the hiltons

Valentines Kick Off!!

2012-01-27T22:35:00.000-07:00

Isn't it so sad that we really only get to celebrate Valentines for 14 days (although a friend reminded me, "Isn't it just one day??") No. We need to make more of Valentines, we need utilize this holiday a bit more. So this year we started the party a little earlier. love it. We had a big breakfast and wrote love notes to each other and hung them on our banner with our love notes from last year. love that.

This Bieber pose was totally her idea!?? Oh, my.

Kylie's Christmas gift

2012-01-26T15:58:00.001-07:00

Kylie drew this little character a while ago and I seriously could not get over how stinkin cute it was. It kind of reminded me of the tickle monsters cousin or something:) I kept it hanging on the fridge for a while until I thought of bringing him to life with my sewing machine! Kylie sleeps with it every night and it's one of those things that just makes me smile.

She tells everyone that meets her new friend, His arms are skinny because I drew them skinny. It's as if she feels like she has to apologize. I love the skinny arms Ky!

27 Weeks

2012-01-26T15:58:00.000-07:00

Today...

2012-01-24T22:42:00.000-07:00

So, today I had this great idea to... get Ky off to school (I woke up 20 min late, threw her a pop tart and RAN out the door), made dinner, picked Ky up from school, meet some friends at the Phoenix Children's Museum, get home to find water on our kitchen floor??? not sure where that came from, go running, Conrad plays soccer with Kylie, meet at home for a rather cool but supposed to be hot pasta in a cheese pot dinner, Conrad dashes off to study, totally forget we are out of toilet paper!!, almost bed time, cant run to the store. no energy, but I play hid-n-seek with the girls (which they are getting really cleaver at considering the 600 sq ft that we live in), then bed time, Kylie goes potty wiping with Kleenex, Reese climbs out of her crib 29 times (I'm pretty sure), calmly (surprisingly) I put her back 28 times, the last time she climbs in with Kylie, Kylie puts her to sleep, do dishes, Kylie goes potty again, read my scriptures, clean out the fridge, Kylie pees again (again still no TP, using Kleenex, I think that is bad for the septic tank?? not totally sure), exhausted, clean out a cupboard, make a car track on our kitchen/ hall floor for the girls to play with in the morning, but really should have just laid down, Kylie comes out to use the bathroom again, and I swear sometimes she just comes out to see whats going on so I am pretty frustrated at this point and I snap at her with "fine, go potty but only use 1/2 a Kleenex!" I'm not really sure what an extra 1/2 Kleenex would do to our septic tank but I think i was tired. I finished the car track and went in and said "I'm sorry." I told her how I was mad at myself for not remembering to buy TP. She laughed. It is pretty silly. Man I love that girl. Later I went into the bathroom and found her remnant of the TP she had used. She used 1/5th of a Kleenex.

Here is her Kleenex:( What a sweet little heart

Design Time

2012-01-22T22:11:00.002-07:00

Here is a design I did for a friends shower...

Jenny's Baby Shower

2012-01-17T22:33:00.001-07:00

We got a picture of all the pregnant ladies at the shower. So many!!!

25 Weeks

2012-01-12T18:37:00.000-07:00

I thought it would be fun to put some pregnancy pictures up side by side from this pregnancy and the last. I can tell I'm a smidgen bigger this go around but still loving being pregnant. Its funny how at this point last pregnancy I had my birth plan ready and had clearly thought about the big day 5 times more than where I am now. I have a lot to do to get ready for this little MAN! Thank goodness for these next 15 weeks, although I have a feeling that will FLY by!

25 weeks Now and Then

15 weeks Now and Then

Design Time

2012-01-11T21:05:00.000-07:00

Here is another little shower invitation I did for a friend. I can't wait to post picts of the shower. It was fabulous.

Puppet Show

2012-01-09T14:12:00.000-07:00

Kylie had this incredible idea to host a Puppet Show with the puppets my mom had gotten her for Christmas. She brought up the idea and I thought, "Sure, what fun!" So that night when she went to bed and had a million ideas going through her head so I had her get out of bed and write them all down. THIS is what she came up with:

Popcorn and Candy jars and a sign that read Puppet Show,

"Hanitizer" as she calls it. She is a stickler for clean hands.

Her idea was for each child to make a puppet then a few at a time got to help with the puppet show.

She is so sweet to involve everyone. She would even whisper their lines to them.

I stinkin love this girl and really wish I could just home school her so I could hang out with her every day.

Montana

2012-01-08T22:30:00.001-07:00

Reese loved, let me say that again L.O.V.E.D. ridding with her Dad on the 4 wheeler. We didn't exactly pack for the bitter cold so she was kind of freezing and Conrad asked her if she was cold and she said yes. He asked if she wanted to go inside and she said, "No Dad! Go Faster!!!" Looks like we have ourselves another x games babe.

Lalove has given me free reign to design 2 bedrooms in their remodel. I made these 2 headboards! I'm pretty much in love with them. EeeeEee!!! When I get all the accessories and every thing done I will post the whole room, but that has to wait until this summer when we go back.

On our way back from Rexburg we stopped in Dell, MT. Population: 35!! What?

Christmas

2012-01-08T22:13:00.005-07:00

It's always fun going up to Montana to spend time with the Jenne's. We even got to be there when Leanne got her Christmas present:)!!! We played minuet to win it games, basketball and ate some yummy food.

We were able to go over to Grandma and Grandpa Hilton's home quite a bit over break. One day we were sitting there and Conrad and every other person was spotting 8 deer about 20 ft from the dinning room window. I swore there were only 2. Maybe you have to be raised in MT to spot those dang things!!! But sure enough 8 of them came crawling out of the bushes. I love nature!

