2012 Family Letter

The Smith Family

2012

Rebecca-3 ½ has a head full of brown ringlets. She loves to learn and soak new things in. This fall she started a co-op preschool and a dance class, and she really loves going to both. Rebecca is the best little mommy around. She dresses, feeds, plays with and takes her babies everywhere. Most Sundays she dresses her baby in the same or similar dress as she’s wearing for church and takes it to nursery with her! She’s such a trooper going to all the “big kids” activities and finding something fun to do while we wait. She has the most adorable laugh that just warms our hearts.

Ammon-7 ½ is our little sponge right now. He comes home from school with a head full of interesting new information he wants to tell us about every day. He’s an amazing reader and begs to go to the library often to get more books. He started Taekwondo last March and is now a blue belt. He is super strong and shows it off in many ways like climbing up the hallway walls! He hardly ever sits still (except to read and play Legos) which is probably why he is so super skinny. If he’s not reading you can find him riding his bike, climbing, making traps to catch bunnies for bunny stew or jumping from tall heights! He played goalie in soccer this fall and was really good at it, but man he made us cringe at some of the balls he jumped on to stop. He gives the most loving hugs and cuddles ever!

Corrine- almost 10 is our little chef and babysitter in training. She LOVES to bake. If we ever need a treat made, we ask her to make it and they always turn out delicious! She loves little kids and has already asked when she can start babysitting.  Corrine continues to love running. She ran another hand full of 5k’s this year. She also played softball last spring and LOVED it. She impressed everyone with her batting and field ability and her quickness.  She also started playing the viola this year, and even if she says she doesn’t like going to Spanish, she does and is getting good at talking with Simeon in Spanish.

Simeon-11 ½ is turning into a tween! It’s awesome to watch how he has grown this year both physically and mentally. We wouldn’t be surprised if he passes mom in height and shoe size this year. He continues to love sports and active activities. He’s starting his 3^rd season with the Little Hawks Baseball club in January.  He spends a lot of time outside making bows and arrows and hunting with Ammon, riding his ripstick and playing football. He is on fire with Boy Scouts and is already a 1^st class scout. He reads like crazy! He’s read a bunch of R.A. Salvatore books, and is now reading through the Harry Potter series! He’s in a Lego robotics club, science club, on the student council and plays the baritone.  He’s been off chemo now for 4 years and doing amazing.

Kari-I was released from Young Women’s this summer to work with our ward missionaries, and I’m ending the year teaching the sweet little incoming Sunbeams (3 year olds) in primary. I became our school’s PTA foreign language chair this fall.  This is my 3^rd year of volunteering in the Spanish club at school (which all the kids go to) and I teach Rebecca’s preschool group every 5 weeks. In my little bit of free time I like to read, take pictures and write on our family blog. (www.sixiowasmiths.blogspot.com)

Johann-He’s finishing his 1^st year as the owner of Eastside Books (their tax firm’s book keeping business). He continues to be the Young Men’s President at church. This summer a friend came and helped Johann reroof our house. He’s helping coach Simeon’s baseball team again this year and he’s the Treasurer on our school PTA board.

We hope 2012 was a great year for your family and 2013 brings even more blessings to you.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Love,

The Smiths

Johann, Kari, Simeon, Corrine, Ammon & Rebecca

Where's Rebecca?

Rebecca LOVES her babydolls. 

All 16 of them!

Tonight she wanted all her baby dolls to sleep with her. We got all the dolls we could find, but she knew there were a few missing and she wanted us to go find them to add them to her bed to sleep with. 

There is a picture of me less then a year old surrounded in my dolls and toys just like this picture.

Christmas 2012

I love Christmas. 

I love the joy on the kids faces and the excitement in their voices. 

I love watching them find gifts for each other. 

I love the wrapping paper all over the floor and finding new homes for their new presents.

Our Family Christmas 2012
Simeon 11.5 years, Corrine 9 yrs 10 months, Ammon 7.5 years, Rebecca 3.5 years.

Rebecca with her beloved Dream Light. 

Both Ammon & Rebecca had an unwrapped present in the basement. I wanted to get down there before they did so I could take pictures of them. As I was going down the stairs I saw this scene and loved it. Ammon is being tickled in dads lap and Rebecca is hanging out on dad like normal.

