Whew!

Can I just say that I am SO HAPPY that 6th grade projects are over - forever in our family. Well, I'm actually sad that the elementary years are over and there are no more fieldtrips, mother's day programs, dance festivals, and all the other wonderful things that go along with elementary school...but, 6th grade is a killer. It all started with the The Medievel Times packet which included a report, costume, tapestry, and projects right at the beginning. All I'm going to say is thank goodness for older brothers who saved their stuff! With grandpa on his mission and unable to lend his artistic talents, a little revision went a long way! Then it was on to the mandatory Science Fair Project with the lengthy research notes and notebook. I say mandatory because you can enter the sceince fair starting in 1st grade, but you don't HAVE to until 6th. And in our house we don't add to our stresses more than necessary! Then the fun continued with the Country Report which for Allison was a one month process of research (21 written pages), one week of typing it to an 8 page single spaced report, display poster, etc. She chose Colombia because her grandma and grandpa are serving a mission there right now, but I think any other country would have been more interesting . Having our two older boys, we know that it only gets better from here. But of course, it's not all fun and games in Jr. High and High School. Jake also had to do complex machine and a science project. Jordan has had several research papers in English and non-stop posters and projects in health, but if you can make it past 6th grade it's all downhill from there.

From one extreme to another!

Saturday night was Morp (which is Prom spelled and done backwards...girls choice and casual.) This year's theme was "All punked out." Nicole did Jordan's hair and MAKE-UP! He didn't have time to go out and get "skinny jeans" so he put on a pair that belong to Nicole's older sister! I'm not sure if the face he is making in the 3rd photo is his attempt to supress his laughing or trying to breathe in those tight pants! Needless to say it was a dance full of crazy hair, clothes, and laughs!

Piano Recital

Allison had her spring piano recital tonight. She has improved so much since the Christmas one. She has finally reached a point where she can sight read pretty much anything and so it's fun for her now. She can play about 4-5 hymns which are her favorite. When she is bored she tends to go over to the piano or the keyboard and will play for hours which is so nice to hear. She's taking right after her Daddy! I tried to upload the video from my camera, but couldn't get it to work. Darn it!

Prom Revisited

Here is Jordan's group picture from Prom. Notice how small he looks compared to his "linemen" buddies. I guess the rule was "kneeling boys don't smile?" Cute kids! Now for the funny part. I had to dig through my photos to dig this one out. I was a Junior here and Brendan was a senior. My, how time changes us in so many ways!!! Good thing I love him even more today. Good times!

Play-aholics

Allison and I had so much fun helping sell concessions at the High School last night during the play "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers." Gina Wayt (in my ward and a drama dept. mom) offerred us the opportunity to work for tickets since she can't figure out why we go to every play...every night...when we don't even have kids in it! I have to say that our family is full of play-aholics. Especially when it comes to Musicals. We had serious withdrawels when they finished Scarlett Pimpernel. Lehi High School has such a fantastic drama department and we have enjoyed going to every single play they have put on since we moved here 9 years ago. They are usually so amazing that we end up going back to see it over and over again. Les Mis. a few years ago was more enjoyable for us than the Broadway version that came to the Capitol theater. Jake and Jordan came with us too because although they may be tough football players, their mom and dad brainwashed them at an early age. I think our whole family would agree that it doesn't get much better than sitting back at Lehi High School's auditorium and enjoying a good play. This one certainly did not disappoint us. We have gone 3 times and I think Jordan is planning on taking Nicole tonight. Way to go Lehi Drama Dept!

Bugged!

As I check my friends' blogs and then I come back to mine, I'm always a little bugged. I'm someone that loves browns, rusts, golds, greens, anything earthy and when I look at my blog with it's blue/grey theme I feel all cold and weird. It's just that it matches with our family picture and I'm such a "matchy" person. We took this picture last Christmas and it's one that I really like. But this whole template doesn't match "me." I have some work cut out for me as I work on a blog facelift. Any suggestions?

My Babies

Can you tell we all had a long weekend? Jake went to a scout campout on Friday = no sleep. Allison slept with me Friday night because Brendan was out of town. She loves our bed, but said she couldn't sleep all night. We all worked hard Saturday morning cleaning the house, had lunch, and took a break. Not too long after, I found them both fast asleep with the TV on. It reminded me of when I would put them down for their afternoon naps at the same time. Except this time I was able to leave them home and make a quick dash to Costco with a note on the TV saying where I was. Having them so close together was so much fun. Even though teenage hormones and emotions are flying all over our house these days, they are both tender hearted kids that still love to snuggle with their mom once in a while. They hate it, but I still call them "My Babies." They always will be.

