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Family History TuesdayZ | Vacation Dreams

Journal Prompt: If you could go on vacation anywhere, where would it be?

Journal Prompt: If you could go on vacation anywhere, where would it be?
Journal Prompt: If you could go on vacation anywhere, where would it be?

My Journaling:
My big dream is to visit Australia someday. I’ve always been fascinated with its culture and places. But recently, I would have to say that my dream trip is coming up in December. I can’t wait to take my family back to Disneyland. We are totally splurging on this one and I can’t wait to surprise my kids!



Family History TuesdayZEach Tuesday, I am going to be offering prompts or ideas. If you don’t write in your journal regularly – I am going to encourage you to write just ONCE A WEEK and answer the question/idea that I give on Tuesdays. These ideas hopefully will spark a memory and you will be able to capture that in what you write/record so that it can be left for your children/grandchildren/family/friends. Give as much detail as you can when answering.

Will you do this for me? Will you do this for your families? You can write it down in a journal, you can type it up on a computer or journaling software, you can take a recorder and talk, you can videotape your answers, you can even scrap a page with the journaling. It doesn’t matter how you do this – it’s just important that you do it. The memories, the dates, the information is the only real thing we can leave to our families when we are gone.

Filed Under: Family Tree TuesdayZ, Personal Tagged With: journal, prompt, vacation, world

Wednesday SayingZ | Laughter is an Instant Vacation

{ This week’s saying }
Laughter is an Instant Vacation

dedesmith_laughtervacation

DOWNLOAD LINK



Wednesday SayingZI am a collector of quotes/sayings/titles and I am excited to share them with you each Wednesday. I hope they will inspire you and make your day a little better! I am also creating pieces of wordart with these quotes and will be offering them to you as a freebie! Feel free to use them in your scrapbooks or just print them out for wall decor!

Filed Under: Freebies, Wednesday WordZ, WordArt Tagged With: laughter, quote, saying, vacation

Life 2012 | Spring Break

This is going to be a rather long post….but I needed to get the memories posted!

Amidst an emergency room visit and sickness, our Spring Break Vacation was actually a time of relaxation and peace. I really enjoyed the time of leisure. I mostly stayed away from the computer. We watched movies, we played the Wii, we did puzzles, I made meals for the family, and we just spent quality time together. It’s just nice to get away from normal life from time to time.

It all kind of started on Wednesday, April 4th when the kids and I used different flavors of Kool-Aid to dye our Easter Eggs. It was so fun and I can’t wait to try new flavors out next year. Before we dyed the eggs, the kids used crayons to draw designs on the eggs. We found out that the blue Kool-aid turned out the best!

eastereggs

The next day (April 5th) the kids still had to go to school and I cleaned and packed and prepared for our trip. In the evening, Grandpa and Grandma Sorensen and Uncle Clint arrived. We had a good visit before all heading off to bed.

Friday, April 6th, the kids skipped school and helped me with the last of the cleaning and packing. Grandpa and Grandma had some errands to run as well. Finally in the afternoon we we were ready to leave. We traveled the 2 1/2 – 3 hours to Eden, Utah, also stopping to pick up some KFC for dinner.

We arrived at our vacation condo and started unpacking and settling in. I was taking the last stuff up the stairs to Joey and I’s room and Beth and JJ followed me up the stairs. We had opened the windows because it was a little stuffy. As I went through the door with Beth close on my heels, there was a gush of wind that slammed the bedroom door shut……with Beth’s poor left ring finger with it. She just happened to be turning around to talk to her brother and her finger was right by the hinge when this all happened. I quickly opened the door and was shocked to see the blood pouring from Beth’s finger. I was also shocked to see that I could actually see Beth’s bone and the skin around her fingernail was just hanging off. Beth took one look at her finger and just started bawling, with the tears streaming down her face. I went into panic mode and Joey ran up the stairs and picked up his little girl and ran her to the kitchen.