Rebecca got a "jumping thing" aka trampoline!! She LOVES her trampoline so much! She jumped on it  most of the morning. She's get off for a little bit to play with something else, then jump some more.

Our Blue belt Ammon got his very own training kicking bag. He is loving working on his kicks and punches. Combined with boxing gloves he also got, he's in his element down here. He likes to climb on top of it and hang on while we punch the bag.

Corrine got a lot of Lego Friends Horse Legos this year. She got 2 different Lego sets with horses. She spends alot of time building and playing with her horses.

Simeon got a Nook as a joint present from us and Smith grandparents. 

He's been asking for an e-reader for a long time since he loves to read.

I'm grateful for the time we can spend together relaxing and enjoying each other on Christmas.

Becky The Elf

After seeing ideas floating around about Elf on the Shelf, we decided to adopt an Elf this year. We really thought that our Elf would be full of mischief and get into some trouble this month, but she wasn't as adventurous as we thought she would be.

Meeting out Elf

While we were out picking out our Christmas Tree, our Elf appeared with a note for the kids.

Jingle bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle all the way

I’ve got a surprise for you today.

I have left you a friend;

She is my very favorite elf.

Look for her every day.

She will be hiding in the house.

If you touch her, her magic will go away

And then she won’t be able to get back

To the North Pole before Christmas day.

Remember, I’m making a list and

Checking it twice.

So be sweet for your parents and

For your teachers be nice.

Obey all the rules and do what

You’re asked every day.

And elf will give me a good report

So I can visit Christmas Day!

Love,

Santa

The kids decided to name our Elf Becky after our sweet friend Becky, so she could look down on us from Heaven this Christmas Season.

A few places we found Becky the Elf this month.

Toilet Papering out Christmas Tree.

Hanging onto our advent Christmas Tree.

We found her hanging from our chandelier in the kitchen.

She brought us Daylight Donuts for breakfast.

She brought us Candy Cane Oreo's, Christmas Napkins and plates.

She brought our stockings out for Santa to fill on Christmas.

A few other places we found her that we didn't have pictures of-

She replaced her picture in 4 picture frames.

We found her keeping cold in the freezer, because she missed the cold of the North Pole.

We found her hugging the milk in the fridge.

She brought us Christmas cereal.

She tried to learn how to fly on our front room ceiling fan.

She filled our felt Santa with Hershey Peppermint Kisses.

On Christmas Eve, Becky brought the kids new pajamas and a farewell note.

Saying Good-bye

Dear Smith kids,

I have had so much fun being a part of your family for the last month. You guys sure have a lot of fun (and know how to make a lot of noise) around here!

Simeon you did such a great job on Lego League. You must have worked hard to make it to State! Corrine you sound so nice on the piano and viola. Keep up practicing and before you know it, you’ll be a super star on both! Ammon you’re a blue belt now-that’s awesome! I also heard from the Tooth Fairy that you were a trooper getting 4 teeth pulled last week. Rebecca you take such good care of you babies, and give the best hug and kisses. I loved hearing you say “I love you” to your family this month. Remember kids to be nice to your family and to listen to your mom and dad. They love you a lot!!

Tonight when you go to sleep a little Christmas magic is going to happen. I will fly back to the North Pole for the last time this year. I will make my last report to Santa before he gets on his sleigh and heads around the world to spread Christmas cheer. When you wake up tomorrow morning I will be gone and your stockings will be full of gifts from Santa. I know there will be gifts, because I’ve told Santa all about what good children you are.

Lucky for us Santa will lift my magic for just a few minutes after you are done reading this letter. In those few minutes it will be okay to touch me, hug me and kiss me goodbye. When you are finished with your goodbyes just put me under the Christmas Tree and I will find my way to the North Pole tonight. Can’t wait to see you next Christmas season!

When I was searching your house for spots to hide, I found where you keep your wrapping paper and decided to use it to wrap these early presents for you. I hope your mom doesn’t mind me using her wrapping paper. Enjoy your presents!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Becky The Elf

Rebecca giving Becky a hug before putting her under the tree to go back to Santa until next year.

