Elmer B. Smart

Elmer B. Smart "A True Gentleman" Elmer B. Smart, beloved husband, father, grandfather and friend, passed away at his home May 11, 2009 after overseeing the planting of his vegetable garden; his last labor of love for his family.Born November 24, 1919 in Union, Utah to Franklin Arley and Harriett Flowers Smart. He grew up on the family farm where he learned the principle of hard work and his love for the creations of his Heavenly Father. He graduated from Jordan High School in 1937. He served an LDS mission to the Eastern States, and later with his wife in the Riverside, California mission. He married his childhood sweetheart Marian Holt on June 16, 1941 in the Salt Lake Temple. He served faithfully in the LDS church his entire life. He held many callings including Bishop. He especially enjoyed 15 wonderful years serving with his wife as ordinance workers at the Jordan River Temple. He loved farming, gardening and was an expert horseman, riding his horses well into his 80's. He enjoyed bowling in his later years and was adored as the permanent substitute on an all-women's bowling league. We will truly miss his kind disposition and his thoughtful words of wisdom. He is survived by his loving wife of 67 years; his eight children and spouses, Phil (Debbie), Glen (Carol), Neil (Shawna), Gloria (Steve) Allen, Ray (Sherri), Eileen (Mikel) Christensen, David (Brenda), Susan (Mike) Whittenburg; 38 grandchildren, 73 great-grandchildren, one great- great-granddaughter. Preceded in death by his parents; his brothers, Frank, Ralph and Irvin Smart; his sisters, Ethel Simmons, and Martha Sheppick; daughter-in-law, Janis Smart; and grandson, Glen Weston Smart. Funeral services will be held Friday, May 15, 2009 at 12 Noon, at the Sandy Utah Midvalley Stake Center, 1106 East 8055 South, Sandy. Friends may call at Goff Mortuary, 8090 South State, Midvale from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m., Thursday, May 14, 2009 or Friday at the Church from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. Interment at Larkin's Sunset Gardens. The family would like to thank all those who have helped with the tender care of our dear father and mother.

Life goes way to fast!!!

I can not believe that life is moving so quickly. It seems like just yesterday I was told I had breast cancer and I thought how in the world I am going to deal with that to being done with chemo and then on to having my major surgery and now I am getting ready to have my last surgery.
That is just me as for the kids I can not believe how fast they are growing up. Logan received his Wolf merit badge and only has 37 days left of school. Logan did so much better this year than last at the Pine Wood Derby. Once again I am proud to report he was the best sport out there. As for Lexi she is finishing her kindergarden year. I can not believe that she is in school. Lexi can not wait for the summer and the fun that we will all have. Plus, she can not wait to go to a school that does not have uniforms.
Jared took his class on rifle training and did really good at it. Not that I am surprised. He is really good at all of that kind of stuff.
So, that is our life fun fast pace and excited to what may be waiting just around the corner.

What is a CCW anyway?!?

So, a few months ago a friend of mine told me that she wanted to get her CCW. (Conceled Carry Weapon )I had heard of Jared talking about what a great idea this was for me to do as well. I was able to brush it off with a that really doesn't sound like me but thanks anyway.

Then Jared comes to me and says "Brit my boss is having a CCW class and I want you to take it." I reply to his request with, "How much is the class?" He smiles thinking that I am going to instantly agree ( he is so cute that way) and says, " Well the class is really $100 dollars but you get to take the class for $50. He is dropping the price for friends and fellow officer's wives." I nod my head and then ask, "Can I just have the money and spend it at the Tiffany store?" He shook his head and said "NO!" Being that Jared hates to lose he tries again. "There are going to be a couple of other wives from the squad. I think that you will love to Hang out with them."

Right there is what I think Jared thought his winning argument was. I really do not think he has ever taken a full day, all day class ever. You really can not talk to anyone except for break time and then it is only 15 min.

