Long Weekend in England for Julie

Had a chance to finally get a stamp in the ol' passport that I've been carrying around and went to England this weekend with my friend Cathy. (Remember her? She's my friend Julie Korenak's sister the photographer - she did M&N's 50th anniversary photos)

It was fabulous. We spent one night in the countryside (see that farmhouse? That was our bed & breakfast) and then two nights in London.

If I am lucky enough to see any of you at Christmas, I will show you the rest of the photos. It was a fabulous experience and I really am the luckiest girl in the whole, wide world.

Thanksgiving

First, Matt and Mattie the dog! They make a great pair.

Second, our group at the most ridiculous Christmas parade ever. THERE WERE NO BANDS! Santa received a great cheer -- mostly because the parade was over. All in all, we had a great weekend and hope to have the rest of you here with us next time! (We promise we won't go to that parade again!) Happy December

Mom's Birthday & Veteran's Day

Had to post this photo because it features Jack actually speaking into a microphone. I would normally say that I hope Jack inherited Dad's public speaking ability, but I was informed on Wednesday that Dad doesn't really like to speak in public. My world was shattered!

Anyway, my friend Kay took this pic while Jack introduced Grandpa for the Veteran's Day assembly this year. (Next year, it will just be Sean in elementary school! yikes!)

Then we took Grandma out for a big, indulgent birthday lunch and it was great fun.

Hope you all are off to a good week - it is cold and rainy here and finally feeling like November.

xxxooo -Julie

It's Been A Wild Fall!!

I apologize I have been silent for a while. I am just coming out of my depression from the Cardinal's collapse!! We are having a great fall, except we're raking this weekend and that is a BIG job here at the Ponderosa. The bad news is our next door neighbor already raked, which means we can't blow ours in to their yard!

We got TP'ed pretty good by some friends. In addition to toilet paper, they put thousands of Post-It notes all over the house and cars. Our dog didn't get off the couch and she barks at everything. Go figure.

Taylor is very interested in modeling and acting. She is taking classes in Nashville, TN and has done workshops with people from Disney & Nickelodeon. We're all hoping she's the next Miley Cyrus or at least on one of the shows. They're trying to get Tay to LA for auditions after Christmas.

Hunt is being Hunt. Overlapping sports! He had a good football season playing defensive end and tight end. One of our best players got hurt in the first game and was lost for the season. We finished last weekend with the 6th grade classic, an 8 team tournament. We went 3-1 and lost in the finals to some 'men' from a farming town!! Hunt decided he wanted to try hockey this year. He is improving everytime he puts the skates on. He scored a goal in his first game. He made the 6th grade school basketball team last week. Needless to say, Patti and I are running full speed to get him to practices and games.

Christopher got his first deer with a bow this year. He and his buds have been out many times so far. Gun season opens Saturday for deer. He is going to school Monday-Thursday noon and works Thursday-Sunday at Dick's Sporting Goods in the gun department. If there was ever a job suited for him, its talking about guns. Only shooting them would be better for him!

Patti is putting in hours at the holistic weight loss center and juggling her time. My job is going very well and our business is doing great since no one is buying new cars.

My dates on Saturday night

Scott and I took the boys and his parents to the St Louis Symphony on Saturday night, which sounds all serious and high-brow but it was "John Williams Movie Music Night" so we were met at the door by Darth Vader and stormtroopers then spent the evening listening to music from Jaws, ET, Superman, Indiana Jones, Harry Potter and Star Wars. It was great. Since the boys were all clean at the same time, I decided to take photos.

Hope you all are off to a good week!

Thurs Nov 4th - from Julie

Hi everybody! I don't have nearly the juicy nuggets that Tom had in his last post.....but my students are creating presentations right now and so I thought I'd take this opportunity (since I'm not home and can't do laundry) to say HI to everyone and chip in with some Smith Scoop.

Scott's parents are coming this afternoon to spend the weekend with us. Tomorrow night, to celebrate Scott's birthday and our 15th wedding anniversary, we are heading to a hotel in Clayton for the evening. I'm not sure what we'll talk about if we're not interrupted and I'll probably end up cutting his meat during dinner out of habit, but I'm sure it will be nice.

Ian's team has a playoff game on Saturday, they ended the season 8-1 and I will not miss the practices or the carpools. The beefy center, Ian Smith #18, had a fun season though and their games have been very fun to watch. He's been most busy, however, with music these days. He was fortunate enough to be picked for jazz ensemble (which means 6:30am practices three days a week - eeek) and the St Louis all-suburban honors band. He is most excited about the all-suburban band, though, because it gets him out of PSR at St Catherine's on Monday nights for the next nine Mondays. His jazz group will be performing at the Fox Theatre in February and they'll also be hitting some February jazz festival in Chicago. Poor Mimi and Don, they probably thought they were done with attending middle school/high school jazz festivals!