The kids had fun looking for Becky everyday. Next year she's going to have so many more places to hide and will hopefully be a bit more adventurous.

Relaxing by the fire

I was going through pictures and I found this gem of a picture that Corrine took on Christmas Eve as we watched old 80's Christmas movies from YouTube on the TV, worked on a puzzle, ate caramel popcorn/chex mix and sat by the fire. 

This picture so sweetly captures both Johann and Rebecca's fascination with the fire. Rebecca became mesmerized by the flames and spend most of the night sitting near it with dad.

I think after tonight we have another fire watcher in our family!

Sledding

The kids always love heading to Longfellow to go sledding.

Rebecca went down dozens of times on the green sled. 

She laughed, smiled, screamed and loved the speed.  

She has no fear of sledding.

The boys used the snowboard and skis.

 Corrine has no fear of sledding. 

She used the thinnest sled we had so she was almost straight on her stomach.

The boys found a jump and had such a great time going off it. They both had some great jumps and some pretty good wipeouts.

Seriously this little girl has all her siblings wrapped around her little pinky! She never carried her own sled back up the hill. Ammon went down with her and grabbed her sled when she got off and brought it back up for her.

Ammon's new smile

Ammon has the smallest mouth and baby teeth, and we've know for years that this would probably cause trouble for him. In the last 2 years he's lost 9 teeth, but only gotten 5 back because his permanent teeth are so much bigger then his baby teeth.
Ammon & Corrine both went to an Orthodontist a few weeks back. He took some x-rays of Ammon's mouth that showed all his teeth, both already in and adult teeth still to come in. It thankfully showed that he has ALL his adult teeth. That is a big deal because it runs on my side of the family to have missing adult teeth. I was missing a wisdom tooth and I still have a baby molar because it doesn't have a permanent under it.
The Orthodontist said that 4 baby teeth needed to be pulled so that he would have the correct placement of his upper and lower front 4 permanent teeth.

We decided to get the teeth pulled over Christmas break so that he wouldn't have to worry about going to school while he healed. We figured with 4 teeth coming out that he wouldn't be able to eat very well and that he would be sore for a few days.

Well Ammon proved us wrong-  

Again.

He was an absolute CHAMP through everything and had hardly any pain!

He got 2 pulled Thursday morning. He was pretty mellow most of the day, and only needed Tylenol once. In the afternoon he even went outside to play in the snow that had fallen that day.
On Friday morning I brought him back to get the other 2 pulled.  He told me on the way there the only thing that bothered him was getting a shot between his teeth because it was really tight there. When we walked in both the secretary and Dentist told us they were surprised that we were back. They didn't think Ammon would've wanted to come back.

Ammon went right back and got started. When they were done Doctor Henn told me "He only asked 200 questions today, compared to his 400 yesterday! He's a sponge isn't he?" He got it spot on. He routinely asks a zillion questions and learns so much information daily. It's awesome!!
He's done amazing with 4 teeth out. We were picky about him playing in the snow today because he has 4 holes on his mouth. He only needed Tylenol once and hasn't complained all day.

His baby teeth that were pulled had the biggest roots on them. The roots hadn't started to dissolve, so they weren't going to be coming out on their own for a long time. He'll probably have gaps for 6 months until his adult teeth come in especially on the top. On the bottom one of his front teeth had been trying to come up, but didn't have room. Now we expect it be up in a few weeks. He's still going to be missing 4 adult teeth, but as his jaw grows bigger with age, hopefully he'll have more room for them to come in.

Rock Star Ammon with his new smile. 

The Tooth fairy heard what an awesome job he did getting them pulled so he decided to leave a $5 bill under his pillow!  Lucky guy!!

Farmhouse Chocolate Mint Cookies

These cookies bring back such fond memories for me. I still remember the first time I had them. It was probably 8 years ago. It was right before Christmas and my friend Linley gave us a cute decorated brown paper bag. Inside we found the yummiest chocolate mint cookies I'd ever tasted!

We used to live just down the road and across the school playground from each other. If the school playground grass wasn't there we said we would have lived on the same street. 

