Mowing the Lawn

My mom bought this cool baby backpack at a garage sale a couple of weeks ago. I thought I would try it out, but since we don't do too much hiking I thought I would pack Serena up and mow the lawn. I think Serena liked it, what about you?

See the smile on her face... she loves mowing the lawn.

Enjoy! Post a comment!

July

I know I have been a slacker on my blogging... I haven't taken many pictures lately, but here are some pictures taken in July from my in-law's camera's.

For Westin's Birthday Breakfast we did a Breakfast Salad. (Imagine pancakes, waffles, french toast, bacon, sausage all tossed together and topped with maple syrup and whipped cream)

Serena turned 1!!! I can't believe she is so big now. Walking and everything (but that will be another post, another time) Here are some pics of her eating her birthday Cupcake, which she LOVED!!

She loves her Grandpa, and LOVES giving kisses.

Also, Serena LOVES her GreatGrandma Smith

Enjoy the post. PLEASE post comments, (It will help encourage me to update more frequently)

Sleepless in America...

This is written by Westin The Incredible.

So... they are going to ruin my favorite comic-book-super-hero of all time - Captain America. A lot of you probably don't care about this nerdy crap, but it has been weighing on my mind. I don't usually post about all my opinions that swim around in my exceptional mind but this is worthy for posting and is mostly for my therapeutic benefit.

While going into this, just realized my opinions are correct... please trust me, I have knowledge of the Marvel Universe and I study film, so when the two are combined it equals correct opinions. (If you want insight on comic book heroes and their movies you can talk to me or my brother-in-law Jared (Heidi's husband), he knows his stuff, but for Captain America you talk to me, as he is under the impression that Batman is better.

Why I love Captain America

Too hard to tell on a blog. You can ask me in person if you get the chance. I have loved him from the first Captain America comic book I read. I love our country. I love that he is a natural leader, I can't really explain why. I am a HUGE Spider-Man fan, but even Spidey, along with all of the Marvel heroes, view him as an authority figure. I have a strong, almost-equal love for both Spidey and the Cap, my juvenile side loves the Spidey, while my epicureanistic side admires the devotion of Captain America.

What makes me so nervous about the upcoming movie?

I am afraid... really afraid. I have been losing more sleep than usual because of this. The standard film making routine worries me. Will the actors, directors and everyone involved do a good job? Is the story going to be lost in all the special effects or cheap jokes? Overall, will they tell the story in a good manner? Just to set the record straight: I am not one of these nerds that is critical about how true they stay to the comics BUT I hope they stay true to the characters. Spider-man for example: I do not mind that Peter Parker's web shooters were organic rather that small capsules that fit into Peter-made apparatuses on his wrists like the comics depict. Let's understand that certain shortcuts MUST be taken when shifting from various mediums into film (this goes for books too, so don't criticize a film too quickly in that regard unless they change the overall essence of the story). Now there are two things that concern me, his costume and his allegiance.

Costume

I have a right to worry when they release THIS concept art with rumors that this will be close to what we see in the film.

What is with the suspenders? And cheap little "A" and... the severe lack of wings!!! LAME!

Lame.

Lame.

Lame. This one really shows off the suspenders.

Luckily, at Comic-Con, Kevin Feige (producer) was quick to point out that this is still just a test version of the suit and that the suit is something that's unequivocally the Captain America uniform, but can fit the time period.

Let me explain the wings. You either like Captain America or you don't. If you are in the group that likes Captain America, you either like him with wings on his head or you have learned to like him despite the wings. Those who don't like the Cap are probably Nazis and, unless there is a minor fourth group who don't like the Cap but DO like his wings, that's it. The wings need to stay! They won't hurt anything for those who like the Cap, but the lack of wings will hurt... bad. If you don't agree, just know that the wings represent the "Spirit of Freedom" so let that weigh on your conscious before you say anything against.

Here is a picture Of Captain America in his fictional prime. See the wings and the strong "A". This guy looks like a warrior in any time period and not some modernized space ranger.

Original art by Jason Metcalf, and digital paint by (Jeremy Roberts)

Allegiance

...to the flag. I know how awesome it is for people to hate America these days, but seeings how this is Captain AMERICA I thought we could set aside the destructive "hating ourselves" phase we find ourselves in and hold true to the values that have kept us alive. I worry when director Joe Johnston says Captain America, "wants to serve his country, but he's not this sort of jingoistic American flag-waver" full story. Now Joe doesn't have a lot of big hits under his belt so he is on thin ice for me. As for the rest of you... please you guys, just this once, can we have pride in our great nation? We enjoy so many freedoms. I want to preserve what our country was founded on. That's what Captain America would have wanted.

