Another Smith Law Enforcement Officer

Kirk and I travelled to Salt Lake for Brian's police academy graduation, where Kirk was able to present him with his diploma. Brian was honored as one of the top graduates academically, and he would have been one of the top physically also, since his scores in every area were above 95% —except in flexibility he was only 35% (he can barely touch his toes!). I think we'll start calling him "Stretch." Since he's a really good athlete, it was fun for us to tease him about that! He is glad to be finished with the academy and working at the Utah County Sheriffs Office.

Thanksgiving in Virginia

We loved spending Thanksgiving in Virginia with Kenny and Christan and the kids. The flights were smooth and on time, the weather was beautiful, and the turkey dinner was yummy. Christan even made her traditional "Chicken Noodles" (did I get that right?) and homemade apple pie. The very best thing was just hanging around the house playing with & hugging kids (well, Kirk loved watching football with Kenny and finding 2-million-year-old shark's teeth, too). It was great snuggling Drew - and by the time I left I think I figured out how to get him to sleep (so I guess I'll have to come back to use my new skill). Kirk and I loved making gingerbread houses and trains with Bailey and Corbin. Bailey also sang for us, but I don't know how to upload the video—I'll work on that. The kids took us exploring in their backyard—which is a beautiful forest with lots of trees and a big lake. Kenny said we just missed the famous fall leaves by about 10 days—maybe we'll catch them next year! Thanks Kenny & Christan for being such great hosts!

Bailey put her Dad to sleep.














Grandpa and Corbin and Bailey put more frosting in their mouths than on their gingerbread!


Grandpa loved wrestling with the gang.




backyard paradise.

cool dudes!

Grandkid Time

Kirk and I were able to enjoy some extra grandkid time right before and after the wedding. Bri is amazing — she brought her three boys (by herself) on the plane from D.C. so they could spend a few days with us before the wedding. It was great to hug and snuggle with Zach. Sometimes when I was packing him around, but not really paying attention to him, I would look down and he would be smiling and staring at me, just waiting to catch my eye, and then he'd grin even bigger! So cute! It was great hanging out with Trent and Garret. They loved jumping on my couch (they were shocked I said it was O.K.), picking pomegranetes and grapes, and making grape juice and cookies with Grandma. On the day before the wedding, they hung out with Grandpa Kirk all day at the Dinosaur Tracks Museum and McDonalds, and home watching movies, while Bri helped me get ready for the big day. Then, the week after the wedding, Shellie shocked us by coming up to stay at our house for 3 whole days (24 hrs. is usually her max). She decided to get away from the dusty remodeling going on at her home, so we got the benefit of extra time with the kids. Abby loved playing the piano with Grandma Nonie and snuggling Grandpa Kirk. She looks so much like Shellie did when she was that age. It was great to have more hugging time with Caynen (I sure love rocking babies), and listening to his cooing!

Open House in Lehi

We had a great time at Brian and Emily's open house in Lehi on Saturday night. It was wonderful seeing so many friends that we hadn't seen for a long time. We saw dear friends from the ward we attended in Kearns over 25 years ago - that was great! We loved reconnecting with our friend Beva, who was the reason we finally started family vacations when our kids were younger. We also got to visit my cousins and some of their family that we hadn't seen for quite a while. Kirk even had some former BYU Cheer squad members stop by - wow, that's a blast from the past! And I had one of my best friends from high school who made it. My only regret is that I was so busy gabbing (imagine that!) that I didn't think to pull out the camera until the very end - and even then, I only got a few pictures. And most unforgivable . . . I only got one picture of Mike (the Army wouldn't let him off for all the Friday events) - and its not even with Brian and Emily! I guess we'll have to photoshop him into the wedding pictures.

Wedding Day Images

Wedding Day and Blessing Day

Caynen Kirk Abittan shared the spotlight with Brian and Emily—he was blessed on their wedding day! Since we had almost all of our family and friends together, we decided that would be the perfect time to bless Shellie and George's little guy. I know that family on earth and family in Heaven were all happy to to see our precious baby boy blessed and a new eternal family started.

Emily's Wedding Shower

I travelled to Utah County last weekend for Emily's wedding shower. It was fun seeing her Mom again, and to meet her sisters, sister-in-law, and friends. Brian is lucky - he's marrying into a great family. The shower game proved that Emily and Brian know each other really well! You know those games where a video of the groom is taken, then the bride tries to match his answers and if she misses she has to chew another piece of gum? Well, Emily only had to chew about three pieces of gum - and there were 29 questions. I found out some fun things I didn't know - like they want four children, and Emily was the first one to say, "I love you." It was fun to have my Mom and sisters come down to join us. Thanks guys - you are always so supportive!