After a quick Priesthood blessing and getting some ice for her finger, we rushed off to the hospital that was 1/2 hour away in Ogden. Thank goodness that Grandpa & Grandma were there to take care of JJ. Beth was in a lot of pain on the way down. Joey is amazing when things happen – he stays completely calm, while I panic. He drove, while I held on to Bethie Girl. We tried to keep her distracted, but she was in pain and really scared to go to the hospital.  We started talking about how it could have been worse and it was awesome to hear Beth say, “Well, it could have been worse – it was my left hand instead of my right hand, so now I can still use my right hand.” We kept talking about how much we were blessed and it really seemed to help her.

Once we got to the hospital (at about 6:30pm), things got a lot worse. Beth was really scared to be at the hospital for some reason, even though we told her that now we had doctors/nurses to take care of her. The worst 15 minutes or so of my life were when they brought in the big needle to numb up her hand. She screamed and we had to hold her down and tears were gushing out of her eyes and she just kept saying, “No, I don’t want it, please don’t let them do it!” They gave her 2 shots by the knuckles of her finger and it was so hard to watch that happen. I just held her other hand and kept whispering calming words to her, as my own tears flowed from my eyes. I wished so hard that I could take it for her. It even made Joey tear up, not being able to do anything for our little girl. But finally that was over and it numbed her finger so well. It took the pain completely away from her and it was such a relief for all of us. Beth had to get a x-ray of her finger and it was actually kind of a fun adventure for her since it didn’t hurt anymore. She liked that they showed her the pictures of her hand. She was fine seeing the x-ray picture, but she wouldn’t look at her finger anymore (ever since that one glance at it after it first happened). It was extremely scary for her.

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Another relief came when they told us that nothing was broken. Unfortunately, they had to call in a hand surgeon and he was at the other hospital, busy with other patients. We ended up waiting about 4 hours before he was able to meet with us. In the meantime, we watched some tv, played on my phone, and the nurses brought Beth some coloring pages to color. It was such a relief to have her out of pain. Joey and I both went through some waves of emotions about having our daughter go through something like this, but we made it through.

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Finally the hand surgeon showed up. Unfortunately by that time the pain meds were wearing off and they had to give her another couple of shots. It wasn’t as bad this time because it was mostly numb. Then, they cleaned the wound up and the surgeon sewed her up, using 4 stitches. They let us know that they call it a partial amputation and she would eventually lose her fingernail, but that it would heal just fine. They put a splint on her finger, bandaged it up (in pretty purple and blue bandages), and sent us on our way. It was after 11pm at this point and we were tired and hungry. We stopped to get some ibuprofen and tylenol at Smith’s before heading back to the vacation home. On the way home, Beth’s finger started throbbing and I was sure that we were going to be in for a long night. Beth kept asking “why did this have to happen” and “this is the worst vacation ever.”

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When we arrived, we found JJ still awake and really glad to see us. He had been pretty anxious and worried about his sister. He gave a bit of a hard time for Grandpa and Grandma. We were able to visit with him for a bit and get him to go to sleep. Grandpa was already in bed and Grandma and Uncle Clint were ready to go to sleep too. We got Beth in her pajamas and put her in bed with us. By this point she was not hungry, but Joey and I took turns eating. Then, Beth just konked right out and surprisingly didn’t wake up all night. Joey and I did not sleep well after the whole ordeal and thinking that Beth was going to be in pain.

There was a few times where Beth needed some medicine, but throughout the whole vacation, she was just happy and calm. The prayers offered by all of our friends/family were heard and answered by our loving Heavenly Father. I know that he was with us and I just feel so blessed. Beth was able to enjoy the vacation and, besides just having to use one hand most of the time, did really well. I’m just so grateful for this true miracle that our family experienced.

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On Saturday, April 7th, we had planned on going on a hike, but we decided that that wouldn’t be a good idea for Beth.  So, Grandpa and Grandma went into Ogden to run some errands and meet Uncle Lane. We had a quiet morning just kind of settling in and relaxing. I began making preparations for the evening’s Easter dinner by making some crescents, putting the ham in the crockpot, and preparing the funeral potatoes. Uncle Clint and JJ were quite the buddies and had a good time playing the Wii together.

