Thank you Shellie and George for making our trip to Washington D.C. possible! Thanks for always being so generous with all of us. We're so grateful you're in our family - We love you!!!!!.

Three New Grandsons!!

Yeah, all three of my new grandsons are here safe and sound. We are so blessed. It has been a crazy time with babies popping everywhere! Christan went first on July 18 with Drew (we got Kenny here from D.C. 3 hours before he was born),
Shellie came next on the 21st with Caynen (her drama was after the birth - way, way too many stitches), and Bri got her little Zachary here on July 31 (after just about having him on the street!). So the Smith grandsons all made grand entrances into the world. And I'll bet family reunions in a few years are going to be crazy with these three!

36 Years . . . and Counting

It was one of our first dates, feeding the ducks at Utah Lake - and the next thing you know, we've been married 36 years! On June 13, 1972, Kirk and I were married in the Salt Lake Temple. Since then it has been quite the ride with Kirk - always something exciting going on in his life (playing Cosmo, getting shot at with sawed off shotguns, being chased by crazy guys with hatchets, hanging out with Warren Jeffs, surviving four elections) — and I've just hung on for the ride. Love you Smitty - let's do 36 more!

Summer Fun

On Memorial Weekend we had the whole family, except Mike's family (sure missed you guys!), for Sunday dinner.


Emily kept the kids entertained while dinner was being fixed.


Uncle Kenny had a tickle session with Abby.




Last week Bailey and Corbin and I met Pauline and Brittany and Brittany's two kids, Logan and Raylie, at the new Town Square in St. George. They had a ball wading in the river and playing in the sun.
After getting wet, we all went to Judd's Store and bought ice cream. While we were there, Bailey and Corbin, wanted to buy candy just like their Dad used to do when he went to school at Woodward in the 6th grade. They even made sure they bought his favorite candy, a Sugar Daddy.

Happy Birthday Garret Carrot

There is a cute boy — Garret Carrot
He has genes from his great Grandpa Barrett
He loves to catch bugs
Frogs, centipedes and slugs
Would someone please get him a ferret?

(Go to Mike & Bri's blog page to see Garret's latest critter catch).

O.K., so I'm no poet, but I forgot to post something on Garret's actual birthday, since we celebrated two weeks early—is that a good enough excuse? Garret is such a fun grandson - he is full of life - full of it! (reminds me of a poem I wrote about his Daddy). He loves to sing rock songs, made-up songs, and Primary songs. He's a great dancer, gymnast, and rock climber, too. He is good to talk to us on the phone about his day or to say thanks, or to ask when we're coming to visit. He is very loving to us and gives great hugs . . . oh, maybe I could re-do the limerick:

There is a cute boy — Garret Carrot
who lives so far away I can't bear it!
Besides catching bugs
He gives great big hugs
He'll be an American Idol someday - I swear it!

Love you Garret!

Fowlks Lobster Fest!

We've been so lucky to have our great friends, Ron & Pauline Fowlks, for over 30 years. There is a huge list of why they are wonderful friends, and pretty high on the list is: THEY LOVE GOOD FOOD - AND THEY SHARE IT WITH US!!! They invited us over Friday to share fresh lobster shipped to them from Maine. Wow - was it good— We have never eaten so much lobster, and have never had it taste so good! We pretty much had to just roll out of there. Thanks Ron & Pauline!

Fun with Mike and Bri's Family in D.C.

I had a great time in Washington D.C. visiting Mike, Bri, Trent and Garret. We did simple things with the kids that I can't do with them so far away - we went to Trent's T-Ball practice (Mike and Bri are his coaches), had Garret's 4th birthday party, spent a lot of time at the park, and at the river catching minnows and looking for weird bugs under rocks. Trent and Garret and I even had a sleep-over at a hotel (3 of us in a king size bed eating crackers and playing Crazy 8's). It was all great. Christan, Bailey and Corbin came too, to visit Kenny. It's really fun seeing the cousins having fun together. The only real sight-seeing thing we did was go to the D.C. Temple and Visitor's Center on Sunday afternoon. Kirk is looking forward to going along next time - probably in August to combine seeing Mike and Bri's new baby and for Kenny's graduation.