An Award of Merit !!

The Annual Black Hill District Scout dinner was held on May 29th. After we had enjoyed a nice meal Jim gave the "State of the District" speech. Awards were made and I was the recipient of the District Award of Merit. This is the highest award given in the District and it is a great honor to receive it. When my name was called I was astounded and walked to receive it in a daze. A few slides were shown one of which showed me in my true colors sticking my tongue out !! A short biography was read and everyone stood and applauded as I was handed the plaque as well as a medallion and a knot to wear on my uniform. I also received a plant of small yellow roses. I felt very special.

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83!! Yippee!

No, not Jim!!! -- His dad! Earlier in the year, Jim's dad ended up in ICU with pneumonia. From there he went to a Rehab Center until recently we checked him in to a lovely assisted living facility. He has now been there 2 months and is doing well. As he turned 83 last month his friend Charlie and I decided to throw him a surprise birthday party. Invitations were sent over the air by Charlie, and about 20 of his ham radio friends came to help him celebrate. When grandpa came into the room, we all sang happy birthday and he even got to blow out his candles without spitting all over the cake! He was overcome and "mind-boggled" by the amount of friends and buds that showed.

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Hermana Alison Ivy Smith

On January 16th 2008, Ben, Rachel, Mooey and I too Ali to the MTC (Missionary Training Center) to begin her mission. She would be serving for 18 months in the Chile Santiago West mission with 2 months of that spent in the MTC learning Spanish.

As of this date she has been on her mission for just over 4 months and is loving it. She has met some interesting people whom we hear about each week when she emails us. She is excited and doing great. She eats a lot of beans and rice with a little chicken. One downside is that they don't have Root Beer or Dr. Pepper but she doesn't mind the sacrifice !! She has not been too a Subway or McDonald's for 4 months and I believe is having withdrawals..ha ha.

We really enjoyed talking to her for Mother's Day, one of the two times she can call home during the year. Her excitement and chatter made us realize that she is still our Ali and that she will always be grateful that she served a mission.

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I'm a Grandma...Baby Amelia!

How can this be, I'm not old enough!!! Ben and Rachel gave birth to a beautiful baby girl on May 5th. So far we have only seen photos on the computer but more will follow after our visit in June.










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I'm proud to be an American...

This is a day I had waited for for a number of years. Jim, Mooey, her friend Susie and I went to Baltimore Maryland and there I was sworn in as an American Citizen along with 58 other people. Making sure all the paperwork was in order took longer than the actual swearing in but as I went up to get my certificate I realized that now I was one of "them"!

That evening I had planned a party for myself sending out invitations to this major event in my life. Friends and neighbors came for cake and ice cream and to say congratulations. It was fun to share this with people that I knew...some for years and some for just a while. Even though I can now vote I still have my British accent and roots set firm in English soil.

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Full House...

Because everyone was home for Christmas we were able to do some fun things as a family. Although Ben and Ali were sick on Christmas day they played a good part but slowly faded into the sunset as the day went on.
We went to the Kennedy Center in DC for an informal brass concert which didn't turn out to be all that it was cracked up to be but made a nice outing in a beautiful building and setting (by the Potomac river).
We also went to the Holocaust Museum which neither Ben, Rachel or Ali had been to before. This was a far more sobering journey which we will remember and reflect on from time to time.
We were able to attend the Temple with Ali before she takes off for her mission to Chile next month.
We had a few "old" friends over who we had not seen for a long time and they were able to renew their friendships with the "kids".
New Years Eve found us in Leesburg, Virginia for "First Night". This is an evening spent being able to see and hear different programs in the buildings in the town. We saw clog dancers, a barbershop quartet, a flute ensemble, a magician and 3 old guys in Hawaiian shirts singing olaha songs. It was fun but we came home to welcome in the New Year by watching the ball fall in Time Square.

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Mom and Ali's Trip to England

September found Ali and I on a surprise visit to see Grandma Sinclair in England. We called her from Cambridge train station to say that we would see her in 5 minutes!!! We spend 10 wonderful days with her at Ditchburn. We had a family get together, enjoying time with Val and Pete and their families. Pete also took us to London to visit James for the day which was great as it had been a number of years since I had last seen him. Ali and I stayed the night with him and then took the train to the city the next day. We saw the London Eye and visited Madam Tussauds wax museum. Even though it was rainy we had a great time. We also got to eat fish and chips with my old friend Iris and go to Chilis with my church friends, Louise, Debbie and Fiona. It was a great trip and of-course we came home laden with Cadbury's chocolate...the real kind !!

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Mooey's Job and School

Moo has been working at "Build a Bear Workshop" for several months now and enjoys helping the little kid's stuff their bears with stuffing as well as hearts, noise makers and other messages. She will be starting at Montgomery College soon and living at home. She will be taking an associates degree in Elementary Education.

O.A.R. Concert

"That was a crazy game of poker" so said OAR (Of A Revolution). Mooey and her friends, Susie, Sean, Corey, Ali and I hit the road in "Whose Chariot?" and went to Virginia for a concert. "Hey Girl" it was a great night of "Love and Memories" even though some people had to work the "Night Shift". A lady in front of us was drunk and dancing "On Top of the Cage" so we said "She Gone" and told her to "Lay Down". But "In the End" it was a "Wonderful Day".

