Dancesport

Two weeks ago, on March 11 & 12, Hannah and her dance partner Cameron competed at the Marriott Center in Provo, Utah. On Thursday, they competed in the High School ISTD Syllabus Standard (waltz and quickstep). They start out with several heats in round 1. After a little while you look up at the basketball scoreboard area, and the numbers of the couples who are going on to round 2 are listed. Their number was 352. They danced in round 2 (4 heats), then round 3 (3 heats), then the quarterfinals (2 heats) and the semifinals. They were in the top 14 couples out of 88 couples. Hannah is a sophomore, and Cameron is a junior. On Friday morning, 106 couples started out in the High School ISTD Syllabus Latin (samba and rumba). Hannah and Cameron danced in rounds 1, 2, 3, quarterfinals, semifinals, and finals! We were so excited to see their number on the screen for the finals! They finished in 5th place!!!! It turned out that Hannah was in a lot of pain (she has costochondritis) and crying just before they went out for the finals. Cameron told her to wipe her eyes on her skirt since it is black and no one would be able to tell. (Go Cameron--good advice) I wouldn't have known she was hurting because they danced very well.

It was a lot of fun, and we were so pleased they did so well. We also had a lot of family to come watch them. Grandma & Grandpa Smith, Aunt Susie & her family, and Nadine and Brady were all there to watch the competition. It is nice that we had an excuse to go to Provo and stay with Nadine, Scott & Brady. Brady is 6 months old and is such a cutie!

Garrett and Miriam visit

Garrett and Miriam came to visit last weekend. They brought Ruby along too.

Sadie is not very happy to share her home with any other dogs, but she got used to Ruby. I think she misses her now.

Miriam is taking a picture (with Mike's camera) of Garrett and Ruby while Sadie sleeps a few feet away. I'm not sure how many pictures Miriam took with Mike's camera--it was a lot. (I wonder if he has noticed yet.)

For more pictures and news about their weekend here, check out their blog by clicking here.

My Dad and the Morrills visit

In December, I found a $50 fare from LAX to Seattle, so I told my dad he needed to come visit. He bought a ticket for the last weekend of January. He came on Thursday and left on Saturday--quick trip. Mahana made friends with Grandpa right away. My mom loved Mahana too. She is a very cuddly cat. Mahana & Grandpa

Friday morning, my dad and I went to the Seattle Temple. It was nice to go there together. After the temple, Dad took me out to lunch :)

Hannah and Grandpa

Our friends the Toring family from the Marshall Islands wanted to meet my dad, so they came by Friday night. They gave him a beautiful shell necklace from the Marshall Islands.

The day my dad was coming, I was talking to Rachel and told her he would be coming that day. I don't know why I didn't tell her sooner. Anyway, she said, "Maybe the kids and I can come." (It is nice they live close enough to come for a day or two.) Friday evening, Rachel, David, Ryan, & Katy came to visit us and Great-grandpa Maughan.

Also, on that Friday night, Hannah and her dance competition partner, Cameron, had a private lesson with Ashly DelGrosso Costa! Pretty exciting!!

On Saturday, Hannah had a performance at Bena Roya Hall. We all went to see it.

Great-grandpa Maughan with Ryan, Katy, and David after Hannah's performance.

Sue, Dad, and Mike

My dad gave me beautiful flowers.

After the performance was over, I took my dad to the airport. It was a fast but fun trip.

Katy, Rachel, David, Mike and Ryan enjoying some time in the hot tub.

Recovery BLOG from November

I am the worst at blogging. I created the following blog as a Word Doc way back in November and am just now getting around to posting. Miriam says my injury has made me too touchy feely. She will not like this blog. Sorry Mia!

