Hannah's Recent Accomplishments

On Saturday, November 15, Hannah and her partner Cameron competed in Quest for the Best. They competed at the Newcomer Level and Bronze Level in both standard and latin, so they competed in 4 dances. They took 3rd place in their 1st dance, 5th place in their 2nd dance, 2nd place in their 3rd dance and 1st place in their last dance. Hannah has only been taking ballroom dance since September, and this was her first competition. She and Cameron did very well. It was very exciting! Hannah and Cameron with 2 of their ribbons

On Wednesday, November 19th the annual Kentwood Cross Country banquet was held. Hannah received a varsity letter.

Congratulations, Hannah!!!!

Fall in the Northwest

Our fall has been exceptionally beautiful this year--or maybe I just noticed it more. Anyway, I have been very impressed with the magnificence of our autumn. The pictures above were taken at Clark Lake Park on October 25. The one below was taken at a park in Auburn where Hannah was running a race on October 28.

Blue Angels

On Friday, August 1st, Dan, Rachel, David, Ryan, Katy, Mike & I watched the Blue Angels from the Museum of Flight. It was really enjoyable. I wasn't able to get any pictures of them in formation. They are amazing. We sat on the lawn watching them on a beautiful summer day. It was nice that Mike was able to meet us there during his lunch. It's fortunate that he can walk across the street from work to the Museum of Flight. After the Blue Angels finished, we spent a couple of hours in the museum. We had a great day!

David

Ryan

Katy

Mike & Ryan

Sadie

Last Tuesday after I took Sadie for a walk, I noticed that she was licking her foot a lot. I checked it out, and her right back foot had a sore spot. When you only have 3 feet and one of them hurts, it makes for a bad situation. Hannah had to carry Sadie outside (and back inside) when she put the chickens to bed one day last week. I put bag balm on it and didn't take her on any more walks last week. Today, she was very happy to walk around the country club again.

Always a 1st time.

I guess since everybody else is Blogging that I should learn.
(Isn't that a good reason, everybody else is doing it)
Before, I get into this, I hav just one qustion:
Where do all the old Blogs go?

My advice for the day is, if you are a deer, the safest place to be might be with me shooting at you but don't mess with Garrett.

I had a great time hunting with Garrett. The drive home Saturday night was painful turning a 4-1/2 drive into 6-1/2 and only one near death experience.

Mike

Happy Birthday Grandpa!! Happy Birthday Uncle McKay!! Happy Birthday Uncle Jim!!

Today is Grandpa Smith's birthday! Here is a picture we took of him with Dylene in August when we were at Uncle Jerry's funeral. Dylene loves her Great-Grandpa, and Grandpa seems to love holding Dylene! Three years ago, we were able to take a quick trip to Portland (we left home at 3:00 PM and got home about midnight) to celebrate his 70th birthday--we surprised him! That is always fun. I asked him what he planned to do for his birthday, and he told me he might go to the temple or go fishing. We hope that he has a great birthday whatever he decided to do! Happy birthday!!!! We love you!!!!

P.S. Happy birthday to Uncle McKay as well! We love you too!!!!! I couldn't find any pictures of McKay, so Hannah helped me find this one of her with Uncle McKay. Lovely hair!!

P.P.S. Happy birthday to Uncle Jim whose birthday was yesterday. We love you! This picture is the first day we met Jim in April 2001. Danny, Hannah, and I had gone to visit Grandma & Grandpa. Patti & Jim were there. Jim, you are a blessing to our family!

4 Temples in August

I told Miriam I would try to blog every day until I get caught up...I may have to blog every day forever. By talking about the 4 temples I went to in August, I can combine some of the things I need to blog about.

First, on August 5th, Mike, Rachel, Danny, & I went to the Salt Lake Temple. It was the day before Danny entered the Missionary Training Center. (I will blog about that separately.) Hannah babysat for Rachel's children so Rachel could go with us. Thanks, Hannah! It was a great experience.The next temple I attended in August was the Seattle Temple. It had been closed for 3 weeks, so it was nice to be there again on the first day it was open again (August 12). The floor has been beautifully refinished. Once a month, my friends get together and go to the Seattle Temple. This time I went with Char Kibbie and Marilynn Judd.

