Wallace George Smart

Born Friday, August 14th, 2015

3:14pm

8 pounds 11 ounces 20 inches

                           
                                                                     

 I can't tell you how excited I was to have our sixth baby! I had a miscarriage just before Wally which was hard. I didn't want to give up on getting pregnant again though. I knew we had another boy coming! I went on lots of runs/walk (mostly walks) when I was pregnant with Wally and I just felt so much in those moments how this little baby was supposed to be a part of our family. I remember one morning I was out on a run, in the very beginning of my pregnancy. During my run I was praying, asking for a healthy pregnancy and that I would feel peace, especially to stop worrying that I would miscarry again. I will never forget the calm assurance that I felt right after my prayer that all would be well. It was a good feeling and an instant answer to my prayer. From that time forward I really did enjoy this pregnancy.  

                                                    The BEST FEELING EVER!

The first thing I noticed when Wally was born were his amazingly plump cheeks!

I was able to have skin to skin for a long time after he was born! He was sucking his hands like crazy and nursed so well right away.

Beetle's first time holding him. Wally had great eyebrow expression from the second he was born.

I was induced one week early. He was a big boy!

                                                                    So CHUBBA!

                                                                Beetle's feet for sure.

                                                  Beetle said he didn't like his first bath  

                                                    He liked being under the heat lamps

               

 Our first family picture. All EIGHT of us! I said that this family picture made me sweat more than labor!

Wally meets his siblings

They were all so excited!

Annabelle fell in love 

The moment we put Wally in Benson's arms he broke into tears. "He is a miracle Mom!" It was the cutest and so special. Something I will never forget.   

Grandma and Grandpa Shoell

Aunt Jamie and Cassie and Oldest cousin Beth loving on Wally.

Grandma Cheryl was on her way to hike Mount Kilimanjaro while Wally was being born! Aunt Rachel and Aunt Roxanne came to the hospital right after Wally was born with the biggest bag of treats I've ever seen(: Sadly I don't have a picture of them or the treats but Rachel captured this beautiful moment with Beetle and Wally. A picture that I will love forever.

 Beetle and I could not sleep that night. We were just too excited for this brand new baby boy!

                                                  He wasn't ready for sleep anyway!

Benson's 9th Birthday

Benson LOVES Banana Bread so this year he asked for a banana break cake instead of a birthday cake(: Fine by Me! I love this stuff almost as much as he does. 

Benson is someone that is pretty easy to please. He is always happy with what you give him and even if it's not Lego's you can expect a big hug. He had really been wanting a Gnome to add to our yard this year. I couldn't believe when Beetle sent me a pic of this one and said "found him a Gnome!" Wal-Mart of all places.

 Beetle was pretty excited to add a can crusher to his gifts. Benson collects soda cans at the Smart Family gatherings and takes them to recycling. The can crusher is saving our shed a lot of space. I'm pleased to report that Benson just earned $13.00 at the recycling center last week from collecting cans since April. It really motivated him to keep up with can crushing.

Benson was MORE than pleased to receive Rachel and Danny's Birthday Gift! He loves little Caesars Pizza. 

         Benson Loves his Grandparents and loves to give them hugs.

              I love it. 

Charlie Farley is always up for a party!

 Benson also graduated from a wolf to a bear in cub scouts!

We were lucky to have Tater here visiting for the special ceremony.

Such a fun week! We Love You Benson.

Beetle's Tree House Slide

Beetles tree house slide project began early spring of 2013. We had been shopping for slides for about a month and when we saw how much brand new slides were we decided to look on ksl for a used one. Beetle called me and said he found a really good deal. "It's kinda big but its only one hundred bucks." "How big?" I asked. "Well I think we will need Palameno Thunder (Danny's truck) to transport it." I told him we should keep shopping around. He convinced me that we weren't going to get a better deal and he was on his way to pick it up.

 I am really sad I didn't get a pic of Beetle pulling up in palameno with the slide hanging half way out of the bed of the truck. I couldn't believe he made it from Riverton to Orem on the FREEWAY with out getting pulled over. It did not look safe!

                                              Rangi chose a good weekend to be in town.

                   
                           This slide would still be in the driveway if it weren't for Danny and Rangi.

                                                                 
                                                                       And Myself(;
                                                                     

 Beetle had worked so hard building our fence, I was worried they would have to take it apart to get the slide in the back yard.

   Nope! These three lifted it over the fence, or should I say threw it over the fence! I was pretty impressed.

                                             
                                                 Beetle went to work building the tree house.

            With a pretty cute little helper! I cant even believe how little Simon looks in these pictures.

                                                   This is the first floor of the tree house.

               
                            The next phase was another phase we couldn't believe worked out so well.

 Beetle and I were both crossing our fingers this would work out. It wasn't looking good for a while.

Ricker, Roman and Danny were there to help for this phase. Ricker was so proud of the good deal Beetle got on this slide. "Can you believe you got a twelve hundred dollar slide for a hundred bucks?! Your kids are gonna have so much fun on this slide!"

Dang, we miss him! I hope he knows how much we miss him. He was so much fun to have around especially with projects like this. He knows so much about doing any project and any time Beetle starts one he is telling me he wishes his Dad was here to talk to him about it.  Beetle is so handy and I know it is because of Ricker.

                                                                  The slide is up!

                                                     Ricker was right, our kids do love it!

  and so do our neighbor kids(:

and cute Pearl Girl

                                               Part 2 of the tree house coming soon (I hope)