Christmas Eve

2012-01-06T16:57:00.001-07:00

Santa made an extra stop in Dillon, MT and came to visit us! He even brought us matching shirts!! Reese was so funny, she was so scared of him but had to sit on his lap so she made her way up to him within a matter of seconds of him sitting down and sat on his lap, without any eye contact of course:)

Rexburg,ID

2012-01-06T15:58:00.001-07:00

We went to Rexburg over break for a few hours. We had to eat at Cocoa Bean and Original Thia. So yummeroo. And on our way out of town we pulled over and Kylie shoveled a neighbors driveway. Let me tell you Kylie was in heaven!!! She got in the car and was freezing and I said "Ok, would you rather live in the hot or cold?" She didn't even bat an eye, "SNOW!!!"

Didn't make the cut

2011-12-18T21:27:00.001-07:00

I designed a few cards for the Holiday season to send out and here is one that didn't make the cut. At the last second I changed EVERYTHING and didn't even use this picture. I hated it of Conrad but he loved it of the girls.... hummm what to do? Go with my plan!! I will post our Christmas card after I get them sent out:)

xoxo off to Montana for a country Christmas with Conrad's family!

Falling

2011-12-13T22:05:00.000-07:00

I feel like I am falling behind on my mothering. When Kylie was younger I feel like I could see "hiccups" coming (ie. terrible two's, potty training, etc) so I was able to do my research and plan for such occasions. Now when she comes home grumpy from school or falls apart because she can't get her homework right, I'm at a loss. How do you keep your home free of worries? How do you keep your home sheltered from the world? I think it starts with me. I think I can do better. Serve more? More time? Time to start. I think I'm going to serve Kylie more. In every way I can. And maybe not the ways I usually server her, like cook a really creative breakfast or do her hair extra cute but ways that she appreciates. I think time. Time reading. Time laughing. Time talking. Time listening. Time being.... And I think I'll finnish this book. I love my family. I love being a mother.

Ward Christmas Party

2011-12-11T21:11:00.004-07:00

This year I was in charge of our ward Christmas party. It was so fun and went super smooth. I loved the simplicity of the decor and the nativity. Barb was in charge of the food (for 350!!) and we did it family style, it was amazing. I loved not standing in a line. And by the way, the ham according to Conrad was the best he had ever eaten. Go Barb! It is so inspiring to see the service of others and work together to have something like this come together so easily.

We even had Santa stop by from his busy schedule! What a night!! Love it. Thanks Williams for taking such amazing pictures!!

Walls

2011-12-06T21:35:00.001-07:00

I made this for a friend the other day. She is going to print it off on canvas and hang it in her boys' room. I love that it is so thoughtful and what a neat thing for your boys to grow up reading. I love homes that have thoughtful walls. Kylie is the first to comment if anything changes on our walls, which makes me think twice about the things I put up. In our townhome our walls were pretty barren because I would rather have an empty wall than a wall filled with hallow pictures or art work. I want to be inspired and uplifted with the things that hang in my home. Now that we don't have quite as many walls, we have placed one of a kind art done by Kylie and myself, pictures of people we love and cherish and things that motivated and inspire us. I love decorating our home and I love being in it.

Sites for our little ones

2011-12-05T20:53:00.001-07:00

Here are 2 great sites for your little ones:

Barnes and Noble has a site (link below) that has authors read books online! Love it? Yes.

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/storytime/index.asp

One of my favorite sites for Kylie is BYUtv.org (link below) where the shows have really good values behind them. And they may just pick up some American history along the way!

http://byutv.org/show/6090e4b1-dee3-4976-a465-2dbb745b319a

Enjoy!

Busy Bag Swap

2011-12-02T14:13:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago some friends and I did a busy bag swap for our toddlers, although Kylie really enjoys all of these things as well:) We each made 10 of our projects and swapped them for 9 others and of course kept one of our own so at the end of the night we had 10 creative plays for our kiddos. Here are each of them!

Fishing with magnets

Lace up shapes

Fit the poms into the holes.

Make a pizza, and for the older kids follow the recipe.

Fishing game

Noodle necklaces

For this one you stick playdough on the table and put uncooked spaghetti sticks in the dough and make patters by putting on the cereal through the spaghetti!

Matching shades of colors

Button up shapes

And I forgot to take a picture of mine:) ha but it is just cards that have numbers on them with the same amount of dots and you put beans on the dots for counting fun!

1st Holiday Boutique!!

2011-11-29T22:07:00.001-07:00

I am putting my cards in their first Holiday Boutique! Stop by if you are in the area:

Candy Lane Boutique
Friday, December 2, 2011
10am until 7 pm

5228 W. Bent Tree Dr.
Phoenix AZ 85083

Crafts, clothes, jewelry and food

I wish I had time to spruce this flyer up to make you a little more excited but... just pretend I worked my creative magic and it's all decked out with cuteness:)

Pre-Thanksgiving

2011-11-22T22:56:00.001-07:00

Oh my, I'm not sure if anyone has a cooler family than mine. I love being together. They make me laugh. Hard.

Kylie had us come up to her room and participate in her play. It was so dang cute. She is really good on the fly:)

Here is the fam! Mr. McCoy is tiny cutie patootie. Love him. Mr. Cannon and Kylie are such good little friends.

Finals

2011-11-15T00:02:00.000-07:00

Conrad and the guys finished finals this week!! WHoop! So we had a little shin-dig that night with some of the guys sporting their staches for MoVember.

Craft time

2011-11-14T10:13:00.001-07:00

Kylie skipping to the bus stop. Man alive, I love her!

Getting ready for the holidays!!

2011-11-09T18:11:00.002-07:00

For Grandma and her wonderful newsletter. Love you!

Design TIme

2011-11-05T20:43:00.000-07:00

Here is another little invite I made:

Happy Birthday Conrad!

2011-11-03T19:45:00.000-07:00

Conrad turned the big 3-0 this year! And boy howdy let me tell you he is wiser and smarter;) After his schools' Halloween party we did a little cake thing over at our home.

Conrad holding Ky back so she didn't blow croup all over the food;) Lovely.

