That Crazy Austin. What Will We Ever Do with Him?

My favorite part of this video is at the end. After being all tough and jumping the banister into the shallow lake, they're screaming, "Get out! It's cold!"

Today is your birthday!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOMMY!

Happy Halloween!

Can you guess who the people are in this picture?

Enjoy the fall and the candy!

Hey-guess-what?

im positive all yalls prolly already know, but just to be safe...
I recieved my mission call to Cuiaba Brazil!

October?

Bravo to Amber and her efforts with the family blog. September zipped by and now October is upon us. NEWS: yesterday Austin submitted his mission papers! Look out, world! Mack, who just got back from his mission is engagged to be marred in December! Sarah Smith will wed in November as well.

Elise, Brian, Geoff, Earl and Tim were here in our Ohio home from Sept 14-24th. Now that the dust has settled, you should see the results: a new lovely studio stands where once there was a dark and dismal attic. I can't believe how much they accomplished in just a week (taking time off for Cedar Point, Chipotle runs, the twins' birthday and Sunday). Thank goodness our house was spared the power outages all around us! Briana was without electricity, used our generator, and Kimmy was powerless for 4 days. The boys are certainly skilled, doing a fabulous job. We appreciated the use of Clay's pick-up.

While they were here, Elise made her "in a motherly way" announcement, thrilling us all. Immediately, Kimmy wanted to throw her a baby shower, so we did that on a Tuesday night. All of Elise's guest list friends came and we had a great time. It was a delight to have them here, but too soon they were gone and all is quiet again. Except when Austin plugs in his new electric guitar.

We have a new kitten. She is an adolescent gray and white tiger, AJ calls Callie. Now go get that chipmunk!

Happy Rosh Hashana to you all and remember to keep your promises of being good until Yom Kippur and beyond. That means you, Amber, don't eat all the Cheetos at one sitting. Aubrie said,"I love Cheetos!"

BTW, Dad's in Kansas City, Gina moves from Hawaii in one week and Keith and Keri have a new room in the basement too, thanks to Peons At Work.

I love you, all my favorite people!

Mom

"Come on, slow and easy-like. Write a post. That's a way. Do it and nobody gets hurt."

For a good time, click on the link to my blog in the upper right-hand corner of this page. It has my name underneath the header, "In the blog house". On my blog, I've posted my latest adventures presenting at UVU's Ethics Conference as well as my obsession with Cheetos. And then, once you've seen how it works (and that you can pretty much write about ANYTHING) you can write something here for us to share.

Come on, it'll make you feel good...

Campaign to Put an End to the Blogging Dearth

Well, what would YOU do if you had a caramel apple the size of your head?

Anyway, I thought I would post here to kick-start this blog. And after reading this, you should all be inspired to make posts of your own! Or, you could just leave comments. That would work, too.
So, the biggest news on the Watson front is that the kiddos are starting school Monday morning. It will be so strange- both of them gone all day. However, I will only be lost in quiet solitude for a week and a half, because school begins for me on the 27th. And, following last year's precedent, this semester will be a doozy.

This past summer has been busy with Elaina's baptism, Carter losing his first tooth, a trip to the North Carolina coast a few weeks ago for a Watson reunion, and many fun family trips and outings. I feel like the summer just flew by.

How is everyone else doing? How have your summers been? Write about it and let us know!

woah-dee doh-dee

Hello, first entry...
i went to singles ward today. i managed to obtain a womans number.. cha-chingg!!!

but church was good otherwise cuz it was fast and testimony meeting. an ex-atheist stood up to bare his feelings.. and i say bare his feelings because he doesn't truly have a testimony of the gospel yet.. i appreciated his honesty. Said he, "i don't have a testimony of this church but I'm searching hard for one.." or something to that effect.
anyhoozer, its late and i have work at Lowes tomorrow..

July 7 Gina's Birthday

We talked to the birthday girl today. She was overcome with emotion when she got her long-awaited gift. I was glad she was happy, even though she was missing out on the Idaho festivities, about which I will continue to report.

It is hot here still, but we enjoyed getting caught up with Grandma and Grandpa Smith, their home and health, etc. Also I spent time with Elise and visited her apartment. She is managing the paperwork of Brian's business and finishing up this semester of school at BYU-Idaho. My little Lisey; how I wish I could take her home with me!