Uncle Scottie

Scott came home to visit this weekend, and to meet his nephew Caynen for the first time. It was the first time Shellie had brought the kids up to visit since Caynen was born at the end of July. Scott really likes living in college housing and enjoying the independent lifestyle. He has 4 roommies, and they all seem to be getting along just fine (they each have their own room - that's a bonus!). Scott rides his bike and the bus to get everywhere he needs. He gets himself to work on time, does all his own laundry, cooking, shopping, etc., and is even staying clean-shaven. Kirk and I are proud of the progress he's making.

Babies and Fishies

Kirk and I spent a couple of days with Shellie, George, Abby & Caynen in Las Vegas. We had a great time hugging, feeding, and playing with CUTE, CUTE babies. Caynen has such a sweet little smile (even at 3:00 in the morning!). Abby repeats just about everything you say - she calls me Noni (short for Grandma Joanie). A minor detail of the trip was that Kirk caught a bunch of stripers at Lake Mead (notice that he has a bigger smile while holding grandkids than he does while holding up the fish - that's quite a coup for the grandkids, since fishing ranks pretty high up there for Kirk).

Conference in the Mountains

Kirk and I spent the entire conference weekend up at our Kolob cabin. The leaves are just starting to turn, and it was so quiet and peaceful. It rained all day and night Saturday, but that just made it extra cozy inside listening to conference, popping popcorn, drinking hot chocolate, watching movies, and relaxing.

Conference was wonderful—I especially enjoyed President Monson's Sunday morning talk (although it made me cry when he reminded everyone to enjoy the everyday moments, especially with your family, because before you know it they are grown and gone). It was an amazing talk. Its probably something we should re-read once a month. Here's a link: http://www.lds.org/conference/talk/display/0,5232,23-1-947-26,00.html. Kirk then drove down off the mountain Saturday night to go to the Priesthood session in LaVerkin all alone. Its the first time in about 23 years (since Mike was 12) that he has gone to the General Priesthood Meeting alone, without at least one of his sons. He didn't go to the traditional after-priesthood-meeting seafood dinner, since there was no one to take. Life is a changing - its a little sad sometimes, but we're hanging in there and finding fun things to do together.

Yipee! Brian and Emily are Engaged

We're so excited that Brian and Emily have made it official, and are engaged to be married on Nov 7 in the St. George Temple. They will also have an open house in Lehi on Nov 8. Emily was raised in San Jose, California, but came to school at the University of Utah, where she and Brian met through mutual friends on a blind date to Lagoon (Grandpa and Grandma Barrett are excited since that's the location of their first date). Emily just graduated from the U with her master's degree in speech pathology, and she now works at IHC in Salt Lake helping stroke patients with their speech. She is also a talented artist. Emily fit right in with the family from the first time we met her, and we are thrilled to have her join our family.

Where, Oh Where Have Our Grandkids Gone?

Do we have bad breath or B.O? Do we tell lame jokes? Did we drop in unannounced? Did we (Joan) talk about coupons till it made you crazy? Or was it my extolling the virtues of whole wheat bread? A little too much unsolicited advice? Were the kids too messy (soaking wet) when you picked them up? Did I feed them junk food til they threw up?

It was bad enough that we had to travel clear across the country to see MIke & Bri's boys, or drive 2 hours to see Shellie & George's two, but now that Kenny and Christan have moved to D.C., we are totally and completely WITHOUT ANY GRANDKIDS IN ST. GEORGE!! I was so depressed, I had to go gorge myself on queso dip and Dr. Pepper at Chili's (thanks for the shoulder Pauline).

Kirk and I will try very hard to correct our faults (or maybe we'll have to resort to bribery) and enticed SOMEONE to move to St. George with our grandkids someday. In the meantime, I think I'll go check on a job at SkyWest!

D.C. Trip

Kirk and I had a great trip back to Washington D.C. to help with our new grandson, Zachary, to spend time with Mike and Bri's family, and to see Kenny's graduation. We loved watching Trent and Garret catch all kinds of bugs, butterflies, fish, minnows, tadpoles, fireflies, and anything else that swims, flys or crawls (even cockroaches - yuck!). We hiked at the Great Falls of the Potomac, visited the national aquarium in Baltimore, and the battlefields of Gettysburg. We whipped up goodies in the kitchen and shared a lobster and crab dinner with the boys. We added lots of hugging and tickling and had a wonderful time! We miss you Mike, Bri, Trent, Garret, and Zachy!