the day trip--- our nemesis

since we are leaving, tyrell and i have been trying to see a little more of michigan before we go. we got some suggestions and decided to go to pinckney state park. we packed up and headed out, ready for some beautiful scenery, picnicking and swimming. we got to our destination and drove around the area. it was really pretty and there were many small lakes connected by rivers. there were also a lot of pretty lake houses in the area (we were a bit jealous). near the state park was the town of hell.

we visited hell and discovered that the town only consists of a store, a bar/restaurant, a halloween themed souvenir shop, and lots of signs for picture taking. apparently naming your town something funny is enough to draw a crowd.

but what would a trip with the smiths be like with out a little mishap. i mean come on, our misfortune is what makes this blog worth reading right?

when we first moved to michigan we had several incidents which involved locking the keys in the car. since this time, we have developed a system. tyrell often forgets to lock the doors, so when i get out and see that he has not locked them, i ask if he has the keys. if he says yes, then i go ahead and lock the doors. on this day the routine was the same. we had everything out and ready to go, tyrell changed into his swimming suite, the baby was in the stroller, we had our lunch, our towels, and our sunscreen. so as usual, i asked tyrell if he had the keys, he said that he did, so i locked and shut the doors. the sound of the door closing must have jarred his memory, because a second later, he realized that they were in the shorts out of which he had just changed. and of course the cell phones were in the car as well. we headed toward the shore and set up camp anyway and had something to eat. ty then went to get some help from the store. and to yet again make a long story short: ty found a hanger and tried the ole' unlock the car with the hanger trick but to no avail, we waited in the parking lot for hours for the wrecker to show up, wrecker never came, hiked to the ranger station for help, discovered that the wrecker was never called, rangers called wrecker, waited some more, wrecker arrived, got us in and charged a pretty penny (and of course this was the worst part for tyrell:). once we were in, we just decided to head home, annoyed and sunburned. we didn't even get to swim.... sad.

"i think i'm getting the black lung pop"--zoolander

a big week

1. wagons west!

we had an eventful week last week which started out with the official letter offering tyrell a teaching position at CSU-Pueblo. many of you knew that ty had applied for the position in december (at the suggestion of one of the career ladies at CSU-P), but we had given up on them since there was no news six months later. so we planned on staying in michigan for another year. just about the time we had settled into the idea of staying, we heard from them and ty is so excited. we are grateful for this opportunity and ty really looks forward to teaching (and having the summers off). we are also very excited about being closer to home.

2. new do

i cut 9 inches off my hair, and i love it. sorry no exciting pictures

3. the great lakes

ty got a ford fusion for the week and we decided to take a trip to lake erie. it is amazing how big these lakes are. it looks just like the ocean, waves, beach and all. it was cloudy and a bit cold, but it was great to get out and see the lake and sterling state park. there are a million parks here and we haven't been to many. hopefully we will be able to see some before we leave.

and from the look on carter's face he was very excited to be there:)





4. birthday party

last saturday was ty's 27th birthday. the neighbors told me about a golf course that lets you golf for free on your birthday. so ty, john, and our neighbor rich went out (i came along to take pictures and drive the cart, i am really good at it). it was a beautiful course and although their golfing was not 'up to par' it was fun, and best of all, it was FREE.

















then that evening we had a party. we invited the ward and the neighbors. we had food (thanks to all who contributed) and ty set up the zip line. the kids absolutely LOVED it. lots of people came and it turned out to be really fun.

the best was when our neighbor came over with a case of beer (for himself) and a bottle of wine as a gift. he handed the bottle to ty and said, "mark told us that you don't drink so we brought you some wine." :) ty thanked them and told them we would put it up on the shelf next to the bottle the other neighbors gave us when we moved here. they were very thoughtful and we are truly grateful for our nice neighbors!!








the missionaries gave ty a great gag gift. they bought him a jousting outfit which included: a foam hockey helmet, a shield with the dragon form of maleficent (from sleeping beauty) on it, a stick horse, and a broom handle with two cardboard arrows taped to the end (to be used as a jousting stick). it was hilarious, and at the suggestion of our neighbor, ty strapped on his gear and the harness and the kids pulled him up the zip line. he rode down shield up and jousting stick ready.

but the highlight of tyrell's birthday was when our neighbor offered to let us ride his harley. the weather was beautiful, they watched carter for us, and it was a great ride. thanks rich!

i got ty an air compressor but as you can imagine it was not the one he wanted. well at least i tried. thanks ty for being born.... i love you!

a little car trouble

so as previously mentioned, priscilla was in an accident. she got banged up pretty badly, but lucky for us, tyrell knows how to fix things.

he and our friend john worked on it and slowly but surely, got everything bent back into shape. thanks a lot john for all your help!! and once tyrell found all the parts...

he put her back together again. she looks as good as new. and my king of cheap (thank you heather) wants me to add, that his car fixing skills turned this $4,500 budget buster into a $360 repair (hopefully this is a big enough savings to make the smith family christmas letter:).

in the mean time.... we also had a problem with the truck. it had had starter trouble since it nearly left us stranded on our honey moon (i have since discovered that car trouble on the honey moon is a smith boy tradition). but this trouble was few and very far between. there were just a few times in the last year that it wouldn't start, and each time, ty would quickly have us back on our way.

but then it started to do it more and more often after priscilla got hit. it was our only vehicle, and for a while there, i had to push start it every where i went. i was getting really good at doing it by myself. i learned to always park on a slant. and there were several times where a good samaritan detected my need for help and gave me a push. so after a week or so, (which had allowed me ample time to accumulate a long list of hilarious/embarrassing pushing the truck all over detroit stories. and to learn a valuable lesson on push starting, according to tyrell) ty finally got in there to fix the problem he thought would be quick and easy. but to make a long story short after buying new tools, lifting the engine, and lowering the front axel he was able to replace the starter.

so for a while there we had gone from 3 working vehicles to 0 working vehicles in a matter of months. but thanks to ty, we are all back up and running:)

new tricks

here is our cute young 'dog' learning new tricks. and as you can tell from our cheers, we were much more excited than he was. it is amazing how such a simple thing can be so fun. i love our little man!

the burbs

as reliably as the ground hog announces spring, in michigan, the shirtless men doing yard work announce the arrival of summer. while i do not always appreciate this partially dis-robbed scenery, i do enjoy that summer brings people out of their houses. and in our neighborhood, that means that you get to see and visit with the friendly neighbors frequently.

we sent ty up another tree with a chain saw (this time per my request) to trim a few branches off the trees in our front yard. they needed to be cleaned up. so ty busted out the tall ladder that swayed back and forth every time he ascended to a higher rung, and he began trimming. but it didn't take long for this spectacle to draw a crowd. now i don't know if it is the hum of power tools that draw the neighbor hood men over, but every time tyrell is out working on something, our neighbors come over to investigate. they initially come out and assess the situation, and then before you know it, they are offering their services, their tools, a reference to a buddy they know who does these sorts of things etc. it was no different with the tree. they brought out their chain saws and clippers and started cutting the fallen branches so they could be taken to the back yard.

as ty was up there we had people stop as they were driving by, walking by, and people coming out of their houses to watch the branches come down. nothing like afternoon entertainment at the neighbors. and most fortunately no one fell or was dismembered:) we like living on parker street, thanks to all our nice neighbors.

the cutest!

carter is four and a half months now. at his doctors office a few weeks ago, he was in the 90th% for weight, 75th% for height, and barely scrapping the 50th% for head circumference. so i have a little fat kid with a tiny head... and he is the cutest thing i have ever seen.

at least we think so:)