a real shmigift: March 2011

*Fifth day in a row with lots of sun! It's a nice change!

*Leaves are starting to come out on the trees, and the daffodils are out! I love this time of year. If we don't make it this year, before we move I want to go over to Keukenhof for Holland's tulip festival!

*All 7 Smith kids are married now. Congrats to Daniel and Lauren! They got married last Saturday in the Mesa temple! The kids and I stayed here while Jake flew out to the wedding. Here's the cute couple! My father-in-law posted this picture he took at their reception on facebook. So, for posterity's sake.. here's Uncle Booner and his beautiful bride on their wedding day :)

And Hailey, I got these from your facebook album! Thanks :) The 7 Smith kids in no particular order...

I loved this next picture of all 3 sets of Smith twins at the reception!

Jake & Aaron, Lucy & Lane, and Seth & Logan.

I was afraid that if all of us were to fly back to the states for the wedding the kids would be little grouchies the whole time. We would be there just long enough to mess up their little bodies' clocks only to turn around and come home shortly after. I guess thoughts of when we first got here and screaming tired kids in temporary lodging that first week are still too fresh in my mind! Not to mention that plane tickets to get grumpy kids there for a few days are in the $600 range. One of these days when Luke has a long break from school we're going to try to take a military hop over. Anyway, we're glad Jake was able to go and represent! He had a great time. A few of the pictures Jake got on his phone...

*Jake got back Wed. afternoon from the wedding. We're glad to have him back! Oh, and thanks to everyone that gave him goodies to bring back to us! Everything from astronaut ice cream sandwiches to Japanese candies to ties, etc. Thanks! :)

*Thinking about Nick Alden's family. He was one of those shot at the Frankfurt Airport last week and was in our ward. Such a sad situation. His family had just recently moved in. His wife spoke Sunday and bore her testimony. She's truly amazing. His memorial service was on base today.

*This ward sticks to what they say! Going into nursery we were told it would be a 6 month calling. I planned on being there a year or more because, well, other times I've been in nursery it's been longer. Anyway, I'm out of there now and in Young Womens with the Mia Maids. Should be a fun change. Jake is back with Scouting. Looks like we are going to have this scouting thing down by the time Luke gets in there : )

*Tsunami and Earthquakes in the Pacific. Crazy and sad, sad news.

*As of this week we've been in England for 6 months! Some people have asked me lately about what I think of living here and honestly, I really like this place! If Jake were to come home from work and say they are moving us back next month because they don't need us here, I'd be a little sad. Not done here yet! Sure, our house is creaky and tiny compared to what we left in the states (the quirky things about English houses deserve a full post another time), there are more rainy days than sunny, and our extended family is far away. The last point is definitely the most annoying. Especially if I want to talk to family in the morning my time but they are sound asleep! But, I love that we can jump in our car on the weekends and see some cool sites! and that I can walk five minutes to buy things at the market. England is gorgeous, and I'm always wanting to bring my camera along. I feel like I need to hurry and document things that were new and different when we arrived here since it's slowly becoming the norm. For example, when we got here I just loved to sit and listen to people talk because British accents had been a novelty. I don't think twice about how people are speaking now. Same with driving. The first few weeks here I was totally freaked out and only wanted Jake to drive since it was on the other side of the road and signs and roadways were different. Now it's just the norm. I'm almost nervous to go back and drive in the states. A little worried about driving on the wrong side there now! We've been able to see some fun things while here and plan to do lots more traveling around Europe! Next planned trip is to Scotland for sight-seeing and another half marathon! My list of places to go just keeps getting longer. Makes it hard to decide when to add another little person to our fam! It's pretty easy now to load up our two kidos and take off whenever we decide to!
Awesome friends, coworkers, and our ward family here in England have helped make things fun. In Vegas, I never really felt like it was home. Sure, we met some great people and had fun, but it felt like we were just visiting for a year. Maybe because we knew early on it would just be a year... I don't know. It's been different here though, and I love that it feels more like we live here and aren't just visitors!
England is a good fit for us right now, and I'm glad we're here.

* Liking this cereal lately! It was on super sale at the commissary so I bought it and am hooked now.

*Can't wait for school to be done. That's pretty much my plan for this weekend! School work. Can't wait until I don't have to have school in the back of my mind anymore.

* I've been wanting to watch the Biggest Loser lately! But then again, if we had live TV from the US, it would be that much harder to do school work. Probably better that we don't have it :) Not much on British TV is worth watching.

*Abby had a birthday! Happy 23 to my little sis.
Here's a little movie we sent to her from Luke and Ella..