Christmas with the Smith's

This year we were able to spend Christmas day with the Smith's up in Sandy Utah.  We had a nice time hanging out and eating good food.  It was a pleasure to be able to attend church on Christmas morning.  

We are grateful for all the things that we have experienced in life so far and the wonderful people we get to share them with.  As we reflect back on this past year we ponder the fun adventures we got to experience and look forward to the ones to come. 

It seems like we have desperately been looking forward to Aaron's graduation in the far distant year of 2012.  I cannot believe that that year has finally come!  I know that this year will bring some great challenges with some exciting changes, bring it.

Guest Post and Carrot Tomato Soup

I was able to guest post on the amazing blog Taming Of The (Celiac) Sprue. Go check it out! It is all about cooking gluten free, there are some amazing recipes there.  This is the post I did.


Christmas time for us is always such a great time of year.  For the past few years we have been living away from home, in a different state.   During this time we have especially looked forward to Christmas because it meant that we would be able to see our families for a longer period of time.

As a kid one of my favorite memories during Christmas was my dad dressing up as Santa.  He would grow his beard out and wear an amazing suit that my mother made.  He would go to family gatherings and other parties to play the part of Santa.  When he would return home we would all take turns sitting on daddies knee to get our annual Santa picture.

With the cool weather here and Christmas right around the corner I decided to share a very delicious soup.  This recipe comes by way of a recipe book that I received from my brother and sister in law when they lived in Arkansas.  Very delish!

Carrot Tomato Soup

2 tbsp unsalted butter
1/2 small onion diced
1 lb carrots peeled and diced
3 tbsp water
1 large can of whole stewed tomatoes
1/2 tsp sugar
2 cloves garlic peeled and crushed
1 sprig of thyme
4 1/2 cups chicken stock
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
3/4 cup heavy cream
2 egg yolks

Directions

Melt butter in large saucepan, add onions and carrots and cook over medium heat 5 min. Add water. Simmer for 15 min covered until carrots are tender.

Add tomatoes, sugar, garlic, thyme, stock and bring gently to a boil. Turn down heat and simmer for 15 min covered.

Allow mixture to cool briefly,then puree in a blender. (If you have an immersion blender use that instead then you don't have to switch pots)

Pour soup into a clean saucepan and simmer for 5 min. Season with salt and pepper and remove from heat.

Whip cream with egg yolks in a small bowl. Stir some of the hot mixture into the bowl to temper the eggs; gently blend this mixture back into the soup. Stir well; do not boil or mixture will separate. Check seasoning.

Enjoy with your favorite salad or GF rolls!! 

Check out our personal blog where my hubby and I enjoy all kinds of fun adventures www.smiths-ourlife.blogspot.com

Also you can check out our YouTube channel1  and YouTube channel 2 to see more.

Tombstone

Since our lives are finally back to semi normal, with boards over with, (!!!) we are now able to explore this town a little bit.  

This past weekend we took a trip down to Tombstone, an old western town.  We of course chose the coldest day to go :( which I did my fair share of complaining about.  

This town really is neat with all the plays, stage coach rides, shops, restaurants, and interesting museums.  We really had a good time despite the cold weather.  

The Wyatt Earp Theater, where we saw a few deadly gun fights!!

The Bird Cage Theater is the only original building here.  This place is old and really cool.  We decided to take the tour and we are glad we did for two reasons 1. because it was really awesome to see some antiques from back in the day and 2. because I think it was the only building in town that had heat....

We also took a tour of the old courthouse

These gallows were actually used to kill 7 men.....yikes.

Overall it was a fun trip.  Hopefully we can go back on a warmer day.  We found out that Aaron's' great great grandpa did some mining in Tombstone,  we are excited to learn more about him. 

YouTube

So...... I started a YouTube channel.  Not really sure why, I just feel like it will be good for me and fun too.  The name of my channel is Moments.  I choose the name because those are the things that I remember in life, moments.  This channel will focus on the fun and positive things in my life.  Still not sure what other videos I am going to make.  I do know that I am excited to see what this new adventure has in store for me.

Subscribe to my channel to stay up to date!!

Sierra Vista

Well we just made our 3rd move of the year, wow has it gone by fast!  This latest move has put us in Sierra Vista Arizona.  We were pleasantly surprised to find that the house we will be staying in is in a nice neighborhood and has all the things needed to keep us comfortable.  