Jack just got back from three days of 5th grade camp and really liked it, he's not one to enjoy leaving the house so I was very happy and relieved that he liked it. His contacts and braces have made his face look so different, he's looking like quite the young man these days.

Sean has finally gotten some teeth pulled so he no longer the last third grader with baby teeth. He is loud, exhausting and intense and absolutely involved in everything. But it's all good. Our lives aren't any busier than anyone else's.......but I sure appreciate working mothers and single parents more and more every day. Just don't know how people get everything done. I tell my students that my real job starts at 3pm.

Classes are going really well this semester and we are almost winding down already. I will be all finished with classes at both schools by December 10th, which is so nice. Next semester I am only teaching three classes and supervising an independent study so it will be a little more relaxing than this semester has been.

Scott's grandma wants everyone in Branson for thanksgiving so we are heading down there to have turkey with the in-laws. We will sure miss all of you and hope wherever you end up, you have a great thanksgiving.

Mom and Dad's 55th wedding anniversary is this May, so Mimi and I were thinking that we should set aside the weekend of the 14th-15th for some celebrations. Please check your calendars!!

It's been a while, so here's what's going on . . .

First of all, how about that Don? A marathon in less than four hours and in a shirt he had to buy himself. I did try to be your official outfitter but ran into a snag. I had the 2010 Nike Catalog from the tennis shop at Indian Springs and picked out this cool shirt which was unlike anything I had ever seen -- various shades of orange and yellow in this cool fade pattern. It was groovy, but they wouldn't be available until January. So maybe next year. You did look good in your yellow.

Now to the Cardinals in the playoffs: If you blinked you missed it, but the Cub fans would certainly know that. How did that Milton Bradley thing work out for you guys? Carpenter and Wainwright pitched back to back games on 19 occasions this year and in 17 of those the Cards won at least one time. Two times they didn't and one was last week.

Monica Update: The surgery was on the 5th and she is doing great. She is not quite up and around yet, but getting closer every day. She sat at the dinner table with us last night for a roast which Tanner cooked and served himself. It was great; he did a tremendous job. Monica is at that point in her recovery where she no longer feels bad, yet doesn't quite feel good. It's a limbo she is not enjoying. She has yet to get on her laptop for work, and get this -- she has not even turned on her cell phone! But it's coming. Thanks to all for the well wishes. I have passed along each and every one. And thanks for the flowers.

The Nilsson Cup Golf Challenge: Ty and I are now two time defending champs. It is getting so bad that Tom and Kerry are looking for different sports to try. Bowling has been suggested. They must not know how many kid's birthday parties I go to at the local alley. Plus, any sport you can play whille drinking beer gives Ty and me an advantage.

Tanner is seriously considering the priesthood. That will signal the end of me sneaking out at Communion. I told him priests have to take a vow of poverty and he said not parish priests. So that means he has already looked into that. He is one of the more materialistic people you will happen to run across. Try buying tennis shoes with him. Regardless, I am 100% behind him. He will also be the best signing priest around. We have a video of his performance at the talent show and are trying to figure a way to get it off his dad's stick drive and onto the web.

I went yesterday to teachers' meetings at the school for Drew and Blake and was told by all teachers that I have two very smart and entertaining kids. To which I replied, "No Duh!" Drew seems to talk alot in class (Again with the not being surprised) while Blakey has read more books so far this year than any other student in the school.

Speaking of Blake, we had a team of 45 Super Heroes for the JDRF walk this year. The weather was great and a good time was had by all. Thanks to all for the pledges and the moral support.

Finally, The Redemption of Chance is now available in hard cover. I am working with a local bookstore to stock it and sell them at a book signing at Indian Springs. If I can put this all together, I will follow up with the lady in Eville and see if she would still be interested in hosting one there. The Sombrero Beach Club is making the rounds with publishers. Nothing yet.

Go Irish! Go Purdue students rooting for the Irish! And tonight watch Tu hosting Boise State. I will not be at the game -- I get to go to an NBA pre season game between the OKC Thunder and the Washington Generals or somebody -- but we are going to the TU Tail Gaters before hand.

My best to all . . . Tom

The Champion!

Don finished the marathon just behind the Kenyons!! He achieved his personal best finishing in under 4 hours!

Jeff, Matt, and I along with over 2 million of his best friends were there to cheer him on - it was a great day!

Good luck on Sunday, Don!!!