At 6:00pm the over-forty Smiths met at O'Callahan's restaurant for a lovely steak dinner. Marvin and Janet had just returned from Oregon, Mack and Teri came, Dad and I and his folks. I enjoyed the view of the geese out on the river and the conversation. We ended up at Marv's for Janet's most wonderful gooey brownies and ice cream. The conversation was educational, stimulating and sometimes unbelievable, knowing the 3 brothers together! I laugh just thinking about it. I even got to see Sarah and Marion before they head off to job and school. Cute girls.
Will and Hilary stopped in to show off that sweet baby.

JULY 8

Teri was good enough to feed us dinner again today. It was nice to see Rachel, Walt and their 2 girls and thier apartment that Brian finished in Mack's basement. The fun news of the week: Robert got his mission call to Cleveland. Yey, he'll be close to home. His brother, Mack comes home in August. We got to see Miranda and her little Gavin on the 6th, so we saw all of Mack's kids. Marv's son, Suzy and thier 2 kids were at Grandma's b-day party too, along with Jeanette, so we saw all that family but Megan and her crew in Nebraska. The down side to all of this was that we had to say good-bye.

Elise came over to Grandma's and we had a rousing game of Chinese Checkers, that included Grandpa, Jeni and Aubrie too. It was too fun and we stayed up too late. Aubrie has been staying at Elise's and she even went to class with her today. College visit!

JULY 9

Elise had Aubrie back at the house, where we'd been staying, at 8:30am, for breakfast and departure. It's hard to say good-bye to my husband's mom and dad, because I love them so! I hugged them both, much to the smiles at Grandpa. I know he loves me too, since I was the only other woman in his life that hugged him since he was married. Too bad we live so far away, I'd check up on Mom like Elise does, bless her heart. It was harder to leave Elise. Boo hoo!

We drove to Tremonton and found Janet's new house. It's a gray stone house with two large garages, an open great room and kitchen. She was good enough to give us lunch, along with Greg and David. It's good to be able to put the Barton family in a new setting in our minds now.

Not far down the road, close to the freeway was another stop. Emma Lou's daughter, Dana Ashby happened to be visiting her in-laws. The dad, brother Ashby, as it turned out, was my dad's mission companion in Hawaii back in the 40's. Small world; we shared pictures. Dana was very kind and just as sweet as her mom, and lives in Michigan. We'll have to visit there.

Our journey south in the Elscalade finally got us back to Amber's. I couldn't wait to wrap my arms around Elaina and Carter again. But after collecting our things and packing some boxes, it was time to leave another special daughter. Amber has been so good to us, she's such a great cook and willing to give us every convenience. But hugs and tears later, we were on the road back to Fruit Heights, where Emma Lou was planning dinner for us.

I called Keith, hoping that by some outside chance, he had time to see us again before we left town. He was working late, they were preparing to leave for Texas the next day. Who knew they would get to be NASCAR drivers there after Keri's PA Assoc. meetings?? We should have gone with them! With our short and busy trip and their busy lives, we only got to see them at the Open House and the baptism. I hold those moments dear that I can hold them close to me also. So tears follow me again to my mountain home.

Emma Lou's dinner was great, it was a pleasure to be with her and my dad. I think I would have stayed up all night talking to him, and still not had enough.

more vacation July 08

SUNDAY, JULY 6

Sorry my entries are backwards, but that is the way I'm entering them, one at a time.
It was a fast Sunday, but I had to make sure Dad had some of that great breakfast casserole to keep his strength up for a big day. There will come a day when he can fast again! We left early, so we could arrive in Logan by 11 am to see Will and Hilary's baby Claire blessed. Elise had taken Aubrie back up to Idaho yesterday, so she could teach her Sunday School class this morning.

The drive was beautiful, as we headed north: there were the North Ogden Mtns. which I love; they're so jagged and tall. Then we made our way through Sardine Canyon, which I haven't seen for many years. I have missed the area and my heart smiled when we entered Cache Valley. Nibley was on our way, so we turned off the main highway, found our old Nibley Ward building where Keith G. was blessed as a baby(it is now a day care). Then by chance, we drove right past our white house! The whole place was so different, I know I never would have found it on purpose.

