Pumpkin Carving!!!

We had a fun night carving pumpkins. This year, we just got 2 pumpkins and teamed up the kids. They had fun designing the pumpkins together. I had to laugh, out of the 4 kids, Rylee was the only one that dared to touch the "GUTS", maybe its because we call it "GUTS". So, I was busy scrapping the pumpkins so, they could make the faces. The whole time Luke was watching us gut the pumpkins, he just kept saying, "Oh, GROSS, that's DISGUSTING", so funny.

Joslyn, just liked playing with the pumpkin parts, the nose, the mouth. She liked licking them also, kinda random :0)!!!

The top middle picture is Luke, saying "EWWWW, GROSS".

All done and glowing beautifully!!!

MESSY, WATER FUN!!

It's moment like these, do you stop the fun because you know what a mess they are going to be in their clothes OR do you just let them play and take lots of PICTURES!! Of course, I took lots of pictures. Joslyn and Luke played in the mud and water for hours. They had so much fun splashing and giggling with each other. These are priceless memories, I will cherish of my kids being kids.

TRUNK OR TREAT

We had our Churches Trunk or Treat Halloween party on Saturday. It is always such a fun night. It starts with a fun dinner, then the kids get to go and TRUNK or TREAT out in the parking lot to all the cars. They get excited to dress up and go Trunk or Treating with there friends before Halloween!!!

Luke was Woody and my sweet cute little Joslyn was a VAMPIRE KITTY!! She wanted fangs, a white face with GOOEY blood dripping from her teeth....nasty girl. She was pretty excited she could look so scary. Luke was pretty much running from her all night, because she kept putting on her fangs and hissing at him.

Rylee is a cute Pirate and Morgan is an Angel!! I was scrambling for a costume, Morgan told me I HAD TO DRESS UP THIS YEAR, OR ELSE.....I got in my old high school stuff and put on my old Warriorette outfit. I was amazed I could get the pants passed my thighs ;0) Boomer had on his old Letterman's jacket, OH, our fun high school days!! The other pictures of Joslyn are with some friends from Preschool, Soren is the cute spider-boy and her BEST friend Olivia is the witch.

Aren't we just the cutest High School sweet hearts!!

Visitors...YEA!!

We were so excited to get a Grandpa and Grandma to come and visit. Boomer's parents were on there way to their house in South Carolina. They were planning a different way to drive there, so, they weren't going to stop by on there way out, but on the way back. We got a call the day before that they change there driving plans and wanted to stop the next night and sleep over a night. WE WERE SOOOO EXCITED!!! They ended up getting here Sunday night around 9:30, then took off on the road again Monday night around 7:00. It was a fun, quick trip. We can't wait till they stop by on there way back to Utah, and stay a few more days!!

Thanks for stopping by, WE LOVE YOU!!!!

Red, Green or Christmas!!

When it turned into October, all the sudden I saw big roasters being placed in front of grocery stores, then on every empty street corner. I had no idea what was going on or why there were lines of people. 

When you go to restaurants here to eat, breakfast, lunch or dinner. The waitress with ask you, do you want it green, red or Christmas. I was really confused and just said neither. So, what this is all means, it is CHILI season here in Albuquerque. When they ask you green, red or Christmas, they are asking, what kind of Chili sauce do you want, Christmas means a mix of the 2. It really depends on your taste buds which one you like. Boomer and I LOVE green and Morgan likes red.

Back to the roasters, you go and buy chili's...you have to buy a minimum of 8-10 pounds. So, I jumped in a decided to learn the culture. I bought 10 pounds,  then I had them roast them there, you can do it at home but it would take longer. You can buy mild, medium or HOT or a mixture between them all.

After purchasing them, you have to leave them in the bag they give you, for at least 2 hours before preparing them. They are still cooking in the bag. After you have to take of a thin layer of the skin, the part that was roasted, then you take the seeds and stem off. It is a process. It felt like skinning fish and taking out there guts out, a little less stinky :0) but very slimy.

A fact I didn't know, when you look at the pictures, green chili's are green because they are picked before turning red. So, there are a few that have red streaks in them. After getting mine all prepared, I made a chili sauce. It was REALLY good, Boomer puts it on every thing. The other stuff, I just chopped and put in 4oz baggies in the freezer. I am set for any recipes that call for green chili's. It was a fun thing to learn. My friend even brought me over red chili's on a string, I see them on every ones house. I feel very New Mexican with them hanging in my kitchen :0)

40th Annual Balloon Fiesta, 2011

We attended our FIRST Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta. It was ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!!! We were in complete AAAHHHHHH the whole time. My husband and kids were teasing me the whole time, I couldn't quick taking pictures or squealing in delight at every balloon that would blow up right before me. It was a fantastic morning. It should be on every ones "BUCKET LIST".

The first balloons to ascend were the Dawn Patrol. They lifted off at 5:45 in morning. We were walking in right as they took off, such an incredible sight. We brought a dozen Krispy Kremes and Hot Chocolate, and sat down and watched the show.

The next accession was at 7:00 and 7:15...I could not believe how many balloons there were.....rows and rows of them, never ending rows of balloons blowing up. The thing that amazed me was how close the balloons were by each other, in the lower right picture, there is a row of balloons are blowing up.

The kids were so, excited you could get right by the balloons and touch them.