If you have not already guessed, I decided I would take the class. Not that I really want to be carrying around a gun. I really do not see myself as the type. But to really get myself more aware of the gun laws that are in place.

I have to say Jason is a good teacher. I learned a great deal. I passed my test with flying colors. And I even qualified with a gun. Does this mean I like to go shooting, hunting and camping? ...... NO! I still would rather go shopping but I am way more comfortable with a gun. So that is what I have been up to.

Sadie

So, I am cancer free. But the kids were not buying it. We promised them when I was healthy and my treatment was all over we would get a new pet. While we went through chemo and sitting in the hospital I researched dogs. I thought that I wanted us to get a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. But Jared was not so sure. So, I looked at multipoo, maltese and Cavaliers. I bought books and magazines I looked up all kinds of information I could on every breed. I decided that the Cavalier was what we were looking for. We wanted a dog that was calm that enjoyed just being with us. I wanted a dog that did not bark a lot and I also wanted a dog that enjoyed to just sit around and be with us. One day Jared and I went to go look at a breeder that had a bunch of puppies that were for sale. They were three weeks old. Jared and I thought they were okay. Sitting in a corner was a tri color Calvalier girl that was sweet and had not barked the entire time we had been in the house. The breeder told us that if we were interested that we could look at a 10 week old Cavalier that was a little girl that came from this tri. She brought out Sadie. We fell in love with her at once. We decided to get her. She never barks, she loves to just sit in our laps she has not had a single accident. She is a perfect little lady. The picture above is our little lady Sadie.

I saw this thought it was fitting

After all this boring cancer stuff. I thought that this shows a great way for us to celebrate me not having cancer anymore. Enjoy the video.

Short and to the Point!

OK! So, the surgery went great!
I am SOOOOOOOO sore.

I walk like an old lady. Very funny to watch.

I am happy to report that I am officially CANCER FREE!!!!! That is super neat. And I can not believe that on Monday I will have been done with treatment for three weeks. I love you all. Hope that everyone is doing great!

The Day has finally come.

So, yesturday my Aunt Kathy came to stay with us. She is going to help take care of my kids. They are so excited to have her here. It is really cute to watch how they interact with her. It is nice to know that the kids feel so comfortable around her.
My surgery is tomorrow. I can not explain the feelings that I am feeling. I am scared, tired and excited all at the same time. I know that the surgery is going to go on with out a hitch. I am just scared about the idea of going and having it and being in pain later. Not to thrilled with that idea.So, for the next 5 to 7 days my home will be in the Mayo hospital. I wanted to let all of you know how much your prayers and words of encouragement have ment to me. I can not being to thank all of you for your wonderful words and notes and prayers.
I hope I will be able to post something in here right away so that all of you will know how I am doing.

What I was suppose to be doing today!

What I was suppose to be doing today was have my bilateral surgery and reconstruction DIEP Flap done. What am I doing instead... I am blogging. How could this be so you might be wondering. Well, yesterday I went in to see the plastic surgeon and she told me that the other doctor that works with her my Surgical Oncologist threw his back out and has a herniated disk and his left side was numb so he was have emergency surgery on his back at noon yesterday. I hope that all goes well for him, but that leaves me in a lerch.

As that I do not drink liquor I decided to go and eat what I wanted for lunch and not worry what the doctors are going to say. Because I mean really what are they going to do to me cancel my surgery for a few weeks.... that already happened. So, I went to Cheese Cake Factory and had a Cobb salad ( so good!!!! I have not had a salad from a restaurant in weeks!)and I also had a Godiva cheese cake slice. Let me just say if you love chocolate and you love cheese cake go and get yourself a slice of that from the Cheese Cake Factory.
So GOOD!!!!!

I will try to keep everyone posted on when I am going to go into surgery. That might happen on the 26th of January it might be sooner. Thanks again to everyone that has given their support to me. It means the world to me.

