Welcome to our World

Around this time last year I was called to be the Young Women's President of our ward (congregation), which I wrote about a little on my mormon.org profile . One of the many things I began to do after taking on such a heavy duty volunteer position was to begin working on the Personal Progress program again. It has been changed a lot since I graduated from high school a dozen years ago. I think it might be more daunting for youth now, but it is better at building lasting habits that help you become a more Christ-like person. It has taken me almost the entire year, but I have finally finished one of the 8 values (sections). I decided to share all this on my blog after writing the required journal entry for my Faith project. Simply stated, I need to study the scriptures more & be more vocal of my testimony of the Savior & Redeemer of the World. Merry Christmas! "I am grateful this project gave me the opportunity I needed to dive back into the New Testament (and with...

Christmas is just around the corner and we sure are loving this holiday season! Grandma Karyl helped us make reindeer treats to give to friends, our neighbor, Marshon, spoiled the children with giant Pillow Pets, and we loved playing at Bernadette's & Clementine's new house. We've also enjoyed Christmas crafts, such as Danny & Michelle sponge painting while Kaelah was at preschool. Of course one of the season's highlights is the annual ward Christmas party we bring our neighbor, Darrel, too. It is so fun to to get the children all dressed up in Holiday clothes and take some pictures in front of the Christmas tree. (I've added a picture of how proud they were to decorate the tree too.) This is truly our home and we are grateful we can share Advent with such wonderful people. I don't have any pictures from Kaelah's preschool Christmas party but it was very sweet and very much in keeping with the true spirit of Christmas. I'm so glad Kaelah s...

We've gotten some great snow this year! At this age, we've found being pulled is the best option -- our little ones fly out of the sled if you send them down a hill too easily. Well, and Kaelah wasn't allowed to try due to her broken collar bone. Here's a picture of Kaelah at her preschool enjoying a ride & a couple pictures of when Dan took Michelle & Danny out around our neighborhood. Also this winter, the children have enjoyed it when we went swimming. Michelle loved it so much I signed her up for a month-long Aquababies class. I couldn't believe how Michelle would put herself all the way under the water repeatedly! She was a natural! She was one of the happiest babies out of a dozen and couldn't get enough -- except the water could have been warmer for her. I promise I took this picture of her before we went into the pool on her last day. She looks so skinny in a swimsuit -- which she calls a swimsoup & I love it. (: We had a great tim...

Model trains, real trains: we had it all this month. First, Grandpa helped me take the children to a model train show at the Boulder County Fairgrounds and we had a blast. I wouldn't be surprised if someday my children ask me to take the HO trains I had when I was little and make a real nice set-up. For now, we'll just enjoy other people's hard work and talent. Steam-up days at the Colorado Railroad Museum are the best, especially when you have friends that are members and you can get in for free. Free rides on a real steam train, free hot chocolate, free RR zipper pulls... and being with friends! Ethan is perfect for Kaelah & Joseph is perfect for Danny. Hopefully their next arrival, Hannah, who arrives in February, will be perfect for Michelle. (: Thanks, Lisa & Mark! We had a wonderful day!

Smith Highlights of 2011 (and the pictures we used for our Christmas card this year) 1. We visited the Children’s Museum in Denver as an entire family for the 1st time when a friend from out of town came to visit. 2. Michelle had her first birthday in March and I (Sarah) was a total wreck. I just couldn’t believe my baby was now a 1-year-old. 3. My best friend got married and I was delighted to throw her a bridal shower. Her sisters even drove in from out-of-state for it! 4. We had a joyful trip to Utah to see Dan’s older sister get sealed (married) to her wonderful husband. It was one of my favorite moments of the entire year! 5. My dad turned the big 65 and we took him to a Nascar race track that was established in ’65. It was so fun to see how the stereotypes about those events are true. 6. My friend Lisa & I bought a family+ membership to the Denver Museum of Nature and Science and have loved all the opportunities to go there this year. 7. Danny turned 2 in June. Pe...

For Thanksgiving this year we headed off on a new adventure to avoid the onset of cabin fever & it sure worked! Dan was asked to take the entire week of Thanksgiving off work b/c one of the company's 2 factories is still under water in Thailand. He'll also take an extended Christmas vacation. So, we set off to Florida and Disneyworld. I hadn't been there since I was 5 or 6 and the rest of my family had never been there. We decided it was now or never before Michelle turns 2 in March & we'll have to start buying her an airplane ticket. It was a crazy, wonderful time! Sunday, November 2oth: flew to Orlando -- the children did great on the plane. After a shuttle took us to our hotel, we went swimming in one of the 5 outdoor pools, very happy we had gone to Florida. Monday: At 4:30am we awoke to a thud & Kaelah crying. She had fallen out of bed & hurt her shoulder. We found out after returning home she had actually broken her left collar bone! Sh...

The week before Thanksgiving I had a great opportunity to count my blessings for knowing fun, wonderful people! This wasn't just a progressive dinner, but also a 1920s mystery dinner all in one. There was even some good ol' horse racing at one of the stops using toddler toys. I'm thinking we are lucky some new families have moved into the ward who like to plan big things like this. Oh, and Donna, that includes you because we were here first. A big thanks to my mom for babysitting & providing costumes for Dan and I on short notice, too! We got some chuckles out of the navy man who was a gangster and had his gumshoe wife knocked off asap.