Nilssons Win Golf Challenge ...... Again

Lake Ozark, Missouri - September 28 - Tom and Ty Nilsson won the 2nd annual golf challenge at Dogwood Hills Golf Club today over Tom Carrol and Kerry Weinaught. Team Jack Daniels (Carrol and Weinaught) started strong by winning the first 18 hole scramble match, however the Nilsson boys came alive and won the low ball/low total match by double figures. Then they won the rubber match on the 16th hole to capture the bragging rights for the second straight year. In all, 54 holes were played over the magnificent Dogwood Hills layout on a windy day under sunny skies and 70 degree weather.

Tom- Lets just say i didnt have many friends at purdue today. Went to my first game as a purdue student and was cheering for Notre Dame. It was a pretty gutsy move, wore my irsish shirt but i had to wear it under another shirt. there were a lot of angry people at the end that would not have been very happy w/ me. It was a great game though, cant believe they let purdue hang with them for that long though.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1ukJ95CIxA
this explains a lot. pretty funny.

One of my students in the Post-Dispatch

Hey you Cubbie fans, thought you'd enjoy this link to a Post-Dispatch photo taken at Busch Stadium Sunday night. Bryan, a Webster student from Elgin, is in the photo standing up wearing a blue Cubs jersey. I ask him the magic number daily. He is a very good sport. -js

Stormtroopers Reflect on 9/11

Let's get away from baseball for awhile (I'm anticipating a return of the roadkill cardinal pic) and enjoy some Star Wars-related creativity.

This is for Matt:

Apparently the magic numbers were causing emotional distress. Just think, Matt! Spring training is only six months away!

Think that crotch grab is how Edmonds ended up with the Cubs?

atleast we dont do this...

Smith Brewing Co Newsletter, Sept Edition

These pictures somehow loaded in reverse order. Scott starts with the modified cooler, and adds hot water to the grain mixture. This sits for 60 minutes. It's the "mash".

After 60 minutes, the mash gets drained into the brew pot, where he brings it to boil and keeps it there for 60 minutes. Hops get added occasionally during this time period also. (Hence the watching of the watch!)

After the 60 minutes, the cold water is run through the wort chiller to drop the temp quickly. Then it's drained through the strainer, put in the big white vat to ferment.

The most important thing, though, is to have buddies sit close by and drink brew while they watch you brew. Great fun on Sunday in STL!

Magic Number = 28

Just sayin'. -js

Cub Fans Have Gone to the Dogs

One of these two Jeffys is about to start law school. Is it:

A) Jeffy the person

B) Jeffy the dog

C) The Cardinals have an 8 game lead.

Monday Aug 24th

Lots going on today....but first of all let's just say how nice it is to see John Smoltz in a Cards uniform. Scott and I were thinking about getting a hotel room downtown for our anniversary in October (#15) but all the rooms downtown are booked. How come? According to my Busch Stadium friend Linda, MLB has booked them all in anticipation of the playoffs and World Series. Just sayin'.

Excited for Jeff today as he has his orientation at Northwestern! I start classes today too and had several dreams last night; you know the ones where you have to take the final but you haven't been there all semester and you run around looking for the room? My body has aged but my stress-dreams have not.

Scott's mom is in the hospital in Springfield MO with some oxygenation problems....for some reason she just can't get oxygen into her blood and they are running gazillions of tests. Will keep everyone posted.

We are really concerned, though, about a classmate of Jack's who was in an accident on the Meremac River on Saturday, spent some time under water, and is now in a coma at Children's Hospital. Please pray for him, his name is Nolan.

Hope everyone is off to a good week. xxoo - julie

A Note from the Birthday Boy

Hello Everybody. Thank you for the Birthday wishes and I just realized that starting tomarrow I will be going on 84. Hey what great news about Katie and Ryan. Like Julie said, I can't imagine that any part of my birthday will be as exciting as Katies. And, a reflection on our recent Dauphin Island experience, Mom and I want to say what a wonderful week it was and can you believe that we have been doing this family thing for the past 25 years. Can anyone recall each of our ventures? I remember Keystone, Chicago, Tulsa, Arkansas, Lake of the Ozarks, and Dauphin. Were there others? How many years at the Knolls etc ? Let me share a story about the trip home: We left Dauphin about 7 am and got to Eville about 8:30 pm. Don and Mimi decided to drive on to Naperville arriving about 1 am. From the long time in the car Mom and I could hardly get out of bed the next morn but when Mimi called that morn to say they got home safely she advised that Don had just gotten home from running 20 ( yes 20) miles in his preparation for running in the Chicago Marathon this fall. And, Mimi is planing to run 13 miles. or one half a marathon at the same affair. How about that? Thanks again for the kind birthday wishes.

