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.
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.
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.
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.
Hannah celebrated her 14th birthday on Sunday, May 11, which was also Mother's Day.
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.
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.
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 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 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
Tuesday, April 22
On Sunday, April 20 , Nadine and Scott picked me up and took me to their home. I went to church with them. It was the 2nd week in a row I sat with Nadine in church and enjoyed singing the hymns with her. They invited Danny to dinner, and we celebrated the fact that Danny had submitted his mission papers earlier that day. I like his missionary haircut! The next day, Scott, Nadine, and I went to the Provo Temple together. It is open on Monday mornings. I helped Danny pack some of his things into a couple of suitcases that I brought home for him. (What he couldn't fit into suitcases is now being stored in "Danny's closet" at Scott and Nadine's house. Thank you, Nadine and Scott!)
On our way home from Pullman (April 12), we went to McDonalds in Ellensburg where we met up with Nadine, Rachel, David, Ryan, and Katy who were driving from Utah. We had ice cream together. Katy cried because she was 10 months old and didn't know us. David was very excited to see us and ran up and hugged us. Ryan kept playing in the play place, so I waited at the bottom of the slide. When he came down, his eyes got really big, and he said, "Grandma!" He wasn't expecting to see me at the bottom of the slide. We drove back to our house.
We went to the Pacific Science Center on Tuesday. Katy had a great time in the children's play area! A butterfly became my friend and had to be taken from my shoulder after it had hung out there for about 5 minutes. David, Rachel, Katy, and Ryan all sat in the dinosaur footprint (which Rachel said must be getting smaller).
David and Ryan especially liked going in our hot tub. It snowed the Friday night before leaving to go back to Utah (April 18--crazy to be snowing then in Washington), but we all went in the hot tub anyway! You can see a few flakes if you look closely. It started snowing harder after I took this picture.It has been a very long time since I have blogged--Miriam keeps reminding me, so I will try to catch up on the things that have been going on. Mike, Hannah and I spent April 11 & 12 with Miriam and Garrett in Pullman for Mom's Weekend. Miriam said Dads come for Dads Weekend, but parents come for Mom's Weekend. We went to a Coug baseball game. Here is a picture of Garrett, Miriam, Tony Bennett (WSU basketball coach), and Hannah.
We also went to a football scrimmage and posters signed by the players. We had a lot of fun! It's a good thing we went to Mom's Weekend this year because Miriam graduates in December!!