For one of his presents I asked some family and friends to jot down a favorite memory or thought about Conrad. I was flooded with reply's, a lot of the envelops had two memories in them! 2 things were very evident in reading these memories from old college roommates, mission president, high school coaches, teachers, family and friends: #1 Conrad knows how to make you laugh. and #2 Conrad knows how to be a good friend. It was so fun to read them and put this all together. It really is a blast being married to Conard, you would think med school would be so hard but really it has been some of the best years in our marriage because Conrad is really amazing at being a great friend and husband to me. I sure do love this 30 year-old!

I waxed stamped each envelope shut and numbered them with a gold marker. I thought it looked pretty:)

I loved watching him read these. Notice he had to take a break from studying pathology:)

Happy Halloween!

2011-11-02T21:26:00.007-07:00

As usual Conrad really takes it to the next level when getting ready for this holiday. He is Kip from Napoleon Dynamite (just in case you forgot what Kip really looks like here is a pic) it's pretty darn close! I am Deb from the same movie, Cowgirl and a chicken and Cinderella squeezed in here too!

Nacho (Ryan) and Reese

The girls, minus a few:(

The guys

The kiddos!

Dance

2011-11-01T21:53:00.001-07:00

Kylie has been in dance here at Conrad's school. It's been so nice just to walk to dance class. Kylie loves it! She is crazy flexible! She can do the splits UP the wall, or sitting on the bus or on the floor or pretty much anywhere!

Miss Brooke, her dance teacher.

Design Time

2011-10-25T13:21:00.000-07:00

Here is a design I did for a friends shower...

Fun times

2011-10-23T22:37:00.001-07:00

The Hiltons came to visit the day we got back from Vegas and we had a grand ole' time! We missed having Conrad around due to a very intense test schedule (dang tests!!) But we had fun non-the-less!

Visiting the pumpkin patch in Scottsdale.

Kylie loved the petting zoo.

The hay ride out to go pick your pumpkin was so fun for the girls!

Kylie loved the maze and having grandpa chase her through it!

I'm not sure about your kids but when my kids have endless popcorn*, a drink the size of Texas* and 3-D glasses* nothing can deter them. Please don't look too closely at Reese's picture to see the red popsicle dripping down her arm and running off her face. But when grandma and grandpa are in town "No" is not in our vocabulary:)

*- These things NEVER happen when the girls go to the movies with boring mom and dad.

Vegas

2011-10-20T20:05:00.000-07:00

Last week (I think) Conrad and I took a little mini vaca to Las Vegas. He had an ER conference there at the Wynn Hotel where he got to stitch up some pigs feet and take an ultrasound course among other things. So I was able to enjoy some Serendipity 3 (thank the stars you don't have to go all the way to NYC to enjoy frozen hot coco, although sadly I didn't take the plunge) walked the shops and laid by the pool. Cara happen to be down with Utah State's tennis team as their manager so we got to play!! Hard Rock Hotel upgraded us to their brand new tower and it pretty much rocked. We stayed up WAY past our bed time and ate a little too much at the Bellagio buffet. I loved every second of this trip.

Hair Train

2011-10-18T21:01:00.001-07:00

Kylie has super fine, thin hair and it kind of drives me crazy!! Hello why couldn't she have gotten the hair gene from her mother???!!! Anyways while we were in Vegas, Chrissy put some Biolage conditioner in with Moroccan oil and my oh my it made a huge difference. So I went out and got all the goods today ,so here is to new hair!

Side note: Reese loves that baby and is always complimenting it. It is Kylie's old doll that she never played with because the hair is all matter, you know the kind. And Reese is always saying how pretty the dolls hair is ha ha:) Such an optimist!

Organizing

2011-10-17T13:58:00.000-07:00

I went to an organizing class this weekend. The lady teaching the class has 4 boys in 1500 sq ft and every time I have been in her home it is unbelievably organized and clean. I love that. She said that if you spend 20 min a day on trying to find things that you have misplaced you end up spending 5 days a year on searching for your misplaced things. Hummm something to think about. I guess I will start putting my things back:)

Volleyball

2011-10-15T13:43:00.001-07:00

Today we lost in the semi's. I am really sad about it but they were the better team. Although, we were the cooler team:) I will miss this.

P.S. See Baby starting to poke out:) Eeee!!! (13 weeks)

Boating trip

2011-10-07T22:57:00.001-07:00

Playing a bit of catch up... We took a camping trip just before school started in Aug.

Rachel is 8 months preggers!!! She is amazing.

Did I mention I LOVE life?

The Bumps

2011-09-29T10:52:00.002-07:00

What a blessing it is to have these girls by my side through this medical school journey. And... we are all expecting! 9mo, 6mo,5mo,4mo,3mo,2months!

Rachel was 9 months in the picture that we took a week ago and now she has a beautiful baby girl, Rayna. Rachel keeps it real for me. She is so laid back and I love her parenting style. She is just a wonderful friend to me. Julie 6 mo, is a teacher through and through and my go-to gal. If you ever have a question about anything, rest assured she will have the answer. I love that. Jenny 5 mo, she will be a picture perfect mother. She has it all down: the cooking, cleaning, beautiful home and not to mention my sisters call her and Skyler: Barbie and Ken:) Jill 4 mo, is Martha Stewart only hotter. She is a craft master and is always happy to help others. She is so kind and I love her for that! Emily 3 mo, is so kind and attentive to others feelings. She has an amazing heart and really is just as beautiful on the inside as the out and I hope my girls turn out like her. Really.

600 sq ft

2011-09-28T21:09:00.001-07:00

Last month, I was feeling so overwhelmed because of our tiny home. I was just sick of not having a real space. We have a growing family and I feel like we need a bigger place to call home. I hate the fact that we don't have a dishwasher, washer, dryer or even a garbage disposal for goodness sake (really how much are they?)!! We keep our trash outside because it takes one dirty diaper to smell this whole place up. I have one 13x9 pan because there just isn't room to have duplicates. I have one set of sheets for all the beds, because again, no room. I have 4, four! little cupboards to keep food in. I hate having to store things on the floor of our closets. And man alive, I really don't like having our microwave on top of our fridge. So there you have it, my frustrations at the moment.