Prom Night!

Jordan and Nicole Foster

Yes, he's quite smitten with her!

Jordan and Jordan

aka Harry Potter and Ron Weasely

& Ferris Bueller and Cameron

Saturday was a big day for Jordan. He has been looking forward to (and saving for) prom for a long time! He's so grown up!!!! Last year I went with him to pick out his tux, helped him ask his date, pick out her corsage, etc. Mom's not needed much anymore. He did all that with a buddy this time. His group consisted of 16 friends! Friday night they all went to the Drive-in together. Then he got up early Saturday morning to get ready for their day date (funny, how he can get up on time, all by himself when he's going on a date, but not when it's time for school or church). I guess kids now have to go out Friday night, Saturday morning, and then do the dance Saturday night. What happened to dinner and the dance like when I was in high school? I guess those are ancient customs. He packed a lunch for him and his date. Yes, I said he made them a lunch! This kid doesn't even heat up a slice of pizza by himself if he's hungry. They spent several hours playing flag football and having their picnic lunch. The plan was to go out on the football field, but since Utah doesn't believe in warm weather this year, they ended up playing in the gym! All of the boys are on the football team so I think that the girls were big sports willing to play football with them. I think I would prefer to be chased by a grizzly bear than have any one of those boys coming after me! Then when the girls went to get their hair and nails done, the guys hung out and played video games. They all got ready together so I didn't even get to be there for that! But thank goodness Jordan brought Nicole over before they headed out to dinner so I was able to sneak in these few pictures. Actually, I took 43 of them! It was so fun I couldn't stop and the girls were having such a blast. It was so nice to see Jordan be such a gentlemen and so genuinely happy!

Isn't this the worst part of prom?

Jordan, Nicole, her best friend, Catalina, and Jordan's best friend Jordan Dew.

BFF! They are both truly beautiful inside and out!Aren't these the best? Why didn't I think of that when I went to prom. Heels ruin the night. Smart girls!

There are too many good looks in this picture!

Quarterback to Receiver!

Can you tell that both of these girls are dancers?

Have a great time!

These are just some of my favorite pictures. I couldn't download them all! They went to Bucca de Beppos in Salt Lake for dinner and then Prom was held at the Union Pacific station at the Gateway. I'm just so thankful that he has such a great group of friends, most of whom he's known since 6th grade. I'll post their group prom picture when he gets it back. Didn't Brendan just pick me up for Prom not long ago? Oh ya, that was 23 years ago!!!!! I'm not ready to be so old and have my kids grow up. Jordan took a long 3 hour nap on Sunday to make up for the long, busy, fun filled weekend.

Almost there!

Jake received his last three required merit badges toward his Eagle rank this week at the Court of Honor. He's been done with his project and his paperwork for several months now and has 5 weeks left to wait for his 6 month term as a Life Scout. Then he can finally go before the Eagle Board of Review and be done!!!! It looks like he'll be able to earn it one month before he turns 14. What a great accomplishment that will be!

I just have to share a very special experience that he had this past week. You may not know, but Jake really struggles with school. He has a 3.8 GPA but he has to work his little butt off every single day and goes in early, stays afterschool, does extra credit...well you get the idea. By the way, this is the kid who never cared about school in elementary. I don't ever have to remind him to do his work or push him to go the extra mile. He is such a conscientious student, but it's not easy for him. Frustrating for us to watch, especially since Jordan and Allison pull off straight A's without much effort. He has had an especially hard time in math and English. Well, the other day we told all the kids to go to their rooms and finish their homework before we watched a TV show. After about ½ an hour, Jordan and Allison were done, but not Jake. Then we heard the shower turn on and thought it was weird that Jake would be taking a shower at 7:00 instead of coming downstairs. Anyway, the next day he told me that he tried and tried to do his math, but he just didn’t understand any of it at all (he is very independent and doesn't like to get help from us as it frustrates and confuses him more sometimes.) Besides, when it comes to math I don't remember anything past the first few chapters of pre-algebra! He decided to get in the shower to relax his frustrated brain and said a prayer and asked Heavenly Father to please help him get it. When he was done, he sat back down at his desk and looked at his book. He said that everything started to make sense all of the sudden and he understood the assignment. He did 50 problems in less than an hour and got 100% on it the next day! Is that amazing or what? He also had to write a paper yesterday for English and I knew I would have to sit down with him and go over it and help him change most of it because he lacks a lot of basic grammar skills. But to my great surprise, it was an excellent paper. Definitely the best one that he’s ever written (not content wise, but grammatically correct.) I didn't have to help him change one thing! I told him that his prayer had continued to work because he wrote such a great paper and it looks like something has clicked in his brain. He said, “Ya, and in history my brain has clicked there and burst into flames because it’s so easy now and I love that class!” School is so important to him and with Heavenly Father's help, he has been able to have his strongest, righteous desires of his heart come true! Jake has always been a great example to our whole family and I'm thankful for this testimony building experience about prayer. We are so blessed.

