Family Blog

Elder Smith.

2/17/2014

Hey Family!

How is every thing going? This week I had a chance to go on exchanges with the assistants. They are going out with younger missionaries to help them! I learned so much from them, it was awesome! Dad, I want to say thanks for all the doors you made me knock on before my mission. I think after this, I will be great a salesman and marriage councilor! We seem to be doing a lot of both! How is Ryan and Gen doing? How are you guys doing? I hope all is well. Love you guys.

Elder Smith

and another from last week.....

Hey Family,

Things are going well down here! We got some snow down here but not as much as you guys!! We only got an inch or two! My companion got the flu this week so for the last two days we had to stay in side! It was hard. We really wanted to go see some families that have been having a hard time lately, but could not drive because of how bad he felt! My companion is Elder Stewart if I forgot to tell you in the letters! How are things going at home? Has Ryan got his permit yet? Is Gen exited for her birthday that is coming up soon? She will be 8 right? (just kidding ). How is session going for Dad? I knew that he would be leaving for it soon, but I did not know when! Thank you for telling me! How are you doing Mom, are Ryan and Gen driving you crazy? Or is everything calm with out me there?

Love
Elder Smith

Most recent mailing address:

123 Wilson Creek Apt 121
McKinney, Texas 75069

Genevieve Turns 11!

2/17/2014

Just beautiful.

1/26/2014

http://www.ktvl.com/news/features/live-event/?wap=0/

Post Christmas Get-Away to San Diego!

1/23/2014

Christmas!

1/23/2014

October 29th, 2013

10/29/2013

http://www.faithit.com/moms-kids-video-confession-touching/

I had a friend send me this link today. How odd that she should do this, as I was just thinking today about how it was with Alex as he grew up. I found a card from him in a file folder (which is what got me thinking about it). It said, "Dear Mom, Thank you for hiring another tutor for me. Thank you for always reminding me to do things. Thank you for always doing your best to help me become a better person. I love you. You should really take a day off. Love Alex".

The card made me laugh....but it also made me think about just how hard it was with Alex. I thought about all those times that I would have to go to school with him, then take him to the tutor, then take him onto his next thing.....(and the list goes on and on). I spent the majority of my life in the car with the kid; going from here to there to meet the obligations of his life. I remembered all the years he and I got up 45 minutes before everyone else in the house so that we could practice his Dolch sight words. I cannot even track the hours and hours we spent on homework and those infamous 20-pointers Mrs. Allen gave out. We won't even go into the spelling tests and L.A. assignments...those were the worst! And the sports camps....hours and hours of sitting there watching him practice the same move over and over. Do you know how awful those work-out rooms smell? And his shoes, why could the kid never find his shoes????

I also thought about all the times I grew impatient & tired. I thought about all those times where I wondered if I (or he) would survive his teenage years! Did I do a good job with him? Did I do my best? Did my lack of patience affect things? Did he know and realize that I was hard on him, and myself, because I wanted him to be successful?

Then I watched the video....and guess what? Other mothers ask themselves the same questions!

Kids, no matter the age, really do think about what their parents do for them (although they may never say it or show that gratitude to their parents). It made me remember about how hard Alex tried and worked to be the best at everything he attempted, even if he was a bit of a pillbox while doing it! It made me think about how lucky I was to be able to participate in raising him to be the kind of young man who goes and gives up two years to serve the Lord and his fellow man. Like the lady at the end said, "This is my calling, this is my job, this is what I love to do, and I will do it better, and with love, each and every day because those kids count on me and they love me for what I'm doing."

So Mom's out there....keep up the good work. We are doing a great job, even if we get a little grumpy sometimes. Look what we have to show for all that hard work and dedication; a great group of kids that will someday make great parents.

I say we should give ourselves a "pat" on the back....and stop being so hard on ourselves. If that doesn't work, pull out those precious, homemade greeting cards that tell us, "You really should take a day off." Then after we take that day off, we get back on the horse and keep on moving down this road we call life. Heavenly Father entrusted us with these little souls.....and even if it doesn't feel like it at the time, those kids are grateful for us.