The following Saturday, I went to the Los Angeles Temple and did sealings with my parents, 2 sisters (Gwendolyn & Marilyn), 2 nephews and their wives (Ammon & Melanie and Alex & Tamara). I was in Palos Verdes to attend my 30-year class reunion of Palos Verdes High School. My dad volunteered our family to do the sealings since there were many of us there. I was only in California from Friday until Monday. The last temple I went to in August was on August 30. We went to the Manti Temple for Nadine and Scott's sealing. It was a wonderful experience!! Many family members & friends (both sets of grandparents, aunts, cousins, sisters...many of Scott's family as well) were there to witness them making those sacred covenants. Thank you to all of you who made the effort to be there with us that day! The only pictures I had on my camera of that day were of the three adorable Morrill children. You can see more pictures of the sealing day on Garrett's photography website http://kellamsphotography.blogspot.com. Thanks, Garrett for taking the wonderful pictures!

Costco in Covington

I am very excited that the Costco in Covington is nearly completed! It even has the name on the side of the building. It is about 4 miles from home. Currently the closest Costco is about 9 miles from home. I think it opens next month.

Danny's Mission Address

Danny will be leaving the Missionary Training Center and heading to Ventura, California next Monday, August 25. His mission address is:
Elder Danny Smith
California Ventura Mission
260 Maple Ct Ste 120
Ventura, CA 93003-3692

Happy Birthday, Nadine and Danny

Today is Nadine's 24th birthday and Danny's 19th birthday. This picture of them was taken last August. It shows how much they look like each other. I hope you both have a very happy birthday!

Hannah gets her hair cut

Hannah got her hair cut today. She is donating it to locks of love. I think she looks really cute with her hair short. The first picture is to show how long her hair was before it was cut, but it didn't go down far enough to see the whole length of her hair. The last picture is one she took of herself. Thanks Miriam and Rachel for donating your hair to locks of love and setting the example for Hannah to donate her hair.

Hannah went to Young Women Camp

Hannah went to Young Women's Camp at Zion's Camp this week! These pictures are of the girls as they were meeting at the church to leave for camp.

F-22

This afternoon Mike, Danny, & I saw 2 F-22 Raptors take off from Boeing Field. It was pretty impressive. I tried to videotape it, but I didn't succeed. Here is a photo of the only female F-22 pilot, Jaime Jameson, entering the cockpit.

All of our Children Together

All of our children were here together Friday-Sunday, June 6-8. Danny went to the temple for the first time on Friday, June 6. It was wonderful to have 4 of our 5 children in the Seattle Temple together. Hannah babysat for Rachel's daughter Katy. Garrett took some pictures of our family since we won't be together again until Danny comes home from his mission in August of 2010. Garrett did a really nice job. You can see other pictures he took on his website http://kellamsphotography.blogspot.com/. On Saturday, June 7, Mike, Nadine, Miriam, and Garrett all ran the Green River Marathon. You can see pictures and information about the marathon on both Nadine & Scott's and Miriam & Garrett's blogs (links are on the side under family. I don't know if Mike will blog about the marathon and the dance festival. Hopefully he will write down those memories so he won't lose them. We all sang together in Sacrament Meeting on Sunday, June 8--all except Miriam who played the piano for us and Garrett who held Katy.

Ryan's Birthday Bike

A couple of weeks ago, I asked Rachel to have Ryan pick out something he would like for his birthday that we could give to him. (It's easier to pay her back than to try shipping a gift like a bike.) Yesterday, she took him shopping. Ryan called me, and said, "Grandma, can I have a rocket bike for my birthday?" I told him it sounded like fun and that it would be fine. He told Rachel, "She said yes!" He was very excited!! A little bit later I received this picture text of Ryan on his new bike. Rachel told him she wanted to take a picture to send to Grandma, so he smiled and signed "I love you." He told Rachel he did that "because I love her." Being a Grandma is fun! Grandpa doesn't even know yet that he bought a bike for Ryan because he is at young women's camp. He'll be home late tonight.
Happy 4th birthday, Ryan!! We love you lots!!!!!

Rose Bush

A couple of weeks ago, I looked up from my weeding to see this beautiful rose bush in our garden.

It was different but still beautiful one week later with the roses in full bloom.

