The perfect "Black Friday" weekend...

"Black Friday?  

Nope...
with a PERFECT Thanksgiving Day behind us, 
we're looking forward to Badass Friday in the Smith home!"
~~Tracy Smith

Black Friday was gorgeous!

As we looked at the five-day forecast, 

we realized that we only had 2 more days of good weather, 

before a winter storm rolled in!

We decided we wanted to enjoy our V-Strom as much as we could, before it would have to be cooped up in the garage for the winter!

Mr. Smith took us all on a motorbike ride! 

It was the perfect way to spend the day after Thanksgiving!
No consumerism and excess spending for this family!  

Ethan went first...

He had the TIME of his life!!

Jade decided he didn't want to go out today,

 so, next it was my turn...

We enjoyed some riding and then stopped 
and enjoyed some cocoa and Holiday Pie at McDonald's.
Here I am, 
checking in with the kids
 and talking to Ethan on the phone!

 Gorgeous fall weather...

Gorgeous sunset...

The perfect ending to Black Friday 2013!  

(Menan Butte in the background)

SATURDAY

November 30th...

We awoke and enjoyed a yummy breakfast and then got on our hiking clothes, filled our backpacks with some snacks and water and decided to head to the Menan Butte and enjoy one last hike of the year!  

WOW! 

The weather couldn't have been more perfect...

blue sky and sunshine and a gorgeous view when we got to the top!

 The scenery up here felt like we were 
in Southern, Utah, not, Rexburg, Idaho

Ethan scrambled to the top of anything he could climb today!
What a FUN place for kids to explore!

 Tracy is boiling water for TEA!

Felt SO good to warm up... 

 Leftover Thanksgiving Pie 
never tasted so good! 

 Tracy's such a patient and awesome dad...
Here he is trying to point out some places in Rexburg, to Ethan.

 My three favorite guys!
(I love your beard SO much Tracy!)

Such a gorgeous view!
I can't believe this is where we live!

 PRICELESS!

 One last view before 
we start heading back to the car..

 And of course, Ethan climbed yet, another large rock formation! 
Perfect, Perfect day of hiking together!

 We got home from our hike just in time to shower up 
and make it to an Eagle Court of Honor for one of Tracy's great Scouts! 

Sunday, the snow came down!
We reflected on three wonderful days, 
where we EMBRACED adventure...
where we bundled up and enjoyed 
some motor bike rides and a wonderful hike!
Where we added more wonderful memories and adventures to our life instead of excess clutter from shopping!
It was a perfect 5 days together as a family!

We enjoyed our Sunday afternoon with one of our favorites, that of soaking in the HOT water at Heise Hot springs and then we enjoyed yummy, delicious pizza afterwards!

Happy, wonderful and adventurous life!
Now we have SNOWY cross- country skiing adventures to look forward to!
(However, I can't wait until the roads are clear once again and we're suiting up and going out on the V-strom motorbike again. 
I LOVE IT it so much!!)

Adventure and FUN on our Thanksgiving Break!

It's hard to believe Thanksgiving 2013 has come and gone and here we are starting the 2nd week of December!  
We have LOTS of snow right now, 
school has been cancelled for 4 days in a row and we are experiencing below zero and single digits temperatures!  

So grateful for the wonderful weather 
we had on Thanksgiving week!

YES, it was only in the high 30's and low 40's, but that is WARM compared to what we are dealing with right now!

We had 5 days off from work and school together!
It was just AWESOME!  
I'm mostly grateful that we embraced the weather and ENJOYED the week to the fullest!

Mr. Smith came home on Tuesday evening and took me for a ride around the block on our NEW toy!
I was in heaven!
(I LOVE my hubby's 

"No-Shave November" beard.  

He's looking  pretty HOT!

We lounged on Wednesday in our jammies and slippers and read books, watched movies and Mr. Smith couldn't help, at least START his motorbike, despite the chilly weather!

I awoke Thanksgiving morning to a quiet house as everyone slept in. It was nice to be alone to my thoughts and so much fun to get the food ready and the table decorated so when my men awoke for the day, it was a SURPRISE!  

It was beautiful outside and as I looked at the contrails in the sky, I couldn't help but think that people were on planes, excited to be spending the holidays with family and friends!  

Our table looked so beautiful in the morning sunshine...

Going to the Tabernacle
 to hear the Thanksgiving Morning Program....
was the highlight of our morning!
Grateful for hubby and sons that humor me and go to it!

Such beautiful music and words
 were sung and spoken!

Tracy told us to keep our meal simple this year 
and so instead of making rolls, 
we made Grilled Texas Toast instead! 
It was a simple delicious meal, 
shared with my three favorite people!

I told Tracy the only thing I wanted for Thanksgiving day, 
was to enjoy an adventure ride with him on our V-Strom!
So we bundled up and off we went!

The road of adventure is always a JOY!

I just love being behind this awesome guy as we ride and explore together!

Absolutely gorgeous sunset we enjoyed 
on a road that is just a little ways from where we live!
The Menan Buttes are highlighted 
and the distant mountains are the Lemhi range.
This photo is just awesome!

No Thanksgiving day would be complete without PIE!
Coconut Cream,
Apple Huckleberry 
and Cherry Pie 
were on the menu and very much enjoyed!

Our day ended with the most gorgeous and vibrant sunset!

(part 2, here) 

A simple Christmas, is the best Christmas!