Thinking about this brings back memories of a day in June when our newborn Ammon was sick and I was taking him to the doctors. My mom had flown in the day before. She was at the house with the kids and Johann. He was going to walk Simeon to Carson's house for a birthday party. Life changed very quickly for us after arriving at the doctors office and Ammon going grey on me. Johann walked Simeon to the party and told her what was happening with Ammon. Linley was one of the earthy angels that were placed in our path that day. She brought Simeon home from the party where he felt such enjoyment to find out his new baby brother was fighting for his life.

OK back to the cookies. Linley's Farmhouse Mint cookies have earned their spot as an absolute favorite cookie in our house. We like them so much that we don't just make them at Christmas time. Simeon had them for his birthday treat last year!

The original recipe calls for an Andes Mint on top of the cookie. We LOVE them this classic way. Then when Hershey came out with white chocolate peppermint kisses, I tried those one year. They are great and gives them a pop of red and white on top. Then this year we tried another topping-caramel with sea salt. 

Oh man all 3 are are so yummy and we eat way too many of them!!

Farmhouse Chocolate Mint Cookies

1 1/2 sticks butter

1 1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar

2 T water

12 oz semi sweet chocolate chips

2 eggs

2 1/2 cups flour

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 lb Andes Mints (2-3) boxes

or 1 pkg peppermint Hershey kisses

or a batch of simple caramel sauce*

1 Place butter, sugar and water in a sauce pan on low heat until butter is melted. 

2. Add chocolate chips and stir until almost melted. 

3. Remove from heat. Continue to stir until chocolate is completely melted. 

4. Pour into a large mixing bowl and let stand about 10 minutes to cool. 

5. With mixer on high speed, beat in the eggs one at a time. 

6. Reduce speed to low and add combined dry ingredients until just blended. 

7. Chill dough for 1 hour.

 8. Heat over to 350*. 

9. Roll dough into balls. Place 2" a part on greased cookie sheet. 

10. Bake 9-10 minutes. DO NOT OVER BAKE. 

11. Immediately place mint (peppermint kiss or caramel sauce) on hot cookie. Allow to soften, then swirl mint to cover top of cookie. 

12. Remove from cookie sheet and cool. 

Makes 40-50 cookies.

*Caramel sauce-I used a handful of caramels and a little bit of milk to thin it. I melted it in the microwave, stirring every 15 seconds or so. I spread a generous spoonful on each cookie, then sprinkled a little salt on each of them.

First snow

Today we got our 1st snow storm. They predicted that we would get 6-10+ inches of snow, but ended up only getting just under 3 inches. It started as rain lastnight and turned to snow over night. The snow was heavy and wet, perfect for making giant snowballs and forts.

Corrine made a giant snowball that she rolled from the back to the front yard. Rebecca discovered last year that she LOVED sledding. She was in absolute heaven having dad push her down the hill in the back over and over. It's hard to see her face with her Minnie hat, but she was nice and warm.

Ammon had 2 teeth pulled this morning, and was pretty mellow all day, but he perked up for a while this afternoon to go outside and play in the snow.

Johann's truck looked so sad and frozen sitting out front.

I found it funny that on the day of our 1st snow storm we got a box full of new sandals for this summer

Our Nativity

Years ago my parents gave our family us this Nativity set. We used it for a few years on it's own, but it needed a stable for all the pieces to go into.

Then I found this stable at a thrift store for $2 and it was PERFECT for our Nativity set. 

We've been using this Nativity set and stable together for nearly 10 years. For a long time I had the set on display on our piano and would bring it down for the kids to play with when I was with them.

I was scared of them braking the pieces.

After reading a story about a mom just like me and her special Nativity set and a sweet interaction with a small child playing with baby Jesus, I changed my mind. 

I decided that if a piece got broken it would show that it was adored, played with, loved and teaching our children about the baby Jesus, the real meaning of Christmas. 

Since then we keep the stable and Nativity pieces on a low table for the kids to play with. Each of the kids like to set it up in a different way. Corrine added 2 brown horses that she painted last year. They fit perfectly in with the other animals and the more there are to adore baby Jesus, the better.