Blood Donor

One way I give service to our community is donating blood. Today I received my 5 gallon pin. That means I have donated 40 pints of blood with the Puget Sound Blood Center. I have also donated in California and Utah, but mostly in Washington. Since donating whole blood is only allowed every 8 weeks, it takes several years to earn a 5 gallon pin.

New Car

After 20 years of driving a minivan, I now have a Honda Accord to drive! This is the second new car we have purchased in nearly 28 years of marriage, so this is a really big deal. I appreciated the capacity of the 4 minivans that we have owned, but now with only Hannah at home full time--Danny will be leaving in a month, we don't need all that seating capacity. This is very fun for me!

The Chicks are Growing!

When Mike got home from Woodbadge last Satuday, he got some chicken food in his hand, and the chicks came and ate out of his hand! They are getting big! It's nice they are still friendly too.

This is my last blog for today. I think I am all caught up after 16 blogs--keep reading.

Surprise Party

A couple of Hannah's friends asked me if they could give her a surprise party for her birthday. We were busy with dance festival just before her birthday, so they gave the party last Saturday, May 17. Pictured are Halie, Danielle, Hannah, Jenni and Maddi. Jenni and Hannah went to see the movie, "Prince Caspian," and the other girls surprised Hannah when they came home. She had no idea they were having the party for her (which is good when it is a surprise party). It was very hot that day, and they played with water balloons.

Palos Verdes Marathon

Two years ago, Nadine, Miriam, Hannah, and I finished the Palos Verdes Marathon. This year, Danny decided to do it. It was last Saturday, May 17. He finished in 3 hours and 33 minutes, which was 29th place overall and 1st in his age division. Results are online at http://results.active.com/pages/page.jsp?eventID=1515608&pubID=3 My nephew Ammon Larsen (my sister, Gwendolyn's son) also ran the marathon and finished 2nd!! We are proud of them both!! Hopefully I will get a picture to add to this.

Ears Pierced

Last Thursday, May 15, Hannah got her ears pierced. In our family, you need to wait until 14 years old to do that. She is pretty happy about it.

Mother's Day

It was wonderful to have both my mother and my mother-in-law here for Mother's Day this year. I have been very blessed to be raised by a capable, intelligent, fun-loving mom. I am also blessed to have such a wonderful mother-in-law. We have a lot in common, and I enjoy spending time with her. Too bad we don't have a picture of them together on Mother's Day.

Happy Birthday, Hannah!

Hannah celebrated her 14th birthday on Sunday, May 11, which was also Mother's Day.

Dance Festival

Mike will have to blog more about the dance festival. He was in charge of a three stake dance festival at Bellevue Community College on Saturday, May 10. This picture is Maddi Haddock, Hannah, Jenni Bement and Marianne Bement just before the 2nd performance. They are wearing their dance festival shirts because that is the costume for the opening number. I was costume coordinator for our ward. The whole thing turned out really well. The youth performed with a lot of enthusiasm and had a great time.

Grandma and Grandpa Smith

Obviously, this picture is not of Grandma and Grandpa Smith. It is Danny and Hannah at the Mariner game. Mike's parents came on Friday, May 9th to stay for the weekend. We went to a Mariner game that night. Grandma and Grandpa went to the dance festival on Saturday. Our friend Carolyn drove them and Grandma Maughan to Bellevue Community College for the dance festival--Thanks Carolyn!! Sunday was Mother's Day/Hannah's birthday, and then Monday they left for Orcas Island for a couple of days. It was really great to have them here.

Grandma Maughan comes to visit

My mom came to visit May 8 -16. This picture is after she went to see Flo to get her hair cut. We had a lot of fun--dance festival, Mother's Day/Hannah's birthday, pedicure and manicure, Seattle Temple, Daughters of Utah Pioneers meeting--I kept her busy. It was great having her here.

Danny's Mission Call

Danny received his mission call on Saturday, May 3. He has been called to the California Ventura Mission and will enter the Missionary Training Center on Wednesday, August 6. He turns 19 on July 25, so he will be in the MTC just 12 days after his birthday. We are very happy for him!

Hannah is running track

Hannah is on the Mattson track team again this year. She has been doing high jump, 800 meters and 1600 meters. She has run the 1600 meter race 3 times this year (she has never competed at the mile before this year). Her first time was 7:11, next 6:59, and last Wednesday 6:38. You can view her results at http://www.athletic.net/TrackAndField/School.aspx?SchoolID=21673