Dear Friends and Family,
Life is so boring and humdrum and sedate around here that we don't really have anything to say this year.
APRIL FOOLS!
We could use a little boring around here, actually, so if you find some let us know.
Lilyanna- turned 2 this year and she's very good at it. Like many 2 year-olds she alternates between being quite personable and throwing tantrums. These are tantrums the likes of which were previously unknown to her parents, who cock their heads and wonder what she's doing. At only age 2 she is already infatuated with a boys band, Veggie Tales' Boyz in the Sink. Earlier this year she even attended a Veggie Tales Live concert with Todd. Not surprisingly, she was a fan.
Caleb- had a fun summer on the diving team, but the swim coach kept having him swim in the weekly swim meets, even though he wasn't technically on the swim team. So when fall came around we talked Caleb into joining the year-round swim team. (Todd convinced him by mentioning if he swam all year, he'd be better than his brothers who only swim on the summer team.) Caleb has also discovered a great love of learning, especially about famous people throughout history. He loves reading biographies and learning all about weather and climate. Caleb is very excited about an upcoming trip to
Washington D.C. so he can see up close all the buildings and monuments he's been learning about this year in school. Caleb is also the proud owner of a pet hamster that Benjamin and Nathaniel gave him for Christmas. Her name is Florida and he loves her very much.
Nathaniel- turns 10 later this year and has had the blessing of wonderful teachers this year in school. They don't let him get bored academically ever! He continues to dance in the Boy's Hip Hop class and earlier this year loved taking fencing lessons! As soon as we find a fencing club closer to us, he will start those again. Nathaniel loves to read and has especially been enjoying non-fiction math and science books lately. His two favorites this year have been
Microbe Hunters and
Fermat's Enigma. Nathaniel has enjoyed joining Emilia on her runs and recently won the award for best long johns at the
Long John Race they recently ran.
Benjamin- recently turned 12 and
slept through attended his first General Priesthood meeting last night with Todd. His favorite things about being 12 so far are passing the sacrament, attending mutual, and sitting shotgun in the car. This year Benjamin is in both the Intermediate Hip Hop and Tap companies, and also has a hip hop duet, in addition to being a class assistant for a tap class. Benjamin, ever the consummate performer, still dreams about one day performing on Broadway. Here's a
link to Benjamin singing. (Sorry it's blurry.) He's the soloist in the beginning. Benjamin neglected to inform Emilia that he had a solo, so it wasn't until she was at the concert and he walked up to the microphone that she realized what was going on. Benjamin also had the opportunity to go to Boy Scout camp with his Grandpa Smith for the first time last summer. Wet and muddy fun was had by all. (Well, Benjamin at least. Grandpa Smith is still recovering.)
Warren- graduated high school last spring and is beginning his college career! He started his first class at Columbus State last week. He was also excited to have recently passed the test to receive a drivers license. So watch out when driving in Columbus! Warren still loves to
sing and hopes to continue acting. He's currently singing in a church choir. Last spring he had the opportunity to play the witch, Baba Yaga, in a children's show put on at the high school and over the summer he played Fred Casely in a local production of
Chicago.
Emilia- still teaches piano and continues to enjoy it. She also recently started running again and finds herself a little addicted to it in short distances. After meeting her goal set a month before her birthday to run 36 miles before her 36th birthday, she set a new goal of running 10 miles each week on top of her other exercise classes. Emilia has her favorite calling in church of being the primary pianist and will be sad on the day somebody looks behind the piano and notices her for some other calling. Emilia continues to love travel and road trips, and can often be found plotting new excuses for heading out of town. She loves keeping in touch with friends and visiting in person or digitally.
Todd- continues to work at Chase bank in the Retail Marketing group. At church, Todd is in his fifth year as secretary for the Stake Young Men program. (He's on his third president; he wears them out fast.) He loves his calling, though. Working with the youth is great. There's not much more to say about Todd. Emilia says that he needs to spend less time at work so there's more to say. He recently bought a new car since he drove the little Honda Civic to death. (RIP '95 Civic EX)
To all our family near or far, to friends made yesterday or years ago, we give thanks that God gave us the chance to get to know you. May 2012 bring you peace and happiness... no fooling!
Love,
The Smiths
