It's a...

BOY!!! We had our ultrasound today and found out that Kadence and Tayah will have a little brother come October. We are happy to welcome a little boy into our home. This will help David not be so outnumbered (not that he ever minded being outnumbered by his girls:). The girls really liked seeing their "baby broder" on the monitor (or "little tv" as they called it), although they were just intrigued by the fact that "mommy has a messy tummy" from the gel they put on the belly for the ultrasound. I've been wondering if I was hoping for a boy or girl more, and honestly, I don't think I really had a preference-I just want to make sure the baby is healthy. Are we ready for a baby boy in the Smith home?? Who knows, but life is about to drastically change when the kids outnumber us and we don't have enough arms to carry everyone!

Insert Creative Title Here

As you can tell from the title line, I'm not feeling especially creative. Here is a random list of what's occurred the past week:

* Seminary graduation Sunday evening for four of our youth.
* Carissa's last band concert of the year where she was elected to the 2009-10 Band Presidency. Congratulations Carissa!
* Tuesday marked my first day in my new office over in the Hinckley Center. It took me a few days, but I think I'm mostly organized there.
* Elizabeth and I attended the first of a ward lecture series about finances, this one about budgets. Great information.
* Thursday, we attended the wedding reception for Kevin and Crissy Lyman in Lindon. Congratulations you two! The girls were very excited to "go to the wedding!"
* We're in the midst of a three-day weekend. Could not have come at a more needed time. After five months of working two jobs, we need a break and time together!

All this and no photos. Next time...promise!

So Much to Say...

We have really slacked off, but for good reasons. Hope you'll forgive us. First off, here are some belated photos from Kara's graduation last month.


Kadence has thoroughly been BYU brainwashed. That day, she was sitting on my lap, and exclaimed, "Daddy, I want to gradiate from BYU too!"



Here's the latest Torgesen BYU alum. In fact, she's the 20th in the family, including in-laws, that've attended the Y. When Scott graduates next year, it'll be an absolute clean sweep!



Mother's Day was a lot of fun for us, with hopefully most of the fun being doled out to Elizabeth! The girls had a ball, going shopping for gifts (they each choose two things for Mommy) and "helping" with our French Toast breakfast. We gave her flowers, a book, candy, DVD's, and a pair of coveted Chaco's. We had a fun family dinner the day before to honor our mothers and as our little family, we went to Chili's to celebrate Elizabeth. We love you and and all our mothers!



Here are the girls loving each other. Perhaps we'll take some photos of them doing the opposite some time.

Random catch-ups: we just spent several days up at Snowbird with Grandpa and Grandma Donna at their condo. Elizabeth and the girls went up Wednesday morning and I joined them Thursday after work. Unfortunately, Kadence and I were really under the weather, but still had a ball. They sure loved being doted on by G & G!

My replacement at the Telefund, Ryan Seamons, started Monday, so the baton has been passed. Next week, I'll only have one job...and may wonder what to do with myself. This whole change in life has been exciting, but bittersweet. I will greatly miss my BYU Telefund crew. What a marvelous seven-year run it's been!

We are eager to get some projects done over the next five months before the baby joins us. We've got a wish list down and we'll take care of them one-by-one. We'll keep you posted on any exciting updates.

Happy Mother's Day all!

Happy Mother's Day Elizabeth/Mommy! We love you and are so very grateful for all you've done, do and will yet do for our little family. We've got some fun things up our sleeves today, so sit back and enjoy!

Happy Mother's Day also to our mothers and grandmothers, our friens who are mothers and mothers-to-be. Word cannot explain all you mothers do for us!

Girlisms

(the girls having fun shopping)

Tayahisms:

"I do it my own self!" (when she wants to do something without help...our independent spirit)
"Little Lomb" (lately, she's really started singing songs to herself and can go for a while)



Kadenceisms:
"I want to be sad Daddy."
"menometer" (pedometer or thermometer)

Daddy: "Where are you getting married Kadence?"
Kadence: "In the temple!" (said emphatically, as if I should alread know :)
D: "Who are you marrying?"
K: "To Jack!" (a little boy in our ward)
D: "What about Tayah?"
K: "Oh, she's getting married to...Stewart!" (yet another boy in our ward)


(from last Saturday's Daddy/daughter date to Dairy Queen)

I suppose Kadence has decided that she doesn't want to marry Daddy anymore!

Free KFC

Just wanted to pass on a free meal deal opportunity. I've gotten several emails with the link, and just printed our coupons. Just go to http://www.unthinkfc.com/ and print up to 4 coupons for a free meal. The meal is 2 pieces of their new grilled chicken, 2 sides, and a biscuit. Can't beat FREE!

***You have to print the coupons by tonight, but you have until May 19th to use them.

Twins?!

Friday saw us visiting Dr. Rees for our routine check-up for Elizabeth and the baby. The girls were very excited to hear the "baby beat," or in other words, the baby's heartbeat. Well, we were given quite the scare...or at least two of them. First off, it took him two to three minutes to find the heartbeat. That was a long, nervewracking few minutes, as he usually is able to find it quickly. Thank heavens he finally found it, but then he started feeling around and eventually told us that we were appearing larger than we should be. His exact words: "I would feel better if we went downstairs for an ultrasound to see if there's more than one baby in there." Heart attack time! Both my parents are twins (yes, really), but we thought it skipped a generation or went to the girls (Carissa!). Of course, the technician was running late, so 45 minutes later, we unexpectedly saw our baby...yes, only one! She gave us her best guess at the gender, but we'll find out more in a month. As you can see, this visit was anything but routine!