Disclaimer:  I have added a lot of pictures of the house, the reason, to keep the family up to date.   

View from the front of the house

View of the entrance

View of the living room

View #1 of the kitchen

View #2 of the kitchen

View from the kitchen looking toward the living room.

View of our bedroom

View of our bathroom

View of our closet 

View from our room toward the living room. 

Is there a manual for these???

View of backyard. 

While living here in AZ we will be sharing this cool house with one of Aaron's cool classmates.  Her name is Kara and she is awesome.  This is a pic of her wing.  She has two bedrooms and a bathroom.  I think that living with her will be great!

The themed decor for the home is pretty cool, it is a western theme that totally fits the place. 

We are excited to see what adventures AZ has in store for us.  I have started to make my list, hopefully we can have some great adventures.  

As a side note, Mazie loves it here, she has so much room to run around and play.  The back yard is so great for her and I can tell she is going to love it here, there is even a dog park nearby!!

16x2

Wow time has flown by! It is hard be believe that we have been back in Cali for a couple of months already and now it is time to move again.  Last week we celebrated Aaron's birthday, a big 32.  We were so lucky to be able to spend the afternoon at California Adventure/Disney Land because of our friends the Uriens',  both work at the park and were so kind to let us in. 

 Urien's, Guymon's, Smith's

 I hate to admit this but when Aaron and I had passes to the parks our first year out here we never made it over to California Adventure....sad I know.

We were so excited, well mainly just me, to see what California Adventure was all about.  This is us just before the Toy Story ride, which I might add was SOOOOO fun!!!

As an after thought for the next few days my right tripceps was so sore from pulling the trigger.  Even with all that shooting Aaron still beat me....




Aaron with his birthday pin.  One of the Disneyland workers told Aaron happy 16th birthday as we walked by.  It is a little ironic that it is actually 16x2.  I am guessing this guy is going to age well. 


Happy Birthday, Love you!!!

It is sad leaving Cali, again, for good.  We have had so much fun here.  We have made some amazing life long friends.  I am grateful for the opportunities that we have had while being out here to grow and learn what life is like outside of Utah. As we will probably end up there in the end, I will still think of Cali as home away from home.

Boards Part 3

 The boys (Aaron, Neal, and Royce) headed out to North Carolina to take boards part 3 this past week.  Since this is the first year that students are required to go to North Carolina to take the boards exam, the guys decided that they wanted to get it over with early.  They actually took boards part 3 before boards part 2.  As a review they said that the food was amazing there and they enjoyed the city and were in awe at how green it was over there.  The actual test took them a little out of their element since they weren't used to the equipment and the fact that there were multiple people and cameras on them while they performed each skill, not to mention one of those window mirrors that you see in cop shows.  Overall, they feel like they still passed and we are so excited that by the end of November they will have taken all of their exams for optometry school!!

(Angie came up with this idea to hide a treat for them in their luggage)

Aaron is so sweet, he usually gets me a fun souvenir when I am not able to travel with him.  These praline pecans are soooo good. Thanks Aaron, Love Ya.

She's Back

For the past three months while we were staying in Hawaii my parents were so kind and took care of our dog Mazie.  She had so much fun playing and running around on their farm and hangin with the fam.  We originally thought that she was going to be with my family for the whole year but we found out that we would be able to take her with us when we move to Arizona in November so we thought it would be nice to have her here with us in Cali too.

Adventures in Pierced Ears

It might seem crazy that at age 26 I have never had my ears pieced but, its true.  Last week I finally did it, with the encouragement of a couple friends.  Since I am curious and often times impatient by nature I had to see what a real pair of earings would look like.  After much struggle, and at one point wearing the right earring backwards, I accidentally lost one of the original earrings by dropping it down the drain.  I am now stuck with a pair of earings that dont match......hhhmmmm

if you see me don't laugh 

Before

During

After

Change

Change is weird and hard.  I knew that this year would bring us many changes, particularly with moving to 4 different states.  This most recent move has put us back in California.  We are lucky to be able to room with some friends of ours the Guymons.  We are so happy to be here!!  The other night as Aaron and I were laying in bed.  I was reading and he was on the computer, we both started laughing, hard.  For the past 3 months we would fall asleep listening to the geckos knowing that the ants were getting ready to feast.  It is nice to wake up without them.  I am so excited to get back to crafting and sewing!!

