Boating in April

We went boating...in Utah...in April.  I know.  It shouldn't be possible!  For surely there should be snow or even ice on the ground!  But no, it was almost 80 degrees last Saturday.  Greg's best, excuse me, ONE of his best friends invited us to go boating at Utah Lake Saturday.  We went for many reasons, but the biggest one was that we hadn't seen Jon in 2 years! 
Jon invited two other guys from Michigan and their families.  He also invited his sister and her kids.  It was a full boat ride.  We were the first ones to show up.  We chatted with Jon and his girl (Rachael) in the boat until Jon's sister and her two kids, and Eric showed up.  Then the 9 of us headed out boating. 
Even though it was decently warm in the air, the water was freezing!  Jon was the first in, to do some wake boarding.  Greg was next.  This was only his second time trying wake boarding with his first time resulting in excruciating back pain for weeks afterwards.  Jon was a good coach and teacher though, and Greg was up within a few tries. 
Then the kids thought they wanted to get in for a little swimming.  After much coaxing and even some bribing Jon's nephew and niece got in.  Collin didn't need the coaxing or bribing, but after getting in up to his bum, he was done.  Too cold.  "Cold.  Brrrr! Mama!" he said.  Since Greg hadn't fully gotten out of the water yet, he swam with the other kiddos. 
After they got their fill we headed back to the dock.  Collin fell asleep in my arms on the ride there.  It's been SO long since he did that!  I loved it!  We dropped off Jon's sister and picked up Jeremy and his family (wife, baby, sister-in-law and her husband).  So with 10 people and a dog on board we headed out again.  This time Jeremy and Greg were the ones to brave the cold water and wake board. 
I had slathered Collin with sunscreen, and reapplied when he woke up our second time on the lake.  But I forgot to apply any to myself or Greg.  My make up has sunscreen in it, so I think that's why my sunburn was minimal on my face.  My arms got the brunt of it, with my knees each getting a red patch.  Greg's face and arms were a deep shade of red, but they're already turning brown.
After boating we went to the Provo Mall while Jon ran an errand for his job, and then met up again at Red Robin for dinner.  We had a blast!  Good food, catching up with friends, sun and water.  It was a great day!

Here's the pictures: (sorry I didn't get a ton.  We forgot to get Collin a life vest(shhh!  Don't tell!), so I was more concerned about him falling in.)

Greg, Collin and Jon's nephew watching Jon wake board.

Jon showing off.

Eric and Rachael watching Jon.

Greg trying to get up.

Huzzah!  He's up!

Getting out of the wake!

Celebrations

No, it wasn't a birthday, or even a holiday.  Today I'm celebrating two things, and they both have to do with Collin.

#1 - Talking

At Collin's 2-year check up, I was getting worried because he wasn't talking as much as I expected a 2-year-old to talk.  He could say 2 word phrases, but most often I was the only one that understood him.  The Dr. told me that I shouldn't worry just yet.  If in the next 6 months Collin's vocabulary and speaking ability hadn't improved drastically, then I could call in and make an appointment for some tests to be done.  Well I'm pleased to say that its only been 4 months, and he's grown leaps and bounds in that area.  For example: Today we were at Target picking up some deals and a woman with arms full of t-shirts passed the cart where Collin was sitting.  Collin clearly said, "Hello!  What you doing?"  She chuckled and said, "Hello!  I'm buying t-shirts!"  Collin said, "Oh," and then went back to trying to take the lid off the deodorant in the cart.  Huzzah!  Someone else (besides me or Greg) can have a "conversation" with our little guy!!

#2 - He drank MILK from a cup!

It's been a year, a YEAR people, since Collin last drank milk.  I'd tried everything: buying new cups (bottle-like, with a straw, fun characters, etc), making it chocolate or strawberry milk, drinking with him (he didn't more than let it touch his tongue), etc.  But nothing was working.  At the 2-year check up, this was what the Dr. was worried about.  I told him that Collin occasionally ate cheese, and had at least one yogurt a day, but that was probably all the dairy he was getting.  The Dr. told me to up the cheese and yogurt intake and just keep trying with the milk.  Finally I got an idea.  Maybe if we made it something special, and something fun with Mama and Daddy, maybe he might drink it.  We've now had 3 "Milk Parties", where we all get a cup, a colored straw, and to choose our flavor of milk.  The first one Collin drank about 1/4 of his cup of milk.  The second one, about 1/2.  AND then two days ago, he drank almost the whole cup.  Then yesterday he ASKED for a cup of milk for lunch, PLUS drank another one from his straw cup before bed!!!  Wahoo!!!  Granted, they've all been strawberry milk, but I'll take it.  We can work on switching to plain milk after he's a regular strawberry milk drinker.

