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kind beautiful intelligent

A portion of the huge rainbow after it stopped raining. Danny insisted that I include this picture to set the scene. I am so grateful for random strangers who are willing to take pictures. Love's Labor's Lost: well, not for us.  Yesterday we were more than happy to celebrate our 5th wedding anniversary!  Oh, no!  Not another one of these blog entries!  Why do we all get married in the summer -- it's hot outside!  Anyway, the weather in Boulder was beautiful... once it was done raining... but the show did go on!  My terrific parents babysat precious Kaelah so Dan and I could attend the Colorado Shakespeare Festival to celebrate.  CU really has a nice set-up going on!  We had a lovely picnic on the grass before the show (pre-ordered) and enjoyed one of the Bard's romantic comedies set in pre-WWI New England.  There is just something about live theater, especially in the great outdoors.  Oh, and I must mention these pictures were taken with Dan's anniversary present --...

Last Saturday Kaelah officially became a 1-year-old.  On that day we had the "monkey party," another brain child of my mom.  I guess the 2nd party doesn't get as many pictures taken by the very nature of it, but here are a few.  We all had a wonderful time with family & friends -- and are so thankful to have Kaelah in our lives!  Happy Birthday, big girl!!!

My mom is so excited to be a grandma.  And she's a generous person by nature, so you can just imagine how spoiled Kaelah is getting.  (:  Since the 2nd birthday party my mom is throwing for Kaelah is tomorrow, I figured I better get pictures up from the first party!  My mother did all of the planning and execution.  The only things I did was buy Kaelah her b-day present a week early (the bright pink pool you see), buy the Princess Ariel paper ware, and make sure the house was clean.  Thanks, Mom!  As usual, it was terrific!!!

We are so happy my college roommate Shannon came to visit us again this summer!  She is one of the nicest people I have ever met and life is so much more fun as a stay-at-home mom when your best friend comes to town! I just grabbed a few pictures of the 2 week visit:  Kaelah & Shannon on scrapbooking day... A family portrait Shannon took of us at Coot Lake.  This is Danny's favorite because you can see Kaelah's dimples. He cut himself out & put it on the background of his new iPhone.  (:   I also like it because it's obvious Kaelah likes the person taking the picture... A picture of Shannon, Kaelah & I Danny took -- once again Kaelah likes the camera man... And last but not least, a shot that includes all the Smiths, even Meigou, walking down the path. Thank you, Shannon!  Danny also deserves gratitude for putting up with so many girls at one time:  Thank you, wonderful hubby!

Dan had a conversation at work about blogs & one of his co-workers stated that only highly technical people have blogs... & that they are usually about technically related things.  My hubby piped up and said his wife & a lot of her friends all blogged.  When asked what we blog about Danny replied, "The exact same thing: what their kids are doing that week."  Well, here comes another one of those!  (: Kaelah has been giving us hugs for a while now, but now she has discovered she can give good hugs to others as well.  A favorite is giving her teddy bears a hug, especially if she just fell down after pulling herself up on furniture.  Ahhh.... We are very fortunate to have Shannon with us this week.  For the 4th of July we slept in & missed the food at the ward breakfast but dropped in to say "hi" and then went to Le Peep (we had a coupon).  Yumm!  Later in the day we joined the wonderful Whipple family at our Willow Farm Park.  They are so much fun!  Af...

I try not to write things that are of the sad nature & I actually felt bad for admitting Kaelah didn't like the drive to Utah.  But today, after a month where Danny and I have spent days crying after the announcement of what will lead to yet another funeral of someone who died all too young, I'm stealing a friend's words: "I don't quite know the words to say, I am sorry You don't deserve it but I love you." Our love, prayers, & tears are dedicated to the Alley, Kunz, & Mackey families.  Life isn't fair when you loose a husband & father-to-be, a precious baby boy, or a vibrant, beautiful, caring woman but we know God loves us all and loved them even more than we did.  Here's to you,  John (Emily), Daxton (Doug), and Jana.  You are already missed more than you might ever know.