A lot of thoughts went through my head during that 45 minutes...thoughts of nervousness, but also thoughts of excitement. Four children three and younger would've keep us going. And if they are anything like the girls pictured above, we would've taken two. Oh well, we'll gladly settle for one...and we are excited!

April 2009 Nuts and Bolts

04.01: thanks to modern technology (Facebook, blogging), we were able to have a little April Fool’s fun by announcing that we had accepted a new position within LDS Philanthropies…in Hawaii. We received phone calls, e-mails, and even visits from people confirming the news. We have fun on 04.01!
04.02: the big news this month was hearing the heartbeat of baby #3! We are very excited to have another little one, especially Kadence and Tayah who constantly pray for the “baby in Mommy’s tummy.” Depending on the day, minute or hour, their desired gender will change!
04.03: We were saddened by the passing of Larry H. Miller, owner of the Jazz. I had an opportunity of meeting him a few times. What a class act who did so much good (plus, he helped make my childhood what it was!).
04.04-04.05: What more can be said about a powerful, inspiring General Conference? The girls were good, for the most part, and the Smith men gathered in Woods Cross for Priesthood and dinner afterward.
04.06: I heard Elder Bednar speak at the BYU-Hawaii President’s Leadership Council meetings in SLC.
04.07: We went on visits with the Stake Presidency.
04.08: Elizabeth attended a fun Relief Society dinner and has been active, as usual, with the smattering of Enrichment activities.
04.09: My ladies joined me for my final BYU Telefund banquet (at least one I organize). What a special evening, complete with my crew presenting me a DVD they had compiled of interviews. It’s hard to see this special time end, for I love the Telefund staff so much. The whole move is bittersweet…
04.11: The girls thoroughly enjoyed the Easter festivities—a ward party (despite the frigid, rainy weather) and a family get-together at Aunt Diane’s house. They made out like bandits. I also spoke at our ward baptisms in the morning.
04.12: Easter Sunday saw us having abbreviated meetings (i.e. the non-block meetings), an Easter lesson, decorating eggs, and Elizabeth’s special dinner. Precious times together as a family.
04.15: Tax day! Thank heavens Dad helped us months earlier and we’re already enjoying our return. Spent the morning interviewing for the Telefund position. We are happy to have a wonderful person replacing me in mid-May! We took our supervisors out to Tucano’s for the customary end-of-the-semester lunch. Kadence and Tayah sure love this place (not to mention Elizabeth and me)! Elizabeth and I have been taking a Family History class and they went to visit the FH Center in Springville (I have been there, so I watched our girls). Lost gets more and more interesting each passing episode.
04.18: We’re getting used to me having a normal Saturday (instead of a day off midweek) and have had fun times lately shopping, playing, and going on family outings. We cram it in! Today saw our family to-do for Darrell’s birthday up in Sandy. Great dinner and even better company. Kadence is still scared of Jake, Darrell and Tanya’s dog, but came around eventually.
04.19: Had great Home Teaching visits and a wonderful day at Church. The Jazz had a bad Home Teaching visit with the Lakers…the start of a horrendous Playoffs to end a horrible season!
04.21: I went out with our Scouts for our annual fund-raiser (we post flags in yards for six holidays each year) and then met with our Stake Young Men Presidency for training.
04.22: It was great to have Dad and Mom Torgesen in town Kara’s graduation. We met to celebrate Scott’s birthday that night, followed by a trip to BYU, shopping, food and games the next day.
04.24: It was Kara’s big day and we had a lot of family come into town to celebrate the occasion. Her graduation was good , but if you ask the girls, they might give you a different answer. We had a BBQ afterwards. Unfortunately, I was out for the count for most of the weekend with illness. Fortunately, everyone else had a grand time together. Early mornings, late nights, lots of laughter, and plenty to eat.
04.26: A long day of church, concluding with a Stake Priesthood meeting.
04.27: RIP 2008-2009 Utah Jazz season.
04.28: President Samuelson joined us for our Employee Giving luncheon.
04.29: In preparation for an upcoming activity, Elizabeth went to a Hunger banquet in Mapleton. It’s an eye-opening event that hopefully will be a good one for our youth in May.
04.30: Elizabeth and I attended Stake Young Women’s training.

Other than that, all’s well for our family. We love our girls and the fun things they do. Kadence loves reading, singing, playing, and being a big sister. She has been excellent potty-wise , but has had some rocky sleeping nights. Lately, she’s been coming into our bed two or three times per week. What a sweet girl, though. It’s so fun to hear her say amazingly cute, new things daily. Tayah is our precocious red-head and is growing just as much as Kadence. She is so verbal and not shy around people. She handles the lumps her big sis doles her fairly well. She gets more antsy more quickly than Kadence ever did.

Elizabeth has been feeling great. We’re lucky that her pregnancies are remarkably smooth, with just a little fatigue here and there (that could just be the effects of chasing two active girls all day). She is such a wonderful wife and mother who does so much. I’m still doing both jobs, but after four+ months of this, it’s interesting seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. I’m having new and exciting experiences each day at work and church. We bought the girls a nice swing set and they’ve been enjoying it.

Have a great May everyone!