Birthday Fun

I celebrated a great birthday while Kirk and I were in Washington, D.C. I was treated like a "Queen for the Day" (does anyone remember that TV show? Or am I really dating myself?). I was baked 2 cakes - and given a third while I was treated to dinner at Macaroni Grill. It was great being with Mike and Kenny's families, and the homemade cards and poem by the grandkids were great! Bailey spent at least 4 hours making me a calendar - I'm using it at work now. Christan outdid herself in picking out my card since she wanted to one-up Kenny. When he was on his mission in Argentina, Kenny went to get a birthday card for Brian - but the only thing he could find was a pink card that said, "Happy Birthday Little Sister." So he sent it anyway and started the "not so sure this fits the occasion" birthday card tradition. I've received sympathy cards, baptism cards, and even bar mitzva cards on my birthday. Christan always apologizes for Kenny's choices - but when it was her turn to pick one out for me, she went for the shock value (hers is the last one on the right). It worked!

Good Times in D.C.

Kirk and I had a great time while we were in Washington D.C. for Kirk's Sheriffs Convention. Of course, the best part was being with Mike & Bri and Kenny & Christan's families. We also got in some sight-seeing: the National Cathedral, National Archives, Natural History Museum (Madagascar hissing cockroaches were a hit), Mt. Vernon, and the Newseum, a news museum where the visiting exhibit was on the FBI's first 100 years (since we have our own family G-Man, that was extra interesting). We also tended kids while Mike and Bri went to the Holocaust Museum. It was fun to see Mike coach and Trent' play basketball. I had fun sliding on the ice and searching for critters along the frozen stream with Trent and Garret, and we all got to enjoy a rare D.C. snow/ice storm and go sledding with all the kids on Bailey and Corbin's backyard hill. We played innumerable games of Marco Polo, Alien Brain Sucking Game, and Jolly Jolly Butcher Boy (one of the games I played as a kid). Of course, hugging Drew and Zachary was wonderful. Could it get more fun than that? We loved every minute!

Skinny Legs, Big Hair, and Cool Girbaud Jeans

These big-haired, skinny-legged people all trying on the same pair of Girbaud jeams, are the Smith family 20 years ago. Back in 1989, our friend Beva Shelby sent a pair of Girbaud jeans (the hottest brand around at the time) to Shellie, who was dying for a pair—which we couldn't afford. We decided Shellie shouldn't be the only cool one in the family, so we each tried them on, and then sent pictures to Beva. We hadn't seen the pictures since then, so when Beva emailed them to us last week, we got a great laugh out of it. Oh to be young and skinny again! Thanks for the memories Beva!

Christmas Fun

We thought it might be a hard Christmas since so many in our family wouldn't be able to be with us—but it turned out to be a good day. Shellie, George, Abby and Caynen and Scott came and stayed for two days, and we had lots of fun. Abby and I had our first cooking experience with Abby on Grandma's cooking chair. We made George's favorite whole wheat pancakes (Grandma Barrett's famous recipe), read from the scriptures, opened gifts, ate lots of good food, and also lots of junk food, and just enjoyed being together. George wanted to make sure we played the infamous Smith Christmas chimes on Christmas Eve, but we didn't have enough people to do a song without George having to play two chimes at once (he's very coordinated in every way, except for chime playing!). We planned to play them when we had the bigger group, but we forgot! Our friends, Ron, Pauline and Sharise let us crash their Christmas tradition of going to a movie on Christmas Day, and we all watched "Marley and Me" together. It was great hearing a few sniffles coming from tough guy Ron sitting behind us. My nephew, David, and his wife, Taylor, were special Christmas angels and volunteered to babysit Abby and Caynen while the rest of us went to the movie. After that we went home and prepared and ate a turkey dinner. We ended up with 12 people there, but we lost two when David and Taylor's baby thought he wanted to come and she went into labor. It turns out the baby was just teasing—he didn't actually come until New Year's Day. We had lots of fun, but we sure missed Mike, Bri, Trent, Garret, Zach, Kenny, Christan, Bailey, Corbin, Drew, Brian and Emily.

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!