Christmas 2008

The Christmas Season this year started off with rain, rain and then more rain. And although I love it when it rains, this year I could have done without so much rain. It rained so hard that we had to bring in our five big blowups that we have in our front yard and dry them off because they were so full of water. The kids thought it was so cool to have them in the garage for four days as they dried out.

Jared's family celebrated Christmas on December the 20th. There were a few people missing. Scott was at the party via the way of a long distance cell phone call, Blair was in Nevada on a big job that had to be done, and Stephanie and the girls were still in Demoni. Other than that Everyone else was here. The kids played hard, did crafts, rode horses and played the wii. We had our Christmas program with another family this year that had lost their home due to the way the job market is right now. The family was very nice. They joined us for dinner, caroling, FHE, presents and a visit from Santa. It was really neat to see everyone, and the kids had a blast playing with their cousins.


This year I was in charge of Christmas Eve. The theme was "Coming Home". I came up with this idea because it was Chase's first year back from his mission. Jared's parents came as well as Amber and Chad's little family. We had a great time. Everyone preformed a skit. Jared and I made a music video of all of Logan and Lexi's visits with Santa to the song "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" Sung by Bruce Springsteen.Terry's family did a skit on what each of their family's favorite thing to to at Christmas time was done to the music "Tradition" from Fiddler on the Roof. Greg and Jennifer's family sang about mom's Christmas cookies and what their favorite ones were to the Song "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairies" from the Nutcracker Ballet. And Amber's family talked about what they like to have for breakfast on Christmas morning. For dinner we had Prime Rib and cheese potatoes,green beans and cranberry jello. We had a special visit from Santa, and the kids put on the nativity. Here are some pictures from the evening.


We had Christmas at my parents house and the kids had a great time. Logan got a ipod shuffle in green that he loves, amoung other toys. Lexi got a cat that looks and moves like it is real, it is her favorite present that she got this year. Jared got a ipod nano and a razor that are tide for his favorite gifts. I got a Tiffany mesh ring that I love. I also got my Nikon digital camera early that has been so fun to play with. As a family, Jared and I bought the kids a wii with a bunch of wii games. But the kids think that Santa gave it to them not us. So, that was our Christmas!

Rocky Racoon

Rocky Racoon

Okay, so McKenzie tagged me to do this fun little itune game. The hardest part of this was thinking of people that I knew that had mp3 players. Most of my friends for some reason do not own a ipod or an mp3 player. I myself do not know how I would live without mine. It has gotten me threw chemo, long car rides, and tuning out my kids when needed. I have to laugh at the answers that my ipod came up with for the questions.

THE RULES!!
1. Put Your iTunes on Shuffle.
2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer.
3. You must write down the name of the song no matter how silly it sounds!
4. Put any comments in brackets after the song name.
5. Tag at least 10 friends.
6. Anyone tagged has to do the same, because fun pointlessness spreads like a virus.

THE ANSWERS!!!
If someone says, “Is this okay?” You say?

Only Hope - Mandy Moore "A Walk Remembered"

How would you describe yourself?

Ready, Set, Don't Go! - Billy Ray Cyrus featuring Myle Cyrus "Home at Last"

What do you like in a guy/girl?

Everyday I write The Book- Evlis Castello "The Wedding Singer"

How do you feel today?

Never Enough -Five Finger Death Punch "The Way of The Fist"

What is your life’s purpose?

Herculean- The Good, The Bad and The Queen "The Good, The Bad and The Queen"

What is your motto?

Vindicated- Dashboard Confessional "Dusk and Summer"

What do your friends think of you?

Welcome - Christina Aguilera "Back to Basics"

What do you think of your parents?

It's Not My Time - 3 Doors Down " 3 Doors Down"

What do you think about very often?

Should've Said No - Taylor Swift "Taylor Swift"

What is 2 + 2?

Relax, Take It Easy - Mika " Life in Cartoon Motion"

What do you think of your best friend?

