Alex is back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So Alex went back Thursday, January 14th.

YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's so GREAT that she is back!!!!!!!! We miss her but she is loving being a missionary!!

Alex and Gilbert

Home again, home again...

Just a quick update: Alex is home on medical release for a little while so we can get her better. Just thought y'all might like to know. To learn more, go to her missionary blog: indianaadventure.blogspot.com

Lost or not, that is the question

For FHE last Monday we went to the corn maze. It was such an absolutely fun time!!

The kids (Wesley really was happy)

Caurn, caurn and....

more caurn.

On my own... (isn't there a song?)

Determining if we are lost or not

LOST?!?

It was so much fun!!! It was fun to be with the family.
I loved being outside!! It was just so beautiful!!
I love this earth!!!! :D

A weekend at Yellowstone

Last weekend we went to Yellowstone with my family! It was so much fun!! I love being with my cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents. We always have a blast!

O' Faithful - we saw her blow TWICE

Just a geyser

I love the sky!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A bison - the first of my "favoritest" animals that we saw

A bald eagle!!! Seeing it totally made my day!!!
(another "favoritest" animal)

A baby bald eagle (it hasn't gone "bald" yet) :)

A bison crossing the road

The Upper Falls (I don't know how this picture is supposed to go but isn't the water BEAUTIFUL?!?)

Me and Upper Falls

A rainbow at Upper Falls

A white elk (at Bear World)

A white wolf (at Bear World). Two white animals. WOW!!

A cute, cuddly bear!! OOHH!

Another adorable bear!!! (double AH!!)

NO MORE PICTURES!!!! PLEASE!!!! (um... sideways)

Some cubs fighting!!

More fighting (they must be siblings)

A moose!!! (the last of my "favoritest" animals that we saw!)

I loved being out in nature and seeing all of God's wonderful creations!! All the trees, plants, animals, the sky. You can just feel God's overwhelming love for you!! I love this earth!!! And I love the God that created it all!!!! :D

My cousin passed away last week. It has been a really hard week. It's really sad that you never know how truly amazing a person is until they die. I will miss him so very much!! And I will be forever grateful for his extraordinary example!!
I wrote this poem for him...

The Quiet Giant
Dedicated to Robert Mack McConkie
Written by Mackenzie Smith
August 27, 2009

In life there are quiet giants,
Who go struggling through their lives,
Trying to get through it,
Trying to survive.

But in amidst the struggle,
The crying and the pain,
There is something amazing,
That they seem to gain.

They gain a strength inside them,
A power that’s within,
They realize they have power,
To begin again.

They change into a person,
Who is strong and kind and true,
They find what’s deep inside them,
Something they never knew.

These quiet kinds of giants,
They do so many deeds,
They help so many people,
And fill so many needs.

They’re always helping others,
Never seeking fame,
Doing good things as they go,
Rarely leaving a name.

You may not ever notice,
These quiet giants’ ways,
But they leave their mark among us,
Every single day.

Now, these quiet giants,
They begin a lot like us,
But in their times of trials,
They grow and grow so much.

When they one day leave us,
We realize how very much,
They helped us in our hard times,
With their quiet, gentle touch.

Of all those quiet giants
With many different names,
There was one among us,
One that we gladly claim.

Our brother, cousin, child,
Grandson, helper, friend,
Let us do service like he did,
So his influence has no end.

I am determined that I will be a better person,
because of him!!

I love you, Robert!!!

A house show

I have a great friend that writes her own songs. Her songs are so inspiring!!! She has such an amazing voice and plays the guitar so wonderfully. It's always such a pleasure to listen to her. Well, last Friday we had a house show for her and it was GREAT!!!!
She is actually recording a CD and it's coming out in October!! I'm so excited!!!

Sarah and her guitar

Jonathan, her cousin, was the drummer

Thank you Sarah and Jonathan!!
It was a fun evening!! :D

I'm back!!!!!

My week without the computer is up! YES!!

The missionary week started out well. I would get up early, do my "spiritual" stuff and everything was going pretty smooth. It was hard to constantly see the computer and not be able to do anything on it. A few days into the week I got sick and so I pretty much dashed all the "missionary rules" except the computer one. But everyone kept asking me questions about the computer, to fix problems and how-to stuff (you'd think I was some computer genius with all the problems and questions I get) and it was SO hard to not be able to get on it and fix them. I'm a hands-on person and sometimes people can be SO slow when I give them instructions that several times I thought I would just DIE. But I didn't (as you can see). And then one day there was something that I had to do ON the computer for Alex, or at least, to send to her. So I decided that I would not get on the internet all week (except this one time to try and fix a problem). And that went pretty well as well. And so my week is up!! And I survived!! I feel like I held my breath for a week and just let it out. I LOVE the computer!! It's great to be back!! But really, it wasn't THAT bad.

Oh, also, about my wisdom teeth. I got an infection two weeks ago. It started hurting on a Sunday and I just thought it was stiffness. The next day I went to Singles Ward FHE and came home early because it hurt so bad. When I got home I was swollen huge. We went to the doctor the next day and, for sure, it was an infection. He had to open it and flush it and I almost passed out!!! It hurt so bad!!! He didn't even flush it a second time with water because I was in so much pain. So I got more pain meds and antibiotics for the infection. I had to keep the wound open so it would heal inside. A painful process but its all healed now and I'm better!!

And I think that's it!! It's good to be back!!!