In the presence of an angel

I had such a great day today. Heidi and I went up to Primary Children's and we got to visit with Michele and Gracie! Anyone that knows me knows that I don't drive to Salt Lake, but I took this giant step and terrifying trip because I love them so much! I only got us a little lost on the way. We met Michele at the front entrance and took her out to lunch at Paradise Bakery. It was so good to see her and to chat about everything! She has been through so much this last month and she is holding up remarkably well. It was so great to give her an outlet to vent a little bit, but most of all it was great to reconnect with her and just be "us." After lunch we went back to the hospital and we got to be with Gracie for a little while. She looks even cuter in person than in pictures on their blog. I think it's because in person, you can really feel her special little spirit and that makes her even more precious. She is just the tiniest little thing! I had seen her when she was just a week old, but I forgot how tiny she is. She slept the whole time we were there. I got to just stand there and rub her little foot the whole time. She is doing much better, but she still has a long way to go. They are starting to trial her off the ventilator which will be a huge relief to get out. Hopefully she can get off it in a week or so. She has had a setback with her feedings and has to go on fat free formula for a while. So for now they are just hoping to get her swelling down, the fluid drained from behind her lungs, and the ventilator out of her. She has been through more medical procedures in one month of life than most people will ever have to face. She looks good though and we just hope that she will get to come home soon. It was so hard to leave, but we had to get back to our kids coming home from school. We could have stayed there all day! If only to keep Michele company. I really look forward to holding her one day and helping Michele with her this summer. Gracie is one little angel!

Busch Gardens April 18th

It wouldn't be a fun Smith Family Vacation without rollercoaster rides. We spent our last day at Busch Gardens in Williamsburg. It had fantastic rollercoasters. Our favorite one was "The Griffon" which we videotaped so we would always remember how crazy we were to go on it. The Darkastle was a very different haunted house which was done in 3-D and way fun. We had the most amazingly huge funnel cakes...I'm sad I didn't think to take a picture of them. It's so fun now that all three kids are tall enough for all the big rides. Another long day of walking. But this time we were able to get back to our hotel early enough to go soak in the hot tub! It wasn't a very relaxing trip, but boy did we have fun!!! We got home early Saturday afternoon and have taken the whole weekend off to relax and get ready for life on Monday.

Washington DC April 17th

We got up at 5:00 (eastern time!) to go to Washington DC for the day. It was a 2 hour drive then we got on the metro and rode it in for 1/2 an hour into the city. We headed straight to the Holocaust museum because we had tried to get tickets to go in for days but it was sold out. We learned that you could stand in line and try to get in that way so we gave it a shot. Totally worth it! We stood in this huge line for about an hour, but got in with no problem. It was packed with information and incredible displays. Allison had never known much about the Holocaust so it was all new to her. I could tell that Jake was really moved by it. Jordan spent much of 9th grade learning about it so it was very interesting for him too. We could have spent an entire day there, but since we only had one day for DC on this trip we had to hurry through it. Our next stop was the White house. We couldn't get a tour because you need to get security clearance 6 months in advance, but we decided to go look at it anyway. It was a lot smaller than we imagined and was surrounded by buildings which we also hadn't pictured. Then it was on to the Spy museum. Another great one that we could have spent an entire day viewing. We paid extra to do the Spy adventure where we got assigned a case and went through different exercises and rooms to try to solve it. It was like being on "24" and the kids have never had more fun. Jordan was the best spy of us all. Then we tried to go to the National Archives, but the line to see the Declaration of Independance and the Contstitution was around the block and so we decided to move on. We had lunch at the Museum of Natural History and went around trying to find all the displays that were in "Night at the Museum," one of our favorite movies. We then went on to the Bureau of Engraving where we saw them printing millions of dollars right in front of our eyes. I love seeing "factories." We weren't done yet. Then we went across the Potomac River to see the Jefferson Memorial and back around the other side to the Lincoln memorial. Both were amazing and grand! We then had to trudge up hill about 6 blocks to catch the metro. Our feet and legs were hurting so bad. We walked at least 10 miles plus all the time walking inside each museums too! There is so much to see. There are 4 or 5 places that we still want to visit so we will plan another trip back east in the next few years.