DOA - Foo Fighter " In Your Honor

What do you think of the person you like?

Why Don't We Do It In The Road? - The Beatles "The White Album"

What is your life story?

Rescued - Jack's Mannequin "Everything In Transit"

What do you want to be when you grow up?

The Great Wall of China - Billy Joel " River of Dreams"

What do you think of when you see the person you like?

Cowboy - Kid Rock " Devil Without a Cause"

What will you dance to at your wedding?

Undone- The Sweater Song - Weezer "Weezer"

What will you dance to at your wedding?

All About Soul - Billy Joel "River of Dreams"

What will they play at your funeral?

Breaking the Habit- Linkin Park "Meteora"

What is your hobby/interest?

Clair de Lune - The APM Orchestra "Twilight Original Movie Soundtrack"

What is your biggest fear?

The Right Man - Christina Aguilera "Back to Basics"

What is your biggest secret?

The Reason - Hoobastank " The Reason

What do you think of your friends?

Got Me Going Crazy - Jonas Brothers " A Little Bit Longer"

What will you post this as?

Rocky Racoon - The Beatles "The White Album"

I am Tag:
Chase , Paige , Carson , Tyler , Kathryn , Rebecca T., Jill, Jodi, and anyone else that has an ipod.

[HQ] The Twilight Before Christmas (Parody) / The Juice Box

For those of you who love twilight. This is super funny. It is perfect for Christmas time. Enjoy a good laugh.

Christmas Tag!

Christmas Questionnare-ness

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? Got to say Hot Chocolate with whip cream

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? Santa gives the kids one super cool gift not wrapped (Jared's family never wrapped presents so that was our compromise) Where the presents for mom and dad (or the cheap not so cool gifts according to Logan) are wrapped.

3. Colored lights on tree/house or white? The Christmas tree must have white lights on them. I think it makes the tree sparkle. On the house a mix is cool with me.

4. Do you hang mistletoe? I do not. But I think maybe I should.

5. When do you put up your decorations? I put up my decorations a few days before Thanksgiving so that when our family gets back from our Flagstaff Thanksgiving Everything is ready for Christmas.

6. What is your favorite holiday dish? I would have to say my mothers Christmas cookies. Skip the dinner and go straight for the things we have been waiting for all year.

7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child? There are way to many but I do have one as an adult. So, Jared and I decided to make the day of it on his day off. We would walk around the outlet malls here in Anthem and then go to Santa's house for a shot with the Jolly Old man himself. As we entered the building Logan is trying to remember everything that he wanted. Although his list was short he wanted to make sure that the colors and names were right and where Santa might be able to get them if His elves were not able to make them to his exact specifications. Lexi on the other hand is singing a song about Santa and how he says HO HO HO! Everyone thought she was a sweet little angle. LOL!! As we got closer to Santa Lexi turns to Jared and says I need a list. So Jared runs her to a little table to jot down the two things that she wants from Santa. As we get closer to it being our turn Lexi decides that Pictures with Santa are not such a good idea. Santa was very sweet and talked to Logan as it got time for Lexi , the camera people were on their toes ready for the shot. AND BOY DID WE GET IT!!!!!!!!!!!! Here is what is being said as this wonderful picture is taken Rolling his eyes he say she is always like this. Santa tells Lexi "OH it is not so bad." Lexi just sits and frown at the lady with the rubber reindeer that she keeps squeezing hoping to get the winning smile.


8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? I was about 10 I was over at a friends house and she told me. I was so upset. I would not talk to her for a week.

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? We open gifts on Jared's side on Christmas eve or a week before so the entire family is there. On my side we open our gifts from our brother and sister.

10. How do you decorate your Christmas Tree? I put on my jingle bell garland (Christmas tree alarm system) followed by the big bunches of bells that match. then I try to put on like ornaments so that none of them are too close together. Last is the tree topper.