We found Will's ward and then came Janet, Kevin, David, Greg, Jeni, Danny and Des. Then, much to my surprise, arrived Amber, Jeff and the kids! Jeff had got up and said,"Let's go to Logan!" Yey, good idea. Will gave little Claire a beautiful blessing and it was quite a sight as those 14 elders stood in a circle.

The new father blessed Claire Marie that she would be full of the Spirit; to be sensitive to its whisperings. He prayed that she would discern between right and wrong and have the strength, the courage, and the valor to follow the promptings to stand for the right. She was blessed that she would find a special son of God that would take her to be sealed in the temple for eternity. Health and strength was prayed for as well as a big heart with a large capacity to love others. Finally she was admonished to "always have charity".

Hilary's father bore his testimony in the meeting as well, hoping that Claire would hear it. It was a powerful statement of truths. I was just glad I could sit by Elaina, the most perfect member of the whole church!

After the meeting, all the family and friends of Will and Hilary met in a park and enjoyed a nice picnic lunch. What could have been more welcome on this sunny Sabbath than a loaded baked potatoes and all the watermelon you could desire. I felt that Hilary's mother looked familiar, and then I found out she was formerly Billie Bybee and her mom and my mom were best friends in the Val Verda Ward in Bountiful back in 1957.

We picked up some extra travelers, Jeni and David Barton to go with us to Idaho Falls. Their long legs were getting cramped in a car full of family. By the time we got there it was around 5:00 and Teri had a wonderful supper awaiting a lot of people for Grandma Smith's 80th Birthday Party. It was so good to hug Mom and Dad Smith again. Connie and Brent Chettle and their daughter, Chris were there, along with all the Smith kids and grandkids that could make it. Of my children, there was Aubrie, Elise and Brian. We were all then surprised when couisin Elaine, her husband Marty Crapo and their girls Emily and Rebecca and even Aunt Winifred arrived. Elaine was overcome when she saw her cousin Keith bald, threw her arms around his neck and cried.

After singing the birthday song and blowing out the candles, she started opening her gifts. Dad and I gave her a figure of Mary, Joseph and little Jesus "Flight into Egypt" carved out of olive wood that we'd got for her in Israel. I think she really liked it. Just then a sound came floating on the evening breeze. Grandma remarked that someone must have their radio turned up. Then the sound came closer, the sound of a lone bagpiper. She marveled at that and then we opened the gate and in marched a piper in full kilt uniform, playing "Scotland the Brave". Grandma remarked, "I think I've died and gone to heaven" and then he played on. He played "Flower of Scotland" and she wept, explaining that it was her father's favorite song. Grandpa was moved as well and everyone enjoyed the private concert by a very accomplished musician.
The final song was "Amazing Grace", he went out the gate and was gone. I had enlisted Corrie Nickle a month ago and boy did he come through! It was quite the party.

Robert and Shelly were preparing, with their boys, to go back to Washington. It was nice to spend at least a little bit of time with them. Janet and Kevin headed back to their new house in Tremonton, and we drove Mom and Dad home. Your dad and I headed to town, where we spent the night at the new Hilton Garden Inn on the river, across from the temple. What a splendid view!

vacation, continued

Elise and Brian arrived at Grandpa's from Idaho! So glad they were able to come for the week-end! My siblings and I practiced "Kokomo" for our talent for the Child family reunion on Saturday. Next, we approached our challenge of going through mother's things she had left in the china cabinet. We 5 are as close as any 5 people I know; as are Dad's 5 Smith siblings; what a blessing. Mutual love and respect abounds and that was evident as we took turns expressing our memories and wishes in reguard to Mom's "treasures".

When we got back to Amber's at night, Aubrie, Elise, Amber and I made an assembly line for the many breakfast sausage casseroles Amber had planned for the brunch after the baptism.

Saturday, July 5th

We all had to get going early to be ready for ELAINA's Baptism at 9:00am. Ramona and John Watson arrived with a special gift: Ramona had made a beautiful white dress for Elaina to wear on her important day. I fixed her hair and away we all went to the stake center in Pleasant Grove. We met in the Relief Society room and I was glad to see Keith & Keri walk in, along with Elise and Brian, Danny and Des. I played the piano, Keith said a prayer, Dad gave a talk on Baptism, quoting Keri, "Charity never faileth", and then Jeff performed the ordinance. John Watson gave a talk on the Holy Ghost, siting varied experiences when the Spirit has prompted him in his life. The bishopric member welcomed Elaina to the fold and Elise gave the closing prayer. I was overcome with a feeling of the Holy Ghost in the room, so thankful I could be there.

summer Vacation 08 2nd attempt

When we arrived in SLC July 3 in the evening, we rented our car (Aubrie's choice) and headed to Pleasant Grove, where Amber had invited us to stay. Much to our exceeding delight, Jeff grilled some juicy steaks and we ate cherries, Amber's strawberry pie, and loved seeing them and their beautiful children again.

