January Nuts and Bolts

Here's our monthly synopsis for the Smith Family newsletter. It's great for those who have missed the last month's worth of blog entries (shame on you!). Have a great day!

Let’s open up the Smith Family ledger to see what January brought us. From the start to finish, it was a fabulous month, as you’ll see:

01.01: Ushered in the new year with a sick crew! Elizabeth came down with strep on New Year’s Eve and later than evening, I took Kadence into the doctor’s where we he diagnosed her very first ever ear infection. We sat down and drafted some New Year’s resolutions. We happy to say that we’re faring quite well with them, four weeks into 2008 (by the way, doesn’t it seem a tad surreal that it’s 2008?)!
01.02: The Jazz won their first game of the month, starting what would become an 11-2 January. This has done wonders for my health and well-being…
01.04: My vacation that started 12.18 comes to a screeching halt. It was fun to have that much time off (use it or lose it time), but something tells me Elizabeth was secretly glad to have me head back . Had a ball at the Smith FHE, a “white trash” party thrown by the Lymans. Although we didn’t bring anything to contribute to the gift exchange, we came away with a beautiful, rusted butterfly trellis (courtesy of Dad and Donna, no less). Just our luck!
01.05: Enjoyed a brief stay from Dad and Mom Torgesen, on their sojourn from WA to TX. It was wonderful spending the holidays with them.
01.06: Attended our first Church meetings of 2008, moving to the 11-2 schedule. We’re big fans of the 9-12, especially with little girls’ naps in mind. Kadence has had a rocky transition, not only to the later nap, but a different nursery class. David and the bishopric had the first of what will undoubtedly be many meetings this year.
01.07: Winter semester starts at BYU, bringing with it the usual organized chaos at work. Case in point: 26 separate interviews this month alone! We are getting closer and closer to moving into our new LDS Philanthropies digs in early March and I couldn’t be happier.
01.10: Tayah was braver than her parents as she got her six-month shots. For the record, she weighs 13 lbs, 9 oz…5% percentile. She’s just a tiny, petite one! She cut her seventh and eighth teeth too. She’s clearly been focusing more on that than on growing.
01.14: We were back at the doctor’s, this time for Kadence. Our little girl broke out in hives over the weekend, culminating with a very high fever. We’re glad that she recovered quickly. It’s never fun to see you kids in pain!
01.16: Our Elayna turned seven. We are still in shock. She was just born yesterday!
01.18: LDSP Thank You luncheon, where we found out that 2007 was our record year: $117 million raised at BYU! It’s a thrill to be part of such a first-class organization that does so much good for others. Glad they decide to keep me on their pay roll…
01.21: Happy MLK Jr. Day everyone! We celebrated by watching snow fall the entire day. It’s been a great month for the white stuff. Oh, by the way, Darrell and Tanya bellowed a hearty “ha-ha” while on the vacation in Mexico. As our good friend Napoleon Dynamite would say, “Lucky!”
01.23: Elizabeth and I enjoyed doing sealings at the temple, while Donna watched the girls. It was so peaceful. What a special place.
01.25: Had a great dinner at Bishop Hansen’s house with all the auxiliary leaders. We are blessed with some incredible people in this ward. A ward split will be looming sooner than later, and while it’s great to witness all this growth, it’ll be hard when the inevitable arrives.
01.26: Tayah begins a new phase of life: the army-crawl! She has decided that sitting up is overrated…
01.27: We traveled to Woods Cross to participate in Garrett’s baby blessing. We are so thrilled to have this little boy in our family! Our family had a great time with dinner, followed by Elayna’s belated birthday celebration.
01.31: Our favorite television show, Lost finally had its season premiere. Yes, kind of bizarre to add to this entry, but we’re certainly excited!
01.29: Elizabeth spearheaded our Young Women’s New Beginnings evening. What a fun program! The leaders and girls did such a great job. She put in a lot of work into it and it definitely showed.

Wow…it was a busy month and this only scratched the surface. Makes us excited for what’s yet to come in 2008. We love you all!