Click-Click-Clack … a TYPEWRITER

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IMG_20130406_132423You can see the tots are completely amazed by the workings of a typewriter. Jimmy was cleaning out the stake clerk’s office and was taking a bunch of stuff to D.I. I asked him to hold this out so we could show the kids. Totally awesome how much the kid’s loved it. (you can see that Jimmy was not quite as WOW-ed by the typewriter).

I remember having a manual typewriter that was red when I was little. I’m sure this didn’t help it last any longer, but I used to try and get all the keys stuck together by the ribbon. Fun times!

A New Ride for the Smiths

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IMG_20130412_173327We knew it was time to start searching for a new van for the fam. Lovely 1999 White Toyota Sienna was breakin’ down. The handles could have been fixed… but it was starting to need more mechanical repairs than we wanted to put into it.

Jimmy found this 2007 Blue/Gray Toyota Sienna that we bought this week. It’s cleaner and a newer model and there are a lot of great things about it. The kids like the new van. Max and Truman invite all their friends over to see inside.

We are finally saying good-bye to the last of our cassette tapes since we now have no more cassette players. I will miss my fun mixed tapes from college! Go Peter Breinholt!IMG_20130410_210936

Who’s … got … the … bounce?

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We decided to get a tramp … instead of a puppy. Well – sort of. It wasn’t really either/or. But – we have a trampoline. I can hardly believe that I would purchase a trampoline. In my mind they are ARM-BREAKERS. Amazon came through for us on this Ulteca. I love Amazon Prime & FedEx & UPS. They save my life from having to go to stores with 5 little people.

Anyhoo… we had a few helpers to build the trampoline. The man behind all the work is not pictured … Jimmy. You can see they are busy working (with grease all over them – see Tru’s forehead). Wait, is Max working? Oh Max.04 april 20132

Everyone hopped on to give it a try before we got the net one. My nerves were freaking out with little Liza boing-ing all over the place. The net was for me really… for my anxiety… not really for the kids (though it might help them not break arms… we’ll see!).
04 april 20133I love this top photo of the kids. Super. Great idea I had… “Kids, let’s all lay down on the tramp and watch the clouds blow by.” A nice safe, calm activity. It lasted about as long as it took to take the picture. Lower Left… You can see Hannah in slow motion yelling, “Aaaaabbbbbeeee. Watch out for Eliza.” And poor Liza was just face down in the middle trying to stay safe. But that girl didn’t want to get off either so she must have been having fun. She and Tru like to jump solo so it’s more mellow.

A favorite game the kids learned from the Gunnells… “Who’s … got … the … bounce?” I don’t know what they do, but they love it. They also play “3 little pigs” with the littles and they jump from house to house to gather together as little pigs. Then the big bad wolf ends up down the chimney. Liza loves Ring around the Rosies with Abe. Tru loves Duck-duck-goose on the tramp.

Over all, the trampoline has been swell in the 2 weeks we’ve had it. It’s anchored down and then we also take the net down when it gets too windy to hopefully avoid a broken fence and missing tramp.

When the Prophet says jump … we say, “How high?”

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We love General Conference weekend in our family! (well… the kids love the Conference Mix that we make… and the traditions of the weekend as a family. I know as we continue doing these things, the children will begin to LOVE THE SPIRIT of the weekend, hearing the word of God from living prophets)

With Spring Break this past week, we headed to Salt Lake to have lunch with Jimmy in the Church Office Building Cafeteria and to see beautiful Temple Square. It was lovely! The kids just wanted to hang out by the reflection pool by the temple. Max really wanted to go in the temple but still thought touching the huge doors was cool. Truman wanted to climb up to the top of the temple. Eliza just wanted to run through the flower beds. Abe told me how good he felt being on temple square.04 april 2013

We have had a good conference weekend. Hannah and Abe and Max have sat through most of it. I think they even tried to listen to most of it. Hannah has some great notes. She was in charge of writing the Apostles topics on our Conference Wall hanging. Abe thought President Uchtdorf’s talk on ‘walking in the light’ was a good one. Liza fiddled around most of the time. Tru played outside and watched Dora upstairs for half of it. Which means that I was able to listen to 95% of conference. I love that! A true Conference Miracle.
04 april 20131While Jimmy was at the Priesthood Session, the rest of us went on a walk in perfect weather to the ponds to skip rocks. The kids love playing at the park in our neighborhood. Bedtime was late, but we are loving this Spring weather so it was hard to come home too early.

This morning we had a family devotional and talked about scripture heroes who were quick to obey and not question the Lord’s Commandments. We tried to explain the phrase … “When the Prophet says jump … we say, “how high?”

Nephi – built a boat. Didn’t complain about not knowing how … he asked, “Where should I go to make tools?”
Nephi – went to get the plates. I will go & do… I know the Lord will deliver them unto us.
Samuel the Lamananite – preach unto the wicked Nephites. I will go in faith.

Those were just a few of the scripture stories we came up. I love this principle of faithfully obeying the prophet & God. Max always loves to think of comments so he can raise his hand and participate. His comment this morning went something like this…the prophet is good

Choose Happy

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smithgirlsOur neighbor took these darling photos of the tots when we were over helping them with a family picture. These make me want to buy a nice camera and learn how to use it. How perfect is this of Eliza & Hannah. I was up Saturday night sewing those skirts. They might actually stay together even though I sew horribly. It was fun though.

maxMax was thoroughly convinced that his tie goes on the outside of his sweater. So we’ve got a too-big Christmas sweater. A too-small haggard tie. And about the cutest smile ever on that kid. So perfectly Max.

