Sights of my morning walks with Pixie

Since we have moved I have had the priviledge of taking Jeremey to seminary. (He used to catch a ride with some members in a nearby village when we lived in Summerbridge.) Pixie and I have been walking nearly every morning. We take Jeremey to the church and then walk down the street to the stray.
The stray is a large park with walking paths running through it. I thought I would share some of the sights we see on a daily basis.... Pixie is ALWAYS more anxious to get going in the morning then I am!!

Beautiful Blue Bells

One of the walking paths acrossed the stray

Pixie ready to go!!!

Crows having breakfast!!!

It is so peaceful at 6:20 in the morning!

One of the many flats that we pass by.

A lovely park bench

More of the stray

We walk down this road lines with trees

Go past the catholic church

and the cemetery that is in the church yard

down another side street (more apts)

Lots of ornate gates

and charming door fronts

Creative gardening

A Pub... This ones called The Alexandrea

more blue bells

A beautifully smelling Lilac Tree!

and of course these lovely bins are dotted all along our path!

We make a few "deposits" on Pixies behalf!!! :0)

Then back to the church

This is a tree in the church parking lot... The flowers were really vibrant this morning!

Hope you have enjoyed our daily journey... Not sure what I will do until school starts again as today was the last day of seminary for the year.... I'll still walk daily for sure - just a bit later in the morning and probably in other parks in our neighborhood!

Hope you are all having a great day - get out and take a little walk.... it's amazing what a brisk morning breeze and a few rain drops can do for ones spirit!

REFRESHING!!!!

We are finally back online!!!

We are finally re-connected to the cyber world! We have recently "moved house" (as they say over here in England) and believe you me, getting your cable and internet switched to your new location is a "ROYAL" pain!!! However, we are finally (after 3 weeks) back online!!!
Over the next few days or weeks I will try to update what has been going on in our lives...
Pictures of our new home, Jeremey,his date, and the CMR Prom, Fish and his Track adventures, not to mention the adventures of Ed and Nancy returning to the college classroom!!!
So stay tuned, check back as often as you'd like...
Until next time.... We hope all is well in your neck of the woods!!!

Nancy had a little lamb.....

Living in England has it's "perks" believe it or not.... Where we currently live is in a small village called Summerbridge in the Nidderdale/North Yorkshire area. This is a farming community outside of Harrogate.
We have been waiting for the arrival of S P R I N G here on the island as the gloomy days are getting quite old! Well, I believe that although it hasn't SPRUNG it surley is on it's way! The sheep have arrived back in the fields.... We are seeing lots of baby lambs with their mums grazing in the pastures as we go to and from the base.
From our deck we have a great view of a farmers pasture below us and so I thought I would share this sign of spring with all of you....
We had a bit of "mist" (fog) this morning and hopefully it will burn off as the day progresses! Oh, how I miss the sunshine!!!


Soon these views will be gone as we are in the process of moving to another village a bit closer to Harrogate. We won't have these views but we WILL have a garage, back and front yard (garden), 4 bedrooms, 2 1/2 bathrooms (that's heaven in it's self! as currently we have only 1!) & our OWN driveway!
I am hoping to take some other photos this week of the daffodils and crocuses that are blooming in the area that are just gorgeous!!!
Has Spring sprung in your neck of the woods?

Where there is faith there is HOPE!!

I have been struggeling a bit lately with quite a few things -
It has started to affect my emotional stability and consume my spirit at times....
Just when you think you have hit a road block - the Lord gives you an ALTERNATE ROUTE to take!
He gave me mine today! Our sacrament meeting theme was on "HOPE" today. We had 3 wonderful speakers that touched on the importance of hope in our lives. I was also reminded that Hope has 2 other friends; Faith and Charity! With these 3 we can get through our dark times and begin to see the "glimmer" of HOPE radiate through our trials.
In 2 Nephi 38:20 the Lord tells us:
Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life.
So this week I am going to focus on these 3 inspirational gifts - Faith, HOPE, and Charity! My parents would always say during stressful times: "This too shall pass" and I know that the Lord doesn't give us more than we can bear. So with a steadfastness in Christ I will press forward feasting on his word!
Thank you to those that spoke today and to the teachers in Gospel Doctrine and Relief Society! The lesson ALL blended wonderfully together and really touched my spirit!
The Lord has a way of getting your attention at the right time - when we are in the right place - listening to the spirit!

Pot of GOLD!!!

This morning as I was getting ready for the day - I opened the curtains in our bedroom and to my surprise saw this beautiful sight!

Now I just WISH the Pot of GOLD was at the end of this rainbow! No such luck this time....

Hope your day is a bit LUCKIER!!!

Angel's from heaven!

Last May I had the wonderful opportunity to assist my brother and sister-in-law for a few weeks after the birth of their twin girls... This is the SECOND set of twin daughters for them!

They were born without any complications and near FULL TERM!!!

What a joy it was to be able to attend to the needs of these precious little ones. I feel for my brother and sister-in-law as their family consists of ALL girls!!! Little girls are "sweet" like sugar when they WANT something & "spicy" like the dickens when they are crabby, that is our nature.

I love this photo of Baby Brooke giving her sister Sara a little kiss!! Now that I am back in England our son Greg has been staying with them and helping with the babies as much as he can! He makes formula, changes dirty and wet diapers, puts them to sleep, and teaches them to "growl!" He absolutely adores these little girls! I think they are kind of partial to him as well!
Don't you want to just squeeze those little cheeks and give them a big ol' SMOOCH!!!

