Thankful

Everyone has been writing things they are thankful for so I decided I would blog about it. Plus for Heritage's wellness goal this week we had to list 14 things we are thankful for. So two birds with one stone. So here goes the list:

1. I am grateful for my mom. She has taught me the value of an education and how to be a great mom.
2. I am grateful for  my dad. He has taught me the value of hard work, never giving up and serving those around him.

3. I am grateful for my brother Will. He has proved people wrong and been his own person. He has the kindest heart and would give the shirt off of his back to someone in need. See last years Christmas post for proof. He works very hard for what he wants. PS He is now assistant program director for 1320 KFAN so very very proud of him.

4. I am thankful for my sister Becca. She has taught me how to fight through struggles. She is also a wonderful little sister who will go on roadtrips with me.

5.  I am grateful for my little brother Josh. I am proud of him for choosing to serve a mission. Befriending

those around him and leading by example.                                                                                                 

                                                                                           

6. I am thankful for my sister Alicia. She is the smartest Smith kid around. She also keeps us laughing.

7. I am grateful for my sister Amy. She has fantastic fashion. I love her unwanted SASS. She completes our family.                                                                                                                                

8. I am grateful for my grandparents. For loving me for who I am. For encouraging me when I am down. 

9.I am grateful for my family. My Aunts,Uncles and cousins. I love having family close by. Some of my cousins are like my sisters. I think it is wonderful that we can get together and do nothing but still enjoy ourselves.

10.  I am eternally grateful for the gospel. The blessings of knowing I am a child of God. The friendships the gospel has brought into my life. Last Sunday I sat in Sacrament Meeting overwhelmed by the many friends I have found in the singles ward. I know that friendship is a key part of the gospel. Jesus loves us and wants us to love each other. Which I believe we show in friendship. 

11. A thankful post wouldn't be complete without thankful turkeys right? I am so very grateful for my job. I love having the opportunity to teach young minds. They teach me so much each day. I spend the day laughing and enjoying my job. I am also grateful for the friendships I have gained through my job. One very key family would be the Soper's. That family alone has taught me more than any class could teach. Thank you Andrea, Dave, Connor, Elly and Ollie for teaching me so much. And yes you are welcome for not searching for a pic....minus Elly I can always find a pic of us. 

12. I am sure I could add at least fifty more pictures. Friends are wonderful. Just talking to a friend can make any day better. I am grateful for the friends I've had throughout the years.

13. Have you noticed how gorgeous Utah has been? The 4 seasons and the sun shining. And the many different aspects of beauty that we can experience daily. So grateful to live where I do. 

14. And last but not least I am grateful for temples. They are beautiful places to become closer to The Lord. They are breathtaking on the outside. I truly love the feeling I have after I have spent time in the temple. 

And this concludes my thankful post and a zillion pictures. 

Friendship 2.0

I have a few pictures to add. (Especially for you Linds)

It is so fun to have girls in your ward that you feel comfortable with. I know that I can go to church or an activity and have a friend. 

              Lindsey, me and Angie

Spent the evening with Alex, Lydia and Jocelyn. We had such a great time we laughed and chatted.  We tried to tour a fall out shelter but it was closed. But we promised ourselves that we will go during the day and tour it. We did get some sweet slap bracelets though. Everyone at the bonfire was jealous!

       Me, Jocelyn, Lydia, Cam and Alex

 How lucky is Cam to be a part of this pic?  

We also went through the drive thru at Kneaders. Since my window is broken Jocelyn had to order from the back window. Just wait for the awesome picture😁

Have you met my friend Cam? We are new best friends. He is an avid BYU fan. He does not leave Cougar games early....if you do he might boo you! He built a fire tonight with one match. He is a serious puzzler. I want him to teach some of my preschoolers how to puzzle. 

Don't be creeped out. He was just trying to show off his masterpiece. He has mad skills! This puzzle is 24,000 pieces. Each piece is about the size of my thumbnail. 

Our first BEST FRIEND picture. I think Lydia might have been jealous. 

So needless to say I am a lucky girl. If you would like to be pictured let me know. 

Check out how great this pic turned out!!?!?!? 

 What a fun night! 

Friendship

 I have been thinking about this for awhile. Have you ever backtracked and thought about how you became friends with someone? 

For instance my best friend from Jr. High and High school Anya. Our moms met and mentioned that we could walk to school together. The rest is history. We spent many mornings and afternoons talking about crazy things. She was just the friend I needed. Anya and I recently got together before she moved Arizona. We picked right back up and I loved chatting with her.

Might not be the best picture but it's a real pic.. Haha!

This summer I have made some great friends from my ward. I encourage everyone to say hi to someone you don't know.

And I have rekindled old friendships too. I am so grateful to live where I do and to have good influences in my life. 

And I can't forget my new friend Michelle. She teaches 6 th Grade at Heritage. We are the babies and her kids are the kings of the school. I am so glad Michelle and I are friends. She has great fashion sense, keeps me laughing and has a great name. 😉 

What can I say I am blessed with wonderful people in my life. 

This is my friend Morgan he leaves for Texas in two weeks. He thinks I am going  to send him popcorn every week haha. Dream on Morg. 

