To the EAST and To the WEST

Hello again!

Though we've had a long drought in posting updates, please be assured that besides a rare summer stomach flu (which managed to hit all 7 of us and may have been related to the salmonilla outbreak a few weeks ago) we have NOT dropped off the face of the earth, but have instead enjoyed a summer full of swimming, playing, Six Flags Great America-ing, visiting with friends and relatives, and traveling nearly coast to coast (via mini-van without DVD player).

Here are the brief stats of our summer adventures...
Total miles driven: 5546.38 miles

Number of hours in the car: 87 hours, 48 minutes

Number of states visited: 17 States + Ontario, Canada

Total $$ in parking tickets issued (all in NYC): $200 ($90 was refuted by the accused)

Approx. $$ spent on tolls (all East of the Mississippi....hmmm): $60

Number of family and friends visited: We lost track...over 100

Number of hours spent in swim suits: 40 (except for Cienna who spent more like 1000 hours in her swim suit because it was one of the obsessions that come as part of the "Nearly-2-Virus")

Favorite new rides at GA this summer: Brent: Superman; Amy: Raging Bull; Kenny: Raging Bull, front row; Diggy: Giant Drop; Kirsti: The Whizzer; Allison: Dorothy's Rosie Teacups; Cienna: Yogi's Yahoo River (aka Mini-Boats...as long as the song "Move it, Move It" was playing in the background)

And the pics...

To The EAST: In May, we explored several Eastern states en route to a fabulous LDS home-school conference in Virginia.

First Stop: Kirtland, Ohio. My little history buffs and I loved seeing and feeling the spirit of the early pioneers.

We LOVED Newel K. Whitney's store where Joseph and Emma Smith lived for a short time.

Second Stop: Niagra Falls, NY and (after walking across the connecting bridge) Canada.

Brent took the older kids on the Maid of the Mist.

Third Stop: The Sacred Grove in Palmyra, NY.

On a peaceful spring Sunday morning before church, we found beauty all around us...it filled our insides, too.

Fourth Stop: NYC, NY.

Our stroll through Central Park with Kirsten's namesake (my BYU roommate, Kirsten) was quite a contrast from the Sacred Grove...but yet another place to observe millions of God's Creations. Kenny even left his watch in Central Park overnight and it was STILL THERE the next morning! (But we would've traded the $200 in parking tickets for a stolen watch any day...except for the fact that a happy 9-year-old is priceless.)

We visited the World Trade Center site and rode the ferry past the Statue of Liberty.

I wonder what the man going up the escalator is thinking...his expression is representative of the MANY looks we received upon arriving in the Big Apple...a big place with lots of LITTLE spaces, most of which a family of 7 with a BIG double stroller barely fit (like our hotel elevator where we had to fold the stroller up in order to close the door...and half the family had to wait for another elevator).

Whose children are running through the fountain in their clothes?? So many crazy things happen in NYC!

Fifth Stop: Wilmington, DE.

We rested. We played with second cousins. We ate ice cream. The girls played with doll houses. The boys caught a skunk. We all watched Adam carefully, and oh so bravely, release the skunk.

Kirsten and Olivia.

Sixth Stop: Washington, D.C.


By the time we made it to Washington, D.C. (which was the hottest day of the May trip), even the White House wasn't as exciting as the sprinklers that happened to come on as we were resting our sore feet and deciding which monumental attractions to skip because we just couldn't walk another site-seeing step. DC will have to be the first stop next time. :)





Seventh Stop: Buena Vista, Virginia

At the end of the East Coast Trip, we met Cody and Utahna Albright (who drove up to VA from Mississippi with their 3 kids) at the LDS home-school conference on the Southern Virginia Campus. Brent and Cody (childhood BFFs) played for 2 days with the 8 kids while Utahna and I attended classes all day and swapped notes into the night.
The men and the kids visited a drive-through safari, which seemed like a great opportunity for a family of animal lovers to get up-close and personal with a variety of beasts. But when the "wild" animals, who are conditioned to charge at every vehicle window in search of buckets full of food, started licking the windows, the great adventure turned into a living nightmare for the majority of the Smith kids. No wonder Cienna was VERY scared of Bugs Bunny at Great America a few weeks later.



After a 10-day trip and saying good-bye to dear friends...we drove straight home.


And to the WEST:


I have my mother to thank for the success of this trip. She accompanied me as the driver of the mini-van trek across I-80. Due to work constraints, Brent flew in for just a few days for his brother's wedding in Salt Lake City.



My Mom and I had a great time chatting, visiting several of her siblings along the way in Iowa and Colorado (who fed us and gave us warm beds to sleep in), listening to "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory," feeding the kids suckers (the only reason Allison and Cienna were counting down until "The Long Car Ride"), examining liscense plates, and tolerating the kids' discovery that truck drivers enjoy honking at children who excitedly pump their arms up and down up against their windows.

A Utah trip also means we get to visit with my brother, Brian, and his wife Ashley. And the kids get to play with cousin Kylie!

Kylie has the perfect huge bean bags in her basement for playing "Belly Flops."