In other news. Today is the first day of Spring Break. It’s raining outside. We had a morning devotional to talk about the plan for the week. We ended with this as the family cheer.choose to be happy

A Sunday Drive

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Collages5Well… it was a day.

6 a.m. – Tru woke in all his glory.

7:30 a.m. – appointment with the new stake president for Jimmy to receive a new calling – Stake Clerk

9:00 – Heather goes to InstaCare for the most ridiculous injury… mechanical pencil lead lodged in heel of foot. Seriously? It was the perfect storm for that lead to puncture my foot instead of just breaking. So dumb – and painful. Doctor digs and digs and still can’t get it out. Why was pencil lead on the carpet anyways? Does anyone vacuum around here?

10:00 Stake Conference. Sorry, but 5 kids and I stayed home. I can’t hobble around with 5 kids who have colds and are coughing out a lung.

Afternoon: Jimmy finally came home… He was gone most of the weekend setting up the broadcast for Stake Conference. Elder Russell M. Nelson came which was really neat. Our stake was split and we are in the new stake. It was busy for Jimmy… he came home and crashed on the couch in his suit. He is a good man.

Evening: Went on a Sunday drive with the Fam. We drove to Provo to see the City Center Temple up on stilts. Saw the MTC which is on overload right now. Potty Break at the bYu. Green Grass. Provo Temple and the glorious mountains. Blue Skies. Sunshine.

I was going to take a picture of the temple and realized the camera had reversed and was on me. It made me laugh to see me and the car so I was silly and took a picture with me and Jimmy and my reflection. Hardy-har.

Hannah finally started reading Harry Potter this weekend. She doesn’t know what to think about Snape. Tru always cracks us up with his upside down sunglasses. Our drive was a good end to the day.

We are a family

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heather smith family 5x7I had to submit a family photo for something recently… and this was the one I chose. We don’t have any fancy-pants family photos. We’re lucky to get everyone looking at the camera. But this type of photo we can identify with… adventures together… stopping off the side of the road to get out some wiggles… seeing Zion National Park in the distance. We are a family … even a happy one.

“You are not my mother… you are a SNORT!”

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IMG_20130226_200555 copy
I like this picture. If you look closely, you can see 4 people. Tru on the left. Max on the right. Poor Liza couldn’t find a place so she wiggled her way behind Max to lay on my lap. I’ve been trying to read to my kids more. I have this reading syndrome and it just makes me yawn and yawn when I read outloud. But I know it’s good for the kids. Snuggling is good too! Tru has especially liked the ‘Diggingest Dog’ and ‘Are you my Mother?’ lately. I love the moments when the kids aren’t wiggling or shoving and we are enjoying a nice read together.

A little down time with the Smiths

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st george funeral with gr gr smith2Grandma Smith was great at playing games with the kids. She taught Max how to play checkers… and was patient with him while he learned. Grandpa made lots of silly noises for the kids. Every day he would say, “Today is going to be a GREAT day!” This was good for Abe to hear as he was having a harder time enjoying himself over the trip to St. George. By the End of Saturday, Abe said, “You know, today really was a great day!” Attitude can go a long way!!! All of the Smith Kids here in Utah (well, except John, who was working) came to dinner on President’s Day to celebrate Grandpa Smith’s 62nd birthday. It was his first year celebrating without his mother who shared his birthday. Eliza finally got used to Grandpa and would sit on his lap. She did better going to Jimmy’s mom. It was fun to have Jimmy’s parents get to know the kids a little better.

…phew… can you believe I made it through all the journal entries about our trip?!

Benjamin & Payson

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Benjamin, Utah, was a small town where the Smith’s ancestors John Johnson lived. (Don’t worry… I verified that this is a different John Johnson than the one I am related to… phew!) This cemetery had a map so it was easier to locate the graves.st george funeral with gr gr smith5

In Payson, we had very icy and snowy conditions at the cemetery. We’d been at it for a few hours and the tots were getting tired. Paul & Julie had located James McClellan and dug around it to read all the words. His story was neat. He was endowed in the Nauvoo temple before it burned down. He was sealed to his wife in Winter Quarters.
st george funeral with gr gr smith6Another neat story was about how we found Dr. William Walker Rust. Michael and Jill were searching in an area where there were other McClellan’s. I looked down and saw a Dr. Wm… I remember Paul had said someone was a doctor… so I used my boot to scratch the rest of the snow off the tombstone. Most of it was covered. So – here in the middle of deep snow, we uncovered this ancestor. Though – I have to say that after we heard his life, I was slightly disappointed in him. But – I suppose we’re all just doing our best in this life. :)

Hannah had some comments about cemeteries and tombstones. She said she had 3 requirements for her stone.
1. No picture
2. She wanted one stone for her and her husband.
3. She didn’t want us to put, “Not dead, but only Sleeping.” on it. We saw so many of these comments on pioneer-dated graves and we thought it was interesting.

Abe was really great at searching for dates. At all the cemeteries we went to, he searched for the person born the earliest. Some were born in 1803.

I really believe that having the kids go to cemeteries to scout out and find ancestor’s graves is really good for them. It really is cool to finally find the name you’ve been searching for. It’s a good treasure hunt for the kids. Once we heard some stories about the ancestors, it really helps the kids connect to them. Now, I need to find out where my ancestors are buried… I do think we’ll wait until Summer though.