As the kids have grown older, they have learned to be more gentle with it. It wasn't always an easy thing hearing the pieces getting set down hard, or dropped or hit together. A gentle reminder of who they were playing with, seemed to remind them to treat the pieces with more reverence and kindness. 

Every year when we get out our Christmas decorations, these are some of the very first to get set up. This year Corrine and Rebecca set it up. Rebecca was sitting near Corrine and as she got each piece out of it's individual bubble wrap bag she would exclaim who she was holding, and they would both smile and look at it closely before getting the next piece out. 

I am so grateful for the sweet baby Jesus coming into the world to show us the way we should live to return to our Heavenly Father. I am so incredibly grateful to be able to teach our children about the baby Jesus and how Christ is the reason for Christmas.

Reflections

Today I was up at our kids elementary school around lunch time doing some PTA work.

I watched 3 classes of the cutest little kindergartners walk by following their teachers on their way to lunch. The very last girl in the line was Kinsy, who goes to our church. She saw Rebecca and I and her face lit up and she gave us a HUGE smile and wave.

I remember thinking how small some of the kids were and how our little Rebecca is going to be one of those kids in a year and a half.

Rebecca and I needed a place to count out the Spanish forms I was printing for classes. Mrs. Wilson,  kindergarten teacher, let us use her room so Rebecca could play while I worked.

While we were in the classroom her kids came back in on their way out to recess. They were talking and had skips in their steps and you could feel their excitement about going out to recess. I couldn't help but smile back at the kids.

As we left the school Johann asked if I had heard about the shooting. I had no idea what he was talking about. He told me there was a shooting at an elementary school and he thought there were kids hurt.

When I go online this afternoon I read the devastating news. 27 dead, 20 of them children, and alot of them kindergartners.

My heart broke.

I so clearly remember seeing those sweet faces walking past me on their way to lunch and Kinsy turning to smile and wave at us. It was little kids just like those who walked happily past me today on their way to lunch that are now angels at the hands of another.

Such heartbreak. 

Such sadness. 

Such unfairness.

It's parents just like the parents of those kindergarteners today that won't get to hug their children tonight. They'll never again get to see them walk in the door after school. They'll never get to see them grow up. They won't be waking up Christmas morning to smiles on their child's faces. They instead will be burying their little bodies and trying hard to make it through the day without their child.

I'm heartbroken.

I couldn't wait for our kids to get home from school to hug them. I couldn't wait to see them and know that today I get to hug them, and cuddle with them and talk with them and get frustrated with them and then hug them some more.

Things many parents won't get to do with their little ones today.

I love these 4 kids that Heavenly Father entrusted to us.

I pray that the families of those new angels feel Heavenly Fathers loving arms around them. I pray that they can feel comfort and peace in this time of tragedy.  I pray that we can all reach out to each other and show love one to another not just during this Christmas season, but all year round. I pray that everyone remembers how incredibly important and special they are and that they are never alone, or forgotten or past love, or have done something so wrong that they need to hurt others. 

We are all Children of a Heavenly King. 

I know our kids are going to get extra hugs and cuddles this weekend. I know how special every day with our kids are and I pray that I will never take our 4 healthy, strong, wonderful kids for granted. 

Through her eyes

I found this picture I took of Rebecca with our lights before we put them on the tree. 
I love the look of pure magic in her face. 
It's so fun to see Christmas through the eyes of your young child.

I'm ready

When I started this new blog I had such BIG, exciting plans to update more often then I did on our 1st blog. I wanted to update about other things besides the fun, happy things we did as a family too. I wanted to take more pictures, and take them for others.

Then the weather turned colder with more gray days, 

and I've slowed down

ALOT

I've tried hard to get past this slow down. I've tried to put on a happy face and pretend I feel fine, pretend that I feel happy, pretend I'm excited about things, pretend that I feel energized and normal, pretend every things alright and nothings changed. 

But I can't anymore.

I've hid what I've been going through for years and for so many reasons.

 I didn't want anyone to know I was sad. 

I didn't want anyone to know that I was hiding in my house avoiding others.

 I didn't want anyone to know that even in a crowded mall with my daughter I felt alone and lonely and would leave only to cry on the way home. 