At this age they love playing together - however, give them a few years and things will most likely go awry at times!!!

These photos make me miss these itty-bitty's soooo much. I would love nothing more then to be there to sit on the floor and spend all day playing with them!

I know that my "grandma" days are NOT to far off in the future, but, for now I have my two little nieces to watch grow and develop!

You gotta LOVE that smile!!! That smile could make any bad day a GREAT one!!!

This is one of the first family photos they had taken! They are absolutely fabulous!!! What a wonderful addition to our family!

Hang in there Mike & Brenda! (and Greg) It is a wonderful life even though at times you want to pull your hair out and just take a long winters nap!!! You are sooo blessed and THANK YOU for allowing me the pleasure of being a part of your world for a bit!

4th and SPOILED!!!

Jeremey is our 4th child and is living with us over here in England... He has been back in Montana for the last 2 weeks visiting. This was a birthday gift and YES, he is SPOILED!!!

Britney & Jeremey

This is the reason he wanted to go back to Montana for his birthday and what a gift she is!!! They attended MORP at CMR High with 2 other couples - just like "old times"!!!!

A huge "THANK YOU" to Monica and the Martell family for taking such good care of Jeremey while he was in Great Falls!!! I'm sure this won't be the last time he will make the trip back for "old times" sake!!!! Now that he has a J-O-B he can save up to purchase the NEXT ticket!!! :0)

We love you Jeremey and are sooo proud of the young man you are growing up to be!!!

Food, Fun and Chopsticks!!!

A week ago Friday Ed and I attended a Murder Mystery dinner. It was held at a friends home and the theme was oriental. We had a Reverend and his wife, who was from India, a professional kick boxer who also moonlighted as an exotic dancer, a foreign film star who also sang opera, a high society Beligum woman named Madame Marmalade, a club manager named Won Ton Willy, an australian outbacker who's name was Peeking Tom and then the housekeeper/mistress, Mousy Toung.
While we listened to messages and clues on tape, acted out our parts and partook of wonderful chineese food we were ALL trying to figure out "WHO DUN IT?!"who killed "Fu Manchuri?" What we did know was

Fu Manchuri was the boss of the

• housekeeper
• club manager
• exotic dancer
• The Australian and Reverend had it in for Fun Manchuri and his gang dealings.
• The film star found out she was Fu's daughter, and the Belgium woman and the reverends wife were mistresses of Fu's as well
• Lastly that Fu Manchuri was killed by a single "chopstick" to the chest!

We had an evening of laughs (at times it was nearly the "wet my pants" type of laughter!!) pictures, food, and friendship!



Mousy Tong & Peeking Tom Susuki & Won Ton Willie

Rev Spooner & Xena Bruce Lie & Lady Marmalade


WHO DUN IT?!!!

THE REVEREND WITH A CHOPSTICK !
Thanks to the Juhaz (U-HAZ) for a fabulous evening!!! We were all exhausted the next day!!!!
Oh, one last thing! We all looked great in our costumes as we each took our part seriously, LOL however, I think I looked more like a bad impression of Jack Sparrow!!!

After we solved the mystery we went down the street and sang christmas carols at another members home. We didn't look very christmas like however, we were in the festive spirit!!!!

Thanks Steve & Becca.... When is the next one?!!!

Who says older people (over 30) can't have FUN?!!!

Thoughts of a Mum!

There are times in a mom's life when you wonder if the dirty diapers will ever end, the sleepless nights and the fighting and bickering will ever stop!!! Then before you know it, you think you are going mad because all of the sudden all you seem to be hearing is BELLS!! The phone, the door, and the cell phone!!! Then the sleepless nights return due to curfew being stretched! The bickering still exists except NOW it isn't over fisher price toys, it is over the CAR, computer or phone...

Then the tears come as one by one the noise level quiets as they each take their turn leaving the craziness we call home... The days you thought would NEVER end somehow didn't seem so bad, and NOW you wish they hadn't gone SO fast!

As I look back and reflect on the good, the bad, and the ugly I am constantly reminded of the LOVE I have for these 4 fantastic darling children!

Now that we are nearly "empty nesters" I seem to be traveling down memory lane quite abit, especially when I start to miss the chaotic craziness of the "Younger" days the Smith family used to have....

The year 2008 was the start of another chapter in our book of tales...

Gregory (24) graduated from the University of Montana with a Bachelors in History.

Brittany (21) decided to serve a mission for our church for the next 18 months

She is serving in the Mesa Arizona Mission/Spanish Speak

Hillary(20) married her bestfriend (Joshua Kundis) in the Salt Lake Temple

Jeremey was able to keep his mom on her toes as he played football for the Menwith Hill Mustangs this year!!!

He's the one in the red shorts on the left! This was taken in Rota Spain on the beach!!! The perks of being overseas at a DODDs school!!!

As I get myself prepared for the last one to leave the nest in a few years, I have learned to cherish the tender mercies that come our way each day. My mom would always say - "Look at the world through ROSE COLORED glasses"...

What a beautiful view as I look in the rearview mirror and yet the scenery up ahead is just waiting for me to savor one potty stop to the next!!!!

Thank you my darling children for taking me on one of the best Roller Coaster rides of my life!!! Give me a minute and some Tylenol and I'll be ready for the next one!!!

Remeber I love you forever, for always, and no matter what!!!

Smooches,

Mum