Happy Birthday, Grandpa!

Well, Norm's birthday probably won't be as exciting as Katie's....!! But I can hear him say "Hey, at my age, ALL birthdays are exciting."

Happy Birthday, Dad! Enjoy your day!!

We're Engaged!!

We are engaged!!!!!!!!
We are so excited!!! (Even the puppies are)

Smith Dog Party 2009

Just in case you were still wondering just HOW weird we are in St Louis, here's a little video to prove the point. We had a dog party again this year and had quite the turn-out. Notice how in the video I don't show any human faces? It's all about the dogs. Great fun. And Sophie is pooped!

Thanks for a fun week!

Still recovering from the whopping ride home yesterday. On our way to a baseball game where I will pull out our chairs and there will be sand in them. =( Looks like we need a new air conditioner for the house, which will make Monday morning even more fun. Oh well. Jack starts a LEGO robotics class tomorrow so that's neat.
Ty and crew: thrilled for Hunter, congrats. We missed you last week. Can you believe how big these kids are getting? xxoo - julie

Also: BBQ in honor of Norm's birthday at our house, Saturday August 15th. Would love to have any/all of you join us. xxoo

Ohio Valley Regional Champs

Action Shots of Hunter

Four Smith Boys in Tuxes

Here's a photo from Scott's brother Michael's wedding last night. Great fun. The boys enjoyed their tuxes but were very happy to take them off. Ian was an usher, Jack did programs, Sean was the ring bearer and Scott was a groomsman.

When we got to the church, Sean asked me "Have you and Dad ever been important people in a wedding before?"

Home Run Derby night

Matt and I will be in the thick of things tonight....he will be roaming Busch selling foam fingers and other goodies and I'll be working in the team store. Doubt you'll see us on TV, but I think it will be lots of fun anyway! Go Albert! (And please, don't hurt yourself.......) -Julie

Summer Olympics at Dauphin Island.....?

Yesterday M&N had a great idea: how about we have the Olympics at Dauphin Island this summer? We immediately started on a list of "events" and we need your help. Here's what we've got so far:

Washers
Wiffle ball (team exhibition sport)
Uno tournament
Apples to Apples tournament
Yahtzee tournament
Poker tournament
Left-Center-Right tournament
Frisbee throw
golf ball closest to hole
Pickle
Karaoke ("Dauphin Island Idol")
Ankle-stomping balloon game
Limbo
Shell finding
seed spitting - distance
scavenger hunt
crab races
sand sculpture within time limit (use neighbors for judge)

Scott also suggested "person who falls asleep the fastest" and Matt suggested "beer drinking" but then we'd have to handicap Tom.

Any other event ideas out there? Kudos to M&N for the idea, and kudos to Monica for finding the perfect medals online. (yes, there will be medal award ceremonies. Be glad you don't have to make a family banner for the opening ceremonies!!)

Any other event ideas??

Lighter Fare

Sorry about the "heavy stuff"....the 4th of July always gets me goosebump-y. And don't worry, my friends harass me constantly about being the only nerd who cries during fireworks.

Okay Ty, here's your link! The website looks great. Hopefully the tourney goes without a hitch and you can hop in the car when it's over and join us all at the beach. I'm guessing my pal Linda is waiting until after the ASG to get your goodie-bag ready. I am actually working the team store during the Home Run Derby as a "greeter" with my friend Julie Korenak. Yes, we will be getting paid to talk to people. Is this a great country, or what?? (Actually, we'll be getting paid with merchandise, but that's okay too)

Here's Ian's band from last week playing some Lord of the Rings music! Happy Tuesday, everyone!

Tough to Compete.....

Julie has been throwing down some deep stuff lately, which makes normal family stuff seem fairly insignificant. I will lighten things up with some baseball talk. I am directing Newburgh's largest ever baseball tournament July 23-28. We're having 10 teams from seven different states coming to town. We expect over 500 people from out of town.

I have built a web site for the tournament that I want to show off. I can't get the link to work!! Julie, will you fix this for me?

www.newburghregionalbaseball.shutterfly.com

We're off to a good start. We won a tournament in Madisonville, KY last week and went 2-2 in Nashville over the weekend. We lost to a REALLY good team yesterday 5-0. We're going to the State tournament this week in Greensburg, IN.

I'm still looking for ideas on fundraising for the tournament. If you have some ideas, please comment. I have a Harry Carry recording of 'Take me out to the ballgame' we will play in the middle of the fourth of each game!!

