2011 Events in a Nut Shell

2011 was very busy and eventful: Let us bore you with a rundown and details!!!!

Starting in January we took a trip to Anchorage, Alaska for visit with Jason and Carolyn,
Jeremy, Autumn, Eliza and for the blessing of our newest granddaughter Noelle
Smith.
February was fun with a trip to Disneyland with the two California families. Kevin, Amanda, Ian,
Megan and Hunter (Truckee, CA) and Brian, Wendy, Tyler and Jarrett (Belmont, CA)
In April we spent some time with Troy and his family in Gainesville, VA and we were able to participate
in some fun events in the lives of our grandchildren.
June was exciting because we had an opportunity to travel to Chicago, Karrie and Brayden’s home, participate
in Parker’s Deacon ordination and take each of the grandkids out of school for
a lunch break.
July brought a great adventure to Yosemite and the giant redwoods in Kings Canyon and Sequoia national parks with
just the two of us.
August was fun because we were able to enjoy visits with Karrie’s
family for three weeks and then Alyssa and Madison (Troy/Tammy’s girls) came
for a week.
In October we went on a cruise through the Panama Canal. The canal was fantastic but the
zip lines through the rain forest was also very exciting, especially at our
age.
November and December
was spent at home with Carol’s 91 year old mother, the California families. (Brian and Kevin).

We are in our third year serving in the Walnut Creek YSA Ward
and spend a lot of time helping plan, doing activities and feeding hungry young
adults.

Retirement is the BEST!!!

Great Times!

Our trip to Virginia was terrific. Still trying to get an updated picture of Alyssa!!! for such a beautiful girl she sure is picky about her pictures!!! Madison has turned into a rubberband. She receive three metals at the statewide gymnastic competition--4th place on the balance beam, 5th place for the floor exerise and 5th place overall. It was amazing to watch. Justin loves to draw and loves computer games and Callen is learning to read and is do really well at that.

We all went rock climbing at a gym close by-by all I mean the Smith's 44 and under!!!

Troy had to work, Tammy was taking a exercise class and the kids were in school, so Dad and I just took off during the day and did some site seeing which was really fun for us.

This week the Truckee g-kids are spending time with g-ma and g-pa while Amanda and Kevin go on a cruise to Mexico. The first thing Ian wanted to do this morning was to make a Matrix!!! Hum-m-m!!! Where did he get that!!!

Real Catch Up Time!

For the last 6 weeks I had bunion surgery with a complication of a MRSA staff infection. Today the pick-line (for infusion of antibiotics) was removed. I feel so liberated and I'm sure Dave is estatic too as he had to do the infusions.

We are off to Virginia next week to vist with the Gainesville Smith's and watch Madison complete in a Statewide Gymnastic competition. We come home for a few week and we're off to Chicago to participate in the ordination of Parker to a Deacon. What would we do and where would we go if it wasn't for our Grandkids and our adult children!!!

Catch Up!!!

March, April, May and June have been exciting months for us. We have been able to travel to Virginia, Chicago and Belmont to watch grandchildren while their parents were away for a while. It was fun for us to get to spend time with the g-kids without parents around. They are truely terrific young people!!!

Kevin and Amanda moved to Truckee, CA and we can hardly believe we have two of our families in California. We were able to spend alittle time with them in Utah right before they moved and I must say Amanda handled a new baby, a husband changing jobs, moving, packing and in-laws staying like a champ.

We are headed to Alaska the 3rd of August for Jeremy's baptism-so we will have been able to visit with the whole family this year. Can it get any better???!!!

What a Month!!!

Dave's Dad, who had been struggling with his health, past away Feb. 7th. The last time we visited with him he expressed how he hated going though his health issues without Betty Rose. This was about 3 week before he pasted away. We are sad that both of them are gone now and we will miss them, but we know how happy they must be together and no longer struggling with their health.


We also had a new grandson, Hunter Stone, on the same day as Daves' Dad's funeral. Since the only people reading this blog are our family, you can go to Kevin and Amanda's blog to read all about it. It is quite the story. It's another testiment that we are truely children of a loving Heavenly Father and He watches over us.

On the lighter side!!!

One of the things I have struggled with is making bread. The family will atest to the fact that I have been asked not to try. Well, I have succeeded with pictures to prove it. So, family, cross that item of the list of things to tease Mom about!!!


This may not seems like a big deal to most people, but to the Smith Clan this has real meaning!!!


Two loaves of actual Bread Bread Rising Wow!!!!

A Taste of Winter! January 2010

We spent a few days in Utah visiting with the Utah Smith's and checking in on Dave's Dad. Burl and Dennis were in Hawaii so we stayed in their home. What a treat! We had a great week visiting with family. Our trip home was going good until we got to Reno and Highway 80 closed over Donner Pass, and actually that was kind of fun too as we spent an extra night in Reno. We took this picture going over the mountain the next morning. It was just beautiful--I know this isn't a big deal to people who live in the snow, but being able to just go THROUGH the snow and arriving home, pulling into the garage without having to shovel snow was a big deal to us!

Happy Thanksgiving, Halloween, New Year and Merry Christmas,

Thats how long it's been since my last post. Wow!!!

Since our last post, Dave and I did a 5 week trip across the country in September and October and loved every minute. (I found out that if you resize your picture you get really skinny.)

Dave's Mother past away on Thanksgiving Day,

so we were in Utah for about 10 days.

She was a terrific lady and we will miss her.

We've been partying every weekend with the Young Single Adults and although we aren't night owls and usually leave by 10:00 they are very kind and loving to us.