And boy oh boy, how grateful I am for those kids.

October 07th, 2013

10/7/2013

Ok...I'm just sitting on the scale at 51 lbs. I did 20 miles the week before, and 12 miles last week....come on Mr. Scale................MOVE! Ugh. Ok, that rant is over.

I was in such a hurry this morning to get Ryan and Gen to school that I put on two different shoes. Luckily...I didn't have to get out of the car. I looked like a tired, downtrodden housewife this morning. Actually, I'm still looking like that, minus the two different shoes. Ha ha. I will soon be off to run, so I'm allowed to look a little bad (my logic).

I was looking at items from General Conference as I was checking work emails...so I thought I would post a few words. Gen has soccer tonight, Ryan has a JV football game. The poor kids spent all weekend (long drive after the game in Union) in Moses Lake at a wrestling camp. Last week was Moscow, Idaho and next weekend will be Spokane. Gen always has volleyball on Saturday mornings....so these adventures are "Dad and Ryan time" while we travel to volleyball games. They camp out and all that "guy" stuff. They are having fun doing it....so all is well. Yesterday, Ryan got home and had bruises all over his legs. Apparently he was paired up with quite a few National Champions. Ouch...but boy is he learning SO much. It should be super exciting to watch him wrestle this year. The bad part is, he has no one that is even close to his size on the team to practice with. Greg and I are trying to hire a graduate of Riverside to come and wrestle with Ryan two days per week. Hopefully it will work out. He was so excited to show me all his "new moves" last night in the living room. Unfortunately, his wrestling partner, a 10-year old drama queen who shall remain unnamed, did not find his new moves exciting. She hates being the wrestling partner. She took off running outside and said, "No....not wrestling moves....I hate wrestling moves!". Like I said...Miss Drama Queen. But geesh, do I sure love her.

Matt is all settled into school for the year. Missing him already. When he's on break, we call and text everyday. When he's at school, not so much. I am hoping to go and see him on one of these weekends that I'm not a slave to volleyball season. We always go to eat and hang out. Kids are great when they are young, but they are really great when you can sit down and have adult conversations and be with each other. A couple of weeks ago, Gen and I took he and Kayla to lunch after volleyball. I swear, he has aged 10 years in the last year. He has such a level head about things. He lectured his little sister about the dangers of eating out all the time. Really...my son lectured her! It was great!!!!! She did the typical 10-year old thing; rolled her eyes and said a little McDonalds never hurt anyone.

Grant had an interview for an internship, but it was not what he expected. So, he'll stay at his current job and also work for us part time. Talk about another kid that is awesome to talk to. Sometimes we just sit and talk for hours on the phone....about nothing in particular. He gets so passionate about the gospel and the way that things "should be" in the world. Love talking to him, he's grown up a lot since that day we left him for his first year of college.

Missing my boys.

Well, I'm off to run myself skinny. Come on Mr. Scale...be on my side this week!

President Thomas S. Monson

10/6/2013

Beautiful talk!

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10151735710836843

Why being a mom is enough.

10/6/2013

http://rachelmariemartin.blogspot.com/2013/07/why-being-mom-is-enough.html

October 01st, 2013

10/1/2013

Ever heard of Google Analytics? It's this handy program that allows website owners to view who looks at their site. It tells me the viewers location, what program(s) they use to view my sites and how many times they visit my site during the month. It tells me which pages a person visits and for how many seconds/minutes/hours they visit. I know who looks at our website; modern technology is great.

There is one of you that continues to look at my web page upwards of 12-20 times per month. That is fine, but please don't try and mess with my passwords and our Facebook account. It's not appreciated. I'll just stop publishing this and keep it for what it's meant; a record for our family. I'll treat it as my journal and keep it on-line, but no one will have access to it.

Thank you very much. So, you know who you are. Leave my accounts alone, or off I go.