I didn't want anyone to know that I couldn't find the motivation to cook, 

or clean, 

or get ready for bed 

or get up in the morning

or help my kids with their homework 

or even play with my kids.  

I didn't want anyone to know of the tears I've cried behind closed doors.

I didn't want anyone to know that I wasn't perfect.

I didn't want anyone to see me as weak.

But I can't do it anymore.

 I'm done pretending. 

I'm done ignoring my struggles. 

I'm done hiding. 

I'm done being sad.

I'm done being lonely.

I'm done feeling bad about myself.

I'm done with feeling like my kids don't measure up to other peoples kids.

I'm done shopping just to feel good about a great deal.

I'm done feeling like my house is never as clean or as perfect as other peoples.

I'm done feeling like I'm not Martha Stewart and I never will be.

I'm done smiling to cover up how I'm really feeling.

I'm done feeling bad about not having the greatest blog posts.

I'm done letting others drag me down.

I'm done feeling like my Facebook updates stink and nobody even sees them.

I'm done feeling like I never measure up to anyone around me.

I'm done with all these negative feelings.

I'm done

and

I'm ready.

I'm ready to let people in. 

I'm ready to have energy.

I'm ready to feel motivated.

I'm ready to really enjoy my kids.

I'm ready to let people know of my struggles.

I'm ready to let my guard down, even though it scares me. 

I'm ready to care more about every and anything.

I'm ready to fight for myself.

I'm ready for a change.

I ready to really, truly, and completely enjoy my life.

I'm ready to not let S.A.D take over me every winter.

I'm ready to fight it into a corner 

and keep it there.

I'm ready to make a change.

-----------------------------------------------

If you're still reading this, it means that I finally did it. 

I didn't delete it again. I didn't hide again. 

I opened up. I took the 1st step. 

I didn't share this for sympathy  I did this for me and my family. 

I did it to help me 

and so many others that suffer silently 

because just like me they're scared to let anyone know. 

Scared to let anyone know of their struggles and pain and sadness.

I did it because I finally got tired of life passing me by and not caring.

I did it because:

Life is to be enjoyed, not just endured!

-Kari

I love this kid

I love this kid! 

I love when he chases Rebecca around the house. 

I love when he laughs his contagious laugh. 

I love watching him practice his kicks and punches.

I love our early morning cuddles as he slowly wakes up. He's just like his momma!

I love his hugs and kisses.

I love his love of books.

I love watching him climb our hallway walls!

I love watching him run into the library and come out with an armful of books. 

I love his excitement to go grocery shopping just with me. 

I love how he thinks Wendy's chocolate Frosty's are the best treat ever! 

I love sitting and listening to him read. 

I love the way he says his R's and L's. (I'll be sad when he stops saying them like he does now.)

I love how he loves to jump off any and everything.

I love how he gets completely into his Legos creations. 

I love how he hides and waits for dad to come home from work.

I love how he swings HIGH and hard. 

I love how he dresses in camouflage head to toe. 

I love watching him jump in puddles.

I love how he draws pictures. 

I love how he gets into what he loves. 

I love that he loves to swim in the deep end. 

I love that he's not afraid to try something new. 

I love that he wants things fair. 

I love that he rides his bike up and down our hill over and over.

I love the great brother he is.

I love that he can make something out of a stick and duct tape. 

I love that he thinks his siblings are awesome friends.

I love that he loves to play outside.

I love that he loves to learn. 

I love when he bursts through the door after school and talks a mile a minute about something new he learned from his teacher or from a book.

I love his love of climbing.

I love that he can be in constant motion, then switch and sit a play something quietly for an hour. 

I love how he plays goalie and is aggressive with the ball. (Even if he scares me how he dives on some of the balls.) 

I love the pictures he takes.

I love how he wants to give to others.

I love how he loves to explore new or old places.

I love his perspective on life around him.

I love how he hangs off his bunk bed, does a flip landing on his feet with a huge smile and does it again. 

I love his love of apples and pizza and hot chocolate and anything sugary. 

I love his love of life. 

I love this kid. 

I'm so glad he fought so hard when he was so sick as a new baby to stay with our family.

 Life would be so terribly dull without him.

I love this kid!