Yah know, this whole recovery thing is beginning to drag on way to long.
On the bright side, it has given me chances to count my many blessings, which has lifted my spirits to places I like to go. Let me mention a few:
My love and eternal dependency for Sue is stronger now than ever. We have been blessed with incredible children and three great sons in law. I am amazed to see how my three sons in law are so uniquely qualified to make their respective brides as happy as can be. To have all my children faithfully trying to live Christ-like lives does my heart a mountain of good.
I love and admire Dan and Rachel Morrill. It strengthens me to see and feel the love they have for each other. My heart soars when I consider the secure, loving, gospel centered life they are providing for their three wonderful children (David, Ryan and Katy). I was touched to hear that Dan was asking about my latest surgery.
I love and admire Scott and Nadine Sundblom. Their love for one another seems stronger every time I see them. I enjoy seeing how tender Scott is with Nadine. I am so happy that cute little Brady has joined their family. He is such an angel. As I observe them experiencing life I am assured they are building a loving comfortable life together. I know success will be theirs as they continue to work and put their trust in the Lord.
I love and admire Garrett and Miriam Kellams. Their loving life together seems poised and ready to transition from the life of being students (sort of) to wherever they end up. My confidence is that their path will lead to a wonderful life, together. I know their love for each other will bring them happiness and joy. I will eternally be grateful for Miriam’s weeklong role in my early recovery process (Garrett was there too).
I love and admire Elder Danny Smith. I am so pleased to read about the excitement he has for his mission. His letters are always so positive. I know the Lord is blessing him and I trust that his testimony is a blessing the lives of all with whom he comes in contact.
I love and admire Hannah. Having her home alone has allowed me to know her better than I otherwise would have. I am so pleased to see her making good choices with her life. She has shown me that she has a healthy balance of love for family and for the Lord while still finding plenty of room to have her own wonderful interests. She certainly is a talented young lady.
I love knowing that my parents and father in law are faithful examples of living the gospel. You would think that at my age, my parents would not have had to play such a big role in my recovery but they did and I love them for it. My time alone in thoughts has also done wonderful things for my relationship with my father in law.
I could go on but this is already too long so let me close by mentioning the greatest feelings of all. I am so grateful for a loving Heavenly Father and His Son Jesus Christ. My Savior has played a role in my recovery that has carried me through when I could do it myself. I will be eternally grateful for the closeness I have felt for Him and look forward to using it to guide me through the rest of my life.

Stockings

Today I made two stockings--actually, I finished two stockings. I already had them cut out and the names embroidered on them. I know Nadine and Scott have been married for more than 2 years, but this is his first Christmas in our home. This is Braden's first Christmas, so this is the first year he has needed a stocking. I have made all of our stockings from the same pattern starting with Mike's and mine which were made before we were parents, so they say "Mike" and "Sue" not "Dad" and "Mom."

Here are the stockings that were already hung. The ones on the right are for the dog and cats--I did not make those.

I also made the stockings for Rachel's family and they are hung in their own home. Don't they look nice?

Medical update from Mike

Nov. 5 ready for surgery

Note: Mike had an appointment with Dr. Gruss, the plastic surgeon, last Wednesday, Nov. 4. He scheduled him for surgery the next day. We arrived at Harborview early in the morning--6:00 AM for surgery at 7:30 AM. He was in recovery by 10:00 AM and we left to come home just after noon.

Nov. 5 after surgery

From Mike:

Nov. 8
The surgery went well but produced more pain and swelling than I would have liked.
He opened up my left maxillary sinus through my mouth and scraped out a bunch of impacted infected stuff. The maxillary sinus opens into the nasal sinus and apparently wasn’t.
He also removed two of the 6 titanium plates and about 14 screws thinking I no longer needed them and they were maybe interfering with my teeth. I will bring it in for show and tell.
As I sit here Sunday evening the pain is significantly less but the swelling is a bother.
I have an appointment with the ocular plastic surgeon Monday AM.
We’ll see what he wants to do.

Nov. 9

I am back from appointment with the Ocular Plastic Surgeon.
It was a mostly pleasant visit, although the news today was all wait and see.
He wants to see me again in 4 months (March) before deciding if plastic surgery to eye lids is necessary.
That by itself is encouraging because last time he wanted to install gold weights in my eye lids right away. I guess I dodged that opportunity.
The Ocular Plastic surgeon referred me to a Retina Specialists to look at why I am seeing squiggly lines.
My appointment with him is Nov 17th AM.
My next appointment with the Craniofacial Plastic Surgeon is Dec 9th, so I have plenty to keep me occupied with the holidays coming.

Nov. 9 (today) at Eye Institute

Sunrise

I enjoyed a beautiful sunrise while I was on a walk with Teresa yesterday morning. Isn't it crazy that we walk early enough to see the sunrise--even after changing from daylight savings to standard time?