Derek's 13th birthday

What a day!  Derek's 13th birthday.  We had kind of a low key birthday celebration for him this year.  We had a family celebration on his special day.  Derek and I went to order his cake and he was kind to me (as usual) and decided that he loved these cookies as much as he loves the cakes. 

Derek loves his family and is great at putting them as a priority.  He shared his birthday with his Grandpa Smith.  We went for the weekend to share the celebration of their two birthdays.  I am so blessed that Derek loves his family so much.  I love my family and want them to be together for their birthdays and share happy moments together.  Derek really blessed his Grandpa to share their special moments together.

I have so much love for Derek.  He is such a great person.  I love watching him grow up and mature.  Many times he teaches me instead of me teaching him.  He has such a natural kindness to him.  Kindness is so powerful, he is able to help those around him to see the brighter side and not only get through tough times but to know that they are loved and helps us to laugh a lot.  He cares so much about our spirits and wants us to be genuinely happy.

 Derek has a spiritual maturity to him that many adults that I know do not have.  He not only knows what is important in life,  he loves it.  Derek loves goodness and is on his way to being quite an expert in that area.  Every day he has a hug for me and kind words.    He wants to read the scriptures and is so appreciative of having the Priesthood.  He wants to protect us and wants us to know we are loved.

Derek loves to have fun and to help others to have fun.  He is a great student.  I am very lucky in that he is a very easy to direct and teach.  I can remember what I put my mother through and Derek must have seen that (OK, I wasn't that bad, it's just that Derek is that amazing) and worked on himself in the spirit world to be receptive to teaching and kindness and the spirit. 

He is going to be a great Dad some day.  He has so much empathy and compassion and a strong sense of right and wrong and a thirst for the spiritual.  He loves to play but is also a great hard worker even now as a young man.

I love spending time with him and I am very blessed to be his mother and his friend.  I love you Derek!  Happy 13th birthday!

 

More on our kitchen remodel

Our new door for our pantry.

remodel

One of my favorite pictures!

This is a picture of my incredible Mom.  I just love this picture.  She seems so free and child like.  She once told me that her favorite non LDS song is, "Wonderful World".  I can so see that in her.  She is such an amazing example in so many ways.  I thank my Heavenly Father for such a perfect mother for me.


Ok, this picture was sent to me by one of my favorite people in the whole world!  My Mom's sister, Aunt Liz.  I feel so blessed that all my favorite people are members of my family.  So often on TV and movies, family members are made out to be weird, mean, just plain not what you would want to hang around with.  I am blessed with quite the opposite, I wish I could spend MORE time with my truly amazing family.

Swimming

Yesterday I went with my friend, Christian, swimming to an outdoor swimming pool.  It had a really cool slide.  I went down the slide about a billion times.  It was SO fun.  I am so glad that I went.

The pool also had a tree looking thing that was in the water.  It helped to cool me off by spraying little droplets of water all over.  It was a bright red.  It was nice because it was not too crowded.  The kids thought it was way too cold  but I loved it. 

I brought some money and I got to buy a hot dog.  I love hot dogs.  When we went back to my friend's house we had a ton of chicken dinosaurs, they were so good. 

I was so glad Christian invited me to go with him.

Remodeling with Dad

http://www.homedepot.com/
Dad and I took down the old kitchen together.  I was glad that I could learn about remodeling with my Dad.  We had a good time.  It was a lot easier with my Dad helping me. 

It was really hard taking out the cabinets.  They were hard to get out because they were really heavy.  I was so glad that we got our new kitchen in.  The new cabinets hold a lot more stuff than our old ones. 

I got to use some tools like a drill and an electric screw driver.  Those tools were cool.  I loved using them.

If you want some help in remodeling I have included a link to Home Depot on this page that you can get some great information.

Braces

                                                                        Braces
                                                                   by Derek Ely

Getting my braces I would say was not the best thing that ever happened to me. My braces have been treating me well. My doctor who put my braces was Dr. Maxwell. I have to have my braces in for 1 to 2 years. When my doctor was putting my braces on it felt wierd because it felt like he was putting on some wierd fluid. After he put in the braces I wanted them off because I thought I looked really ugly with them on. Now I don't care how I look because my teeth are straighter and I can't feel them.

Family Reunion July 5, 2012

This is Claire, Stephanie, Derek, Tate, and Eli.  Here we are at another Smith family reunion.  It is great to see how much everyone has grown.

Derek got this funny t-shirt in Washington D.C.  He loves funny t-shirts.

Here are more of the Grand kids, Stephanie, Landon, Gavin, Brandt, and Asher in the front row.  Claire, Micah, Eli, Tate and Derek in the second row.

Hanna, Adrienne, Claire, Stephanie, and Finley in the back row.  A funny story, Finley would not come for the picture, so her Mom is holding her on her shoulders hiding behind Tate.  Kelly is so funny and such a good sport.  We sure are lucky to have her in our family.  I love to take the kids out to visit Kelly and Eric and their kids.  They are so much fun and easy going.  I also always get a great recipe to try from her.  Eric is always so appreciative of her, he is a great example to Derek.

The whole family.  I sure am lucky to have such and incredible family.

Janna is in the process of adding quite a large addition to her house.  It was great to see it.  I can't wait to see the finished project.  (I know Janna is even more excited to see the finished project!)

This is Adrienne, Claire, Hannah, and Grandpa having a great time together with a dash of Asher thrown in for spice.

Here is Aunt Kelly, Uncle Eric, Finley, and Derek