After Grandpa, Grandma, and Uncle Lane returned, we went on a drive around the Pineview Reservoir and explored the surroundings. It was quite the adventure with “Hospital trips, billboard watching, dead ends, and bears with chainsaws!” Just kind of a joke that came up as we were driving. We were driving around, getting a little lost, finding deadends and billboards, and all kinds of funny things. We were saying how this vacation was just so exciting, being sarcastic, and it ended up being pretty fun because we were all together and that’s what really mattered anyway. We were able to find President David O. McKay’s home in Huntsville on our drive.

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After we returned from our drive, I stuck the food into the oven to cook, while Uncle Clint and Uncle Lane took my kids on a Easter Egg Hunt. Grandpa, Grandma, Joey, and I sat down and watched “Sons of Katie Elder.” It’s always fun to watch a John Wayne with my Dad.
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Then we had a wonderful Easter Dinner together. I am so happy that we were able to spend this time with my parents and brothers. It was so great to just have some fun times together.

On Easter Morning (April 8th), we woke up and had did our traditional Resurrection Rolls and talked about the Savior. I also started a new tradition with some special plastic eggs, filled with scriptures and a special symbol that represented the scripture. It was special to read these with Grandpa and Grandma and Uncle Lane and Clint. The Easter Bunny found us too. There was candy and the kids got Squinkees – Beth’s was Disney Princess and JJ’s was Disney Cars. The kids had a fun time playing with their squinkies throughout the rest of the vacation.

It was sad to say goodbye to Grandpa and Grandma and Uncle Lane and Uncle Clint. It was so fun to have them stay a couple of days with us.

Most of the rest of the vacation wasn’t really eventful, but it was nice to just spend time together.

We played the Wii and watched lots of movies:

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We did a lot of coloring and crafting and decorating:

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We went on walks and played at the park:
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We did lots of puzzles:
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We made treats and just spent lots of quality time together as a family. I feel so blessed for my hubby and children.
Our last big adventure was that we celebrated Beth’s 7th Birthday during our vacation. On Thursday, April 12th, we started the day with a special treasure hunt for Beth to find her birthday gifts.  The clues were written by her Dad and they all rhymed! It even included a clue, put up on the Wii – the kids thought that was awesome!
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Once the presents were found – Beth had to open them! She got some Magic Treehouse Books, a jump rope, a princess dvd game, kids headphones, and the highlight……an ipod touch, with lots of fun apps, including books already installed!  (actually we just converted my old iphone into an ipod touch for her – the phone part doesn’t work now.  🙂  Beth was THRILLED!
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We then had to have cake and ice cream!

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Then we headed off to Ogden to have a checkup on Beth’s finger. Everything looked great. They said she would need to keep the splint on her finger for 3 more weeks, but could have the stitches out in a week.
The sad part of the day was dropping Dad off at the Trax Frontrunner station. Joey had to do his podcast and a Political Convention, so he wasn’t able to spend the last couple of days with us.
After returning to our condo we had breakfast for dinner, more cake, and lots of playing with Beth’s new toys!  She said (like she says every year), “it was the best birthday ever!”  She’s so excited to be able to text her cousin, Whitnee every day now! She loves all the fun, educational games I put on there and I even got her some Rainbow Magic Fairy e-books that she can read. She was even thrilled that now she can read her scriptures on her ipod too! Definitely a hit!
Well, we started the vacation with chaos, that I guess we needed to end it with some chaos as well.  I was in the shower on Sunday morning, when Beth ran in and said that JJ was acting really weird and shaking. He had been experiencing what I thought was just allergies, but it turns out that it turned into a sinus infection, which included a fever.  I ran down the stairs in a towl, with shampoo still in my hair.  JJ was having a seizure (after a couple of years without one). I had really hoped he had finally outgrew his febrile seizures.  🙁   By the time I got there, the seizure was over, but he was still unconscious.  It freaked me out a bit because this time, he still had his eyes open.  I held my boy for awhile, just making sure he was breathing okay and whispering prayers up to Heavenly Father.  Finally when I calmed myself down, I asked Beth to keep an eye on him while I ran up and finished my shower. JJ was still sleeping, as I hurried to pack the car with all of our stuff. He finally woke up and we spent some time with him, giving him a shower and meds and just making sure he was alright. Beth was a real trooper and stayed calm – even helping me to calm down.  We finally got everything loaded and we left Eden about noon. It was such a relief to get home and be with Joey. He was so devastated that he hadn’t been there to help. But, JJ was doing much better by the time we got home. (Of course the next day we went to the doctor and got meds and he stayed home for the first couple of days of school the next week – but everything was fine.)
So that was our Spring Break 2012 Adventures! It’s never completely sane, but we still had a good time! Now onto our next adventures of this life…..