MoFash Fashion Show

2011-09-22T21:21:00.002-07:00

For the past several months I have been helping put together a modest fashion show for our stake young women. It has been quite an undertaking as we have gotten Dillard's to sponsor it with all their clothes, swag bags with rockin goodies in them, hair stylist and make up artist lined up, these cute flyers and programs made (by yours truly:) we even had a 30 ft runway made. It all went down last night and it was a huge success!! The place was packed and packed some more with guests! We even had people standing. The girls looked amazing and even one of our shyer girls said beaming, "My mom said she has never been more proud!"

Before the show...

Me, Kaylee, Callie and Julie

Jess and Megs

P.S. The most expensive outfit was $800!!! The vest alone was $400. Wowza!

Baby

2011-09-19T14:09:00.000-07:00

Due April 27,2012.

Still stuck inside.

2011-09-12T21:39:00.000-07:00

In real life it is getting much cooler. In fact tonight it was 95* out and we were in the hot tub because it was a little too chilly. (Did a girl that has lived in Idaho for nearly 8 years really just type that last sentence!!??) But a few weeks ago when it was unbearably hot, Like 117* hot, we made some bubble blowers (idea from Pintrest.com) and we had our own little drive in movie.

So simple. So fun. I love being a mom. It's kinda the best thing ever.

McCoy

2011-09-11T22:07:00.000-07:00

September 3, 2011 McCoy Richard Smith was born. I am so, so very proud of Kurt and especially Jen for everything they went through to get little McCoy here strong and healthy. What a blessing it is to have a brand new little one come into our family.

This picture just fills me up with love. I really couldn't ask for a more amazing brother and I am so over joyed with the happiness he has in his life.

Hott Wife Points

2011-09-08T21:32:00.002-07:00

So I earned some "hott wife points" as my sister and her friends call them:) For the Emergency Medicine Club Conrad came up with the design of these awesome shirts! They even had one guy from the dental program buy a shirt because he loved it so much!! Ha. The T's were a hit and they signed up more people to the EM Club this year than any other year!! WHoop WHoop!!

And so here is where the points come it:) I made the poster. Conrad said it was the best one there:) I think he was just being nice.

Conrad and Dan Don't look too closely to the pictures... ew!!

Last, Last Chance

2011-09-05T17:41:00.008-07:00

Okay, so I decided that each time I go to Last Chance, you know, the store that gets all the returns and non-sales from Nordstrom and Nordstrom Rack, I'll sell a piece on here! So for all you up North I know snow is not too far away (errr) sooo here is a really trendy Nordstrom brand loop scarf. I'm kind of in love with it so you may have to let me borrow it when I'm in town;)

Check out other Nordstrom brand scarves here. Love them.

$19

True colors shown in 1st picture. And no shipping charges, you're welcome!

Man I love these girls!

2011-09-04T22:21:00.000-07:00

Is this heat done yet?

2011-09-01T18:37:00.000-07:00

We went outside to paint with water on the stairs but Ky could only get one line down before the water would dry up! But the girls loved getting wet:)

Science Center

2011-08-29T21:29:00.000-07:00

Conrad did the volcano experiment with Kylie. They made the play-dough and Kylie painted it. Then after the "explosion" (speaking of explosion don't mind her bed head:) She sat down all by herself and drew a picture of the volcano in her journal. She said, "After Sid the Science Kid does an experiment, he writes about it in his journal." What a fun, easy project!

Homemade

2011-08-28T21:19:00.000-07:00

I spray painted this shirt then stitched it up with a bow:) So easy. So cute.

Summer Days

2011-08-25T13:15:00.001-07:00

Kylie has been getting pretty darn good at her swim tricks. Flips are her new thing and they are SO fun to watch:) I think her favorite thing right now is having her Dad throw her into the pool...

Baseball

2011-08-20T15:29:00.000-07:00

We went to the D-backs game. We kept Reese happy with Nick's phone and Kaylee's hair. Thanks guys!!

1st Day of Kindergarten

2011-08-18T12:11:00.000-07:00

Kylie was so excited to start school. The night before she couldn't sleep because she felt like the next morning was "Halloween, Christmas and her birthday" She finally went and came back from school. It seemed a little anticlimactic for her. She said, "All we did was play games. I want to learn about math, science and art. You know, I don't really know what math is... but I sure am interested to learn more about it."

We had a good chat over creeps....

DIY

2011-08-17T11:16:00.004-07:00

Conrad and I made this headboard one day. It makes such an impact in our room and I'm totally in love with it!

It's just fence wood nailed to 2x4s :)

Friends

2011-08-14T21:57:00.000-07:00

We had a great time eating sushi and hanging out with the Hobsons' this summer. We miss you guys!

Cannon turns 2, Kurt turns 30!

2011-08-14T21:45:00.003-07:00

Partaaay!!! Jen had the cutest party for the boys. We all had a great time!

I think this is a really pretty picture of my mom!

Thanks for letting me nab all these picts of your blog Jen!! xoxo

School

2011-08-11T21:27:00.001-07:00

We pulled up to Kylie's new school. I felt heart sick. The parking lot was full so we parked outside the chain linked fence that surrounds the school. Kylie got out and informed me the man parked behind us was smoking. (I don't know why the fence and the smoking bugged me so much but it really did :/) I surprised myself by not saying "forget this lets go! I'll home school you." THEN, we walked into her school room and was greeted by the cutest kindergarten teacher in the world. I am so happy and feel soooo good about this whole school thing. Kylie can't wait for Monday! Now if I can erase my fears about school buses.