San Diego Vacation

After a weekend in St. George, we headed to San Diego!  Collin did A-MAZ-ING in the car.  Seriously.  It was unbelievable.  He had a couple of new books, toys and shows.  And he just kept himself busy.  I passed back snacks every now and again and we only had to stop for gas!  We left St. George Monday, April 9th just after 11am and arrived in San Diego at 7pm local time.  We had booked a King Suite at a La Quinta, but when we got there, the room was TINY.  It was split by a wall (thus the suite) and both rooms barely fit a king bed.  The bedroom had the king bed and a tv.  The living area had a small love seat (which was a pull-out bed) a coffee table(that made the walking space very small) and a desk and chair.  In a small cove off the living area was a sink, mini-fridge and microwave.  The bathroom was so small you could barely turn around in it.  We decided that it wouldn't do for our stay there.  Greg searched for a new hotel that night, but most things were really expensive or had no vacancy.  The next day he talked to the front desk about checking out that day and they said no fees would be charged as long as we were out by 1.  We got to work and widen our search and found a Holiday Inn near Sea World.  The reviews said it was very nice, but in a dicey area.  We took a gamble and booked it and checked out of the La Quinta.  It paid off.  The room and hotel were super nice and the free breakfast was so much better!  Our 2 queen room (with a sofa sleeper) was much bigger than our king suite at the La Quinta, and it wasn't that much more $$.

With that taken care of, we headed to the zoo.  We had purchased the San Diego 3-in-1 pass at Costco (by FAR the best deal).  The zoo didn't disappoint.  We all loved it.  Collin was sleepy, but couldn't nap when we were having so much fun.  He finally feel asleep in the stroller.

Wednesday we went to Sea World.  It was fun, but most of what you do at Sea World is go to shows.  We attempted the Shamu show and even with plenty of snacks Collin was done after about 10 minutes.  We didn't go to any other shows.  Again Collin feel asleep in the stroller and we took that time to find some souvenirs.  After leaving we went to dinner and then the grocery store.  We bought some stuff for Collin (so he wasn't eating just junk), and some lunchables for us.

Thursday we went to the Safari Park.  We tried to get an earlier start, but I think all the short naps were catching up to Collin because he was pretty cranky most of the time there.  It is really spread out and the animals are mostly far away.  It was also the most crowded park we'd been to yet.  We didn't last long.  On our way to the hotel we went to the La Jolla Cove.  It was really pretty and we all got wet.  Collin was sleepy but didn't fall asleep until we got back to the hotel.  I laid with him and Greg went out to get the oil changed and clean the car.  When Greg got back we went to get dinner at the Seaport Village.  We stumbled upon it on our last trip to San Diego.  Its right by the ocean and has tons of shops and places to eat.  It even has a carrousel. Collin and I rode the carrousel.  Then we ate and got ice cream.  Finally we headed back to the hotel.

Friday we woke up to rain.  We decided to head back to the zoo as we didn't get to see everything.  The rain had stopped for a while, but picked back up while we were at the zoo.  We rode the sky ride and played at the kids area.  Finally we got some snacks and then headed back to the hotel.  We went to Rally's in Chula Vista and then to a McDonalds so that Collin could play.  The play place was outside and because of the rain it was wet.  He still enjoyed it.  Then we headed back to the hotel and Greg and Collin went swimming.  We packed most of our stuff that night and then went to bed.

Saturday after breakfast we left to head home.  We didn't have plans to make it all the way back, but because Collin did so well the first time, we thought it might be possible.  We made it to St. George around 5:30, and although Collin wasn't as good as the first trip, we decided that we'd just try to make it all the way home.  At Cedar City we hit snow.  And then a big snow storm.  There were lots of cars off the road.  Thank goodness our car has 4-wheel drive.  We made it through the snow storm fine.  At Nephi, we took a break to get gas and some food and let Collin get out.  He loved running around the truck stop.  We made it home around 11 pm and Collin was still awake.  He stayed up with Greg to watch a show and then went to bed.  We slept in Sunday morning.