Filed Under: Life 2012, Personal, Project Life Tagged With: adventure, Beth, birthday, blessed, cake, chaos, crafts, easter, easter eggs, eggs, emergency, er, family, family time, finger, grandpa and grandma, hunt, kool-aid, leisure, memories, movie, presents, puzzle, relax, seizure, sick, spring, spring break, uncles, vacation, wii

Life 365 | Week 50

Monday, December 6, 2010
dec6
We made it safely home from our vacation and the kids got to skip school again, but Dad had to go back to work. When it got dark, we drove over to the Spanish Fork Festival of Lights! It was a neat drive through lots of fun lights – the kids loved it!

Tuesday, December 7, 2010
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The kids purchased some gifts for each other at the school’s Christmas shop and they were so excited to wrap them up for each other today.

Wednesday, December 8, 2010
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Our project today was some fun Christmas pins. They were a little harder than I thought they would be – just because the beads were so small, but the kids helped where they could! We are going to give them away with some of our friend treats.


Thursday,
December 9, 2010

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We started our baking and treat-making today. First up, we made these adorable marshmallow snowmen. The kids loved attaching the M&Ms and Pretzels.

Friday, December 10, 2010
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Joey had his podcast tonight, but the kids and I headed over to our ward Christmas party. It was good food. Then after the kids went to bed, I spent a long time working on getting treats made.

Saturday, December 11, 2010
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We surprised the kids with an outing to “Breakfast with Santa” at Thanksgiving Point. We got to eat breakfast, sing carols with Buddy the Elf and Mrs. Claus, talk to Santa, and lots of fun crafts and activities. The kids had a great time, even though JJ wouldn’t go see Santa. But they both loved sitting in the fireplace where Santa came out! In the afternoon, we went and saw “Tangled” which was so cute and we all loved it. And then in the evening, we headed up to Salt Lake City for the annual Homestarmy Christmas Party. This year we went to Pete’s house and there was lots of good food, visiting, and watching The Muppet’s Christmas Carol.

Sunday, December 12, 2010
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Dancing to Christmas music is always so much fun! It was so cute to watch the kids do some dancing together tonight.

Filed Under: Life 365-2010, Personal, Project Life Tagged With: 2010, baking, beads, breakfast with santa, christmas, crafts, dancing, family, festival of lights, gifts, homestarmy, life, memories, moments, music, party, santa, treats, vacation

Life 365 | Week 37

Monday, September 6, 2010
sep6
We headed into Ogden and spent the afternoon at the Toad’s Fun Zone, playing arcade games, laser tag, and miniature golf! The kids really enjoyed it!

Tuesday, September 7, 2010
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We headed home this morning. We all felt a little sad leaving our “vacation home” and getting back to reality. We spent the day just hanging out at home, unpacking and getting ready for the week.

Wednesday, September 8, 2010
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The kids went back to school today. Joey took the kids to Beth’s soccer game, while I headed to the Back to School Night. I was shocked at all of the papers that I got! Beth’s schooling is so different than JJ’s and we will have a lot to do with homework, etc. So I made a calendar and started planning the month with all that is going on and planning groceries/menu.


