We had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday in Sunriver. Doug, Heather, Nick, Annie, Matt, Kayla, Grandpa & Grandma all came to help celebrate! We went to the huge lighting ceremony of the Sunriver Lodge and watched a magic show, visited the Gingerbread Junction and watched Rudolph fly in over the lodge. They even had fireworks! The outing also included ice skating and hot cocoa. On Thanksgiving Day, we took a few hours and went tubing up on Mt. Bachelor. That is great fun....they pull you up the hill in your tube. Greg, Kayla, Alex & Matt spent Friday & Saturday riding the snow at Mt. Bachelor. Heather, Kathi, Genevieve and I “held down the fort” back at the cabin. Well truthfully, it was more like we put the fort back together….Thanksgiving is a lot of work & mess!!!
We had a surprise when Alex re-joined us on Friday morning. He had mentioned several times that he wanted to stay in Sunriver for the entire holiday, but Greg told him he had some other obligations that needed to be taken care of. So....when he came back Friday, it was a bit of a surprise. Guess that is what 16-year olds do.....they begin making their own choices and it's all uphill from there (from the parents stand-point that is!). Why is that such a shock to me? We've now been through it twice already with Matt & Grant! Funny how you forget how independent those kids become. It just "sneaks" up on you and bam...........there they are, all grown up and ready to make changes and their own decisions. Maybe it's just because Alex is the middle child. It doesn't seem like he's really this old already. Too soon, he’ll be off to college and on a mission. Hopefully he’ll remember his ‘ol Mom & Dad and will visit often. Our relationship with both Grant & Matt has blossomed into something wonderful. Absence does make the heart grow fonder………and in the case of our children……they begin to see how right their parents were about many things. In Grant’s last email, he used the phrase, “I hate to say this again Dad, but you were right about…………”. Music to a father’s ears! Grant has also taken on the role of counseling Alex on different issues. Alex has really begun listening to his older brothers’ advice too. Strange when they become allies instead of childhood-mischief makers! Although this must be said….Alex will NEVER, EVER (according to him) forgive his older brother for locking him in a closet at a hotel. Not sure when that one happened. Hey, sometimes it’s just best that we don’t know details. Right Moms?
We came back to a house in Heppner with a non-working furnace. It wasn't the only bad luck we had. We also had frozen /broken pipes and lost car keys in Sunriver. THANKS to our friend Candy Chick (the saint of all saints!)....who broke into our home and over-night mailed our extra set of keys. They arrived on Friday in Bend. I had to borrow Heather's car until then. THANKS Heather!!!! Family & friends....what would we do without them?
My camera has now officially died. Not sure why it's not taking photos, but will soon have a new one so that I can share all of the Smith Family memories with you! Heather is sending over pictures taken this last week.
We all sat around the fire and wrote Grant last night via email. Haven't heard back from him today (Monday is his P-Day!). When I hear from our favorite missionary, I will post it.
Happy Holidays. This Thanksgiving I was so grateful for safety, health, family & friends. Would love to hear from all of you.
(The orange is in honor of Thanksgiving!)
We had a surprise when Alex re-joined us on Friday morning. He had mentioned several times that he wanted to stay in Sunriver for the entire holiday, but Greg told him he had some other obligations that needed to be taken care of. So....when he came back Friday, it was a bit of a surprise. Guess that is what 16-year olds do.....they begin making their own choices and it's all uphill from there (from the parents stand-point that is!). Why is that such a shock to me? We've now been through it twice already with Matt & Grant! Funny how you forget how independent those kids become. It just "sneaks" up on you and bam...........there they are, all grown up and ready to make changes and their own decisions. Maybe it's just because Alex is the middle child. It doesn't seem like he's really this old already. Too soon, he’ll be off to college and on a mission. Hopefully he’ll remember his ‘ol Mom & Dad and will visit often. Our relationship with both Grant & Matt has blossomed into something wonderful. Absence does make the heart grow fonder………and in the case of our children……they begin to see how right their parents were about many things. In Grant’s last email, he used the phrase, “I hate to say this again Dad, but you were right about…………”. Music to a father’s ears! Grant has also taken on the role of counseling Alex on different issues. Alex has really begun listening to his older brothers’ advice too. Strange when they become allies instead of childhood-mischief makers! Although this must be said….Alex will NEVER, EVER (according to him) forgive his older brother for locking him in a closet at a hotel. Not sure when that one happened. Hey, sometimes it’s just best that we don’t know details. Right Moms?
We came back to a house in Heppner with a non-working furnace. It wasn't the only bad luck we had. We also had frozen /broken pipes and lost car keys in Sunriver. THANKS to our friend Candy Chick (the saint of all saints!)....who broke into our home and over-night mailed our extra set of keys. They arrived on Friday in Bend. I had to borrow Heather's car until then. THANKS Heather!!!! Family & friends....what would we do without them?
My camera has now officially died. Not sure why it's not taking photos, but will soon have a new one so that I can share all of the Smith Family memories with you! Heather is sending over pictures taken this last week.
We all sat around the fire and wrote Grant last night via email. Haven't heard back from him today (Monday is his P-Day!). When I hear from our favorite missionary, I will post it.
Happy Holidays. This Thanksgiving I was so grateful for safety, health, family & friends. Would love to hear from all of you.
(The orange is in honor of Thanksgiving!)
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