Here's the pictures:

Collin asleep at the zoo.

Trying to watch the Shamu show at Sea World

Collin loved the arcade at Sea World.  He even won a prize at a ball toss game!

Greg and Collin riding the spinning ride at Sea World.

Collin and I checking out the white whales in Sea World.

All of us at La Jolla Cove.

The waves were huge and we all got our pants wet.

Collin stomping on a bridge at the Safari Park.

A view from the top of the Safari Park.

Collin trying to get a better view.

Riding the carrousel.

On the sky ride.  It makes me SO nervous.

One of the ways we kept Collin entertained.  He loves to ride on Daddy's shoulders.

This monkey was dragging his face along the glass and fascinated Collin (but also made him nervous.)

Smith Family Vacation 2012

Yay!  We finally convinced my parents to do a Smith Family vacation.  We've been on vacations since I got married, but none that were just the Smith family.  Very last minute my mom and dad decided to take the fam to St. George the weekend before my brother, Dave's, spring break.  We headed down on Friday, April 6th (my dad's birthday).  Greg worked long hours Wed and Thurs so that we could hopefully leave by 3.  We left at 3:30.  My family left around 5:30.  We beat them to St. George, but not by much as we had an extra hour in traffic in Utah County and an extra long pit stop in Beaver to let Collin get some wiggles out. 

Collin did EXTREMELY well in the car.  He read books and played with toys.  I read Mockingjay aloud to Greg, and Collin listened in as well.  My reading was what helped him fall asleep for a short nap.  Once at the condo my parents rented, Collin went crazy!  So much space to play in and so many willing playmates!  We had a late night.

Saturday, after an invigorating round of Just Dance, we split up.  The boys went to a nearby racquetball court and played for a couple of hours.  The girls (and Collin) went shopping.  We didn't get much done before Collin was ready for lunch and a nap.  But once we were back at the condo, Collin just couldn't nap!  We decided to go swimming.  There were 4 pools at the local resort, 3 cold and outdoors and one indoors and mildly warm.  Collin played on the blow-up toys and the boys did some dives into the freezing, diving pool.  Then we went back to the condo to get ready for dinner. 

On our way to dinner Collin fell asleep.  While we waited for a table, we let him nap.  Everyone enjoyed our dinner at Brick Oven and Grandma and Grandpa volunteered to watch Collin while the rest of us went to a late showing of The Hunger Games.  Greg, Cassie and I had already seen it, but Dave and Lewis hadn't.  They also haven't read the books.  For the most part everyone enjoyed it, but Dave and Lewis had a few questions after the movie.  We were all exhausted when we got back just after midnight. 

Sunday we got up and ready for church.  We attended a local ward which besides stake conference back home, was the most full I've ever seen a meeting!  It was at a stake center and all three gyms were open and nearly full!  After church we made a lunch of burgers and hot dogs on the grill at the condo.  Then we had a very small Easter egg hunt around the living area of the condo.  Collin caught on quickly and loved finding the eggs and especially loved seeing the prizes in them. 

Then we went swimming at our condo's pool.  The water was colder and there were quite a lot of kids there.  Collin got caught between two kids trying to "swim" across the shallow end and all he did was tense, close his eyes, and try to turn away from the splashing.  My mom was shocked and said if that had been any of us kids we would have cried for sure.  I guess our non-reaction parenting is working! (Thanks Jon and Kristine for the advice!)

Monday morning we got packed up as our plan was to leave after breakfast to head to San Diego for our Price family vacation.  Then the whole family went to a local diner for breakfast.  It was delicious!  Before heading out, we went to the downtown park.  Cassie (the only one in shorts) walked with Collin up and down the stream.  He had so much fun and was soaking wet.  After changing him, we headed off to San Diego!
Here's the pictures:

As you can see, the eggs weren't well hidden.  Collin still loved hunting for them!

Collin and Lewis singing while playing Rock Band.

Lewis, Dave, me, and Collin swimming Sunday.

Cassie and Collin walking in the stream.

Collin and Cassie at the end of the stream.

The frog prince and princess that spouted water at the head of the stream.