Thursday,
September 9, 2010

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My computer started acting up today. I know the fan is going, so I took it into Simply Mac. I spent the day playing on Joey’s computer and catching up on my Facebook games. 🙂

Friday, September 10, 2010
sep10
Comfort food is always good and we made a quick dinner tonight with Rice-a-roni, Stovetop stuffing, and broccoli! I got my computer back today – basically, the fan problem stopped so I’m going to have to wait until it completely dies and just try to make it last. 🙁

Saturday, September 11, 2010
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Another Soccer game today! It was so hot, but Beth made her first goal and it was really fun to see her so excited about it!

Sunday, September 12, 2010
sep12
The NFL Football season has begun! Unfortunately our Colts lost today, so we were pretty sad.

Filed Under: Life 365-2010, Personal, Project Life Tagged With: 2010, arcade, colts, comfort, computer problems, facebook, family, football, games, life, memories, mini golf, moments, nfl, school, soccer, vacation, vacation home, worldmark

Life 365 | Week 36

Monday, August 30, 2010
aug30

I participated in a designer contest and was so excited to find out today that I was selected to become one of the new Faith Sisters designers! I really loved how my mini-kit turned out for the designer contest and am so thrilled to be a part of this great site!

 

Tuesday, August 31, 2010
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Through freecycle we received a fun mini-trampoline and the kids have really enjoyed it. Beth was so excited to be preparing for her big day tomorrow! We had a meeting with her soccer team today and she got her new uniform!

 

Wednesday, September 1, 2010
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A big day for Bethie today. Her first day of school AND her first soccer game! Joey was able to come with us for her first day at school and it was fun to see her so excited! She got to ride home on the bus with her brother and of course later, we went to see her play soccer! She has a lot to learn, but it was fun to see her get in there and try!

 

Thursday, September 2, 2010
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After the kids got home from school today, we set off on our great vacation adventure. We rode the bus to the Trax Station, rode the Trax to the Frontrunner station, and took the Frontrunner all the way up to Ogden. The kids loved the adventure, especially JJ! They colored in their notebooks and played their Leapsters and just enjoyed the ride. Meanwhile, Joey took our van up to Eden and got our room keys and unpacked and then he picked us up in Ogden and we headed through the canyon to our Worldmark Condo. We picked up some Alpine Pizza and spent the evening settling into our “vacation home.” The kids love our little place – it has a loft and a room for the kids, but their favorite part is the little room under the stairs. The kids are switching off with one of them sleeping in the room under the stairs and the other one sleeping in the bedroom and then they will switch the next night.

 

Friday, September 3, 2010
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After having a wonderful lunch at The Eats of Eden, we headed into Ogden to go to the Treehouse Museum. It was so much fun! There was crafts, playtime, computers, books, puzzles, dress-ups, and all kinds of adventure. We ended our visit by attending the little theatre, where the kids got to act out the story! Beth was being a little scared about that so she just watched, but JJ jumped in and was a bear! It was such a fun place! We traveled back to Eden and went swimming in the fun pool before making dinner and hanging out in our room!

 

Saturday, September 4, 2010
sep4

Our adventure for the day was visiting the George S. Eccles Dinosaur Park. We saw lots of bones and dinosaur statues and the kids even got to choose a geode, which they cut open right there at the museum. We spent the rest of day hanging out in our little place – watching a little tv, playing the wii, reading, and working on the computer!

 

Sunday, September 5, 2010
sep5

We spent a relaxing Sunday inside. I made a breakfast casserole last night and we stuck it in the oven for a wonderful brunch. We just played and hung out in our room and Joey made us a wonderful dinner of pork chops and potatoes.

Filed Under: Life 365-2010, Personal, Project Life Tagged With: 2010, adventure, dad cooks, designs, dinner, dinosaurs, family, freecycle, life, memories, moments, museum, school, soccer, trampoline, vacation, vacation home

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I'm a wife, a mom, a blogger, a lover of crafting, and a graphic designer. I believe in living life to the fullest, sharing your heart and talents to enrich the lives of others, and then telling your story to leave as a legacy for those that come after you.



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