Kimball Mania

Jeff worked for Sugar House Vision Clinic for the past few years as he prepared for optometry school. Dr. Kimball promised Jeff when he got accepted he would take us to Ruth's Chris Steakhouse for a nice dinner. Dr. Kimball's son Quinn is the office manager there and was kind enough to ensure that the dinner happened as he was very excited to join in on the dinner plans as well (he also looked up and told us there is a Ruth's Chris in Indy so we could have it on special occasions when we move as well-how thoughtful). The food was amazing!!! They staff knew that we were there to celebrate so the entire time they kept congratulating Jeff and gave him a free dessert (along with the one that came with his meal). It was an amazing experience. This is their White Chocolate Banana Cream Pie that Jeff chose.

If you don't remember the post that covered our blog for the past six months, Jeff helped set up a fund raiser for his boss's family. He raised about $5,000 which is awesome. He had this great idea to give them the money old school style. It turned out looking pretty awesome if you ask me. He decided to give the briefcase to them during our dinner at Ruth's Chris and it ended up being the perfect time because Quinn's wife Kristy just happened to be there as well. It gave us all a good laugh to feel like a drug deal just went down over dinner.

Then on Jeff's last day of work he was told that it was his responsibility to provide his farewell treats. Knowing the Doc has a soft spot for donuts, Beyond Glaze was in order. Needless to say the Maple Bacon donuts are absolutely amazing! My mouth is watering just looking at the picture. That may be on our list of things to get when we visit Utah next summer.

Jeff loved working with the Kimballs. He learned so much from them and has already found within the first two months that his experience with SHVC has made his studies so much easier. We are so grateful for the time they spent training him and teaching him about the field. Jeff thinks the world of them and would love to work with them again in the future. ;)

Brotherly Bonding Time

Jeff decided he needed one last trip with his best friend and brother Mike. Conveniently, Dave Matthews Band was playing a show just outside of Indianapolis and he could use the trip to "finalize" some things for school while hitting up the shows. They had a great time at the shows and managed to make it to Bloomington to see our rental house, the site of the future Indianapolis temple, and the Indy speedway.

Haircuts

Bensen has already had two major haircuts. His first was in July and then again in September. He has so much hair. I had a hard time cutting it too short the first time, but the second time it ended up much shorter than I thought it would be. But he is cute no matter what.

It definitely makes him look much older now. No one believes that he is only 10 months.

Smith Family Reunion

The end of June my grandma Lowder's family had a Smith family reunion. They decided to honor our great great grandfather Rasmus Julius Smith who lived in Brigham City and walked to Logan every Monday to work on the Logan temple and then walked home on Saturday for two years until the temple was completed. The family decided in order to appreciate they wanted to walk this same path and have a fireside at the temple after hiking 27 miles to get there. Jeff had to work that morning so we weren't able to meet up until the fireside/dinner, but with Bensen being so small, I wasn't complaining. Elder Packer (a great grandson of Rasmus Julius Smith) spoke at the fireside at the Logan Tabernacle lawn before the last little hike up to the temple. And the LDS Church News also covered the story. For the full story click here. Here are a few picture from the article featuring my cool family. My dad was the oldest individual (almost 61) to walk the entire 27 miles! What a trooper! My grandma is the pretty lady holding the picture of her grandfather. And a picture of everyone at the temple.

Jeff took this last picture with his cool camera phone.

Lagoon Day

July was time for our annual Simmons Family Lagoon Day. It was fun as always!

Simmons Retreat

From spending the 4th of July in Idaho we headed through Ogden Canyon into the prettiest little valley to spend a few days with the Simmons family. It was quite the joy. We enjoyed the beautiful scenery of Pineview Resevoir and the mountains. It was so green and lovely. We went swimming the first day in the lake and then as we were driving back to the condo there was a huge rain storm. It made for a great time.

We ended up sharing a room with Mike and Kim at this little bed and breakfast called the Jackson Fork Inn. It had a loft area where Mike, Kim, and Jer stayed while we stayed on the lower floor. We left the puppy with my brother and his family in Idaho where he relentlessly followed their dog Chaco around. It was a nice break for us. It was a great time. I sure cannot wait for the next Simmons/Bailey slumber party.

Mission Call/Wilson Reunion

My awesome parents decided a year ago that they wanted to go on a mission. As it took some time to get things in order, they finally were able to submit their papers this spring and received their call the first weekend of July. Luckily, most of us were going home for the 4th so they decided to wait until we all were there to open the call. It was so fun to see them open their call and see what an awesome example they are to all of us.

They were called to the California Fresno Mission. They went into the MTC on July 30th and then out to California one week later. They have been serving for two months now and I am so proud of them and their decision to be missionaries. We sure love our missionaries!

Of course we spent the 4th in Rupert. Small town celebrations are the best! My family usually watches the parade in front of Wilson's Theatre (appropriate, right?) just off the square. Here is a picture I stole from Lynnette's blog.

Memorial Day

We went to the graves at the Sugar House Cemetery where Jeff's grandparents and dad are buried. It is always a treat to go there and hear the stories of his family members whom I have not met.

Cousins

Bensen had two cousins born this year. One on each side of the family and he loves both of them.

Sick

In March I went back to finish out the school year. It seems within the next few months Bensen was sick more than not. It made it hard to keep going to work knowing he was home/at his cousins sick. But it ended. I just wanted to document that it happened. He had a cold for a month then he got hands-foot-mouth and the poor thing was miserable. Jeff also got hands-foot-mouth and he claims he has never felt more sick in his life so I can only imagine how bad it was for Bensen. We are still grateful for Kim and Lisa for helping us by taking throughout the week. It was definitely easier knowing he was with family instead of daycare. And he had a blast spending time with his cousins!

Ride along

In June we went to Idaho to visit. Jeff has always wanted to go with my brother-in-law Ken on a police ride-along and this trip finally presented an opportunity for him to go. I'll let him share the details, but I went to pick him up at 10 and ended up waiting around for 2 hours as he was sitting in my brother-in-law's truck while he and the other police officers in the area were staking out a house. Apparently, some guy had killed someone and they went to find him at the house. He never showed so they finally shut the operation down. Guy called the police department and said he was going to turn himself in and to meet him at the police station. He never showed and went on another killing spree. Luckily, Jeff was safe with me by the time any of that stuff went down. Oh the exciting life of a police officer. I think in the end it convinced Jeff that is not the occupation for him and I am very happy with that conclusion. At least he got a great picture of the beautiful golf course in the canyon before all of the excitement ensued.

Hoosier Optometrist?

In April we made a trip to Indiana. Jeff had an interview with IU and my sister and her family live there so I decided that we all needed to visit them.

We were thrilled to find out a few weeks later that Jeff was accepted to the optometry program at IU.

And he was so excited that someday he would get one of these:

A few days later we received a package in the mail from Lynnette and her family with this great outfit included.

Indiana here we come!

Bensen's Blessing

Bensen was blessed March 4th. It was a lovely day and we enjoyed having our family visit for the day. Bensen's sweater was Jeff's when he was a little one and his mom gave it to us a few weeks prior. We liked it and decided it would be perfect for his blessing day. I think it turned out great!

4 Generations

So it's been a long time since we've (I've) blogged and there is a lot that we have missed. So I think I will just do the highlights for now and then start back up from more recent things. These pictures are from a trip to Idaho over New Years. Bensen only has one great-grandparent alive and we got to see her this weekend. 4 generations: Bensen, me, my mom: Grandma Wilson, and her mom: Great-Grandma Lowder.

These two handsome guys snuggling.