And last but not least an update on Josh. He loves Korea. He is training his second companion. He's still in WonJu and might be ready for a new area. He hits one year on Halloween. So proud of him and the example he sets.  

Temple Inspirations

I don't normally post about Temple experiences, but I felt that I needed to do this one.

I took this as I was walking in.
Looks pretty good I think.

On Friday I felt inspired to head to the temple. But after Amy and Alicia returned from girls camp...Amy needed to go to the Opthamologist. So I pushed going to the temple to Saturday. On Saturday morning I woke up and knew that I needed to go. It seems that I go to the temple more when I'm struggling. I decided that I need to go when times are good. I decided to go and do initiatory. Being in the temple compares to nothing else. It is a calm peaceful place.
One of the Temple Workers stopped me and asked if she could share something with me. I said of course. She went on to say that I had a GIANT spirit and that I could do amazing things. She said she could tell I was amazing because I came to the house of the Lord. She mentioned a few other things, but I was floored by her beginning statement of kind words. Obviously I needed to hear that. I didn't realize when I drove to the temple on Saturday that a stranger would make me feel so good. Well a stranger and the Holy Ghost.
The Temple is like no other place..I must go more often.

Summer Celebrations Part 2

This summer marks one year since my dad's horrible accident. I can remember when Josh called to tell me my mom was heading to the ER to see my dad. It was so scary when I heard the details. The truck he was driving rolled at least 7 times. And he stayed in the car....he was covered in road rash, blood, and glass.
 I am so glad he was safe well relatively safe.

It has been a long road to recovery. Surgeries, wound clinics and crutches. I am so grateful he is alive.

After Moab I went with my mom up to Logan. She is taking a two week course at USU. So we (Alicia, Amy and I ) stayed over one night in Logan. Anyone that knows me can attest I love LOGAN! I think my love started when I was a child and my grandma and grandpa would take us to Logan on mini trips. We would go to Willow Park Zoo and Gossner's. Then when my Aunt Nancy went to college we would visit her. Then I moved to Logan for college.
So on this mini vaca we had some time to kill. My mom was in class from 8:30-4 each day. I have always wanted to tour the Bluebird Chocolate Factory so we did.

Alicia is standing by the chocolate conveyor belt...think I love Lucy. Bluebird hand dips all of their chocolates. YUMMY! Don't touch anything they will make fun of you and treat you like a child.
Scenario: Bluebird worker comments about the marble and how it can change temperatures so what do I do? I touch it.. I want to see and feel if it is cold. DON'T TOUCH THAT! Normally we warn people before the tour but it's mostly children. And then the worker laughs about it for about five minutes. I teach preschool hello...Sorry!
We had a great little trip. I was nostalgic at times...passing Merrill Hall, Oakridge, Toaster Chapel. I just love Logan.

Amy is very against photos
Logan has tons of random bulls all over town.
The zoo now charges....so this is all we saw.
Gossner ice cream and milk...YUM
Bluebird chicken and their rolls can't be beat.

We celebrated Becca's birthday at Spaghetti Factory and then we went to Bountiful's Farmer Market. Nothing beats the market. We got some cute earrings. Sorry for those who are my facebook friends cause you have seen some of these pictures before.

We celebrated Alicia too at this lunch. I thought it would be fun to put Clara on the light, she practically glows!

Clara might be the next Rapunzel.

Last night I had dinner with some friends from Gailey Park 1st Ward or the 16th ward. Heidi Hill was YW president and she needed a camp director so I said I would. I always loved girls camp minus the arguments and tent switching, Anyways I became good friends with Tiffany and Aly. I love these girls. Becca joined too because Heidi was her leader and she was an older Young Women with Aly and Tiff. They are so funny. So we all met at Parkstone at Station Park last night. It was so yummy and we had a hilarious time. Heidi kept saying it was a miracle that we actually got together.

Becca, Heidi,Aly, Me and Tiffany

Lily, Coreena and me....I totally forgot to take off my glasses.
Sadly Dev had to head back to work before we snapped a picture.

This afternoon Coreena organized a lunch with Devrie,Coreena and me. Coreena and Devrie were my roommates when I lived in Logan one summer. We had so much fun. Swimming, Boating, going to Sizzler and just doing crazy things. Coreena is pregnant with her second child and Lily is adorable. Devrie has three cute munchkins...still haven't met Remme but I know she is dressed stylish. Coreena's husband refers to us as the roommates that walked Sardine Canyon. Oh yes you heard that right, we walked all of Sardine Canyon. I think we measured it to be 14 miles. We counted honks and people that stopped to see if we were okay. I remember calling our friend Chad to see if he could drop us off at the canyon...he started taking us to Logan Canyon and we had to tell him Sardine. It was a Sunday evening I think it took four hours. We ran and walked it. Took a break by Mantua and Ashley came and visited us. We missed ward prayer that night but we were talked about anyways. Once we arrived in Brigham City we called a friend who lived in Willard and he thought we were crazy. Yes we were crazy but we had fun and we made a great memory! I know you will never look at Sardine Canyon the same.

Stay tuned for the Birthday Bash post.