Monday, July 21, 2014

Hump Day

Hola, Elder Smith!  Wow. ONE YEAR!  I can hardly believe we have made it to the half way point.  I was thinking today in Sacrament Meeting that on the third Sunday of July last year you were speaking at your Farewell.  What a year it has been.  People keep asking me if this year has gone by quickly, and in some ways I guess it has.  But at the same time it feels like a very long time ago since we packed you up and said goodbye at the airport.  One year.

So glad you got to go to the temple last week. I loved what you wrote about it, "I received some revelation and felt the spirit very strongly, I love that place!"  I feel the same!  My goal throughout this last year has been to go to the temple every two weeks.  And every time I go I put your name on the prayer roll.  It gives me comfort to know you are being prayed for every day by faithful people in the prayer circle. This week I also wrote down the names of Elder Dalgo and President Bowler.  

One thing I daily include in my prayers is that angels will surround, protect and guide you.  I wanted to share with you a paragraph from Maggie's letter from a couple of weeks ago when she was at the CCM...Marla forwards the letters to our family.  Maggie wrote: 

"On Sunday, we sang "Yo Sé Que Vive Mi Señor" in Relief Society and Sunday School, and then it was sung again as a special musical number before the devotional. That song always reminds me of Easter Sunday when Grandpa Smith died. As I was sitting there, I thought about Grandpa Smith and how blessed we are to be able to live with our families forever. I actually have thought about him more than once since being on my mission, which is interesting since he passed away when I was only 8 and I don´t feel like I knew him very well. As I sat there thinking, I got this overwhelming feeling that he was next to me. I really do think that maybe he is here. That gave me a lot of strength and comfort to know that I truly am never alone." 

I love that.  And I would guess that if Grandpa Smith is watching over Maggie, he is there with YOU too!  What a nice thought.

Well, on a lighter note, here are some happenings from home this week.  So the last two Friday nights we have gone up to Sundance to see the Bluebird Concert Series.  I love them so much, it has been a highlight of my summer the last three years.  Kevin has always given us discount tickets  and I figure we better use them because he has gotten a new job and is leaving Sundance the end of this month, boo!  I will never forget when you entered the drawing for that fancy black guitar, signed by all the Bluebird artists.  You insisted that you were going to win, and we all laughed at you right up until they drew a name out of the box and announced YOU as the winner! You jumped out of your seat, pumped your fist in the air a few times, and ran down to the stage to accept your prize.  Haha, so cool!  Awesome night. 

Wednesday night was Chris Campbell's wedding reception.  It was beautiful!  Rachel and George came with us, we were glad to be there to support the Campbell family.  We teased Michael that he finally had a sister, then he hugged Rachel and Stef and said he already had two sisters, this was his third. :)  

Last Saturday we decided to take out the canoe, it had been awhile since we had used it.  Dad looked online to find a new place to go, and found a reservoir in Bountiful. First out was Dad, Stefanie and George, no problem, they had fun.  Then Stefanie and I switched places so it was Dad, George and me, and just when we were right out in the middle of the reservoir we tipped the dang thing over.  Oh my goodness, I was not planning on getting wet! Good thing the water was warm, and I was glad I had put on a life jacket and taken my cell phone out of my pocket. The bad news was that George lost his glasses, they sunk to the bottom of the reservoir about 20 feet deep. Rachel and Stefanie saw it happen, we could hear them laughing their heads off from the shore.  We tried to flip it over and get back in, but it was impossible so we finally just gave up and swam back.  It was a memorable experience, haha.

One more bit of news…this week Caleb Rodabough got his mission call!  He is going to Monterey Mexico, he will enter the Mexico CCM in December.  So that is a long time to wait, but he is excited.  Great news for the Rodabough family.

Well, that's all our news for this week. As always, we are super excited to hear from you and hope it has been a good week for you.  Happy HUMP DAY!  Did you get a package from us??  Love, Mom