Man alive I love summer...

slowly but surely

2011-08-10T22:26:00.001-07:00

Are you sick of my lame photos yet? I am. We NEED a new camera.
Have you noticed my header still says "Spring". Um, yes well, one day I will find time to create a new one.
I am playing major catch up from the summer... but I am working on some rad projects that I can't wait to share!

Flare jeans and crop shirt? Yes, Thanks!

Montana Trip

2011-08-09T16:39:00.002-07:00

We took a trip up to Conrad's home in good ole' Dillon, Montana. We had so much fun 4 wheeling up in the mountains. The terrain was SO fun, we went through a river, crazy rocks and over some streams. Kylie rode with Conrad and she had a smile on the whole entire time. That, I love.
Grandma and Reese Um, yes please. I love the outdoors.

Grandpa and Conrad fishing. Side note (Ky has seen people wear sweaters around their waist so she has started to pick that up. She just wears it backwards. Is that wrong of me as a mother not to tell her?! Its just so darn cute)

Cara came with us too. We went to go boating but....

As you can see the water was a little ChOpPY!!!!

But we had a great time! Thanks Rich and Lalove!!

Pfeifferhorn Hike

2011-08-05T11:31:00.000-07:00

In Utah we went on a hike with the Phelps and Mason. I was thinking we were going on a relaxed hike with some friends. But I was sorely mistaken! It was pretty much like climbing Everest! I knew I was in trouble when Jared was bringing his ice pick. My sock-less shoe choice turned out to be a costly mistake. But thanks to Jareds socks and his duct tape it worked out! There were some parts of the hike that we had to slide down and some got going over 30 mph (GPS tracked it all!)!!!!!

Sooooo dang beautiful!

Chrissy going down. I love that Jared is yelling "Drop the Ax!"

Thanks for letting me steal your pictures Chrissy!!

Work Party

2011-08-03T20:44:00.001-07:00

For my parents anniversary, us kids planned a work party to help them put in their yard. It was so fun working along side family and seeing how much we did!

Bahahahahaha

Pioneer Day Parade in SLC

2011-07-31T22:48:00.000-07:00

We went to the parade in SLC and its legit.

THen we made our way to Hire's for some amazing rootbeer and hammys. yummeroo.

My cute parents.

Cake

2011-07-27T18:46:00.002-07:00

Jen and I made this sugar coated peachie for Kurt and Cannons Birthday. I'm in love with it. I'll post picts of the party soon.... I'm Soooo behind on everything!!!

Family Reunion

2011-07-19T19:36:00.004-07:00

Conrad's family reunion in Utah was such a blast! Because we have sold every summer since we have been married, I have never been to a family reunion! So it was so fun getting to know his family. Here are a few fun things we did:

The train was a hit for the kids!

Conrad and his brothers are what we like to call VERY competitive and love making ANYTHING a competition. In fact one of his little cousins would always find them and ask "Is this a competition!? Can I play?!"

Volleyball was SO fun!!!

Pony and horse rides were a highlight for Kylie and Reese

Yummy snow cones

Soccer

Sand castle building

Grandma Patterson

The Hiltons

Water balloon fights. We even filled up those balloons that you punch, you know the huge ones?! Yes it got a little out of control!! Ha ha

Ok the kids were jumping off the rock wall, onto the tramp, onto the mattress! What. a. blast.

And finally paint balling. I may or may not have made a little boy cry. But look at these suits they were wearing!! You can't tell how old they are. Right?

What a wonderful time! Thanks Lisa!!!!!

St.George

2011-07-13T20:52:00.000-07:00

We went St. George with Jen's family and enjoyed it so much!

Kylie was in heaven in their princess castle and all the dress ups!

Reese was a trooper on the boat. It seriously made her sleepy... um...yes please.

Conrad, Kimball (aka my surf instructor and Jen's dad) and Kurtis

Kylie, Shelly (Jen's mom), Carter, Natalie, Cannon and Jenny Jean

Conrad trying out the air chair!!! Ha ha ha

Reese and her pretty smile!

Kurt taking the bunch on a tour of the golf course where they filmed High School Musical

Ok seriously I did not want to hike up this but Kylie said to me, "Mom, you are the older one! Your not suppose to be scared!" But I SO was!!!

It was such an amazing view of Pioneer canyon

Kurt and Cannon

Jen, Cannon and Baby

Me wake boarding! holla! I. am. so. bad.

Surfing

Conrad wake boarding

What a super fun vaca! Thank you Sooooo much!! We had a blast!

Soccer game

2011-07-10T21:47:00.000-07:00

Rach and Wes invited us to a Salt Lake Real soccer game and we kinda had a blast.

time out

2011-07-06T07:50:00.001-07:00

I finally get to post about when my Mom came up and watched Reese while we went to Disney World. We had such a great time being together. I love visits!!!

We went to Scottsdale

The Sugar Bowl. A must in Scottsdale!

Swimming

The LOVE sign

Painted nails

Rode the trolley

Thank you Mom for coming down! We sure love you big piles!

Mormon.org

2011-06-29T13:51:00.000-07:00

Have you ever seen the Mormon commercials? Here is my Blogging idol that I blogged about a few weeks ago and her Mormon ad. Kylie loves seeing the stories of people and tries to guess if they will say "I'm a Mormon" at the end. Of course we are watching on mormon.org and so everyone of them says that. The other night Kylie was hugging Reese and said, "Reese you are beautiful. You are a daughter of God and you are a Mormon. And don't you forget that!"

I love these times. I love being a mother.

Museum

2011-06-24T23:10:00.000-07:00

The Phoenix Children's Museum is amazing. We loved it.

Shopping center:

Noodle Forest:

Art Room:

Painting the castle:

Kylie and Reese were playing in the puppet house when a special needs teen sat down to watch the show. Kylie and I started to make him laugh and soon the whole group was sitting in front of the puppet house watching the show. It made a fun filled day extra special for us.