11. What is another favorite Christmas tradition memory? Every year we get together as a family on my side for Christmas eve. Every year has a theme and an ornament. One Year we did a cowboy Christmas. I thought I would pee my pants watching my mom on a stick horse running for her life to help win the relay race.

12. Can you ice skate? I can.

13. Do you remember your favorite gift? It was a baby doll that I got when I was little. She had black hair and blue eyes that opened and shut.

14. What's the most important thing about the Holidays for you? Being together with family. I love it more than anything.

15. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert? My mothers Christmas cookies all of them... well not all of them I hate hermits ( a German fruit cake cookie).

16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? Getting my kids pictures taken with Santa.

17. What tops your tree? A big red metal heart

18. Which do you prefer giving or receiving? Giving!! I love to pick the perfect gift and then wrap it up really pretty. And watching the person then get all excited as they open it. Super cool in my book.

19. What is your favorite Christmas Song? Carol of the bells. But I do love I'm getting nothing for Christmas by Relient K too funny.

20. Candy Canes? I like them. Just do not want so many that I feel like I am going to smell like peppermint for the next year.

21. Do you feel Christmas is too commercialized? Yes, but now a days what holiday isn't.

I'm tagging Kayla and Christine.

Christmas Cards

So, here is our Christmas Card that we went out this year. I usally have a family photo on the front but this year went with the kids photo. The reasons for this are :

1: The kids photo is so cute this year. I think this is the best one that I have ever gotten of them.

2: The family photo although okay. I did not care for because I look sleepy and like I am wearing a wig.

The inside of the card says:

A Christmas Hello and a little wish too, to let you know We're thinking of you! Happy Holidays!

Jolly Old Saint Nick

So today we took Logan and Lexi to see Santa. Logan could not wait to tell him his wish list. Logan is hoping to get a wii and a Lego train. Lexi was not sure what she wants. She says she would like some Barbie stuff and a wii as well.

A Flagstaff Thanksgiving

Every Year for Thanksgiving we go up to Flagstaff, Arizona and stay at the Little America. We have such a BLAST up there. We celebrate Lexi's birthday on Wed., then I take family pictures before we go to the best Buffet in Arizona on Thanksgiving and on Saturday we go to the Lighting ceremony at the hotel.

Here are the pictures from are super fun weekend.

That was our Fun Thanksgiving. I hope that everyone of you also had a Fun and relaxing Thanksgiving too.

Twilight Arizona Premiere

So, tonight Jared, Logan and I went to the Arizona Premiere of "Twilight". The Premiere was a way for Stephenie Meyer to enjoy the release of her movie with Family and Friends. How you might be asking do we know Stephenie. Well, Jared has know Stephenie's Family and Poncho's (Stephenie's Husband) Family for forever. I went to school with one of Stephenie's brothers. He actually went on my first date with Jared. We all went ice skating. Plus, I knew one of Stephenie's sisters and While I dated Jared I got to know Poncho's family. They were in Jared's parents ward. Plus, Logan is friends with Seth, one of Stephenie's sons.

So, here were my dates for the evening. Don't they look so handsome. Logan was very excited to go see the movie. He also thought that it was very cool that he got to go and Lexi had to stay at Grandma Smart's house.

When we got to the Movie theater we went and got in a line. We saw Paul (Stephenie's Brother) there with his wife and other people that we have known for awhile were there as well as many people that we did not know. We were lead into the theater in group as we got to the theater where the movie was to be played we were asked to show our tickets and then each person was given a gift card to purchase popcorn and drinks. As we were lead in we were able to stop and say hello to Stephenie and Poncho. Jared and I thanked her for the invite we got our picture taken with them.

The movie was great!! It was not word for word the book but the feelings and the outline were pretty close to the book. Everyone cheered when the title for the movie came on and when we saw Stephenie's cameo in the movie. And of course we all cheered at the end. Logan enjoyed the movie until the end. Then he got a bit scared. I will not say what frightened him, because I know that some people have not read the book yet.As we were leaving the theater we were told that we could each get a poster from the movie. This is one of the two posters that we received, the other is the image from above.