Yorktown April 16th

The next day we spent at Yorktown. It's a beautiful little town right on the river with lot's of quaint colonial homes, shops, and restaurants. We toured the Yorktown Victory center which again had movies, a museum, and a colony depicting the last battle of the Revolutionary war. We had the cutest tour guide, Anastasia (a U.S. History major from Russia) that had the cutest accent and made our tour of the battlefield really interesting and fun. We loved the demonstration of them firing a cannon. We also loved the demo at the medical tent where we learned about how they would amputate limbs, remove bullets, and about all the early medical instruments. We finished the day with ice cream and Ben and Jerry's and did the 8 mile driving tour of the battlefield itself. We learned so much and had a blast!

Jamestown April 15th

Our main purpose for this trip was to learn about US History which we all really love. Our first full day we spent at Jamestown Settlement. It was the first place that our forefathers settled in this new land. We saw several movies depicting their early life here and went through a great museum there. The outside "colony" was really fun as we got to see how they lived (and died). We also got to go on three ships which were replicas of the ones they sailed from England. One of them was actually sailed to Jamestown from England in 1985 to bring it to this site for permanent display. I don't know how anybody could travel under those conditions across the Atlantic for 4 to 5 months! It sure made us grateful to the founders of this country. That night we went on a nighttime "Ghost tour" around the colonial town of Williamsburg. We walked the streets while our guide walked with a lantern and told us true "ghost" stories that have happened there. It wasn't too scary, but it was fun and our guide was really funny too.

Spring Break

Our trip started out a day late thanks to the problems with American Airlines that made Delta flights get overbooked. Since we were flying on standby tickets all of the Saturday and Sunday flights were full. We ended up catching a flight Monday at 12:35 a.m.! We flew all night to New York and then on to Richmond Virginia. The first flight out of New York was full so we had to wait 2 1/2 hours for the next one. We walked around the JFK airport and got bagels for breakfast and donuts for dessert. Not a very nice (or clean) airport I might add. We were glad to leave and head on to Richmond. Allison was so excited to ride on a smaller plane that you had to get on and off using stairs, just like you see on TV and in the movies!

On Gracie Watch

This is where I found Jake and Allison (and myself ) all weekend...checking the Gledhill's blog for an update on our new favorite baby...Gracie. They must have read and re read the whole thing 4 or 5 times each! Gracie was taken off all life support on Friday and wasn't expected to make it. No one at PCMC's PICU has ever made it off successfully after being on the ECMO machine for 10 days and being as critical as she was. The doctors and nurses are truly amazed. We all witnessed a miracle straight from heaven this past weekend. Not only did she make it, but she turned a corner yesterday and is tolerating getting off much of her medication. Her lungs are still a little bit of a concern, but she is one little fighter! Jake said that he feels like Gracie is his own little sister because he just loves her so much. We look forward to her continued recovery so that we can all go visit her soon. We grew so much closer as a family this week as we prayed so hard for her and took turns being on Gracie watch.

Enough Already!!!

C'mon! It's April 7th...and this is what we woke up to today! What about the spring flowers and flowering trees? Will winter ever end?

The Season's not over...

Brendan and the kids made tons of great memories on the slopes this past ski season. Seeing how we woke up to another snow storm just yesterday, I don't think the season is quite over yet. Allison had gone only once before this year and the boys had been around 3 times, but all improved dramatically this year. Brendan's knee has been feeling so good and he took them up by himself 6 or 7 times this past season. (I just can't seem to get excited about freezing to death and flying out of control down a mountain.) Their favorite place to ski is at Deer Valley, but Alta is good too considering they have free skiing on Saturdays after 3 p.m. Jordan joined the ski/snowboard club at school but was so busy with basketball and work that he wasn't able to really participate in their activities very much. It was also fun for them to go with Ed and Maria and their kids a few times. Maybe next year I'll get brave and give it a try...don't hold your breath though. Below is a video of Allison at the beginning of the season earlier this year.

Prayers for Gracie

Our good friends (and former neighbors), Tom and Michele Gledhill, had a beautiful little girl on the 20th of March named Gracie. She was born with a severe defect on the left side of her heart. She had sugery at only 4 days to make the right side do all the work. This is the 1st of 3 surgeries required to fix the problem. She has had some major setbacks since her surgery and is currently on a heart/lung bypass machine. They have tried to trial her off the machine several times and her little heart just hasn't been strong enough yet. They are going to try it one last time on Wednesday or Thursday. If you read this, please remember sweet Gracie, and her family, in your prayers. She is such a beautiful angel that has touched our lives, and that has changed the lives of hundreds already. For more information you can check out their blog linked on the left side of mine titled "Gledhill family."