B+C+B+C+B+C: Smith Reunion, Day 4

Friday, July 4, 2008

Smith Reunion, Day 4

A Smith Family Reunion can't be complete without the Family Olympics and the Talent Show. Today we had both, in addition to a big family picture and fireworks. I was in charge of the Olympics. We got in 3 teams and had 3 intense competitions to determine which team could cheat the best (at least that's what ends up happening!) There was a colored-numbered-ball-chase game, an ultimate super strength relay, and a shoe fetch.

Our family hairdresser, Meredith, spent the day doing hair cuts in between activities. Gotta love free cuts. Well, for Brian anyway. I have a compulsive fetish with cutting my hair as infrequently as possible.

Mom was awesome, as usual, helping with Brianna. She was the official diaper-changer, which Brianna thanked her for by urinating when diaperless.

Then Brianna got mad at McKay for taking the toy-station thing. What are those called??! Whatever it is, she loooovvees it. We'll have to teach her to take turns and share, especially with all those cousins her age.

Brian has been the designated videographer during this reunion. We want to make a cute video of the reunion and give it to all my siblings as Christmas presents. He is wearing a crown in this pic for his funny skit, where he was King of Vernal and demanded his "important papers" from the court jester.

My "talent" show contribution was an interpretive song and dance with Meredith ("just what makes that little ol' ant think he can move a rubber tree plant...") hence the crazy hair and makeup, which stayed on for Brianna's talent.

She danced in her cute 4th of July sparkly dress to a special singing toy her grandma gave her.

The day ended with fireworks, purchased in Idaho (we all know what THAT means...) That really made Brian's day. He is a major pyro. He would rather set off a few Roman Candles than watch the biggest firework show in the world.

Fortunately this house is located at the top of a huge hill, so we get a great view of the firework shows going on miles and miles away. It's too bad Brianna won't remember this 4th of July - it was tons of fun!

3 comments:

Steven & Tiffany Martin said...: Wow! Lookin at those pics brought back such fond memoires of the first time I came to visit you in Spokane! Wow... we've really grown up! Brianna is so stinken cute!; July 5, 2008 at 11:21 AM
Amy Hunter said...: Your family obviously knows how to have fun. It looks like a blast! I hope you are all enjoying every second in Washington.

I'm proud of you for sharing your talents! You know I'm on activities committee now, so be forewarned that you might be contacted for the ward talent show. Hee hee hee.; July 5, 2008 at 11:08 PM
Ashley said...: Oh, BTW, I bought that same dress for Alli to wear on the fourth, I thought that it was so adorable. Brianna looks so cute in it as well. I love the 4th of July.; July 6, 2008 at 3:06 PM

Quotes I want to remember

"The Lord knows our bearing capacity, both as to coping and to comprehending, and He will not give us more to bear than we can manage at the moment, though to us it may seem otherwise. Just as no temptations will come to us from which we cannot escape or which we cannot bear, we will not be given more trials than we can sustain."
- Neal A. Maxwell

"It is a fundamental truth that the responsibilities of motherhood cannot be successfully delegated. No, not to day-care centers, not to schools, not to nurseries, not to babysitters. We become enamored with men's theories such as the idea of preschool training outside the home for young children. Not only does this put added pressure on the budget, but it places young children in an environment away from mother's influence."
-Ezra Taft Benson

“Perhaps there has never been a time when we had greater need to pray and to teach our family members to pray. Prayer is a defense against temptation. It is through earnest and heartfelt prayer that we can receive the needed blessings and the support required to make our way in this sometimes difficult and challenging journey we call mortality.”
-Thomas S. Monson

“Live the gospel as conspicuously as you can. Keep the covenants your children know you have made. And bear your testimony! Don’t just assume your children will somehow get the drift of your beliefs on their own.
-Jeffrey R. Holland

"We hold in our arms the rising generation. They come to this earth with important responsibilities and great spiritual capacities. We cannot be casual in how we prepare them. Our challenge as parents and teachers is not to create a spiritual core in their souls but rather to fan the flame of their spiritual core already aglow with the fire of their premortal faith."
-Neil L. Andersen

"Certainly there are times when getting the family together to read the scriptures does not stack up as a spiritual experience worthy of a journal entry. But we must not be deterred. There are special times when the spirit of a son or daughter is just right and the power of these great scriptures goes down into their heart like fire. As we honor our Heavenly Father in our homes, He will honor our efforts."
-Neil L. Andersen

President Hinckley admonished both men and women to be nurturers. He said, ‘How much more beautiful would be the society in which we live if every father . . . and . . . mother regarded [their] children . . . as gifts from the God of heaven . . . and brought them up with true affection in the wisdom and admonition of the Lord.’ ”
-Susan W. Tanner

"Children are like trees. When they are young, their lives can be shaped and directed, usually with ever so little effort. Said the writer of Proverbs, 'Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it' (22:6). That training finds its roots in the home. There will be little of help from other sources. Do not depend on government to help in this darkening situation. Barbara Bush, wife of former U.S. president George Bush, spoke wisely: 'Your success as a family, our success as society, depends not on what happens at the White House, but on what happens inside your house.' "
-Gordon B. Hinckley

“I give counsel to husbands and wives. Pray for the love which allows you to see the good in your companion. Pray for the love that makes weaknesses and mistakes seem small. Pray for the love to make your companion’s joy your own. Pray for the love to want to lessen the load and soften the sorrows of your companion.”
-Henry B. Eyring

“Reverent behavior is not a natural tendency for most children. It is a quality that is taught by parents and leaders through example and training. But remember, if reverence is rooted in love, so is the teaching of it. Harshness in our training begets resentment, not reverence.”
-Margaret S. Lifferth

"There is no one perfect way to be a good mother. Each situation is unique. Each mother has different challenges, different skills and abilities, and certainly different children. What matters is that a mother loves her children deeply and, in keeping with the devotion she has for God and her husband, prioritizes them above all else."
- M. Russell Ballard

“As parents, we should remember that our lives may be the book from the family library which the children most treasure. Are our examples worthy of emulation? Do we live in such a way that a son or a daughter may say, ‘I want to follow my dad,’ or ‘I want to be like my mother’?”
-Thomas S. Monson

“Security for our families comes from learning self-control, avoiding the excesses of this world, and being temperate in all things.”
-Kent D. Watson

Friday, July 4, 2008

Smith Reunion, Day 4

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