Smithkirk Spring Update

Kevin-
Just accepted an offer to work at Google. He starts May 14th. He will work at the Googleplex (Google's world headquarters) in Mountain View, CA as an Internal Controls Analyst. He is excited about the lap pool, Google Cafe, and the short commute from our condo (approx. 8 miles)- and no more Cal-train or commuting to SF!! I'm looking forward to visiting and checking out the Snack rooms :-) The Google philosophy of working hard and playing hard... and not needing to wear a suit to be taken seriously is right up Kevin's alley. Check out more info about Google's culture: http://www.google.com/corporate/culture.html
The little people are already asking if we can take a field trip to visit.

Kristina-
I'm counting down the days till summer vacation... only 33 school days left!! The little people have been a little bit crazy lately, but I'm hanging in there- lots of temper tantrums- I feel like I have a bunch of 2 year-olds trapped in 9 year-old bodies. I've been spending my free time attempting to pack up my classroom to move to a new room (although I've probably done more thinking about it than actually packing). I have also spent some time lately exploring new hiking trails with friends.

Kristina & Kevin-
We've been spending our weeknights and weekends watching the SJ Sharks fight their way to the Stanley Cup Finals. We don't have the cable station that some of the games are broadcast on, so we've been having fun bar hopping in the evenings lately. We've met some pretty entertaining people. Everyone's a bit more funny when they're drunk and you're sober. We've also been watching the SJ Stealth lacrosse team fight their way to the finals. Since the sport isn't popular enough to be broadcast on TV, we've been watching it on the internet. We hook my computer up to my projector and watch the games on our living room wall.

Not too much else exciting here. Kevin's been chillin at home doing lots of painting, spackling, and other fun random projects around the house. We've also spent a lot of time planning seminary. Today the Seminary kids came over for a waffle party and we watched "Praise to the Man," a movie about the life of Joseph Smith. We were surprised how many kids actually chose to hang out with us on a Saturday morning (the extra credit they were earning probably helped :-))

We are looking forward to a lot of traveling this summer. Some of the next trips will include...
- Trip to NJ to do some cleaning at the Smith house before we move
- Topher's Baptism in Utah
- Smith Reunion in Snowflake, AZ
- Short Hills Ward Reunion in Utah (and dad's birthday celebration)
- Buskirk Reunion in Sedona, AZ

If anyone is in San Francisco this summer, make sure to give us a call or shoot us an email. We'd love to show you around.

Update on Grandma Ewart (from Aunt Wanda)

Just a quick report on Marla - she is amazing!

Following her surgery on Monday, I spent about 5 hours in the hospital with her (until Gregg came from work), just to be sure she could get nursing help if she needed it, in case she was too medicated to ring. Yesterday had planned to spend the same amount of time, but after a couple of hours could tell she was trying to entertain me!, and thought she would rest better without me there. Though she may not think so at the moment, it seems to me she is coping much better with this knee replacement. Possibly because she knows the outcome is worth the discomfort, and the effort therapy requires. Marla and my sister, Marilyn, have been my closest, dearest friends these many, many years. I gain even greater respect and admiration for your mother as the years go by. She is one tough lady. Your telephone calls mean so much to her. I think she is so glad to know you will be living nearer. Hope you can get a good price for your lovely home, and can make the move West soon.

Love, Wanda