Family Fun Morning . . . .

Graduation 2011

Sam's Graduation - Class of 2011

What a bitter sweet moment this has become . . .  Last year at this time Micah and I had just taken legal guardianship of Sam and were looking forward to what the new year would bring us all.  

This Graduation Agent as Sam likes to call me is happy to report that Sam has graduated from Syracuse High School and is a proud member of the Class of 2011.

I on the other hand have mixed emotions and anxiety about what that really means!    I am so excited to see what Sam decides to do with his future; whether he is a Fireman, a Construction Worker, an EMT, a Missionary, a Full Time Student, a Part Time Student and the list goes on, but what I do know is that whatever he decides to do I know he will be GREAT at it - Since we all know when Sam puts his mind to anything he can accomplish great things!!

There is also a part of me NOT LOOKING FORWARD to him moving out; moving away for school or a mission.  I am going to miss telling him time after time to clean his room, and do his laundry - whenever will I find the time that I can sit on the couch and have a long conversation with him about life and making sure he is doing his homework.  I am NOT excited to think of him living out on his own wondering is he is eating a balanced meal or surviving on cereal, cold pizza and protein drinks!

Stay tuned to see what and where Sam will be doing . . .

Steven Henagers College - Class of 2011

 

FINALLY we are done - Okay the truth is that I have been done since the end of January and Micah will be done in August, but any who!  We had our Graduation Ceremony and are so thrilled to be one step closer to achieving our next set of goals.  Micah and I both were certain that we did not want to walk in the ceremony, but decided that we needed to set the example and let the boys in our home see what you can do when you work on your education.

Micah's mom came and we had the MOST AWESOME surprise ever when I got a text message from friends (from California) showing me a picture of the inside of the Dee Event Center at Weber State.  They needed to come to Utah and made sure to come during our graduation - THANK YOU Nancy and JT we were so glad to have you two there.

Congratulations Chaze

Seminary Graduation

Congratulations, Gray!

This morning Micah, Gray and I headed to Salt Lake City to the Joesph Smith Memorial Building to attend the Lila Awards Breakfast for the Utah Youth Village.

Gray was one of twelve other youth who was being presented a Lila Award for the improvements with the program.  Gray was awarded the Lila GOLD Award. 

Becky's Bapatism

It's times like these that I wish Utah was only an hour away from California and we could be with our family.  A few months before this picture was taken Becky called Uncle Micah & I and asked when would we be coming back to visit because she wanted us to be there.  Unfortunately, we weren't going to be able to make a trip and insisted that she not wait, but take care of business and get it done.

Becky is the first born grandchild and niece to Micah's family and LONG BEFORE I married into his family Becky was calling me 'Nana' and had me wrapped around her finger :) So I have a hard time telling this little girl - wait she is no little girl anymore she is a young lady - anyways I have a hard time telling her no.

So Becky Uncle Micah and I want you to know how proud we are of you and the choice that you made to be baptized and I want to take this opportunity to share with you something your mom shared with me when I made that important decision:

The feeling that one receives, The one that says "I believe."
The knowledge of right and wrong, Is the thing that can bring you home.
The truth we can all receive, The knowledge we can believe.
The one who saves us all, Is the thing that can bring you home.
We can return home, To live together again, In the home we all were once in,
This is the hope to bring you home.

Written by: Sara Smith

Rebecka something else your mom shared with me is the following message: "Tanya, You are making a great step in your life. You will be blessed. I know this church is true. I know you are a great friend and a special spirit. I know Heavenly Father brought you to Paso Robles and we were meant to be friends. Best Friends."  And since your mom has always been better at words than I have been let me tell you know how grateful I am that I moved to Paso Robles, that I met your mom, your Uncle Micah and the rest of those crazy Smith's because I had the opportunity to meet you and call you my niece.  I love you Becky. <3 Nana

Lost Puppy

Micah and Gray were coming home from school one afternoon and found this little guy hiding in the fields. Gray walked right up to this scared little guy and before Micah was parked in the drive way was telling me that I was NOT allowed to keep him under any circumstances. 

