December 19, 2017

I went to Austin's third-grade classroom today to help with their Christmas Party.  I did a "Don't Eat Pete" game with M&Ms.  I made a huge Christmas tree with numbered ornaments.  We placed a candy on each ornament, secretly decided as a group which one was "Pete," and then let the person who was "it" come back to the group and start eating M&Ms.  When they reached for "Pete," we would all scream, "DON'T EAT PETE!"  It startled them every time.  It was fun, and a bit slobbery, and the whole classroom was full of coughing, sniffling kids, but we had a grand time, and the kids were SO happy to have a party.

Mom and Austin

Greg and I got to go to a really fancy dinner tonight with the his partners and the physician assistants and their wives.  We ate at this tiny, quaint restaurant run solely by one of the top chefs in the west, Chef Imi.  There were only a few tables, it is reservation only, and the five-course meal lasted over three hours!  It was over-the-top delicious.  Everything was amazing and beautiful.  We laughed and ate, and even had a homemade sorbet in between courses to cleanse our pallet.  It was so much fun.  And by the time we rolled out of there, stuffed to the rafters with food, we were exhausted.  We had started at 6:30, and it was nearing 10:00.  It reminded me of the saying we always hear at a Luau.  "Don't eat until you are stuffed, eat until you are exhausted."  That's definitely what happened for us tonight.

While we were gone, Lance was having a picnic with Julia.  She sent me the cutest picture! 

We are so blessed with Greg's job.  The people are so fantastic, business is booming, Greg is so happy, and his job supports our family so very well.  I left the dinner so satisfied.  And it is also so nice to know that all of Greg's hard work and education provides livelihoods for so many families.  When I kneel at night to pray, I am filled with an overwhelming gratitude for all of our blessings.  And a huge part of that is Greg's work at Southwest Skin and Cancer.  It is a huge blessing to us.  Those were my thoughts as we drove all the way home from Ivins, barely able to breathe because we were so stuffed!!  What an awesome adventure!

Left, going clockwise: Cherise Smith, Heidi and Tim Nowatzke, Scott and Jeanette Condie, Greg and me, Devenee and Dr. Austin Smith, Dr. Brett Smith