Early the next morning, the 4th of July, I was up and headed to Fruit Heights to see my Papa and meet his new wife, Emma Lou for the first time. She was everything Keith and Keri, Amber, and Austin had told me she was: kind, happy, accepting, full of life, and loves my dad. What a blessing she is to our family! Then I greeted my sisters, Lyn, Mim, and then Ellen with all the love I have for them. We all got busy helping prepare the food and the church for the Open House. How fun it was to see Mark and Debbie. Do you know how lucky I feel to be the middle Child?

People began to arrive at 1:00 and I started looking for my own kids I haven't seen for so long... Keith and Keri came and it was so good to hold them close! They looked great! Amber, Jeff, Elaina and Carter brought my bald husband to see all the aunts, uncles and cousins and friends too. Of course, they were anxious about Keith and asked about how the chemo treatments were going. We were glad to give a positive report.

Without going into a lot of detail, the food was good, the crowd was delightful and I think Dad and Emma Lou had a fun time sharing their happiness. Even 90 yr-old Uncle Ray Barton came. We cleaned up the church and headed bacvk to Papa's for his birthday party. A more harmonious rendition of Happy Birthday could never be found, I do believe. We kids donated money to his next favorite project: a paint job for the old Rambler and then we all ate coconut cake.

Summer Vacation 08

What I did on my summer vacation, by Mom, Kathleen, Grandma or Tweety, depending on who reads it. It was rainy and cool when Austin drove Aubrie, Dad and I to the airport. (Austin promised to take good care of the house and feed my fishes, which he did very well)

p.s. This should have appeared before the last post. I'll get the hang of this.

Thank You!

A HUGE thank you to all of you who were able to come to Elaina's baptism this past week! It was a very special day- made even more wonderful by all the family and friends who were able to come. And Elise, if you're reading this, send me pictures!! For those of you who couldn't come, I should have some more pictures to post soon and we hope that it won't be too much longer before we can see everyone again!

Posts, Anyone?

I was just wondering if anyone else had tried to post something on here and was unsuccessful. I don't know if I've set this up right yet. So, please give me some feedback so I can get this running smoothly. Any experiences good or bad, please let me know and I'll work it out. I know this IT guy who might be able to help if we have troubles... And the video? We went boating on Saturday and I thought I'd show off Jeff's skills.

One more thing...

The address for the Pleasant Grove Stake Center is: 275 East 500 South, Pleasant Grove, UT 84062. Please call if you need directions. (801) 785-7295.

Elaina's Baptism

It's hard to believe this little girl is eight already! In case any of you are checking this blog, I thought I'd post a little reminder that Elaina is getting baptized on Saturday, July 5th at 9:00am. It will take place at our stake center, which is just a mile from our house. (Maybe I'll post directions later, or you can call me and get them.) I'll be doing a brunch afterward- so stay if you can. I'll try not to conflict too much with the Child family reunion happening later on that day.

Anyway, save the date and please come!

Welcome to the Blog!

Alright, Smiths. You do not need to have a personal blog to be a part of this one, and you don't need advanced computer skills, either. I'm going to try and get this up and running so we can keep track of what's going on in each other's lives, fer cryin' out loud.

I don't know about the rest of you, but things at our house have been crazy. In the event we're in town, we're probably not home and probably not in a state to have telephone conversations until 11:30 at night, when I finally flop into a chair, half asleep. This is lame, and I feel like I'm missing out on a lot of what's going on with each of you.

So here's the deal: the Watson family started a blog, everyone has been posting and it has been wildly successful. So, I was hoping we could try it out on our family. Write about your day, your work, your house, your pets, your kids, or just ask random questions, vent, rant, share your pictures, whatever! Just let's keep up with what's going on with each other!