Date Night

2011-06-23T13:04:00.002-07:00

In celebration for Conrad finishing his 1st year of med school I wanted to take him to a fun restaurant. We went to downtown Scottsdale and ate at the Le Cordon Bleu culinary arts school. It's a little more formal than your normal restaurant and the food was amazing!!!!! Oh my. We had a 5 course meal which consisted of Creamy pecan soup (nothing like I have ever had. yum.mmm.mers.), Shrimp scampi, Spinach salad (which had beets and all sorts of yummieness that I'm going to try and re-create), Filet minion (cooked to perfection. No need for a knife) and Apple pie. It was way fun and I would TOTALLY recommend doing this for a hott date!

Say Cheese!

We are off to another date today! 2 dates in one week! Unheard of around here!! Whoop whoop!

Hilton's 1st camping trip

2011-06-22T16:13:00.001-07:00

Before we headed out into the wild, wild wilderness we had a fun afternoon in Sedona,AZ. It reminds me a bit of Jackson Hole.

And here is the unveiling of THE HILTON CAMPSITE. Tada!

Conrad was livin his dream fishing with Kylie. Her first cast she reeled that little thing back in and said, "I didn't get one!"

The next day we went to Slide rock, which is on the the top ten swimming holes in the country. Here is Conrad and Kylie going down a natural water slide. What the heck are those kids doing?!!

Jumping off a tiny "cliff" as she calls it. Kylie was so proud of herself.

All in all we will go camping again but we will be staying in a hotel;) ha ha. but really. Reese did. not. sleep.

Book It.

2011-06-21T17:13:00.001-07:00

Did you ever do Book It at school? We would get a pizza once we read so many books. I loved it. We started a Book It club over here, although there are no incentives other than just sitting down and cuddling up. Still Kylie kinda loves it. Me too.

Rappelling

2011-06-18T11:43:00.002-07:00

Last week we went to the Salt River. We swam and went rappelling down a 100 ft cliff! Thanks Halls for letting us tag along!

Sweet prayer

2011-06-13T10:21:00.000-07:00

Tonight Kylie said the prayer. Although if you lived in our home you wouldn't need me to say that because once Kylie started to pray she says every prayer when we pray as a family. What will happen when Reese learns?! Ha. Anyway, her prayer went like this, " I pray that Grandma Normal" (Conrads mom, Lalove, had breast cancer and lost her hair. Although it is growing back quite nicely she still prays for it. Daily. Kylie always says Grandma Normal which is the wrong grandma and even at that, it is the wrong name (it's supposed to be Grandma Norviel but Grandma Normal is WAY too cute to correct). Back to the prayer:" will have really really really long hair like Rapunzel, that touches the ground, well not touches the ground but measures to the ground and that it can be braided and that we can have a great day. No my goodness! (she stopped because we have been talking with her to think about what she is really saying when she is talking to Heavenly Father and that we should be really thoughtful in our prayers.) I mean...."

And a few months back Vic and Mel came down for an impromptu vaca! It was so nice to see them. We spent some serious time at Conrads church bball games, going to Last Chance, swimming, eating Chinese inspired Mexican food (scrumptious!) and chatting away. Thanks guys for making that effort we enjoyed each second!

Summer Days

2011-06-09T22:19:00.000-07:00

Having Conrad off from school has been the bomb.com. love. it.

Having the cutest 5 year old ever is pretty cool too.

We are having way too much fun together. Why can't summers be like this for.e.ver?

Family Motto

2011-06-07T22:01:00.000-07:00

I got this idea from her. 5 little Kids call her "Mom". 1 husband calls her "Wife". And the rest of us can call her "Mother of the Year". Because well, she was recently crowned that by The American Mothers Organization. We can all just pretty much say A.MAZ.ING.

Our Family Motto has taken time (3 months to be exact) and a few adjustments. But finally, we decided on our Motto and love, love, love it.
Our family Motto is something that Conrad, Kylie and I came up with together. It is something we each pondered over and prayed about. It is something that we are excited about.
Eventually our family Motto came from Isaiah 60:4 "lift up thine eyes." It means a myriad of things to our little family but Kylie's first thought was very literal saying "You take your eyes out and hold them up!" Hee hee.
Well as you can see Kylie painted a picture of the Rexburg Temple and I wrote our Motto. It is a beautiful thing that I am proud to hang on my walls.

Costco made me recycle

2011-06-03T19:11:00.000-07:00

Does anyone else ever feel like you could fill up a whole dumpster with boxes and plastic wrap after a trip to Costco? So I am improving my ways and recycling. Boy howdy does it feel good to throw them into the green bin. Off to start F.F.M.F.M.N. (First Friday of the Month Family Movie Night)! Xoxo

little kylie

2011-06-02T22:13:00.000-07:00

Tuesday we registered for Kindergarten (for this upcoming school year). Kind of a big deal. I kept telling myself as this got closer that its "just kindergarten" it's not like it's High School or something. But the more I keep thinking about it, High School is not that far away and kindergarten is one step closer to that big world out there that I am so scared for her to go into. I love knowing what she sees everyday. I love knowing what she hears. I love knowing right away if her feelings were hurt or catching if she needs to be told how beautiful she is. right. that. moment. Giving her up for 2 hrs and 30 min now is good for her. And me. But it really makes me go through a check list in my head to see if we have taught her the tools she needs to thrive. grow. server others. I just want time to slow down.

Cake.er.roo

2011-06-02T11:39:00.000-07:00

Here is a quick cake I whipped up the other day. Not my best but really, I worked on it for 20 min and what little 5 year-old wouldn't love this:)

Joy School Graduation!

2011-05-30T22:10:00.001-07:00

Kylie is an official graduate of Joy School! We are so proud of her and so thankful for the wonderful friends that were made and blessed with the creative moms that helped teach Kylie.

Pictures taken by Michelle Gifford. (I don't have your blog or I would have attached it!)