How it all started...

Today a friend asked me how I met my husband, Greg, and it got me thinking.  We've got the short version of how we met down, but I struggled to remember some of the details of the long version.  Since I wasn't blogging or writing in  a journal when we met, I decided that it needed to be documented.  So here it is:  The long version (from Becca's point of view).

In the fall of 2006, I started my first grown-up job as an elementary school teacher.  Being an adult now (because, you know, I wasn't one until I graduated...) I NEEDED to get out of my parents house.  I'd only been there since April, but I desperately wanted to be independent.  One of my roommates from college, Laura, was living in north Provo while finishing school.  In October of 2006 one of her current roommates was going to move in with her family to save money before getting married.  I snatched up her contract and moved into apartment 306. 

That November, I met a boy.  He was shy and sweet and seemed to say all the right things.  I had a little crush.  Unfortunately, he didn't seem to feel the same.  Whenever I initiated a get-together, he'd come along happily, but he'd rarely initiate anything.  After 2 months, I decided to give up on him with the idea that it would either make him pursue me, or I'd be able to find someone new because it was January which meant a new semester and a new group of boys.  Laura's boyfriend really liked my shy crush, and tried to push me to give him another chance.  He said that just because this boy wasn't my "type", I was moving on.  I insisted that I don't have a type.  At Ward Prayer, a Sunday night get-together for our singles ward, Laura's BF started pointing out guys whom he described as my type.  The first guy was a muscular yet skinny, nice, preppy guy.  I shrugged.  He was cute, but not much else.  The second guy was more muscular and what I'd describe as a "player".  Really not my type.  The third guy was muscular (see a theme?),on crutches, and cute, but I didn't know much about him past that.  I nodded, "Yeah, maybe."  That third guy, that would be my husband.

A few weeks went by and my shy crush told Laura that he wasn't interested in me, but that didn't matter cause I had a new crush.  The muscular, cute guy on crutches from apartment 307.  I didn't even know his name yet.  This is where I get hazy on the details.  I know a few things happened.  Laura and I talked to him and his roommate after it was our apartments turn to introduce ourselves at Ward Prayer.  Laura (who is, by the way, one of the best wing-women a girl could ask for) kept coming up with ways for us to talk.  At one Ward Prayer, she convinced me to put an anonymous "love note" in his apartments box. ("Love Notes" happened every Sunday.  Anyone in the ward could write a nice note to anyone else and it would be delivered for them.)  So Laura and I were discussing what to write (we still didn't know his name), when he strolled up and told us that we needed to write a note to 307.   The box for 307 already had plenty of notes in it which we pointed out.  He said that they were all to his roommates, so we should write one to Greg.  That's how we found out his name.

For a few weeks the only interaction we got was at Ward Prayer.  One Sunday his apartment hosted a game night.  I begged my roommate, Lanie, and my friend, Joe, to go with me because I didn't want to show up by myself.  Apartment 307 always seemed to have girls hanging around, I think that's why my roommates called Greg a "player", and why I needed support at game night.  It went well.  I felt he was giving me more attention than the other girls there.  Joe was great at giving me a guys point of view, and letting me know what Greg might be thinking by what he'd do.  It was Joe who convinced me that Greg must like me.  I was nervous because Greg did always seem to be hanging out with girls.  Specifically those girls who are bubbly and flirty; something I can't compete with.

One Sunday, I got a love note that said "Becca, I think you're beautiful.  Will you marry me?  -Greg"  This startled, confused, and flattered me.  It definitely got my attention, but didn't scare me off like it might some girls.  Just before Valentines Day, and his birthday we started hanging out more.  He had a "man-date" for Valentines Day, so to let him know I was interested in him I made him a Valentine and stuck it to his car.  When I woke up Valentines Day, my roommate found a Valentine for me taped to the front door.  I assumed that he'd seen my Valentine, and then made one of his own, but he made it before I put mine on his car.  His was a super long, cheesy poem that I loved, and still have.  After that I knew he was interested.  We had our first date just a few days after that (and, oh man, that is a story in itself!).  Then for the next 5 months we saw each other every day, except one.  I guess you could say that our relationship started with a marriage proposal; one of two that changed our lives and I am so glad Greg made.

This picture was taken at my apartment a few weeks after we started dating.