Top Ten

Top ten things we learned while living in Hawaii:

1.  Ya, is something you say after every sentence, or word
2.  SPAM really is a very popular food item, it is even served at restaurants like McDonald's
3.  Drivers are so polite in Hawaii, if only it was like that everywhere else
4.  Flips flops are called Slippas, and it is tradition to remove your shoes when entering any home
5.  What seems like a one way road is actually a 2 way road.....sometimes
6.  Pigeon speak, which is Hawaiian slang, is hard to understand, but so fun to listen to
7.  They have some of the best bakeries we have ever been to, bad news for the wait line
8.   The Hawaiian language has only 12 letters: a,e,i,o,u,h,k,l,m,n,p,w, words can get pretty confusing
9.  The Crack Seed Store is not what you think, it is actually a store full of ancient style dried foods
10.  After 93 days of fun in the rainbow state we are looking forward to the next adventures in our life

 

Good bye

Wow does time fly.  As we leave this beautiful island, I am so happy that we had the experience of spending time here.  When Aaron and I first found out over one year ago that we might be able to come out here we were excited but also nervous about making such a big move.  The people that we have met out here and those who have been placed in our path was no coincidence.  Often times we don't know how or why we are placed where we are.  I am so overwhelmed with gratitude for the blessings that we have seen in our lives.  I have been  upset in the past wondering why things in my life are not going according to my plan and the way I think things should happen.  I know that there is a plan for me, God's plan, and his plan is better than mine.  As I am learning to accept his plan, with patience, blessings are being poured out.  The experiences that we have had while living out here are part of those blessings.  

By for now, we'll be back!!

White Tiger

The White Tiger, as she has affectionately been know for the past few months, now has a new home!! When we got out here we were still unsure if we wanted to buy a car.  We soon realized that we would not be able to see the island to it's fullest extent if we did not have a car. 

Two days after we moved out here, it didn't take long to figure it out, we bought the White Tiger. She has been a great car BUT I am so happy that we sold her. As the man who bought our car handed over the cash, which was all in $20 dollar bills, I was excited to hold a stack of money that was over two inches thick.  It went well and I think she has a good home.  Our treat for selling the car was my favorite, See's Chocolates!

Now we just need a ride to the airport.......hhhmmm

Rosalyn

While my mom and Rosalyn were out visiting us we took a few senior pictures of Rosalyn.  I cannot believe that this girl is a senior.  She as grown up so fast and truly is an amazing person.  These pictures were taken on a ten miles drive that is up in the mountains above Honolulu called Tantalus Drive.  We wanted to get some shots of her by the beach but we ran out of time. 

 

 

  

Mom and Roz

My mom and little sister Rosalyn came out to visit us last week.  We had so much fun with them.  

Now that I have been with them I am getting more home sick. 

They flew in on Friday morning at 5am.  We didn't waist any time and headed up the west coast of the island where we snorkeled.  The west side is dryer than other areas and is known for having sea shells.  We didn't have much luck in finding sea shells only a few small ones.  The snorkeling was cool.

One of the nights that they were here we borrowed Donna's bricket grill and headed to the beach to cook tin foil dinners. The weather was great and the atmosphere was perfect.  Right after the sun went down the beach was literally empty and we had it all to ourselves. 

One of the hikes we took was called the Aiea Valley Loop Trail it was a 4.5 mile hike into Aiea Valley.  As we were almost at the top of the mountain we heard traffic as we rounded the top we realized that we had crossed over to the other side of the mountain we could see the H-3 freeway.  I would bet this is a view of the freeway most don't get.

There were some crazy big waves over at Waimanalo.  We had fun jumping and diving into the waves. 

Even doing fun tricks in the water. 

We had a good time with these two and can't wait to see everyone else soon!!

Other things we did:

Kayaking to the Moks- about 3 miles round trip
Snorkeling at Sharks Cove- where we saw many turtles
Hiked Diamond Head
Maunawilli Falls Hike-where Roz jumped of one of the tallest cliffs
Pearl Harbor Tour