A New Smith

Our old friends the Smiths welcomed a new addition in the spring, so they now have three little boys, Mason, Vahan, and the newest, Oliver. We were invited to Oliver's baptism a couple of months ago, and everyone had a blast, which is what always happens at the Smiths, who live on a large plot of land north of Fort Collins. Going to the Smith's always reminds me of being at my grandparents where the fields are wide, the air smells like dust and hay, and the fun is found in getting dirty and exploring.

We started the day out at a church called St. Joseph's in Fort Collins, which is the first church Chris and I ever attended together.

Then it was off to the Smith Homestead, where Vahan and a couple other boys brought out the John Deer to cruise around in. Addie followed it all around the property, waiting patiently for her turn to ride.

She even got up in the action when the truck got stuck in a rock pile and had to be pushed out.

And then, finally, her turn came. Vahan is a pretty good driver for a three year old, if I do say so myself.

Meanwhile, Emily found a little firetruck to ride and then spotted the cows off in the distance.

Em was so excited to watch those cows!

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 And then...the moment every mom fears, her daughter is behind the wheel and her other daughter is in the passenger seat.

It's tricky to drive a John Deer truck, though, and after several failed attempts, I asked Vahan to take back over. He gladly took Emily on a ride.

Elizabeth took a little break from peeking in at the hens to sit on the firetruck for me.

Amanda and her youngest, Paxton, Chris with Elizabeth, and Denise

Addie, Mason, Porter, and Emily

Addie checks out Oliver's teeny toes

Proud Mama Denise

Noni, the sweetest little Italian Grandmother I have ever met, who spoon-fed Addison her mac n cheese saying, "eat up!" the entire time.

Hicks Cousins

My cousin Jonathan and his wife Katie and their two adorable kids, Porter and Paisley, live up in Fort Collins, where we enjoy going to visit them whenever we can.


On our most recent visit, the kids fell in love with each other's shoes. Porter is a shoe guy, and when he saw Addie's sparkley shoes, he thought they looked just right for dancing. 

And when Addie saw Paisley's red cowgirl boots, she just had to put them on. This visit happened over two months ago, and Addie still talks about Paisley's "Red clompin' boots" and how much she hopes Santa Claus will bring her a pair.

I think these boots make Addie feel pretty darn cool

After a lot of shoe trading, playing, and eating inside, the kids got to head outside for some more play. 

Cuties!

 

A New Tiny Emmons

Jennica and Kris had their second baby, a little boy named Kastor, on May 1st this year. Elizabeth got to visit her very first newborn in a hospital. She was very excited to see the itty bitty teeny tiny baby!

We're excited to get to know you, Kastor!

Sweet Faces

Elizabeth had a great time posing form me in the backyard, smiling at her goofy sisters, my photographer assistants.

I especially love this shot, it shows Elizabeth's "Yeah, I'm pretty cool." face, and her awesome flippy hair. Love this girl!

A few days later, Emily and Addie had their first trip to the dentist's office. We went to a pediatric dentist and her whole staff is amazing with kids. Right when the girls walked in, they were given princess crowns and they were treated like royalty. When they were all done getting cleaned and checked, they got to use tokens to buy prizes. They can't wait to go back!

I love this one, Addie was singing "Let it go" and she was really conjuring Elsa's essence.

Little Miss hadn't gotten her teeth cleaned, but she needed a picture, too!

On another day, Elizabeth climbed up on Emily's chair, and then shot me this mischievous look....

...and then this sweet smile...

My friend Wendy is one of the best photographers I know. She captured this special pic of me and the girls during one of our playdates...

And then captured sweet smiles from Emily and Addie....

Elizabeth Meets the Cottontail Tree

I haven't had much of a chance to take Elizabeth on the cottonwood trail because it's a bit of a walk to get there, and I only very recently upgraded to a stroller that will hold all three. One sunny day back in April when Addie was at school, I loaded Elizabeth and Emily up in the double stroller and took them to the Cottonwood Trail. Of course I stopped at my favorite tree to take some pictures.

While Elizabeth wasn't standing on her own yet back in April (it's something she's just very recently started doing), I was able to kind of lean her against the tree to make it look like she was standing....

Big Sis Emily wanted in on the posing... (so funny that Emily is now the big girl at this tree. Two years ago, she was the little one next to Callie, and Addie was wearing the dress Elizabeth is wearing.)

My little strawberry beauty.

Precious pic of Em. The funny thing is, she's pretending to scratch her back on the bark of the tree like Baloo in the Jungle Book.

Oh, and the "cottontail" thing. Emily's nickname for the cottonwood trees is "cottontail trees." She's become pretty fascinated with them in the last month or so because of their flying fluff, and wants me to point them out to her when we're driving around.

So glad I was able to finally take Elizabeth's picture next to one of my favorite trees. Last month I found this pretty little thing on Craigslist...a Joovy Big Caboose. Two seats with a sit n stand for the third. Since then, Elizabeth's seen the cottonwood trail several times, but I haven't had a chance to do a photo shoot with all three by The Tree. It will come.