My favorite John Adams quote

"The Second Day of July 1776, will be the most memorable Epocha, in the History of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance by solemn Acts of Devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more. You will think me transported with Enthusiasm but I am not. I am well aware of the Toil and Blood and Treasure, that it will cost Us to maintain this Declaration, and support and defend these States. Yet through all the Gloom I can see the Rays of ravishing Light and Glory. I can see that the End is more than worth all the Means."

Letter to Abigail Adams, July 3 1776

I love the fact that he had such vision....even back then....referring to "one end of this continent to the other." I had a history teacher friend once who told me how lucky we were that our nation was founded by statesmen, not politicians. Amen! Happy 4th of July! -Julie

A Second Effort at Family History from Norm

Many thanks to Julie for her efforts on the Nilsson Family Tree as it has opened up a whole new group of relatives that I really knew nothing about. Let me explain. Nils Peter Nilsson, my grandpa, married Elmira File way back when and she died before I was born so I knew nothing of her family. Keep in mind that my mom's family was also from Pokey so that on the rare occasions that we went to Pokey we hung out withe Marti family. I say our visits were rather rare because, in those days with an old car and totally dirt roads, our family rarely left town. How exciting it is to discover, thru Julie's research, that my great great grandpa on my dad's side was actually born on the 4th of July in 1776. And, again thru Julie, Mom and I had the pleasure of meeting some of Elmira's relatives this past Sunday. Gerry Jenner's wife was a File and he told me the story that his dad and Uncle Charlie were close friends and when Charlie moved to Champaign, his son Chuck stayed with Gerry's family to finish his Senior year of Hi School. So when Gerry went to the U of I he stayed with Charlie's family in Champaign. Gerry worked for Upjohn and sold drugs his entire career. His wife Martha was a nurse and is a lovely lady. The other couple were Ben and Mary File. Ben is a master story teller and gave me a book he has written called Ben There and Done That which tells stories of his life. He also is a U of I grad and his wife was a music major at Millikin in Decatur and she joined him as a pig farmer. Every Sunday eve any of the File family that is available meet for dinner at a Cafe in Pokey and I'm sure that Mary & I and Julie and family will join them on occasion so that we can contine this fine relationship. Thought you might like to know a little bit of family history that you didn't know.

A Bit of Family History from Norm

Observation....

Does anyone else think it's odd that the "Climate Change" bill was over 1200 pages long, the "Stimulus Bill" was 973 pages long......and our Constitution, the document that outlines and frames our entire government, if printed in size 12 Times New Roman font, is only 11 pages long?

It's longer if you add the amendments and the signatures, though. But still.....

Sunday's Genealogy Field Trip

When Mom, Dad and I went to Pocahontas in May we met a very nice distant cousin named Barry File who told us that a gentleman named Gerald Jenner had written a book about the history of Bond County, specifically Henry Oliver File, b. July 4, 1776, who helped settle Bond County and eventually had ten children. Henry Oliver File now has over 5000 descendants, including all of us.

Well yesterday we went back to Pokey to meet Mr Jenner (whose wife is a File), explore the File Cemetery some more, and have dinner with more File cousins and the restaurant where they meet every single Sunday night at 6pm. It was a hoot. To paraphrase Scott, "you can't swing a dead cat in Bond County without hitting a File."

Mr and Mr Jenner were so sweet. Yesterday was their 57th wedding anniversary (he said "Well, it would have been our 62nd if she'd said 'yes' the first time I asked her.") and he also told us about his experiences in Europe during WW2. (He is on the waiting list for an Honor Flight.)

We were also able to take rubbings of the tombstones of Norm's great-grandparents (Jacob and Elizabeth File, whose daughter Almira married Nils Peter) and his great-great-grandparents Henry Oliver File and his wife Mary (parents of Jacob). The stones are so worn but if you take paper and rub a crayon over it, the letters become visible.

Anyway, wish I had taken more pictures but here are Norm and me at Jacob and Elizabeth's stones and then a photo of Mr and Mrs Jenner at the entrance to File Cemetery.

You know....when I think about Grandma Hentz or Grandpa and Grandpa Nilsson, I really don't have any interest in their tombstones. I prefer to think of them as they were --- alive. But finding the headstones of these ancestors helps me realize that they really existed. They're not just faded names in an old family bible...They really lived in Pocahontas. They cleared the fields, farmed the land, buried their kids there.....maybe rested under some of those trees for shade.

Tom: there's a book in Henry Oliver File's story. I just know it. Starting with his birthdate.....and if you spend some time around those gorgeous rolling green hills of Pocahontas, it will come to you!