Crystal Update

Thank you all for your prayers, I know our Heavenly Father has been watching over Crystal and she is being blessed. Check out her blog to see how everything went at the burn clinic today!

Thanks

I Believe in the Miracle of Prayer

I have an amazing little sister... For the past several years she has studied Viola and has been amazing, she teaches little kids to love music, and has a real passion for expressing herself through music. Last night she was involved in a fire and has 3rd degree burns all over her right hand (see Crystal's Blog for more details). She goes in to the burn clinic tomorrow to see the extent of the damage and what her recovery will look like. She is supposed to leave for New Mexico in 2 weeks to study Viola at the University down there... You get the picture. Please keep her in your prayers, I know the power of prayer accompanied by faith can move mountains... and heal 3rd degree burns.

I'll keep you updated

Chelsea

DoTerra

Have any of you used any brand of essential oils? My husband and I have been using essential oils for some time now... and we LOVE THEM!!! Just to give a quick explanation: Essential oils are natural aromatic compounds found in the seeds, bark, stems, roots, flowers, and other parts of plants. Each has different uses and some we just like for the smell. We have signed up as Independent Product Consultants and would invite anyone who is interested to call us, e-mail us, or go to our website www.mydoterra.com/chelseasmith. We aren't trying to use our blog as a means of pushing some product on our friends and family, but these oils help us on a daily basis and we thought you all might be interested.

Uses

We, personally, have found these oils can relieve various ailments like muscle/joint pain, insomnia, burns, cold and flu, restless legs, headaches, bad moods/stress (good one for Westin), cankers, sores, ear infections, allergies to name a few. The uses can be endless and we have a book that gives us a guide to all sorts of maladies. Other people have other needs and there are oils for those, but these are the ones that we have needed in our family. They can be applied topically (directly on the skin), internally, and aromatically (they have diffusers that sends the aroma into the air or put it on a cotton ball and smell it).

Why doTERRA?

Other brands of essential oils are good but doTERRA is really the best. If any of you have a certain brand that you like, I would recommend looking into some comparisons. Usually essential oils are what they call "therapeutic" grade, but doTERRA does not use any fillers or artificial ingredients. They test every batch to make sure it is free of any pesticides or unwanted contaminates from various weeds or anything like that, whereas other brands just do random testing here and there. They also make sure and take the oils from plants that are grown under the right conditions and harvested at the right time to get the most effective oils. They also have a great business opportunity.

So if any of you would like to experiment with these oils just let us know. If you would like to sign up you can call us or go to our doTERRA website www.mydoterra.com/chelseasmith. We are also having a meeting on August 5th in Mountain Green. There will be some product giveaways and anyone who attends will get a 10% discount on anything they want to order.

Brazil, There and Back Again...

So much to say... and right now I have barely enough energy to put all these pictures up. I suspect that Westin will come along after and add more captions and details but as for now this is what you get...

We went to Brazil, now we are back home. It was shorter than expected but we had some good times and are glad that we were able to go have those experiences together. Either Westin or I will eventually add to this post, or have a whole post dedicated to why we are home early, but for now just know that we are healthy, happy, and glad to be back in the States.

(I know there are not very many captions... I may eventually add more)

Leaving Salt Lake City

Everyone has hammocks in their homes in Brazil, something we plan on implementing in Utah.

Drinking coconut milk from a coconut

Yes, we ate chicken feet!!! (this is something disgusting, I don't recommend it)

Santarem!!! Our favorite part of the trip.

We took a plane ride to Santarem (Westin's favorite part of his mission) It was awesome. These aren't in the chronological order but still enjoy.

Still in Santarem, the Amazon in the background.

Playing at the members house in Santarem. (this is where Serena was happiest the whole trip)

Church in Santarem

Family Home Evening with the Members in Santarem. They were so happy to have Westin return to visit them. This is where my favorite memories of Brazil are. The members LOVED Westin and had such nice things to say about when he served his mission there.

It was the World Cup while we were there, so we sported our Brazil propaganda.

Enjoy... POST A COMMENT!!!

More updates to come