The night was GREAT!! It was really neat to see everyone dressed up and there to help the Meyers celebrate this neat event.

My Little Cheerleader

So, this year Lexi wanted to try her hand at Cheerleading. Young Champions of America has a program that they do once a week at the local schools. We signed Lexi up and she is really enjoying herself. They had Cheer Pictures this week and here is a picture of her with her pom poms.
The cheer that Lexi likes that they say the most goes like this:

Peaches and Cream

Peaches and Cream

What's the Matter with the other team?

Nothing at All!

Nothing at All!

They just can't play Football!

Looking at this little lady reminds me that my baby is not a baby but is growning up really fast.

BIG POST!!!!

Okay so this is going to be a really long post. I have a lot to talk about. There are fun things that have happened and things to be thankful for. First, a week before Halloween Paige and her friend Carson held the annual Hansen Halloween Party. It was held at Terry's house. The girls did a great job and the kids seemed to think it was a blast.

Paige had set up all kinds of games. Like how much candy in the jar and what dead body parts do you feel and how fast can you wrap a mummy. Greg and Jen's family came along with the Dukes, Dale ands Lisa with their two cute girls, Chase's friend, Paige's Boyfriend and his family and then Grandma and Grandpa.

Lexi loved hanging out with all of the teenagers. I am telling you I think she thinks that she is going on fifteen instead of five.

Lexi, Cole and Logan dressed up to scare people as they were coming inside. They thought this would be a lot of fun.

Then as usual we carved pumpkins. and let me tell you there were a lot of pumpkins to carve. Logan this year was really into carving. It was neat seeing him so excited.

Lexi want a Cinderella pumpkin while Logan started out wanting Sponge Bob but went with carve your own face.

This year Lexi wanted to be Sleeping Beauty for Halloween. I asked what she might want to be back in September. And she never changed her mind. She was a little sad that I would not buy her a real sleeping beauty wig. I made her wear her Hannah Montana Wig telling her no one would know.

Logan came up with his own costume idea. He wanted to be a Shamu trainer. I thought that sounded cool. So I found a wet suit on clearance for five dollars went on to the Shamu website and bought the Believe necklace that the trainer are wearing during the show and he carried around Lexi's stuffed Shamu.

As the kids went around the neighborhood people thought that Logan's costume was very neat and that Lexi looked just like a Disney Princesses. I have to say when they came home I have never seen so much candy. It filled a Fry's reusable grocery bag.

I can not believe that I am saying this but I am done with Chemo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! On November the Third I got my last infusion of chemo. Although I hate the pain that follows a treatment. I left Mayo on that day feeling great!! I can not believe that I finished all eight treatments.

On Wed. the Fifth I went back to the Mayo to talk to the surgical oncologist. But before I visited with him they ran a mammogram and a diagnostic mammogram. Guess what they found when they looked at my film. NOTHING!!!!!!!! There was no tumor. They could not find it. The Chemo worked it dissolved my tumor completely. I can describe how excited this new made me feel. I have one last step in my treatment and then I am done. I have to go in and have surgery. I will keep everyone posted on what date that will happen. So there is the news. that is what is happening.

The End is Just Around the Corner

On Monday I had my Seventh Treatment. There is just one more left. I am so excited that I can not stand it. As far as treatments go it was not that bad. Now I just have one more and I am done. I can not say that it is easy. Because the pain from the chemo that I get can suck big time but soon I will be done.
We went to the ward turnk or treat. That was fun. I was in a wheelchair because right after chemo I can hardly walk. But it was nice to see my ward family.

Twilight Trailer Spoof

I stumbled across this Spoof Trailer. These guys are so funny. They also have a Dark Knight trailer that is pretty funny as well.