It's officially summer

2011-05-27T20:59:00.000-07:00

You know, when the air at night is hot and the pool water will soon be warm. So this couldn't be better timing... Rita's, in Glendale, is giving free "water ice" away all day tomorrow! And the first 100 people in line get free water ice for a year!!! Whoop whoop!

See ya there!!

Day Four

2011-05-27T00:40:00.003-07:00

Here are a few more from Magic Kingdom that I want to remember. Kylie loved meeting all the princesses and getting to hug the other characters. She asked each princess a question.

Cinderella: What is your favorite animal? (my dog and mice)
Bell: What is your favorite book? (sleeping beauty)
Ariel: What is your favorite seashell? (The one around her neck)

Day 4 we played tennis (which I lost boo) and swam and went down a super fun slide and on our way home from dinner, at Kylie's request we had a dance party.

Here is the infamous back row. We kept things bumpin.

Day Three:

2011-05-27T00:31:00.000-07:00

Magic Kingdom with Conrad's parents and siblings... So fun!

Disney World

2011-05-25T12:33:00.000-07:00

Day Two: Island of Adventure and Universal Studios

I loved meandering around Hogwarts and Hogsmead in the new Harry Potter area. It is so amazing and really if everyone were wearing a cloak and carrying a wand I would feel like I was in the book.

Tip #2: Have your kiddos wear a hat. It was so nice to have her ears and face shaded.

Thunder Mountain was a little too scary for little Ky

Finals

2011-05-24T08:47:00.000-07:00

So for finals week Kylie and I headed to Florida and my wonderful Mother came down to be with Reese and Conrad slaved away for his very last finals of his first year!! Did you hear?! We are officially done with our first year of med school!!! Yippeee slash kinda sad bc it went by way too fast and if life keeps up with this pace I don't know what I will do! Anywways Florida was wonderful. Really wonderful.

Day One: Fly. Meet up at Sea World. Get to condo.
(tip: I got these awesome paint markers at TJMaxx and they look like Markers but they are paint brushes with no smell, fast drying time and no mess! It was kind of a fun project for Kylie (and me;) on the plane.)

Idea

2011-05-22T20:18:00.000-07:00

~~Sometimes~~ Most times a homemade gift is better. Agree? Here is an idea I came up with to make some boring store bought flowers into something a little more...
I just took brown wrapping and wrapped that around the clear plastic then did a monogram with hot pink wax and a ladybug stamp. very SIMPLE and big IMPACT.

Disney picts to come! eeee

Greetings from Utah!

2011-05-18T23:08:00.001-07:00

Hi sweet blogging friends!

My name is Kelsey

You can find me right over here at kelseyannesmith.blogspot.com. if you wish :)

Jamie is my awesome, wonderful, talented, beautiful, outgoing, funny, smart, happy, loving, kind, sweet sister. and i love her. even though she is in Disney World right now.

{did i mention she left without even offering to put me in her suitcase?}

I've actually never done a guest blog, so this excites me/makes me nervous. why?idk.

here is my life as of late:

i actually just graduated from college with my bachelors.

{if you know of a job in AZ that wants me. Please send them my way. i would love to live closer to my girlies and lets not forget about how wonderful Arizona is?!! sunny. warm. can we say: all. of. the. time. it just sounds so blissful}

So, my days consist of going to the gym. blogging. eating. mmk and that is about it!

Have you ever watched anderson cooper 360 the part where he talks about the

RIDICULIST?

it's actually really funny.

This my RIDICULIST

.: my dependability for my phone.

.: It's May and I am still wearing pants. WTish?

.: how amazing snow cones are.

.: Arnold's unknown child who is what 13? how did Maria not know?! so sad.

Happy Thursday!!!

xoxo

...

2011-05-15T13:27:00.002-07:00

Since seeing the movie Tangled, Kylie's choice of weapon is her frying pan.

Porch

2011-05-15T13:27:00.001-07:00

To say our porch needed a makeover was an understatement. My friend gave this old dresser to me and I just sanded it down, spray painted it and added some fabric to the knobs with mod podge (great idea right?!). Here is the before and after looksie:)

And Kylie and I are off to Disney World soon and Nana is here to play with Reese.a.bug. Yippeee!!

Tried and true

2011-05-14T22:07:00.000-07:00

This is our favorite soup at Olive garden so I thought I would give it a try and..... it is kind of amazing. Go ahead and try it.

Olive Garden Toscana Soup

2 3/4 C Chicken broth

1/4 C Heavy cream

1 Med. Russet potato sliced thinly

2 C. chopped kale

1/2 lb Italian sausage

1/4 tsp Salt

1/4 tsp crushed red pepper

Get the first 4 ingredients to a boil then add the rest.

F.F.F.M.N.

2011-05-09T19:52:00.000-07:00

As Kylie gets older the more she appreciates traditions. So I have been trying to incorporate traditions that we can celebrate more regularly. Kylie loves movies and the only thing she loves more than movies is watching movies with the family, cuddled on the couch. So recently we started First Friday Family Movie Night.

Here is how it works:
The night before at dinner the "chooser of the movie" is unveiled.
Friday Night: Dad takes girls to Red box to pick out the movie.
While everyone is gone I get the "concession stand" ready with popcorn, popped in my whilrly pop. no butter. no salt (more on this later) and other goodies.
I throw our comfy-est blankets and pillows on the couch.
Prop the door open with the ticket stand at the door to pick up your tickets.
Annndd start some previews so it feels like your walking into the theater:)

It's fun to see her love it so much. So simple. So worth it.

Mother's Day

2011-05-08T13:35:00.000-07:00

There was a quote given in church today that really stuck out to me. It talked about how important it is for us as women and mothers to be good examples, because that may be the only good example your children see that day. Is there ever a topic that gets your blood pumping and you get very passionate about? One of mine is motherhood. Motherhood is a sacred responsibility and something our Father in Heaven has trusted us as women with. It is a privilege and something I try to enjoy to the fullest. There are days that are frustrating, nights that are long, mornings that are too early but this sacred roll was given to us because of the qualities women were blessed with, like: a nurturing heart, sensitive feeling, femininity, tender touch and so on. What a blessing it is to be a mother. I love this calling in my life and I pray that I can strive to be a better mother each day. I am so blessed to have amazing and righteous women in my life. My mother is a daily inspiration and the biggest cheerleader I have. I am thankful for her caring heart and strong testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. What a beautiful day it is to celebrate the mothers in our lives. Happy Mother's Day.

