Another trip to the Zoo

Peyton, Mason, & Cadence

Cadence and I went to the zoo with our friends - the Page's. Melanie and I are good friends and it's so nice our boys play well together. I woke up and realized it was the last Wednesday of the month and entrance would be free. It was BEAUTIFUL outside. I invited them to go with literally less than an hour before I was thinking of leaving and they jumped on board! It was so fun to have buddies to go with and they used to have passes, so they knew where all the good stuff was at Hoggle Zoo. Here are some pictures of our adventure!

Giraffe (Cadence kept calling it a cow)

Woah - mouth!

This cheetah was pacing back and forth continually. We walked back by him 30 minutes later and he was still doing it!

These little guys came right up to the window. They did a great job showing off for the boys!

Beautiful Peacocks!

Our last stop was the camels. It started to snow just as we got there! It was such perfect timing. We were there just long enough to enjoy the weather and the animals. It was so fun to share our time with friends too (and what troopers joining at the last minute)!

February Fever & Fun

This month has been a whirlwind! It amazes me how, even though it's two days shorter than most months, it's seems to fly by (and I'm still posting about Christmas)! We just finished our birthing class, and are now having more frequent appointments with our midwife! The time is getting nearer and we are excited for our little Kory to join our family.
Meanwhile, Amy was called as the Young Women President in our ward, which has given Cadence lots of opportunities for play dates (we are grateful for good ward members so willing to watch him), and left little time for blogging. Here are a couple of camera catchers though.

Austin's Milkshake Bomb (we've started having friends over for games again)

The Fever - Poor Guy!

The Fun - Cha, Cha, Cha
Juggling (after our family dinner)

Family Dinner

When I was in college we used to, pretty regularly, have family dinners with all of the cousins at school. It's been awhile, but I'm glad that Maria and Ross decided we needed one! We had a delicious dinner and some fun watching Cade try to juggle afterward!

Happy Birthday TWO You - a Jumpin' Zoo!

We (Austin and Amy) decided that since Cadence was already getting so many toys (and our tiny house isn't getting any bigger) to give him an experience for his birthday. What does Cadence love more than... JUMPING!!!

We threw him a jungle party at Jumpin' Jacks in Springville, UT. He had so much fun that he didn't want to stop for lunch!

They had a cute jungle themed room and were so accommodating to us! I decided to make sack lunches, figuring most of the kids wouldn't want to stop long for lunch and to make it more healthy (obviously the monkey cupcakes were an exception). They have a whole bunch of different bouncers, ride on toys, arcade games, and right now they even have a book fair there (which seemed to entertain the moms)!

It made for a cranky toddler in the evening (after no lunch, a really late nap, and jumping 3 hours), but he had a blast!

(I could believe how well he climbs up these stairs himself...the child who still can't climb out of his crib - shhh!!)

*Let it Snow*

I thought maybe some of you would be curious why the entire holiday season has been void of blogs (even after we've been back from vacation almost a week now)...


I have a two-year-old!!! Cadence officially turns two tomorrow, January 11, 2011. My sweet little baby is such a little boy now and so busy exploring the world! He happily proclaimed this morning, "SNOW!" (which if you can't tell he's created for himself by digging into Styrofoam and throwing it into the air) . After you finish laughing, I want to put a different perspective on this crazy situation. Me - Amy Smith - with a MILLION things "to do", and I actually stopped to play with him, take pictures, help him clean it up, and blog about it! This little boy has changed my life in just the two short years that he's been with me. A while his messes often can drive his "mammy" (a mix of mommy and amy which he now calls me) CRAZY, he has re-taught me how to laugh and play. For this gift to me, I will be forever grateful. We have so much to celebrate! "Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!"

Happy Birthday TWO You!

Cadence is now TWO years old! We had quite the celebration!!


Amy helped Aunt Maria (her sister) make a Blue cake (Blue from Blue's Clues).

Cadence was excited about Blue, but didn't really enjoy tasting it (what mom is complaining that her kid doesn't like cake? - not me!).

We let him open his presents a bit early so some close friends and family could be there.

He waited so patiently to open his big box from his Smith Grandparents... in fact, he had a great time decorating it! Thanks for the box!

and what was inside??


He likes to sit on it, but we're still trying to teach him how to ride it by himself.

From his Baron grandparents he got...

...which his dad enjoyed just as much as he did!


His many great-grandparents sent cards and money, which was used to buy new clothes for our growing boy (now 35 1/2" tall and about 26 lbs). He had quite a few people call to sing "Happy Birthday" too! He never wanted to talk long (too busy playing with his new toys), but smiled each time he heard the birthday song!
We are grateful Cadence has so many family members to love him.
Tune in to the next post to find out what his parents got him...