'Little Dog' as he was referred to only lasted about a week with us before I had to finally call it quits - he was about four months old, not potty trained, cried, scared of everything and did I mention NOT potty trained!!  The only great thing about him was that Boozer would sleep in his kennel with the puppy.

The Hasty Heart

Randon Picture from un-Prom

These are some of the random photos I took of Zach and his girlfriend Katelin - 

Super cute couple and very photogenic.

Sam and his date, Megan.  Yes Megan has been featured before on this blog - she was his Preference Date.

This was just a fun picture while I was trying to get them to think of ideas oh what they wanted in pictures.

These are the results of playing around while I was kneeling in the grass and using Picasa to edit picture.

Dinner was Dutch Oven Chicken with potatoes and carrots, salad, and french rolls.  We left the kids to have dinner and enjoy the evening while we ran home to set up the next activity of the evening.

Here are the fabulous four . . . while waiting for dinner to finish up they asked that I take some pictures of them around the park.  And I LOVED it! 

un-Prom Date Dinner

Oh my heck . . . I never thought the weather would warm up or that the wind would stop blowing!!  This has been one of the longest days of my life by far.  Everything came together and looks pretty darn good considering it was thrown together here and there and everywhere.

Just waiting for the kids to arrive now.

un-Prom Day Date

The first order of business was to set up the day date at Layton City Park - the boys had picked a nice spot along the water that gave them some space to hang out without being interrupted by everyone.

I packed a nice picnic lunch; some deli sandwiches with all the goodies, chips, cookies and drinks.  Once lunch was over they each received a text message that would send them on a savager hunt to find a basket of goodies.  The boys had wanted to spend the afternoon in the park so I made a basket with bubbles, kites, coloring books, bread to feed to the ducks and some other silly things to keep them busy.

Goofing off with Gray

The Start of the Very Merry un-Prom Date . . .

This morning started out with a B - A - N - G!!  These boys were so set on a Very Merry un-Prom date, however, neither of them had been eager to help with the planning or commit to a plan so I awoke to not only set up, prepare, cook and be the 'white rabbit', but also come up with the game plan.  It's a good thing I like these two.

First stop of the morning . . . Layton City Park.

The morning had started out looking pretty decent, however, by the time I arrived at the park it was SNOWING. 

Happy 16th Birthday, Albert!

Happy Easter

You have Been Egged . . . .

This morning Micah came into the bedroom to tell me that we had been 'egged' - OK so I have to be honesty when he said that I honestly thought what the Sam Heck has Sam done to get my house egged!!!!  

Little did I know when I walked out the front door that I would see a sight I had seen recently on the blog I had been told about by my friend . . . And I LOVED IT so I had planned to get a few neighbors myself. http://eighteen25.blogspot.com/2010/03/youve-been-egged-free-download.html

As I was saying before I saw something shiny . . . it was such a wonderful surprise and there was an extra special treat inside that was personalized for each member in the house.  There were five eggs; one with an A, G, S, M and T with messages as to how our secret egg-er described us.    I LOVE IT and I LOVED KNOWING that someone was thinking of us and it made for a great surprise after having a horrible week where nothing seemed to go right.  So thank you secret egg-er.

Sam's Bedroom Build

We have started yet another room in our basement - this room however has been requested NOT to be completed per Sam.  He wants to have that unfinished industrial look - I think it is so he doesn't have to worry about keeping it as clean.  Thanks to his buddy Zach we were able to get the framing and drywall up.

A Farewell to Preston

Prom 2011 . . .

This idea was tragically just a moment in time . . . Sam had wanted to ask a girl to Prom and we kept telling him he needed to ASK right away, but he assured us that asking in March was not necessary.  The week he had planned to ask her we traveled to California to say good bye to a family friend and support the family who had recently lost their husband, father, and grandfather.

The evening we arrived to California Sam received a text message from said girl saying that her ex-boyfriend had asked her to prom.  Sam was crushed, but I told him that if he really wanted to ask her that he should and let her make the decision as to who she would want to go with.

As soon as we returned home the planning progress went into action . . . Sam LOVES Ring Pops and I have been trying to think of someway to use them.  Behold this is what we came up with and the rest is history shall we say.

Be on the lookout though . . Sam and his friend Zach are looking for something fun to do instead of prom to make up for it.