In Mourning....

My bucket list included attending a Michael Jackson (if you know me well you know I'm a fan) concert if he ever toured in the U.S. again....I'm sorry to say I've had to cross it off my list as it will never be. What a bummer....So in honor of his FREAKIN' AWESOME music and FABULOUS and IMPOSSIBLE dance moves I've been dedicating some dancing in my living room to his memory.

I remember watching this music video back in the 80's in my mom and dad's bedroom (when I of course wasn't suppose to be watching MTV) and it scared the SHIZZZ outta me...but I would try to mimic the moves...I've come to improve upon it over the years.

This one came a little later in life. Who could forget 'Beat It'? Not me and not my friend Jane. We recorded one of his concerts on TV when we were roomies ( a LONG time ago) and we kept rewinding the video until we could do it, all while Mike Hammond watched and laughed from the couch. I'm sure all our roomies were very impressed?!? Well, we got it down and we still bust it out from time to time.

R.I.P Michael Jackson, you crazy sucker. To bad I won't have any future dances to look forward too. BUMMER!

One of my favorites!

A friend of mine at work introduced me to a great website called Eat Better America. I may just have been out of the loop and some of you may already know about this but I love it! It's great, healthy recipes that are pretty quick and easy. They taste great and are healthy for you...can't beat that! If you try it out you'll have to let me know what you think....

www.eatbetteramerica.com

It finally came together....

Last year I was asked to be part of a team who would be creating a new program for older adults in all of Southern Idaho. Myself and three others came to our first meeting really excited and ready to go....what we didn't know was the amount of work that was headed our way! We were NOT prepared for what we were about to experience.

Since October we have been building this project from the ground up. The program is called Reducing Risk in Senior Living and is funded by a cooperative in Washington D.C. This program will be implemented around southern Idaho and is a class designed for seniors to come and learn about the importance of living in a safe environment. We cover home safety (food safety/preparation, fire prevention, home security and emergency preparedness), fall prevention and exercises and medication safety (reducing medication errors). We did all the research and developed all the class materials. Its been a great learning experience for me and I've really enjoyed watching it all slowly coming together.

We held 2 training sessions for reps from other hospitals around Idaho to come and learn how to implement this program in their own hospitals and communities. We had a fun time with the training and we're excited to watch it pop up around Idaho.





We held our first class last Thursday here at Portneuf. We had 25 people show up which is a great turn out for a class like this. The participants had a great time and we received some really great feedback which made us really excited for the rest of our upcoming classes.




In all my glory teaching the Home Safety portion of the class! It was great! They are such a great population to work with and they were all really fun to get to know!

I have felt really fortunate to be a part of this 4 man team! We have struggled, screamed, laughed, sweat, cried, laughed, stressed, laughed and just about every other emotion getting to this point but now we are EXCITED and impressed with ourselves and all our hard work!

Cauldron Lynn

As I mentioned, the water in the Snake River is REALLY high right now. With all the record rain fall we've gotten the river is over flowing! So, when the water is high we always have to go check out Cauldron Lynn in Milner. If you live around those parts or by some odd chance you're driving through, you should really go see it.



The whole Snake River squeezes through a gap that's about 20 feet wide! Seriously! When the water is high it's a pretty amazing site. When you stand close enough the ground just thunders and shakes because of the force of water being pushed through such a tiny space.








I get a little nervous getting to close...and this was plenty close for me! It was so loud you couldn't hear anything!






The gap...pretty amazing huh? I pity the fool who ever gets to close...ouch!






Blair so dramatically displays the fear you feel when getting to close! Thanks bud for the demo,it's super realistic....



We didn't make it down to Shoshone Falls which is also a site when the water is running high. Hopefully we'll make it back before it slows a bit.

4th of July

This year we headed to Burley for the annual 4th of July bash at my mom and dad's. We had a great time boating all day Saturday but I'm bummed that I didn't get any pictures at the river. I can't believe how high the water is. It was coming over the side of the docks and up on the grass!

The bb-q kicked off the evening. There were a lot of friends and family and it was fun to catch up with everyone. Doesn't the patio cover look great? Blair and Garrett spent a day in Burley a couple weeks ago building it for my mom. Dad finally gave in since mom's been wanting one for 10 years! (I think because he'll be working her over for the Harley Davidson here pretty soon!)

The fireworks were great! My mom and dad went to Jackson Hole a couple weekends ago to stock up for the show. It was great and this year we actually had a fireworks show without any injuries...an uncommon thing at the Smith 4th of July show! For anyone who has attended...you know what I 'm talking about! Being able to run for your life is usually a prerequisite for attending the fireworks show...not joking!

