Top 10 of 2015

With Jackson opening a school, being a full time doctoral student, and the young men's president for our local church, not to mention being a father and husband, blogging duty has fallen to me. While I understand the value of keeping our family journal, I have not been as diligent in my duties as Jackson has been in previous years. Let's hope that I make up for that with an epic post that beautifully encapsulates the year 2015 for our little family.

Ladies and gentlemen, in no particular order, the top 10 of 2015.

1. Valencia Turns 1
There are few birthdays as celebrated as the first one. We are so fortunate to live amidst adopted family who gathered together to help celebrate our special little girl. She enjoyed presents, attention, bows, and of course, her very own cake.

2. Weddings!
This March we were blessed to attend the wedding of my brother Benjamin to his amazing wife, Jori. It was so fun to see family and friends and, most of all, to get to know Jori. She is amazingly talented, super fun and joyful, and best of all, can put up with a lot of Britts. Ben, you will be blessed for all eternity because of the lifelong choices that have led you to such an elite young woman. Jori, we love you, we are grateful for you, and please stop making the rest of us look bad.

In June we were honored to attend the wedding of my sister Crystal and her charming husband, Charlie. I am still amazed at the beautiful process that led to this marriage. Throughout the courtship I was amazed at how at ease and comfortable Crystal was with Charlie and with the relationship. He brings out the best of her, and I'm sure that she brings out the best in him. Charles Andrew, we are blessed to have such a lovable, manly, teddy-bear in the family. Crystal, please have him smoke us some jerky and be sure to hide the guns and knives from baby Maxwell!

Crys, please forgive me. I cannot find any pictures of your actual wedding. Please send some my way and I will update this post!

4. HCHS
After planning for the doors to open for an entire year, it has been remarkable to see something that was once only a vision and a goal, become reality. This year, 100 9th graders have been learning, socializing, singing, speaking, writing and growing at Henderson Collegiate High School with Mr. Jackson Olsen as their founding principal. He plans with great care and leads his teachers in an inspiring way. He frequently checks his vision and makes any adjustments that he needs to in order to stay on course. While he has been working on average about 80 hours a week, Vali and I do our best to lighten his load and inspire him to stay the course. We love you, Jackson! We are proud of you!

The founding staff

The school

Back to School Night

Students working hard in Science Class

5. A North Carolina Christmas
After traveling out west four times in the 2014-15 school year, this year we have scaled back and enjoyed more family time here at home. Most notably, we stayed in North Carolina this past break. It was remarkable how much more refreshed we felt compared to hectic holiday travel with no real time to decompress. While we know that there is a time and a place for being home for the holidays, this year we were able spend quality time with Valencia, travel to nearby mountains in Asheville, spend Christmas day in 80 degree weather and do some much needed deep cleaning around the house. I loved carrying out our holiday traditions here at home and having a magical time with our girl.

Hayride and Christmas Lights

We made gingerbread houses

My Christmas Helper

Hiking in the Appalachians

Enjoying the Children's Museum

My Girl

Christmas Morning

6. Smith Family Traditions
Jackson's sister, Holly, is now our only remaining sibling on the east coast. She and her delightful family live in Connecticut, and while they are by no means close, they are within driving distance and we try to make a point to spend time with each other. It is a tradition that over Memorial day and Thanksgiving we meet somewhere to enjoy some cousin time and a small get-away. This year for Memorial day we met in the mountains of Virginia. It was about a week before Josie and her family moved to California, so they were able to join us as well. Thanks for making family time a priority, even though living 10 hours apart is not very convenient. :)

Memorial Day Weekend Crew

Vali and her cousin Estee over Thanksgiving

7. Spring Break 2015
Looking back to April of last year, I can't believe that we were able to do so much with such a short period of time! We started off by going to Arizona! While the primary reason for our trip out West was to attend a conference, we also got to stay with Sarah and the Nelson crew (pun intended) and play with some cousins. We then came back to east to South Carolina and enjoyed a few days of R&R in Charleston with our friends Matt and Kay Jacobs, along with their daughter Maddie, who was born 3 weeks before Valencia. It was beautiful, relaxing, and oh so much fun!

8. Valencia Walks
Let's be honest, there are few milestones as exciting as a baby's first steps. Here's to my girl and all of her effort to become a walker at 14 months.

9. Summer in Utah
There is nothing quite as magical for a mother than going to a place full of people who whisk your child out of your arms and gives her undivided attention while you hang out with your sisters, watch movies, go swimming and sleep. But seriously, who can blame them? This summer I spent 3 weeks in Utah and I loved every minute of it. Jackson was working in Denver for 2 weeks, so it seemed like a no brainer for me to go home, be with family and relax. I certainly made the most of it, and Valencia loved all of her cousins and attention too. This was one thing I actually did blog on, so please refer to my previous post for photos. :)


10. Henderson Collegiate, A+ School of Distinction 
While I rarely blog about the details of what I do professionally, I could not accurately recount this year without celebrating the results of what Jackson and I do with the majority of our time. For those of you who don't know, last school year both Jackson and I were instructional coaches at our middle school. Our school earned the rating of A+ NG - which indicates that last year, our school effectively closed the achievement gap with a composite score of 85% on our end of year testing.

My primary role is to lead the science department and its teachers to create a rigorous and engaging curriculum that invests kids in  learning process. Below are the results of the science department for our end of year tests.

I understand that testing is not the only way to measure student learning, but I also believe that when "performance is measured, performance improves" (Thomas S. Monson) and that there is value in measuring student performance to ensure that all kids get the education they deserve to prepare them for a successful life. To learn more about our school, visit HendersonCollegiate.org.