Brent's brother, Kevin (and new wife Brigette), got married on Aug. 3 in the Salt Lake City, UT Temple. It was a privilege to witness their true love and happiness. Congrats to the newlweds!

Kirsten admired Brigette's dress while Kenny and Diggy admired Kevin's taste in picking a beautiful bride.

Cienna and her Daddy outside the Salt Lake Temple

A Thousand Thanks to all who housed us and fed us!!

Seize the Day

One of the many simple reasons why we all LOVE home-schooling...

For the past 2 years, the weeks before and after Spring Break were sunny and in the 60s and 70s while the week OF Spring Break was primarily snowy and in the 30s and 40s...Crazy Chicago Weather!!

Recent (and not so recent) Happenings

Now that the taste of fresh wheat bread has worn off a bit...(kind of like how I can't stand bologna sandwiches even now because I had to eat them in EVERY single lunch in 2nd grade...no offense mom, I completely understand now!) (and for the record...it's not the fresh wheat bread that isn't devoured, it's the second and third day bread that sits for a week on the kitchen counter that isn't quite as tempting anymore. And since I haven't worked daily wheat bread into the schedule (and never will), we've cut back to bi-monthly wheat bread-making)...I have a few extra minutes to post some updates!

Cienna finally decided she likes Cheerios...sort of (she's in 5th place among her siblings for this milestone...but who keeps track of milestones anyways?!). After eating a few bites, and spilling of course, her cute, little 18-month-old brain tells her cute, little 18-month-old mouth to yell, "Wag! Wag!" (i.e. rag), and she spends the rest of breakfast cleaning her tray, spoon, face and lap.

Brent brought two princesses to the Ball this year. They had a great time dancing into the night.

The local second graders put on a great show about kids who love Saturday...a day off to relax. Diggy auditioned and was chosen to sing a solo about a boy who hates taking piano lessons. And for a boy who doesn't even have the word "hate" in his vocabulary...he was wonderful! He really had a great time rehearsing and is still singing and dancing to all the songs at home, especially when it's time to clean-up...

"This day was supposed to be MY day. Why, then, am I doing the chores?

Spoil it, by scrubbing the toilet, cleaning a bath tub, or mopping the floor!"

I must admit I find myself humming right along with the kids.

Kenny turned 9! We had a great time bowling...

And tap-dancing in the fancy shoes, of course.

Cienna discovered that she LOVES snow. And anytime we went outside to get in the car, her cute, little 18-month-old brain insisted on having her cute, little 18-month-old feet walk through the snow for longer than any of the older brains in the family could handle, so we had to rotate turns getting excited about having our feet sink down in the snow next to hers.

She was sad to see the snow melt and kept going to the window, repeating, "No?" (which when said with a pleasant connotation as opposed to screaming, means 'snow').

And then...Cienna discovered that the glorious thing about having snow melt is that MUD appears. And for a cute, little 18-month-old girl who LOVES to eat dirt, she was once again in heaven!

(This is an experimenting face...not a sad face.)

And I discovered, once again, why I LOVE our drawer-full of hand-me-down/Wal-mart sale-rack clothes.

From Our Hearts to Yours…

Here’s to a wonderful 2009!

Brent’s adventures in 2009 have included another week at Scout Camp, business trips to Singapore and China (where he tasted 100-yr.-old eggs and climbed the Great Wall), and the excitement of coming home to 5 kids who bombard him with joy every day when he walks in the door.

Amy LOVES her role as wife, mother, and chief educator of her children more every day (okay..maybe not every day, but measured over time, the average is definitely going up). In 2009, one of the only years of married life that haven’t included moving or having a baby/foster children, she’s used her spare time to add homemade wheat bread to the weekly routine.

Harry, I mean Kenny, (8 ) is progressing very rapidly in school, loves attending Cub Scouts, and is a budding musician, talented artist, and successful business partner (The Smith Brothers’ [Recycle] Bucket Service…their customers even gave Christmas tips!). He spends his spare time reading, drawing, building robots and enjoying his siblings.

Diggy (7) excels in out-of-the-box thinking, loyalty, peace-making, efficiency, money management and preparedness. He designed a 1-hr. kit as a back-up for his 72-hr. kit. His many creative, useful projects are strategically placed throughout the house (including the freezer).

Kirsti (5) is a great reader and enjoys seeing what “school” is like in her half-day kindergarten class. She loves learning to play the piano and the violin. Kirsti grinds wheat for mom, plays dolls with her sisters, and has a fabulous English accent whenever it’s time to be Hermione.

Allison (2) has mastered the transition from observer to active participant in all the Smith Family Pretending Games. Her great memory helps her name all of the alphabet letters, rattle off the day’s happenings to dad, sing lots of songs, and repeat all of her older siblings’ phrases like “I promise I will” and “But I don’t feel like cleaning” complete with proper voice inflection and body drama at all the appropriate moments.

