Deck The Walls

words to live by

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RING! RING!

Today, Christmas, we honored the tradition that most families of missionaries honor, "the ringing of the phone" that is, we "my smith family" got to talk to our missionary in Washington! The phone call was definitely the highlight of the day. Our family, cousins, aunts, uncles, grandmas, grandpas, and friends all waited for a turn to talk to him. Each of us started out with the same question "how's it going"? Austin is enjoying his missionary experiences. Some of Austin's friends came over to talk to him also. It was so great to see them all again and it just made me miss him even more. They all went up to his room and laid on his bed (just like old times). I've included some of the pictures I took when everyone was talking to him.
Christmas with the family was great. It rained and rained all day which made the day seem even more homey.

Elder Austin is having the time of his life on his missionary adventures. Today he experieced his first real snow storm. A blizzard hit the area he is serving in, Sultan Washington. So much snow fell that church was cancelled.

I Have A Complaint

It's the most wonderful time of the year!

It really is the most wonderful time of the year when your house is clean and decorated by the first part of December. At least that's what I am finally figuring out after 50 years. Is this what it feels like? The women’s organization in our church, (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints) held a progressive dinner. Three of my neighbors including myself hosted the appetizers and main course in our homes. My house was the “appetizer” house. All of this meant that I would need to have my house clean and decorated for the event. I took the challenge and “did it.” For most people that wouldn’t be such a hard thing to do but I just finished having travertine flooring installed throughout my house and with that came the need to repaint and install new baseboards (which I did myself). The event was a great way to motivate me to get all of it done. Thanks Lazona Ward for asking me to help out!!! The neighborhood children placed luminaries in front of all our homes. Our street looked so bright and festive.

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"My" Missionary Son

One of the members of "Me and My Smith Family" is Austin. He is currently serving a mission for our church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He is in the town of Blaine Washington. He's been in Washington since September. Of course we love his letters home but really love it when he sends pictures. Here are some he recently sent home.

Australia "The Movie"

I loved, loved, loved it!

Wow! My First Post

My first post. Now what do I do? I think the hardest part is over...creating my blog layout. That only took me a month to do so this part should be easy. Right? I'm excited to share with my friends and family what "we" the "Smith Family" have been up to. I promise to keep it real. Unlike those phony form letters you get during the holidays. You know, the ones that make you want to send a form letter back that says, PLEASE...GET REAL! No one really believes all that crap!

Austin, our son, has been in Washington for 2 months now. He is there as missionary representing our church (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints). So far he seems to be enjoying the experience. Most of his letters detail the events of his past week, many we are finding are rather humorous. He is in Blaine Washington, a town that sits on the US/Canada border. He says he lives about 100ft from the border. An Arizona boy on the US/Canada border. HEAVEN HELP HIM!

Yesterday I finished reading a book right before our book club met. I'm only mentioning it because this book has been on my shelf for most of my life and I never bothered reading it. I felt it was worthy of a post. A Marvelous Work and a Wonder. GREAT BOOK! If you want to know more about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, this is a must read!