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Michael Buble Concert

For our anniversary Ali and Mooey gave us tickets to see Michael Buble. He is known as a "crooner" and sings old songs like those sung by Frank Sinatra. The concert hall was packed with men and women of all ages. Jim bought me an autographed CD and t-shirt which I wore throughout the evening. He was an awesome performer, very smooth and personable. A lovely way to spend an evening with Jim.

Ali's Work

Ali has returned from BYU Idaho and is working back at McDonald's while waiting for her mission call. She works lots of hours often closing the place up at 11pm. She seems to enjoy the work and the people she works with. She often gets compliments about her nice manner as she hands the food to customers out the 2nd window and says "Have a Nice Day!"

Maggie's Trip to Cape May

I took 3 days away during August and traveled with her good friend Chris Ortiz to Cape May in New Jersey. It was only a 5 hour trip which seemed really short as we chatted and got in the vacation mood. Cape May is a beach town with a REALLY wide beach. We must have walked a mile to the ocean and back to the boardwalk.

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Jim's Week at Philmont Scout Ranch

Jim took the week of July 29th off work to travel to Philmont Scout Ranch in Cimarron, New Mexico. He was there as the District Committee Chairman with two other guys from the Scout District, namely Steve Robillard (District Commissioner) and Gary Carroll (District Executive). The three of these men are known as ... drumroll please...........The Key 3 ! He had a blast, learned a lot, shopped at the Scout shop for knives, belts, t-shirts etc and came home very impressed and with the latest information on how to be a GREAT leader.

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Bob Sells Me a New Bike!

Today I went to "town" to see if Bob at Bob's Bikes could set my odometer and I came home with a new bike. A beautiful blue, sit upright with "beach cruiser" handlebars was sitting there with my name on it!!

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Maggie's Eleven Year Old Scout Camp

This event is my favorite part of being a Stake Primary President. I love the Eleven Year Old Scout Camp. This is the 4th year we have joined with Frederick Stake and had a 3 day event with approximately 24 boys. An old friend and avid scouter, John Ortiz is the Scoutmaster for the occasion and this year Ben was able to act as assistant Scoutmaster. Rachel assisted me with many duties but mainly by being the camp photographer, something we have not had in other years. The boys meet on the 1st day at 9am at a park for swimming and First Aid classes as well as Patrol Development (learning to work with 5 or 6 other boys, choosing a Patrol Leader, cook, dish washer etc). This day ends at 4pm with a closing flag ceremony. The 2nd day is held at a remote area with bugs, a 300 gallon water "buffalo", porta potties, and no such other necessities like electricity or McDonald's!!! The boys and leaders hike to the camp sites, about 1/2 a mile and set up their tents and cooking gear. We ( Leslie from Frederick, Rachel and I ...the camp directors) get hot dogs ready for lunch which the boys cook over a communal fire. After lunch they receive green camp t-shirts and a water bottle and go off into the wilderness for a 5 mile hike and orientation course, they also do tree identification and identify different animal scat (poop). At this point in time Rachel and I took ourselves off to the nearby town and secured a hotel room for the night....our kinda camping plus we are not able to camp with the boys as we are girls !! We bought Steaks for John, Ben and us and by the time we got back to camp the hikers were back! John cooked us a dinner of steak and baked potatoes done in the coals. Man was it good!! The other boys and leaders bring tin foil dinners and cook them in their own camp fires. In the evening the boys learn the art of knot tying and handing an ax. We then had a campfire with a couple of speakers and toasted marshmallows over the huge campfires. Lights out was 10pm . The morning comes too soon with the boys picking up their coolers from HQ. In the coolers we had provided them with sausages, bread and the ingredients for french toast plus juice. The boys make their own breakfast to pass off a requirement for a badge. After all is cleaned up and tents are broken down the boys come together for a flag ceremony and then learn how to build and sustain a fire. Perhaps the favorite activity of the camp for the boys is learning how to use and sharpen a pocket knife. We leave this until the last event so that we don't have any accidents at the camp.
The closing flag ceremony is at 12 noon accompanied by songs being sung by any boy who has lost something which we have found. The boys are good sports and learn a great deal about leadership and serving each other as well as how to work together.

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New York Trip

As Ben and Rachel wanted to go to New York for a few days we tacked on Mooey and her friend Susie. This was to be Mooey's graduation gift. They had a great time visiting museums, restaurants and other attractions. Moo and Susie took their skateboards with them attached to their new skateboard back-packs and actually skateboarded under The Brooklyn Bridge. They had a great time and the first time I called them they commented on the crazy taxi driver and how it was just like in the movies....

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Chincoteague VA

Our annual trip to Chincoteague with our great friends, the Robisons could not come soon enough. We went later this year due to Graduation but Ali was able to come home from BYU Idaho for a few days and go with us...so we had the whole family there. As usual we sighed huge sighs as we left the traffic and hub bub of Washington DC and smelled the fresh salty air of the ocean. We rode bikes, went to Mr. Whippy for ice cream, Rays Shanty for shrimp and crab cakes, shopped for souveniers, sunbathed on the beach and watched huge fleshy crabs dig...not the same ones we ate, also saw dolphins, swam and just had a great time. I hope that this is one tradition that we can keep going with our children and then our grandchildren.

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Mooey's Graduation

June 4th was a momentous occasion as our "little Mooey" graduated from High School. It was a nice day with Ben and Rachel (from Utah), as well as Moo's old band teacher, Mr. Schreiber (from Arizona) in attendance.