Smithfield Scoop

Well, it's awfully quiet around here since everyone left! Our tree is down, as well as the other decorations. The beds are changed and towels are washed and floors are vacuumed and toys are organized. Now what? If anyone is planning a fun New Year's party, count us in!

We enjoyed our time with the family IMMENSELY during Christmas. Having Jenn and Scott here before and after everyone else was a bonus. Talking with Emma was the highlight! Attending the birth on Christmas morning was sweet (especially because it was all said and done before the festivities began and I didn't have to miss anything besides a night of sleep). Everything was especially wonderful this year for some reason - the Cousins Christmas Concert, the music, the visiting, the meals, the ping pong.... It all just felt so real and so good after months of feeling displaced. I can't say I feel extremely settled in our new home yet, but when we were all together, it felt like home. Hard to articulate, but being together had that familiar feel that I have missed for a long, long time. Thank you for making that possible! We are so very grateful you came. What a blessing you all are!

We missed Lori and Hope terribly on Christmas Day, but glad little Hopie is feeling a bit better. We were sad when Wesley had to go to the emergency room and was told he had pneumonia, but glad he's starting to feel a little better. We were sad when Jenn got so sick and felt like she would not be able to endure another 4-6 weeks of feeling so lousy, but glad to realize it was a stomach flu and not just increased morning sickness! There are always going to be a few sad spots, hard times, but the blessings always come by and by.

It felt a little strange to go to church today and know it was the last week of Sunday church meetings as we've known it for the past 38 years. It sort of feels like we are on the brink of a huge shift, a big change, something wonderful and amazing! It's astonishing to me that we get to be part of this time in the history of the church - the history of the world! Knowing that our grandchildren will never remember or know what life, or the church, was like before President Nelson could be unsettling, but it feels more exciting than strange. I, for one, am taking my vitamins and getting my rest in anticipation of what's around the corner....

Hope the "back to normal" is a good place for all of you to be in. We are looking forward to when we will see you all again. Big things will happen this coming year, of that we are very confident!!

Any predictions for 2019????????   Send them this way and we'll publish them. As soon as I find the predictions from last year, I'll publish those, too!