I love the 4th of July! It's one of my favorite times of year! I love all the patriotism and the red, white and blue. It helps me to remember the sacrifice some have made for us. I'm always amazed when thinking about our fore fathers who had a vision of one free nation, under God. They were inspired men and I'm proud to honor them this time of year!

I hope you all had a great 4th of July!

Shelly's Baby Shower

On June 27th I had a baby shower for my sis-in-law Shelly. It was super duper fun and turned out pretty cute. I have such a great time party planning I should probably do it for a living...although around here I'm not sure anyone could make a living on being a party planner!



I had everyone write a note to Shelly with some advice or just a little love note! After writing a note they put it in the can and Shelly got to take that with her. It was really cute to see what some of her friends wrote to her.



This was the food table and I really messed up....I didn't get a picture once the food was out! Bummer....Can you tell I have an obsession for cake plates? I've just figured out how to make my own so I can get what I really want and it's MUCH cheaper than just buying a regular cake plate at the store. The problem with this is now my shelves in the pantry are being taken over with cake plates of every size, shape and color!!



This was one of the tables. Check out the party favors on the plates. They were my favorite...boxes with flower magnets and chocolate hugs and kisses! There wasn't really a theme but I decided to be a rebel and not to blue. We did red, black and white with zebra print stuff. I've been on a zebra kick lately so I had lots of stuff to use!


We had the shower in my backyard which was great for getting it finished! We've just had a garden area, dog kennel and a whole lotta dirt for the last couple years. We had plans for a patio and yard but it just wasn't quite getting done. Well, I let Blair know he had a deadline this summer and it had to be done so we could have a party in the backyard! Thank heavens for the party because the yard is now complete! (Although I do still need to pick up some patio furniture!)



The guest of honor! She made a haul on cute baby stuff! He'll be the best dressed kid in town! P.S. They are having a baby boy!



This is the diaper cake I made for her. I had Blair help me roll and tie diapers while watching a movie...he's such a good helper (aside from the complaining!) The bistro was used for the gift table and was full by then time everyone got there!

Thanks to Martha Stewart I made some pom-poms to hang in the trees! They were really cute and were the icing on the cake!

I have to give a big thanks to my very good friend Ashlee at Real Deals here in Pocatello. If you live here and haven't been there yet you need to go...it's home decor store that's to much fun! She helped me with the center pieces for the tables and she is amazing! Thanks Ash for all your help...I couldn't have done it without your help!

Trip to Washington

In June we (Garrett, Shelly, Blair, me and Gibson) packed in Blair's truck and started out for Washington. Gibson was piled into his crate in the back but he's does ok on the road as long as we stop and let him swim at least once along the way!

Blair's uncles were also able to come and hang out with everyone. Bruce and his wife Debbie are from Nevada and Scott is from Texas. Scott's wife wasn't able to make the trip and we missed her but his 3 year old Val accompanied him and am I glad she did! I couldn't get enough of her! She's such a cutie and a smarty pants for being 3! She was sure to let me know that the "President of the United States is Barack Obama and the Vice President of the United States is Joe Biden"...to freakin' cute! We had a ton of fun visiting with all the family and we were glad everyone could get together!

Graycie provided most of our entertainment on this trip as well! She's 10 months and so fun! We just sit and try to get her to laugh. She wasn't so sure of her Uncle Blair in the beginning but they had bonded by the end of the trip.

We stayed with Blair's mom and dad in Deer Park. For some reason we didn't get a picture of Brian (Blair's dad)...I realized once I got looking at pictures that we only busted out the camera one day! Not so smart on my part...

Graycie loved playing with Val. No matter what Val did Graycie thought it was so funny! She could make her laugh like no one else.

My little side kick and I decided we needed a pedicure! She loved the pink toe nails so by the end of the day we had matching toes!

The drive home was long (probably because I was car sick about 10 miles into the drive!) but the trip was great. It's always nice when everyone can get together!

P.S. We went as saw The Proposal and I highly recommend it! I can't wait to watch it again!

Jenna's BHS Graduation

So I'm really behind on the bloggin'! I'll have to play catch up with the next few posts.

My little sis Jenna graduated from Burley High School in May. She was really excited and looked super cute in her cap and gown. She's attending CSI for her first year and she is really excited about being a college girl!



Chad and I went in on a gift for her. A whole laundry basket full of anything and everything she'll need to start out her first year! I think I had more fun putting it together than she had opening it!



The Smith fam + Gramp Dalton at their finest! Nice backside Chaddy! Can you tell he's humble? ;)

I'm so proud of you Jen! I know I'm your favorite sister (wink!)...and I'm glad we're such good buddies! Enjoy this time...it goes so fast. I can't believe it's my 10 year HS reunion next year! CRAZY!!!