Christmas morning at the Idea House

Christmas Eve 2008

Mom, I thought you would appreciate this. It’s the nativity set you gave us years ago, with all our family Christmas books surrounding.

Faith in Action!

Our Elders will not be deterred. Here are Elder Smith (AZ.) and Elder Hullinger (GA.) in front of the house this morning. Their car is buried with snow at the bottom of our driveway. Well, okay this pic was staged so that I could email it to their parents. They were grounded today - like everyone and everything in our area. What a major storm! Meredith had to park her car at the church and get picked up. The elders helped Dad - one shoveling, one blowing and one plowing - do the driveway today. Dad is out plowing now to keep it in check. Our church bldg. had a pipe bust - major flood damage. We will attend church at the stake ctr. this Sun. - Sac. Mtg. only. - with another ward.

Real, artificial trees

At this time of year, when I feel harassed by many for the choice of an "artificial" tree over a dead "real" one, I feel it timely to share the reasons for my choice. I choose not to do this on my own blog because I know there are several I would offend. But on this blog, there may only be a few I might offend. In addition, I have developed this viewpoint largely due to the influence of my sagacious parents - so this is a tribute to them.
Here goes....

Benefits of an artificial Christmas tree:

• Easy to assemble, and hassle-free when compared to choosing, moving, and putting up a real tree.
  
• No having to clean up needles that fall to the floor and cause a hazard for young children.
  
• No sap that can ruin ornaments, hardwood floors, or carpet.
  
• Artificial trees have a perfect shape but real trees may have a flat side, hole, or other natural "imperfection."
  
• Most artificial trees are fire resistant.
  
• Only need to invest in an artificial tree once, as opposed to paying for a new one each year.
• Most last for 20 years or more
• No guilt for contributing to deforestation
  

Any others?

Say hello to Mr. Moose

This is Mr. Moose.

Mr. Moose makes Moose Munch. If you eat a bunch for lunch after lunch, then I have a hunch you'll move with a heavier crunch. I know this to be such!

Steve was trying to get Devin to go with him on a trip to the dump. After a few encouragements and one outright bribe, Devin said, "Don't worry Dad, I'll spend some time with you when you get back!"

We have kitties!

Here are the two new additions to Rae Lane. "Azzie" and "Deano" (named by Meredith) live on the deck and are quite entertaining. They catch mice, "play" with the mice on the deck so we can see them, and then the mice "disappear". They sleep in a storage container set on it's side with rugs and a heating pad underneath turned on low - burr, it started to snow today!

From youngest to oldest - here they are!

Here are the grandkids - sitting on the beach wall in San Diego 11-17-08. The "wall" provided perfect (nearly) camouflage for the 4 youngest. The beach was so fun that we even cancelled a day at the zoo.

Elders are Here!

We have Elders living in the apt. above the garage. Here are our first two - the one on the right has gone home. The one on the right is Hullinger from GA and the new one is a Smith from AZ. We did a little himing and hawing when the Bishop approached us, but they are a blessing and they are willing to drink green drinks! We really don't interact much (well, not daily). They are doing well and we believe their presence has already blessed us. The commitment is for one year.

2009 thought calendar

Calling all Smiths! I know we've all been busy--Chelsea's been making baby mush and Brian's been jammin' at the Special Olympics--but I need your quotes IF we are going to get to have a sequel edition of the Smith family calendar for 2009.

Just imagine the joy you'll have to look forward to each and every day of next year as a reward for your hard work now!

Watch your email inboxes for another copy of the dates (I'll send it off tomorrow) and LETS HAVE A RACE to see who can get their quotes back to us first. Ready...Set...Go!!!

We haven't posted in a while. Here is what we did today!

Annalee is in a children's dance & singing group here that performs all over Sacramento, between now and the end of Dec. they have 11 shows. Today they performed for the "First 5 Children's Celebration" at Fairytale Town.

This group was introduced to us by a ward member, and w/ a large majority of the families involved in it being conservative Chrstian or LDS, we were happy that their standards (modesty,conduct,etc.) were known to be very high and no performances on Sunday! Annalee has loved it since joining in January.

One unique factoid about this group: all the kids are assigned an international costume which is used in every show. The artistic designers are very particular that every costume be as traditionally authentic as possible of the country you're assigned. So, FYI, in this video Annalee is wearing hers, she is West Germany!

Dad's gone GREEN!

Dad says "cheers" as he tries Dr. Ozs' Green Drink. He likes it! Dr. Oz is the health guru that Oprah has made famous. He has co-authored some best selling health oriented books (like "You, the Owner's Manual"). Oprah tasted it on her show and said, "That's fresh!" Everything goes into your Vitamix and it really is surprisingly good and exceptionally good for you.
Here's what goes in - plus a little bit of fresh ginger. If you're interested, just type in Dr. Ozs' Green Drink on the web and soon you too will know how Popeye got his mus-culs!

Rollin'

Dad got out my old (yet quite new!) roller blades and I took to the driveway for practicing. The ski polls offered greater confidence. "Stopping" seems to be my greatest challenge. There is just one break - on the right roller blade - and so I have to think ahead..."break right, break right".
Dad suited up and we did went on a little excursion. No falls! Whos's been on roller blades? How does it compare for you with regular roller skating?

Wolf People!

This was an amazing little adventure for Dad and I. Lon Gibby needed some help with a film he is doing, so we joined him at Wolf People. Wolf People is located close to Sandpoint, ID. It is a facility dedicated to educating the public on wolves. The owners run a western themed store with emphasis on wolf "stuff". Adjacent to the store is a large enclosure where you can "pet" (through the fence) a wolf. They bring two wolves to this location daily and offer a q&a and a lecture. We got to visit the owners home a couple of miles away where the rest of the wolves live - 21 in total - in very large enclosures. A wolf is 10x smarter than a dog with amazing individual personalities. The height of our experience was going into a 5 acre densely wooded enclosure that is the wolves "playpen". Three wolves joined us and we were involved in some interviewing of the owners. Picture this - Dad and I are sitting on a big boulder rock - wolves circling in the background - Dad says something like "Stay with us and we'll be introducing you to a couple who said goodbye to their children and began a new family - with wolves." I say, "That's right, 21 wolves to be exact." Just then a wolf circles in behind and puts his head between us - gives me a nudge and a lick, then turns to Dad and goes crazy with wolf kissing!" Lon was ecstatic - couldn't of planned that one!

Cougar

Linds emailed these to me, so I took it upon myself to be the posting blogger. Theyre just too cute not to share with the Smith world. But Lindsay - you should be putting these on YOUR blog! I know you have one! I will continue to harass you til you become a regular blogger.