Smithkirk Highlights

Goodness... it's been too long! Here are some of the things we've been up to recently
(I'll do it bullet-point style like Elise... when it rains, it pours... I probably won't update this again anytime soon... so enjoy all the info :-))

April

• Trip to NJ to visit Mom and Dad (Dad- very briefly b/c he had an assignment in Nova Scotia... but Kevin, Dad, and I did get in a very bad game of golf at the Milburn Township public course... when I say bad, I'm meaning that I played badly... although it wasn't anyone's finest hour. Next time I plan to go shopping with Mom and let the guys do the golfing)
• Trip to NYC to visit Kathy and Nick and also to attend a mini-Vocal Point reunion (BYU A Capella group that Kevin was part of when he was at BYU). We ate a yummy dinner with a bunch of the guys, the former directors, and some of the wives, and then we (Mom, Kevin, and I) trekked to Lincoln Center to watch BYU's Vocal Point perform in the International Championship of Collegiate A Capella... and THEY WON!! It was an incredible night and we were so glad that we got to be there!
  

May

• We got to give our "Welcome to the Ward" talks in the Lawrence Station Ward on Mother's Day... and the Buskirks (Shari and Allen) got to come and listen to us talk and then Kevin and I helped make Mother's Day dinner for Shari.
  
• KPMG sent Kevin to exciting Denver, CO for a week as he audited Visa, U.S.A.!! :-) I spent the week exploring the malls of Santa Clara and Cupertino and discovered a NEW Mrs. Fields store!! Unfortunately they didn't have the cookie sandwiches that I like :-(
  
• We celebrated Kevin's return with a trip to The Cheesecake Factory for some delicious Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake and Linda's Fudge Cake
  
• We took two trips to the Oakland Temple and actually managed to attend a session in English! (a first for me in California)
• I took the little people on a train ride to Burlingame with the entire 1st grade- it was a little crazy... then later that week I took them to the Monterey Bay Aquarium (1 hr and a half drive) with the entire 3rd grade. We didn't get home until 5:30pm (almost too much time with the little people)! The best part of the trip was the teacher-mobile- all five teachers drove in a mini-van down to the aquarium together. It was nice to hang out with adults!
• Kevin visited the little people for Fun Friday and jammed with John (my aide) and Brent (one of my students) on the guitar. The little people are now huge John Mayer fans!

• Kevin and I went hiking in The Pinnacles National Monument (down by Salinas) for Memorial Day- we got to crawl through caves with flashlights and then climb up some pretty steep hills. It's nothing compared to Southern Utah (I've been told), but it was still gorgeous!

June

• We hosted our quarterly Halo Nintendo 64 Tournament... when I say "we," I mean that I made the desserts and socialized with the guests a bit (Kevin did everything else- including winning the tournament :-))... The night was a huge success! We had about 6-7 of our friends over from the Stanford 2nd ward (all single guys... so I should try to recruit some girls for next time)... and the boys played Halo on two screens (including one that was projected onto our entire living room wall!). I attempted to play, but Kevin killed me too many times... and then I killed several of my teammates, so I finally went into the other room to do Progress Reports. :-) Kevin attempted to help me practice the next Monday for our Family Home Evening activity. I think I'm missing some essential eye-hand coordination skills...
• I successfully helped the little people lead their very first Student-Led Conferences- they did an awesome job presenting their Power Point Presentations about ocean animals, birds of prey, or space to their parents. I was so proud!!!
• I took the little people bowling at the Palo Alto Bowl for the 1st Grade End of the Year celebration- they got a lot of strikes and spares- bumper lanes make everyone happy! :-)
  
• Kevin and I got asked to teach EARLY MORNING SEMINARY next year. We will be teaching the high schoolers about the Doctrine and Covenants from 6:00-6:50AM every morning from September until May. We feel blessed to get to do it... and only hope we are better Seminary teachers than we were Seminary students :-)
  
• I attended A.M.O.P (A Moment of Peace)- the Lawrence Station Relief Society annual retreat up to a cabin in Yosemite. I had fun getting to know some new girls in the ward and Kev had fun catching up on Harry Potter while I was gone. I decided though that since I actually love hanging out with my husband... it might be more "peaceful" for me to stay home next time and just go out to dinner with my girlfriends around here (instead of driving 5 hours to hang out with them) :-)
• Kev and I took a trip to Washington D.C.- he went on business (to continue the Visa audit)... and I tagged along and celebrated the start of SUMMER VACATION!

- On Saturday, we hung out with Etta and Jared (they drove up from Southern Virginia) and we visited the Washington D.C. Temple and went out to dinner. - On Sunday, we hung out with Jocelyn and visited the Colonial Ward (and even ran into Mackenzie Clark!). Jocelyn made us a delicious dinner and we got to meet her super cool roommates and friends.
- On Monday, Kevin went to work and I shopped and went running and then Mom arrived. We went into DC and ate dinner with Mom and Jocelyn at the Americana Restaurant in Union Station. Before and after that Kevin and I had a great time getting lost in and around DC (and we sat in traffic for an hour and a half)... that was a consistent theme of the weekend (Avis doesn't make maps that are very good).
- On Tuesday, Kevin went to work and Mom and I shopped at the Tysons Corner Center mall. It is HUGE! They had a Mrs. Fields with cookie sandwiches AND an H&M store. I bought a lot of cute clothes. After that, we dropped Mom off at Union Station and then Kev and I got lost again... (Kevin especially enjoyed all of the round abouts)... and we eventually wound up in Georgetown where we went to dinner and walked around the neighborhood. It was a fun night!! We actually made it home without getting lost too.

Upcoming Events in June/July

• Kevin is finally returning from D.C. tomorrow night and then doesn't have to go on another business trip until August- yay!!!!
  
• Kevin is bowling in the KPMG Bowl-a-thon next week to raise money for charity
• We get to team teach the Gospel Principles Sunday School class this week
• SUMMER SCHOOL STARTS on Monday (good thing too... because I don't really know how to relax...)
• We're heading to a San Francisco Dragons major league lacrosse game (new team that just got started in SF- coached by a manager of the SJ Stealth indoor lacrosse team)
• LA Trip II.... yay! We get to finally see Elise!
• The Johnson nephews are coming to visit!! I think Kev and I are going to get to take them to the water park and a gazillion other places. It should be fun!
• Smith Family reunion in Park City- outlet shopping, golfing, running, eating Mom's desserts... We are counting down the days!!!
  

Have an awesome weekend!!!
Love,
K&K