Christmas...

such a magical and wonderful time of the year!   
I truly love it! 
(although, I do love Halloween the most!!)

However, it seems that every year it gets more commercialized...
Christmas is in the stores, sometimes even before Halloween stuff!

Christmas shouldn't be about having 
the most perfectly decorated house!
It shouldn't be about having 15+ strands of lights on your tree, perfectly adorned and shimmering with tinsel,  ribbons and balls and ornament!
It shouldn't be about having the most amazing centerpiece for your table!
It shouldn't be about how many perfectly wrapped presents you have nestled under your tree!
It shouldn't be about having the most lights on the outside of your house...
 and the list goes on and on and ON!!

I know how easy it is to get caught up in the commercialism of Christmas. 
Every magazine you read has pages and pages of what you need to "decorate with" and " buy" to have the most magical, wonderful Christmas ever!
Every store you go in has amazing and beautiful rooms jam packed full of trendy Christmas decor.

OH and don't even get me started with Pinterest... Christmas overload!

For many years, I had every square inch of my main house area decorated to the hilt! 
Every year, I added a few more strands of the lights to the tree (of which, my hubby, would not be the happiest with me..."Why in the world do we need more lights, dear?")
Every year it seemed like we added a few more gifts under the tree, because it "looked" better and you didn't want your kids to feel "ripped off" if they didn't have LOTS of beautiful packages to open up.

When Ethan was a baby, (11 years ago)
 I worked with a lady that talked about their Christmas tradition of the 
"4 gift rule".
I loved it so much, 
I wanted to add it to our own Christmas traditions. 
However, it's really hard to simplify Christmas 
down to just four gifts... OR, so, I thought.

This is the 4 gift Rule:
Something to Wear
Something to Read
Something you Want
Something to Read 

It's actually a win-win! 
The kids get something they WANT
They get some kind of article of clothing to WEAR
They get something that they really NEED
AND, best of all, you are promoting learning by getting them something to READ!

We decided to do this 2 years ago, 
because we wanted Christmas to be Simple 
and NOT about the gifts at all! 

So, we took some white pillow cases that we had got from some friends that own a motel and we made each of us a BAG to hold the 4 gifts in.

You can make them as elaborate as you would like.  
Stencil on the wording, or embroidery them on.  
Add glitter, 
use colorful fabric, 
whatever you want, it would work out great.

Ours were just made by Sharpie Markers.
(However, one of these years, 
I would like to re-do them and make them a little bit more jazzed up!)

As you can see, 
they look awesome under the tree 
and they are a BIG hit with the kiddos!

This sweet boy, really got us into 
the TRUE Christmas Spirit last year.

He wanted an Old Fashioned Christmas.
He wanted a REAL tree.
He wanted to string popcorn and cranberries for the garland.
He wanted a homemade star on the top of the tree!
He wanted ALL of us to help decorate it and not just mom, making it perfect while everyone was at school and work, with lots of glitzy ornaments.

He did NOT want fancy, or tons of decorations.
What he really wanted was TIME.

Time to decorate...
Time to sip LOTS of hot chocolate while we read Christmas stories.
Time to listen to Christmas music.
Time to make goodies together.
Time to watch holiday movies.
It really is true that the SIMPLE things are the REAL things that kids CRAVE and long for!


After 8 years of working on simplifying the holidays and scaling back, I can officially say that we have finally figured out how to SIMPLIFY Christmas 
to be like my favorite word
 "Lagom"... 
(not too much, not too little, but just the right amount!)

Here is our Christmas Holiday decor from Christmas 2012 complete with REAL Christmas tree, simple ornaments, homemade garland and a few holiday touches on the kitchen table and our buffet.

 

Home strung garland...
popcorn, cranberries and peppermint candies!  

Homemade 

Old Fashioned Tree Skirt 

It's amazing how a .97 package of Tinsel Strings 

can really add some 

SHIMMER and SPARKLE to the holidays! 

Tracy and I stayed up late 
and made a homemade glitter star for the top of the tree
 that we hung from our tall ceiling to be right above the tree!

 My simple, yet beautiful 
dining room table!

 The Stockings were Hung...

 Favorite Santas...

This years Nativity

I made many batches of Cinnamon Roasted Almonds, Carmel/Chocolate Dipped Pretzels 
and other dipped chocolates!

Holiday Treats! 

Christmas Eve Dinner... 

Christmas morning breakfast... 

The DAY after Christmas breakfast 
with Tracy's parents

Complete with Orange Rolls...

After Christmas was over,
 all of my favorite tree ornaments fit in a large boot box!!
THAT is what you call SIMPLE!

(cute little couple in our ward that acted out the Nativity last year at our YW party)

I'm looking forward to enjoying another 
SIMPLE Christmas this year 
that's easy to put up and easy to take down...

 Where we focus on the true meaning of Christmas!
Where we do NOT add unnecessary clutter and junk to our lives
 from over spending and over consuming, 
and where we create this year's memories as we enjoy 
all of the traditions, goodies and FUN
 that come with this most 
"Wonderful Time of the Year"!

Unfortunately, my holiday Christmas decor, will not be gracing our home until November 30th,  (the Sunday after Thanksgiving)
because, unlike many of my wonderful friends that have Christmas decor up right now,
 THANKSGIVING
cannot be forgotten about at my house and until we have enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving Feast, there will be fall leaves, pumpkins, turkeys and pilgrim decor at the Smith House!