Honorable Mention:
Britt Family Text Strand - nothing has kept us closer
Pregnant Sisters - Congratulations to Mandy, Sarah and Crystal!
Merlin earns award for most cuddle needy dog in history
Valencia is a great eater, sleeper and noise maker

Utah Summer 2015

So far, this summer has been a whirlwind of travel, family, and Jackson taking huge steps to opening a new school.

Just days after school got out, Valencia and I got on a plane to travel to Utah. Now a seasoned pro, Vali handled the cross country trip like a champ. In her short lifetime, Valencia has now made FOUR cross country trips - Christmas, my brother Ben's wedding in March, Spring Break in Arizona and this time for my sister Crystal's wedding/summer family time. I'm sure she's due for some sort of frequent flyer bonus by now. :) Jackson did not join us for the flight because he was already out west - but in Colorado taking classes to help prepare him to open his new school - Henderson Collegiate High School (now opening in 34 days!).

Boarding flight #2

Time with the Britt's in Utah was amazing! First, we were fortunate to be a part of Crystal's union to the amazing Charles Andrew Maxwell (he mysteriously goes by about any version of his names... at the wedding he was referred to as Charles, Charlie, Andrew and probably Mad Max). The wedding allowed for us to see friends and family from Utah, Colorado, New York, Canada, Washington and Arizona and was a great excuse to hang out with my favorite high school friends! Both sets of grandparents also came for the wedding, we're at that stage when every opportunity to be with them is a blessing.

 Vali with Steph, one of my best friends 

who travelled from CO 

 Vali and Dixie with my cousin Danielle who travelled from NY

(Notice Dixie - she tried to borrow some of Vali's PJ's, but they didn't quite fit)

 Alicia, one of my best friends who threw Crystal her bachelorette party

Crystal enjoying her party

The only sad part about time with my family is that Jackson was only able to join us for literally 6 hours. Amazing husband, father and brother-in-law that he is, he drove 7 hours in each direction from Denver so he could be with us for the wedding. We cherished every minute.

After the wedding, we got in some awesome family time. Valencia cannot get enough of her cousins! She LOVES the interaction and attention. I loved seeing her with Dixie. These two are only 4 days apart and we can't wait for them to grow up to be best friends.

 Dixie and Valencia 

Shopping with the girls

Vali with her aunt Tippy

While in Utah, Valencia also switched to all solids, all the time. Say goodbye to spoon feeding, she is all about big girl food. Some favorites include hamburger, string cheese, peas, steamed carrots, watermelon and pasta. According to my dad, she is slowest eater in history. I attribute this to her still having no teeth and to being such a great eater - she'll eat anything! On a few occasions she's sat for 40 minutes in her high chair eating, laughing and having a great time. Now that we are home, she enjoys sharing with Merlin. Sometimes it's literally a bite for her, a bite for Merlin. A bite for her, one for Merlin. He's loving life.

 Chowing down on lasagna

Still eating at the changing table several minutes 

after getting down from the high chair

Back at home feeding Merlin breakfast

But I digress, back to our vacation. Let's just say that Papa and Grandma spoiling Valencia is an understatement. This girl was waited on, cuddled with and cooed at... and she loved every second of it.

 Papa is overjoyed to be with his girls

When Jackson's classes in Denver were over, he came over to Utah and we spent the rest of our trip with his family. More cousins, grandparents, aunts, uncles and friends! We were fortunate to arrive the day before his parents gave their homecoming remarks from their service mission. Herm and Norma recently returned from the small island country of Palau where they taught the somewhat newly formed government all about jury trials. Herm was the first attorney on the island to have his client be given the verdict of not-guilty by a jury.

 Valencia with her cousin Gideon and Aunt Amber

Jackson and Vali with Grandpa Jack

Valencia with her cousin Estee

Even though most of the family was there for kayaking, 

the only photos we managed to take were of these two...

While in Logan, Jackson was able to golf, play handball and summit Box Elder Peak - the highest mountain on the Wellsville range of Cache Valley. These physical feats are far beyond my abilities, and for a guy who still managed to work 8 hours or more a day while on 'vacation', it was very impressive.

 View from the trail

 Jackson's cousin Jo and a stray dog, his mountain companions

View of the valley from the top of the mountain. It's quite majestic.

We ended the trip with a fantastic 4th of July celebration and fireworks. Jackson's family has a tradition of doing family fireworks in the church parking lot behind their house. Each kid sat mesmerized as brilliant lights and loud pops filled the air. I loved seeing all of the kids' reactions to each firework as they lit up the night sky.

 Waiting for the fireworks

In the church parking lot with the Olsen family

It's always tough to say goodbye to family when they live so far away. We returned home with amazing memories and a new challenge ahead. I am so proud of Jackson and I know big things are happening as he and his team prepare for HCHS to open it's doors in 34 short days.

Because we had to share a cute little butt in the air 

Blogging Hibernation

It's been nearly three months since we last posted. For this we apologize. We know that for some of you, our blog is like oxygen, made even more crucial by the existence of our angelic baby Valencia, the Sunshine Angel. To make it up to you, we have dedicated 95% of this post to that little scamp. The other 5% will consist of this introductory paragraph and a few updates:

• My travels in preparation for opening a high school have taken me to: New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Boston, Charlotte, and Newark. Since the new year: Atlanta, San Diego, and Newark, soon to be Phoenix, then back to Newark. Henderson Collegiate High School will open its doors in August of 2015.
• Valencia turned 6 months old and has yet to double her birth weight. She is a tiny, beautiful human hanging out in the 2nd percentile for weight and 5th percentile for height. She's a dainty lass.
• We traveled to Utah for Ben's wedding! Ben is the 5th of 6 siblings in Celeste's family. He and Jori Larsen tied the knot in the Salt Lake Temple earlier this month, and it was wonderful.

And now, for the main event...