While Cienna (15 mos.) is the only one in the family who truly would have loved coal in her stocking (she still searches the fireplace for snacks, which caused us to guard it with the baby gate, which caused a huge raucous about how Santa was going to make it safely inside the house, which caused lots of secret grins from his elves (aka Kenny) who know his tricky ways, etc., etc.), she is an angel who carefully observes and mimics her peculiar siblings (even with words like, "Why"), runs to her mother for refuge (very often), chatters with her “Dada” on the phone (with lots of jibberish and some real words already!), and still loves her beans and vegetables (more than cookies and candy).

May 2010 be full of more happy (and even some character-stretching) adventures for us all!

A Hogwarts Halloween

Halloween is the perfect time of year for REAL wizards (along with Hedwig, the Owl) to mingle with the Muggles on Eastwood Drive and remain undetected. Dumbledore, Professor McGonagall, Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and Hedwig paraded the neighborhood (and the Brookfield Zoo a week earlier) casting spells and collecting memories.

Mrs. Weasley (Grandma Van Camp) hand-crafted fine robes and hats for the young Hogwarts students prior to their adventures. And because Diagon Alley's prices on this year's supply list exceeded the students' allotted Galleons, they opted to create their own ties, wands, and Nimbus 2000s using Dumbledore's secret supplies.

Mr. Weasley (Grandpa Van Camp) accompanied the group up and down endless streets on the chilly night, using his superior knowledge and keen observation of Muggles to strategically skip houses and maximize their time and energy. (Unfortunately, Harry had left the Marauder's Map in his trunk back at Gryffindor Tower.) Hermione's time-turner did help a little by adding an extra hour to the evening.

Hedwig happily fluttered around, but was grateful to shed some of her feathers as soon as possible.

While at the zoo, the wizards even had time to study up for their Magical Herbs Class.

And rescue their mascot from the Slytherin Serpent.

Professor Sprout even allowed them to carve faces into their final projects (as long as they helped clean up the Great Hall afterwards).

Happy Halloween!

Happy 1st Birthday Cienna!

The house is full of extra energy (more giggles, frequent jumps for joy, tons of hugs, and lots of love) on birthday days. Spontaneous bursts of "Happy Birthday Dear Cienna..." could be heard regularly throughout the day. Cienna felt overly smothered on several occasions, but endured it well.

It's hard to believe our little one is now one. Kirsten said several times today, "Is Cienna REALLY 1?" And then she proceeded to list all the reasons why it seemed impossible..."She doesn't have any hair. She only says a few words. She still drinks Mommy's milk. She still crawls alot. Her onesies still fit. She's the same as when she was zero." I, for one, am grateful that our little baby didn't turn into a woman overnight. :)

Apparently, Cienna's sweet tooth hasn't matured quite yet, either (or maybe she's trying to set a good example for her family). She pushed the beaters from her cupcake batter away and begged for green beans. She loves the bland taste of rocks, wood chips, and dirt. And we frequently have to pull crayon bits and the erasers from the tops of pencils out of her mouth.

Cienna received the typical 1st cupcake with frosting and sprinkles as part of her birthday celebration...but wanted nothing to do with it. She didn't taste it, play with the frosting, or even come close to succombing to the temptation to eat a sprinkle. She also rejected her 1st Orange Julius (a Smith Family birthday treat)...she did have 4 siblings who were happy to share her portion though.

BUT, Cienna LOVES pizza. And she happily ate almost an entire adult slice all on her own.

Happy Birthday Cienna! You bring such true joy into the hearts of your parents, your brothers, your sisters, and all who know you!!

Utah Trip 2009

We recently returned from a great vacation out to Utah.

The moving walkways...

having your own personal tray that opens and shuts with the simple flip of a switch...

and finally being able to eat the "suckers for the air-pane ride"

probably would have been vacation enough for 5 excited kids (and their parents).

But we did some other fun things, too...

We visited with Brent's family and over half of his nearly 50 Smith cousins at 2 different wedding receptions.

The kids got bench-pressed by Uncle Kevin.

We built the Great Human Pyramids.

We hung out with old high school buddies and the next generation of high school buddies.

We hiked up Y Mountain (a family tradition when visiting Utah) with Amy's old BYU roomates.

Brent got a sore foot on the trip...we think this might of had something to do with it. (It's a very steep hike...apparently too steep for our 2-year-old to handle physically and emotionally alone!)

The girls wore purple nightgowns with Nana.

We had Cousin Camp 2009 (actually 2nd Cousin Camp) with Joel and Karen's kids. They have 2 girls and 3 boys for us to match up with. The pairing up was fun to watch.

We climbed waterfalls,

and canoed Utah Lake.

The highlight of my trip was watching our 3 oldest bravely take the canoe out alone...on their first day of ever holding a paddle.

It's very satisfying watching your children accomplish new things...but it's also lonely to stand and watch them go into unchartered waters without you. I wish I could've been a fly on a life-jacket, listening to their chatter as they navigated through the reeds.

But I had this cute, smiley face to enjoy on shore! Allison loved being in a life-jacket.

We visited Temple Square.

We played for 4 days with Cousin Kylie, which turned into another Cousin Camp!

We carved initials into Uncle Brian's lawn.

And we took LOTS of pictures to carry these priceless memories long into the future.

Thank you to all the Friends and Family who helped make this trip GREAT!