that Sean tried all of the universities just shut him down for trying to get a teaching certificate so it felt like a dead end. So we decided to look into it again even though it seemed impossible and all kinds of doors are opening up! Plus because the way we’ve been trying to live by getting out of debt and all that we could live off of just him making $11 an hour if we lived with his parents. Most likely by the end of next week he can have his certification in Arizona to teach which is both my salary and his combined and we wouldn’t have to live with his parents on a long term basis. There are a few superintendents that are asking for Sean by name to teach in their districts. So he basically already has a job! But being a new teacher he will have to repot there on July 27^th but Joan isn’t due until August 11^th. So Tami is going to come and stay with me after he leaves because I cant travel after July 1^st. Not even to SLC because of my family’s history of how fast labor goes my dr. doesn’t want me all the way in SLC where he cant be there so she’ll have to get here before he leaves so he can pick her up from the air port. I really hope that Sean is able to be here when I have our little girl. I will be really sad if he wasn’t here. So back to moving.. I’m going to be working until Joan comes then I’m going to take my 6 week paid maternity leave and by the end of September we should be all the way moved to Arizona. This is going to be a HUGE adventure for us.. having a baby, moving, making bread..

I’ve been working on a book that you can use for talks and things like that. It’s like a topical guide but inside all of the topics are quotes by general authorities. Example: if you were doing a talk on Faith. You can first go to the scriptures then to my book and get quotes on the topic as well. There are over 175 topics – it takes up two HUGE binders. Its very user friendly because everything is in alphabetically organized. Its taken a long time to put together too.

House Fire! YIKES!!

2008-06-20T10:17:00.003-06:00

I guess last night my family's house caught on fire!! everyone’s ok but wow.. here is what John just wrote to me..

We're getting new carpet (finally) and so Tami was doing some painting so she could get it done and not have to worry about getting paint on the new carpet. Anyhow, she left a pile of rags covered in varnish on the floor in our bathroom. At 12:15 am there was a big explosion in there because the rags had spontaneously combusted and the fire caused a can of hair mousse to explode. So I jumped up to see what it was and the bathroom was on fire. I put it out with the hose from the shower but almost was overcome with smoke Luke called 911 and the firemen came and verified that the fire was out and not in the walls and blew most of the smoke out. Anyhow, so this morning I was singing "Tami started the fire" To the tune of "Ryan started the fire" from the Office LOL But if the mousse hadn't exploded we wouldn't have woken up in time. The bathroom door was closed so the smoke alarms wouldn't have gone off until that whole part of the house was in flames.

Loriel's Birthday

2008-06-19T17:02:00.000-06:00

Well, tomorrow is Loriel's birthday...time sure has flown since last year! And lot's of changes. We're pretty excited to celebrate on Saturday. Loriel and I both have it off (a pretty rare occurrence -- I've only had 3 Saturdays off since we've known each other. Our plan is to go see a movie, do some family history work, and have all the fun we can together. It's definitely been a great year!

I really like this wedding day pic

2008-06-19T11:25:00.000-06:00

This was the BEST day of my life!

here are some more engagement pics

2008-06-19T09:31:00.000-06:00

These are my favorite kind of flowers EVER!! Gerber daisies

here are some engagement pics

2008-06-19T09:25:00.000-06:00

Link to see Baby Joan in my tummy

2008-06-18T18:50:00.000-06:00

http://picasaweb.google.com/smccarlsmith/UntitledAlbum

our wedding day

2008-06-18T18:27:00.000-06:00

So this is me and Sean on our wedding day September 24, 2007