Twinkle Toes

When Rebecca was born our neighbor Char was so excited to get to go shopping for girl clothes. Her granddaughter came over with a bag with some precious outfits and toys for Rebecca.

One of the outfits is a Twinkle Toes outfit that has such sweet details-the ballet flats on the feet and the little pink bow on them, the ballet shoes on the chest with velvet tops. She just recently started to fit into this outfit at such a poignant time. Char went on hospice just a few weeks ago, and passed away on the 24th-just 2 days before Thanksgiving.



Whenever Rebecca wears this outfit or plays with her bear blanket or baaing lamb-I'll think of Char and her beautiful smile and kind words.

Jingle Cross Rock

Simeon was asked to be a starter for 2 sets of races at this years Jingle Cross Rock. What is Jungle Cross Rock you ask? It's a very hard and adventurous bike race at the Johnson County Fairgrounds. A course is made that winds throughout the entire fairgrounds and even up the BIG hill behind the arena. Depending of what skill level the racers are in, they go higher or lower on the hill named Mt. Krumpit.

Simeon started the 1st 2 sets of races of the event-the women and mens beginners, and the Masters 35+ and Masters 40+ races. He was given a cow bell with the top womens riders signature on it. (We can't remember her name-so it's just a lovely autograph cow bell. So Iowa!).

Rebecca enjoyed all the action going on around her, but she was also quite cold. She crashed when I opened my jacket and snuggled her into it.

The race is really fun to watch. Because of where we stood we had racers all around us. Looking at the hill we saw them come down either from the top of the hill, or half way up, they then had to get off their bike and carry it over boards, then they turned a corner that had the stickiest mud. It was jamming up their front tires to the point that some tires couldn't move and they'd have to stop and pull the grass out. Others carried their bikes through the mud. We saw lots of crashes on this corner, one that even took out the side of the course. Then behind us was the spiral where the riders rode into the center then out the other side in a dizzy haze of orange plastic fences.

(Ammon was getting bored of watching, so I gave him some camera time, which he just loves. I really like this picture because you can see just how muddy the riders were, and see the motion of the racer. I didn't do anything to the picture-it's an Ammon original.)

Another Ammon picture. I rarely get on this side of the camera.

The kids stayed warm running around in the open area we were standing in. They raced, tackled, raced some more, tackled some more and raced a few more times.

The 2nd set of races, sent the riders to the top of Mt. Krumpit. The ride down is really steep and slippery with a very tight turn at the top, and another extremely tight double turn at the bottom right before they hit the boards that they had to jump their bikes over. It is so fun to watch the bikers on the hill. Some rode down fast, other really slow, other carried their bikes, and yet another plowed right through the side of the course!

We ended up leaving before the 2nd race was over because we were so cold, so we didn't get to see the winners. Even leaving the area is an adventure because you have to cross the race track. They have a crossing spot with a gaurd on either side and a dead zone in the middle. When it's safe you cross very quickly before a rider comes down the track.

Thanksgiving and 4 Generations

We have been blessed to live near Johann's family. The kids get to see their grandparents on the Smith side often and have gotten to know them really well. They are able to come to the kids events and activities and are a big part of their lives.
On Thanksgiving we took the picture we've been wanting to take for a quite a while- 4 Generations.

Great Grandma Riddle, Grandma Smith, Johann and the kids.


Rebecca and Great Grandma Riddle. Grandma Riddle just loves to hold Rebecca.



6 of the 7 grandkids on the Smith side. Audrey (Jonas & Ians sister) was born on the 24th and was still at the hospital. The 4 year olds (Ammon & Jonas) were doing some posing for the camera no matter where they were standing.

An Amazing Weekend

This weekend was such a special one for many reasons. Janessa, Connor and Jennifer ( Janessa's sister) came and stayed with us. For the week or so before Corrine was counting down the days until she would have 2 babies to play with.
Saturday morning our friend Tara Cahill got baptized. It was such a nice baptism. There were so many people there to witness this special day for Tara.

Then in the evening 16 women and 3 babies got together for dinner at Blackstone. There was lots of yummy food, fun conversation and pictures taken. Amy Fillmore flew in Saturday afternoon and was able to join us for dinner.


The 3 babies-Rebecca, Connor (Janessa's) and Calista (Tara's). In reverse birth order-there is a month between the 3 of them. Connor is one lucky guy to have a girl on either side of him.


All the ladies that came to dinner (minus Sarah Hackman who left before we got the camera's rolling again.)
Back row: Raquel Kimball, Jennifer (Janessa's sister) Janessa Cazier, Connor Cazier, Linley Heath, Kristina Penfold, Shannon Hunger, Julie Varo, Lara Nielsen.
Front row: Valerie Blau, myself & Rebecca, Jessica Brown, Tracy Longo, Joyce Jeppsen, Tara Cahill, Calista, Amy Fillmore.


The original dinner swap girls. Amy Fillmore, Jessica Brown, myself and Janessa Cazier.


Rebecca and Connor got some time to play together way after their bedtimes Saturday night. The were cute rolling towards and reaching out to eachother. Connor was curious how Rebecca's fingers would taste, and got her hand into his mouth a few times. This was the 1st time that Connor and Rebecca were together, since Connor moved to Texas the week before Rebecca was born.

It was a fun weekend catching up with Janessa and enjoying dinner with so many friends Saturday night.

