JJ COLE

Well we have ourselves a little model. Sawyer was asked to do some modeling for the baby company JJ Cole. I love their stuff so I was more than willing to let my baby be one of the many cute faces of their company. Sawyer was actually "discovered" at the Fireside that Elder Ballard came and gave. I guess it really does pay to be spiritual. It was an excellent fireside though. I love it that we get so many general authorities to come and give fireside up in Logan.

Sawyer did okay with smiling for the camera. Our first shoot was on Tues. the 15 at 8:00 AM which is before Sawyer usually gets up. He was good at first but he got a little out of control so I hope they got some good shots before he started crying. Normally he is such a ham for the camera I felt really bad he was crying. Our second shoot was later that day. He did so much better the second time. I wonder if they could photoshop his face from the second shoot for his first one. Our neighbor was also asked to do the photo shoot. It was fun to have somebody I knew there with me.

Always an Adventure

I knew the day would come when Sawyer would be on the move constantly but I was not ready for it. Not even in the slightest. He is so adorable that I don't mind right now and he doesn't move too fast yet but this is his first week of really crawling. Today was actually the first day he even really explored on his own. He was everywhere.

He is so funny. He has discovered the door stopper and loves to make it make noises. He loves cords, which makes for a very nervous mom. He finds them everywhere, even ones that are behind things. He also loves, loves anything that crinkles such as plastic bags. NOT A GOOD TOY!! Today, he was trying to get under his crib to get his bag of diapers. It was hilarious. His head kept hitting the crib and he didn't know how to duck it. He just kept backing up and moving forward. He was getting so frustrated. It was hilarious.

Hardware Ranch

This past Saturday we seized the opportunity to get out of the valley and go up to some clear skies. It was amazing just 17 miles up the canyon and we had fresh air and blue skies. We haven't seen blue skies for a week or so. Honestly, since the day I posted about how beautiful Cache Valley is in the winter. I guess I jinxed myself.

It was our first visit to Hardware Ranch as a family. It was pretty fun. There were so many elk. We saw quite a few bulls and lots of cows and calves. We went on the wagon ride so we could get up close and personal with the animals. Two six points were actually playing/fighting-

I don't know exactly what you would call -it right by the wagon. One of the bulls even had electric fencing in its antlers. Apparently it doesn't bother him so they don't want to stress the animal more by tranquilizing him and taking it out.

After a cold day in the mountains we headed down to get some Aggie Ice Cream. We love Aggie Ice Cream!!! Even Sawyer has quite the sweet tooth for it.

Sawyer is on the MOVE!!

I can not believe how fast my baby is growing up. It makes me a little sad. I wish he could stay my baby forever, but then again, it will be nice when he can actually feed himself and dress himself, etc.

This week Sawyer learned to crawl. He has been so close for so long. He started out getting into the crawling position and rocking back and forth then sitting up again. He then started to do push ups or planks and rock a bit. He learned is he moved his arms he could rotate in a circle while on the floor. He thought this was pretty cool for about ten minutes. He tried to move his legs a bit but just never quite got the hang of it. When he did get the hang of using his legs he legs moved and his arms didn't. He almost did a roll. It was hilarious. He eventually figured out how to move his legs and arms together to get to places he wanted to go. Look out house, you are in for it now!!! He has already made it down the hall all by himself and he is currently crawling around the living room getting into books and my boots. Lovely. - Just a side note as I was typing he just pulled himself to a standing position on the couch. First time ever. He will be walking before we know it.

Cache Valley Appreciation

I love living in Cache Valley....well most of the time when it is above freezing. It is so beautiful here. I woke up last Monday morning to clear skies and clear air. That does not happen often in Cache Valley in the winter. I wanted to take full advantage of this opportunity to be able to be outside for extended periods of time. It is times like these when I have a Cache Valley appreciation moment.

I have had a bad case of Spring fever this past week. It has been above freezing and the inversion has cleared which means Sawyer and I have been going running. It is like Heaven. I forget how much I love to run until I go again. It does stink when you have to get back into shape though, which is where I am right now, but it is so nice to be out in the fresh air instead of trying to do a workout video inside. I plan to take full advantage of my break from Jillian and Bob and enjoy every minute outside before the inversion and bad weather is back :)

AGGIES

Over the Christmas break we were able to go to an Aggie Basketball game. The games are so much fun to go to. We are huge fans can you tell?

Santa Found Us

This Christmas we were so spoiled. We went down to my grandparents for the holiday. I love going to my grandparents. Their home is my second "home". They always make us feel so welcome. It is also really fun to go there because my uncle lives right up the road so my cousins come and visit often, which means lots of late nights and laughing. While at my grandparents we decided to go to Richfield and have a little day out. We ended up going to the movies. I was a little worried because we had Sawyer and lets face it what 7 month old can sit and be quiet for a couple of hours. He did so good though. He ate and then fell asleep on his dad. Travis has a knack for putting him to sleep. We ended up seeing "True Grit". It was really fun to go especially with the Grandparents my grandpa loves westerns. Rowdy and Vanessa were with us as well, we had to pick up some odds and ends presents.

Christmas eve night I had the worst headache of my entire life. It is too bad nobody told Sawyer. He decided he needed to get up twice that night. I guess he was so excited for Santa to come. Travis is so good to me though. He got up with Sawyer the second time at 5:00 AM and let me sleep. Travis was so excited to open presents but we had to wait for Vanessa to come back from Beaver so we had to eat breakfast before we could open the gifts. I know it was killing Travis. When we finally got to see what was under the tree Santa decided to spoil us. He left me a sewing machine.

I was so excited. I thought he forgot but Santa

came through for me. I am so excited to be crafty. My mom spent and afternoon teaching me how to use the machine, she used to be a Home Economics Teacher. My mom spoiled me this year and got me a peacoat. I was so excited. She got my sisters coats last year but since I was pregnant she didn't want to get me one that wouldn't fit right. My sisters got us a deep freeze for Christmas too. Travis got a new tennis racquet. I have no idea how he was able to shake the

box and figure that out but he did, that is why I never put his presents out until the night before. Sawyer got lots of toys and clothes, thank goodness because he is moving sizes. He wasn't too interested in opening presents though. Maybe next year.

We had a delicious lunch over at my Uncle Todd's house. Prime rib, funeral potatoes, rolls, homemade root beer, I love family dinners. After dinner we headed up to the hills to go shooting a Smith Family Tradition. No family party would be complete without guns.

We were able to talk to Krista on the phone. She is in Bolivia on a mission. The phone kept cutting in and out but it was good to hear her voice. I hope it didn't make her too homesick. It was so much fun to spend Christmas with family. I love the Holidays.