February 2011

Sorry about all the posts tonight.  (Scroll down for two more new ones.)  Brett is watching the Blazers game and as much as I like rooting for the blazers, I need to be doing something else in addition to watching the game. 

Here are some of a few pictures we have of our adventures in February.  In addition to sending Dekker off on his mission and spending time with family both in Baker and here in Provo we celebrated Brett's birthday and Valentines day. 

Brett's B-day-
I spoiled him this year with the help of family and some leftover Christmas cash...

Don't mind the creepy "blowing out the candles" picture.  I guess I need to practice a little before we have kids.

Here he is showing off his goods.  Can you tell he likes sports??

The other big event in February was Valentines day.  It was Brett's year to plan our V-day celebrations and he did a great job.  We celebrated Saturday night for our date night.

And he made dinner Sunday night.  Yumm Yumm! 

Our Stake put on a dance that we went to for a little bit.  Here is our "dance picture".

We had some good time in Februrary! 

Snowmobiling Jan 2011

One of our trips to Baker included some snowmobiling up at the cabin.  When we were dating Brett told me about the "snowmobiling test."  Basically, going snowmobiling is a test to see if the couple is going to last.  I guess snowmobiling had put its toil on some previous relationships in the Smith family.  Unfortunately we never got a chance to go while we were dating, but we made it through this trip without fighting so I think we are good to go. 

The trip was fun because everyone was there.  It was in those few precious months after Tyler got home from his mission and before Dekker left.

The line up of snowmobiles...

All geared up and ready to go.  Although over the last few years I've become experiences on the 4-wheelers, I wasn't sure what to expect with the snowmobiles. Brett said they were faster so I was a little nervous.  

Dekker and his friend went up to the cabin earlier in the week to dig us out an entrance.  Unfortunately, the snow melted enough to fall off the roof and covered the nice path they shoveled.

And so the boys got to shovel again.  I tried to help a little, but mostly just stood out of the way and watched.

One of the rides we took ended up at the base of a hill.  The boys had fun playing around on the steep slope.  This is some of the crew down watching the action. 

The is the only picture we have proving that I drove a snowmobile too.  I drove quite a bit on my own too.  It was lots of fun, and lots of hard work too.

It was a fun trip and a good chance to spend time with Dekker before he left for his mission.  He is in the MTC now preparing to head over to Russia.  Hopefully he'll feel right at home in the snow, lets just hope no one lets him on a snowmobile!

Springtime in Utah

So far spring time in Utah has consisted of

• Finishing up basketball and winning the city league CHAMPIONSHIP! 
• Me beating Brett in march madness
• Brett hitting some bombs with his new softball bat
• Multiple rained out softball games and a softball game played in a downpour
• A few sunny days in which we enjoyed being outside in the fresh air
• General Conference
• An attempt to bike to Utah lake for a picnic
• Finding a new promising fishing spot for Brett
• Rooting for the Blazers
• Brett finishing finals for the semester
• Spring time crafts

The only thing I have pictures of are the crafts.  I got tired of the gloomy weather and decided to add some Spring decor to our home and my office at work.  I decorated a little around the house with the few plastic Easter eggs we have.

I made a spring wreath for our front door using some scrap fabric, pearl stick things I had left over from decorating for our wedding reception and a plain wreath.
 

 I also transformed a picture frame I picked up from DI into a dry erase board for my office.  I wanted a frame with a little more character, but couldn't find one so I settled for this.  I painted the frame, covered the picture in fabric, made the flowers and put it all back together.  The glass part of the frame works perfect as a dry erase board.  Its up in my office now with a quote on it that I can change out as I desire.

It sure made a mess in our house but it was fun to get my craft stuff out and make some cute things to encourage Spring to get here already!

Japanese Gravity Marimba Plays Bach In An Ancient Forest

So this turns out to be an advertisement, but it is a remarkably beautiful advertisement. 

All in a day's work

I recently read an interesting article about working for Child Protective Services and the responsibilities and stresses involved (see link below).  My primary job function is to investigate Abuse and Neglect allegations and I can definitely relate to the remarks made in the article.  I'm not so much worried of being arrested, but rather worried sick some days that I  might miss something.  What if I don't ask the right questions to get disclosure from the children, what if when I walk through the home I miss the drug paraphernalia, what if I can't respond fast enough to a new case, what if what if.  It definitely is a taxing and emotional job.  Many of my coworkers have been at it for years and I applaud their work.  I would be lying if I didn't admit that I am somewhat looking forward to the day we move from Utah and I'm forced to leave.  However, I do it because someone needs to.  Because someone needs to give the kids in our community a fighting chance.  Sure it interrupted my Conference Weekend when I got 3 cases that I had to respond immediately too, but I'm glad I could be there to help. The article mentions that recommended number of cases is 12... in my office we juggle upwards of 20 cases each month and it isn't slowing down. I clearly didn't choose this line of work because of the high pay or constant praise; because, lets be honest, those aren't a reality.  I chose this field because I am passionate about making a difference and helping people.  I don't intend on making this specific aspect of social work my career, but I'm glad I can get the experience now and hopefully help a few families along the way. Ultimately, I know I can only do so much and so I just do the best that I can on every case and pray daily that God will help me on the cases where his beloved children are at risk.

Its worth the read if you have a minute.

Child welfare workers second-guess stressful jobs

Also, April is Child Abuse Prevention Month.  The following statistics were found on the website below regarding Utah:

• Utah ranks 10th in the nation for confirmed child abuse cases.
• There is a confirmed case every hour of every day in Utah.
• 42 percent of victims were younger than 5 years old.

Learn how you can help at http://preventchildabuseutah.org/