First Foods

The last few weeks Rebecca has been watching us eat and seemed very interested in what we were doing. She seemed ready for baby food-but mom wasn't. Last week I got her some rice cereal and last Saturday she got her first taste.

The verdict-SHE ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT!!! I made just a little bit to start with and when the spoon was not bringing cereal to her mouth she was crying for more. She was grabbing the spoon and if she got it, she was pulling it to her mouth. I made a 2nd bit that she gobbled down and when it was all gone she threw a huge tantrum.

Since then she has had peas-liked them, carrots-liked them, strawberry yogurt-LOVED IT. She has even had some small pieces of sweet potato puffs. She does a really good job mashing and swallowing them.
The kids have so much fun feeding her. Ammon does "here comes the airplane" when he feeds her, and flys the spoon around. She opens her mouth as soon as she sees the spoon coming-no encouragement needed. It's so cute!

*If your wondering about the yogurt-our dtr said it was fine. I was surprised that she could have it this young and she loves it. The only off limits besides chocking hazards are milk & honey.

The calendar says November

but the temperature feels like early September!

This weekend has been absolutely amazing! The temps got into the 70's the sun was out and so were the shorts and t-shirts. Rebecca had one of her 1st chances to wear a short sleeve shirt outside because it was so warm out.

The kids wanted to have a picnic outside after church. They "ordered" their lunch through the kitchen window, and had a fun time on their picnic.



Ammon was so funny with his hat. They came in to get hats because it was so sunny. Simeon & Corrine got baseball hats and Ammon grabbed a winter hat! He looked so hot with his hat, long sleeve shirt and pants.


After lunch Ammon said that he wanted to be alone in the playhouse so he could say a prayer. He got upset when I tried to take his picture-so I had to be sneaky. He was so sweet praying his gratitude for his friends, and his siblings friends.


How we would love for this weekends weather to continue, but we know it'll get cold soon, but oh how we LOVE Indian Summer days!!

Leaf piles are so much fun!

Today was beautiful-sunny, blue sky and warm so we took the opportunity to rake the leaves. We had such great helpers. The kids raked and loaded the leaves onto the sheet and helped carry it out front. Of course once the leaves were out it was time to JUMP and PLAY in them.



Ammon getting buried under the sheet.

Rebecca at 4 months

Rebecca has captured all of our hearts and each day she gives us more love and joy then we thought imaginable. The 1st thing the kids all want to do it the morning is go get Rebecca and hold her. The last thing they do at night is hug and kiss her.



Rebecca is such a social baby that LOVES to have a face to look at and "talk with". She squeals and talks so loudly especially if your laying on the ground with her. She just discovered the smiling baby in the mirror and it's so fun to watch her smile at the baby that smiles back!

This past month she is consistently sleeping through the night. She goes to bed around 8pm, I feed her around 11pm, then she sleeps until 7am. She may wake during the night but giving her a pacifier is all it takes for her to settle back down.
She is getting a schedule during the day. If you can get her down for a nap when she first shows tiredness she'll go right to sleep.
She can roll over, but doesn't do it that often. She likes to roll onto her side and back though. When on her back, she'll put her feet down, arch her back and push herself up slightly. She can move herself around when she rolls and kicks her legs. She is on the verge of sitting up by herself and gets such a kick out of it.
Tummy time has gotten more fun as she can now grab some small toys and eat them, and she can hold her head high enough to see all around her.
Her favoirte thing to do is rock. She pulls her body forwards and pushes her feet down and rocks backwards. She does this over and over.

The past few weeks we've had lots of exploration outside. She decided that her swing on the swingnset is fun, and that leaves are great toys. She grabs them and tries to get them into her mouth. She enjoys sitting in her stroller and looking around at the trees while I rake the leaves.
Everything goes into her mouth. Her favorite things to suck on are finger and hands-hers and ours. Tigger runs a close 2nd since he has a long tail she can hold onto the eat at the same time.

We are so in love with Rebecca Doodle (dad's nick name for her) and can't imagine life without her in it. I know Heavenly Father sent her to us when he did for a reason. I'm so grateful He did!

*I couldn't just put a few pictures on as she is so stinken adorable so I had to do a collage and put alot on!! And last check at the end of Oct she weighed in @ 13.2 lbs. She has a long body and legs and short little arms.

Simeon's last spinal

Today was a day that took over 36 months to come- Simeon had his LAST spinal tap!!! He has had at least 2 dozen of them-a better guess would bring the total to 3 dozen over the last 3 years.

Simeon sleepy from the medicine.

This spinal tap went better then they've gone in the last 18 months. He got fluids before, during and after the spinal to keep him hydrated. He had his normal meds for the spinal and at the end we added IV benadryl to see if it would help with the nausea and headache. IV benadryl is known to put him to sleep for 6 hours, but we preferred him sleeping to being sick.

The yellow syringe is the chemo they put back in after they take out fluid to check.

I had forgotten to grab parking money, and knew that I had enough for 3 hours. At 3 hours I was getting really worried about how to get out of the parking ramp, when in walked our nurse. She handed me a parking pass as part of a new program for kids getting infusions. The pass was an answer to a prayer.
Simeon kept saying he felt "awesome" but I was scared he'd still get sick on the drive home, but he didn't. We made it to Taco Bell for lunch, ate it and then he played outside for a few hours until the meds wore off.
What a great feeling to be done with spinal taps. Simeon counted just 7 more weeks and he's done with IV chemo.