Oh, the shape balloons, were AMAZING!! The coolest part was when a balloon was just starting to blow up, you could see a face or a trunk and you just couldn't wait to see what it was going to be.

The Darth Vader was the hit of the show, when it arose from the ground

 the crowd went crazy. The beer bottle was great, the haunted house and Cream of Weber cow...I had to explain to the kids who Pepe La Peu was...

This is the inside of a balloon, looking up from the bottom of the basket. AMAZING!! Look at the vibrant colors.

We found an open space and laid down and just watched the balloon fly over head. It was cool because the lower wind pushed the balloons south and then once they hit a certain elevation it pushed them north. So, you would have balloons go one way then come back over our head to see again. The lower right is the Alien balloon from Roswell!!

Joslyn just screamed when she saw the bug balloon, it was her favorite.

This balloon is "LILLY", we were standing right by this balloon. So, we got to watch them unpack her, roll her out and start the fire to get her to blow up. The kids were so excited when she lifted up and all the crew in the basket all waved goodbye. We kept our eye on her till she was a little dot in the sky.

This was Morgan's favorite. It is a Dad, Mom and little baby bee. It was amazing watching them all the sudden rise from the ground. The Dad and Mom had regular baskets hooked to them, but the baby had a guy just sitting in a chair. It was pretty cool to see.

The 2 shots of the crowd were 2 different shot in different directions at the same time...TONS AND TONS of people. 

This is Rylee's favorite..THE PENGUIN. This was the first shape we saw rise up, we were so excited to see a fun, HUGE shape.

We never did get to see the glow at night, the night we went it was cancelled because of the weather. All the balloons stay grounded and just light up at night..we watched in live on the computer. It was amazing just see.

I am attaching the link to the Balloon Fiesta website, you can go and watch the camzone in fast motion of all the events, it is soooo cool.

CLICK HERE for the link.

Where Is He?????

We had one of those experiences that you go through life and after it makes you stop to think what you have and are grateful those around you!!!

It was after dinner on a Monday, when I had one of those feelings of, "WHERE'S LUKE"...we started calmly yelling for him and looking in odd places..after about 10 min. and he is no where to be found, we start frantically YELLING and LOOKING for him, how could he just vanish. Rylee was in absolute hysteria screaming and sobbing yelling for him. Morgan went outside and was looking out front of the house yelling and crying for him. Joslyn was following me around as I am rechecking closets and bathtubs, every little nook and cranny in the home...she was talking through the feelings, "Mom why would Luke leave us, we love him, why would he leave, we are nice........" on and on and on....Finally after no signs in the house, I jump in the car and check the park across the street. There happened to a cop in the neighborhood so, he took his description and said, "he would keep his eye out".....I get a call from Boomer to come home, he said, "We found Luke, he is fine, just come home"...and this is what I saw:

So, obviously we need to look lower and in the kitchen...he was doing dishes and obviously got tired. We now know he is a true Smith, when we can be SCREAMING his name and he just sleeps on. Boomer and I stood there with tears streaming down our cheeks, grateful he was safe. I scooped him up and put him in his PJ's and put him safe and sound in his bed.

Sharks, Giraffes and Monkeys, OH MY!!!!

For the last week Luke has asks me AT LEAST 3 times a day, "Mom, we go to the ZOO". How can you say no to that little sweet voice. So, we waited till Jos was done with Preschool and we took off to the zoo. It was a perfect day to go, not many people and amazing weather.

We usually go to the aquarium first then take a 30 min. train ride to the zoo (the best part). Once, at the zoo we can go see our favorite 

animals and call it a day!!

Here are pictures from the aquarium. The aquarium tank had the sunlight streaking through, it looked amazing. Luke's new thing is WOODY right now, he wears his Woody hat EVERYWHERE. I love it because it embarrasses his sisters!!!

We were ecstatic to see a baby giraffe. He was adorable. I can stand watch and take pictures of Giraffe's for hours. Their spots, necks, eyes just amaze me. The Mama Giraffe was so tender and sweet with her new baby. Lots of cuddles and kisses for him. Look at each picture, there are so many tender moments. My favorite picture is of the baby giraffe looking WAY up at his Mom.

The Orangutan is another animal I LOVE to watch. When we got there the Mom and baby, Reese were snuggling in a blanket (bottom middle). Later the Mom got up dragging her blanket and climbed to the top of the tree and just watched us watching her. There was also a sweet baby elephant. 

We were the only ones at the Aquarium watching the fish and sharks. Luke was having a ball jumping off the benches, it was fun to watch and take pictures. He was just giggling!!

PRESCHOOL!!!!

Joslyn started Preschool this year, she was sooooooo EXCITED!! She had to start about a month after her sisters, that was a LOOONGGGG month. 

She is going to the Preschool at the high school. So, there is 1 teacher, 27 high school students and 20 preschoolers. It is a little chaotic, to say the least. But, she loves it and the students and so sweet to her. When she leaves she gets a choir of students yelling, "BYE JOSLYN". So, cute!!

This is her on her first day, her school starts at 7:45 and she usually doesn't get out of bed till after 8:00, so we are getting use to the early rising. She was half asleep in her Preschool picture. The top right is her and her friend Olivia. She has 3 friends of her going to that school, so it makes for a fun, crazy carpool.