Smith Station: March 2025

The month of March has been busy with many good things.

In track - Sheri ran the 100 m and 300 m hurdles. I am proud of Sheri for pushing herself to do things that are quite challenging!

Above photo credit to Ty Boyett.

Sheri's band also participated in a UIL Band Competition and earned excellent marks.

At Bushland Jr High Christian played solos for a judge along with the other percussionists in his grade. He got all superior ratings.

He also earned the "Best Mallet Solo Award".

Christian is enjoying basketball and really improving his skills! He has been able to be a great asset to his team!

Matt and I participated in the Stake Leadership Conference and the kids attended a youth meeting in Lubbock.

For Matthew's birthday this year I got him a hammock. This one is easy to roll up and store to prevent weathering and dirt. Matt is a hammock guy. I love that he will have a place to relax in the beautiful yard he has created.

I also made a chocolate cake to celebrate!

The biggest highlight of March was Spring Break. We decided to travel southeast through Dallas, Arkansas, New Orleans, to Pensacola Florida and back.

First we stopped in Dallas to visit our friends, the Corless family (from our Illinois Days). We enjoyed a seafood boil and then fun games at their house that evening. They are such great people! We loved catching up! We also went to church with them the next day.

Then we drove to Hot Springs, Arkansas and were invited to have dinner and games with Ty's Grandparents, Mom, and sisters. We had a lovely time getting to know them and playing games and ultimately took them up on their offer to stay the night. It was nice not to have to set up camp in the dark! The next day we visited the town of Hot Springs but were unable to enjoy the actual springs. It was still a fun town,

Then we headed to our camp site in the Mississippi bayou where we had foil dinners and s'mores.

The next day we headed to New Orleans where we enjoyed some local cuisine including fried alligator, beignets, and etouffee. We also enjoyed the cathedral, shops, street musicians, historic homes, and above ground graveyards.

We then headed to Florida where we camped at Pensacola Beach. We stayed for a couple of nights. We enjoyed a hike and saw an egret's nest the first morning.

The beaches were beautiful with white, fine sand. Matt and the kids enjoyed boogie boarding.

After that we drove north and west to head home.

We camped in Arkansas and were able to see a very active lightning storm on the horizon above the city as well as a very bright moon.

We drove the rest of the way home the next day. We were very happy that we could get a break, away from the routines of normal life. We feel very grateful to have family time together and to have so many natural beauties to enjoy.

Meanwhile, Eve continues to learn and enjoy life at BYU. Here are some pictures from her March.

She was able to attend a water conference at Utah State.