My very 1st guest post! WHoop Whoop.

2011-05-04T21:35:00.001-07:00

Yippee! I was featured on this cutie patootie site today: Sara's Party Perfect! She may win the award for cutest play room. Ever.

Talents

2011-05-02T22:23:00.001-07:00

Kylie came in the house the other day and declared "Mom, I have found my talent!" Wow what a big day... eeeee!!! I was kinda, okay like really excited! And she holds up some colored pencils and says "Sharpening pencils!" eeeee!?!? ok OK Sweeeeet! That is great news! We all need sharp pencils! Right?! Well. I. was. just very pleased with her new talent and I have to say she really is good at sharpening the pencils. But that is just one of her MANY talents. We are all so blessed with talents and sometimes we have to appreciate the small ones before recognizing the big ones. Although she seemed to think this was her only talent, she is sorely mistaken and when we got to chatting about how amazing she is at making friends or how she swims like a fish she quickly found herself with a few more talents.

Whining

2011-04-30T22:41:00.000-07:00

Whining. I really don't like whining. When Kylie whines I just simple tell her, "Oh today is not whining day that's next Thursday." And she stops. I really mean it. My friend tried it on her 4 year-old and it worked for them too! Tell me if it works for you!

Design Time

2011-04-27T17:47:00.000-07:00

Here is the blog banner I did for Kels... go check her cutie patootie blog out.

HopPy Easter!

2011-04-24T22:31:00.001-07:00

The School had yet another rockin party for the families/community. Conrad is holding that fly away hair down. Whaooa. Crazy hair.

Hey! I'm on a roll...

2011-04-23T07:33:00.000-07:00

Okay so here's a tip: last night I was making pancakes before bed for little Reeseabug and she is kind of a messy eater BUT loves syrup on her hot cakes soooo when I poured the batter on the skillet I also poured a little syrup in the batter. Whalla! Best of both worlds, not a sticky mess but the Babe gets the taste. Job well done.

Tip Day

2011-04-21T08:30:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure how I missed this cute-stuffed idea but my friend says it's all over blogs. But it's new to me. So maybe it will be new to you! I made Reese's leg warmers by cutting the foot part off of a women's sock. I think you are supposed to sew it but it's held up perfect for me with out:) Easy Cheesy. Right?

Yes, yessiree Sarah snapped these from the party.

The Party

2011-04-20T00:04:00.001-07:00

Mission: A Whimsical Party with a Wimpy budget. I started this about 4 months ago. And with some garage sale finds, my busy little brain and some help from some creative genius' we pulled it off. So here are some tips and ideas I learned along the way...

Having a photographer was the best idea of the party. It freed me up to chat with my guests and watch Kylie on her special day. Sarah did a fantabulous job! You can see more of her work here.

This is the present area. The teal night stand you may recall from my bedroom makeover and the frames hanging from the tree are of Kylie growing up. Because I had to duct tape them to the back of the frames I also covered the backs with coordinating scrapbook paper. So even when the wind blew they still looked pretty:)

The food was simple and full of color. Tip: fill the platters as full as possible so there is less re-stocking and a fuller tray always looks better.

My very talented mother made Kylie's skirt. Yes, it's true. It's way too cute. And we can't go anywhere in it without feeling a little bit like a celebrity.

A few posts back you will remember I made these party hats. So simple but the details, the details, THAT is what makes a party. Agree? good.

Eeee! This was my favorite part! Get ready.... ok, ok, ok, OK I really wanted the party to just explain itself. I wanted the kids just to be kids. No competitive games just plain old imagination. Side note: Kylie is ~~a little~~ VERY competitive, once she told me, and let me quote her, "loosing is not an option." So ok you get the picture. I really didn't want any competitive games. Okay back to imagination. I wanted whimsical. fun. free. play. So I made this balloon tent. I think she loved it:) yippee!! I also made some paddles to hit the balloons and some stilts out of cans. Whats a party without stilts?

My philosophy is: the bigger the party the simpler the cake (to keep my sanity). But I have to say it can be just this simple and look dang good! I obviously was going for a whimsical look and the cake really had that feel. It is a rice crispy cake (which equals NO plates, forks or MESS) love it. I just took a #3 tip and did swirlys all around it and it took me all of 20 min to complete and that my friends equals a Happy Me:) I painted some skinny dowels and added some poms and pennets to the little master piece and whala!!! Its so easy cheesy and beautiful.

We are so thankful for the wonderful friends who love and support Kylie! We love you!

The End...

Pictures done by: http://www.sarahgracegalleries.com/

Kylie...

2011-04-19T08:55:00.000-07:00

So the night before Kylie's birthday I thought maybe we can just celebrate her 3rd birthday so she wont be so old and she said, "Mom I have to turn 5, so I can grow old and die and then live again." Wow okay then. That was a good enough answer for me:) Birthday pictures are coming tomorrow... But here is a sneak peak. Sarah Allred is amazing. Go check her out here

Soccer Champs 2011

2011-04-17T20:57:00.003-07:00

Congrats!! The team pulled off a championship yesterday!

Thanks to Chrissy McFarlane for the great picts!

joy and school

2011-04-16T10:08:00.000-07:00

I made this tent for a part of Kylie's party (I will post picts this next week!!!) eeek!!! The girls have slept and played in it all week. So fun.

My friends mom Nancy gave me the idea to make stilts as a game at the party so we tried them out on the Joy kids this week. They picked it up SO fast and loved it!