Spanish Fork Cemetery

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Jimmy’s parents were here on President’s Day. His Dad’s idea of a fun day was finding ancestors grave sites. Even though it was cold and there was more snow on the ground than we hoped for, we headed south to Spanish Fork Cemetery. We had no idea where the graves were and it was a large cemetery. Sigh… So – we all headed out in our cars in different directions. We came to a place where there was more grass so we stopped to let the kids run around while we looked. Jimmy walked right over to one spot… found all the graves we were looking for. Honestly – it was a cemetery miracle. It really was so neat that of all places we stopped, it was right by the Smith Family Ancestors. These were really neat tombstones too. The boys loved running around and digging in the snow.
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Utah Temple Tour: Manti

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Once upon a time – in 2008… we started the Smith Family Utah Temple Tour… in hopes that we could make it to most of the temples in Utah. Well… we finally made it to Manti. On our 8 hour drive home, we went up 89… and came to Manti at sunset. It was fun to go up and down the 71 steps on the Samuel the Lamanite Wall. There were many great rocks to climb on. What a lovely temple on the hill.02 february 2013 instagram7

Ever been to Koosharem?

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This cemetery was adventurous.
1. We couldn’t find it and drove around that small town for a while.
2. I loved the sign and town name (Sharem… what’s the ‘koo’ for?)
3. It was FREEEEEEEZING and the kids still enjoyed running around.
4. We found the graves we were looking for… Aunt Julie’s namesake… Julia Estella Bagley. Also found Sidney Orlando Rust’s grave. Sabra Hatch was another one that Grandma Smith was pleased to find.
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Over the Mountain to Orderville

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On Sunday, we took the scenic by-way (aka… the long way home) to see some places that Grandma Ruth Smith lived… and to check out a few cemeteries. Grandpa Smith was overjoyed that we came with them.

We drove over Cedar Mountain (which was very beautiful). We hopped out a few times to see the view (of Zions in the distance) and to help the carsick tots (Hannah & Abe).st george funeral with gr gr smith1

We saw Grandma Ruth Smith’s parent’s graves and the site where they lived… though the house had been knocked down and a new one built in it’s place. Eliza loved running around to escape her car seat!
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Pioneer Park Hiking

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Everyone had convinced me that we wouldn’t have any time after the funeral, cemetery, luncheon to do any activities in St. George. So – I didn’t bother packing play clothes. Yep – I should have. We went to Pioneer Park to do a little hiking. I felt like a pioneer in my church clothes and dainty shoes. I decided not to worry about ruined shoes or clothes and just be glad that the kids were having a complete blast. Tru – loved it. Eliza – loved it. Yep – they all loved it. We love hiking and exploring! p.s. please note that Hannah was prepared and brought jeans and tennis shoes. Way to go girlie!02 february 2013 instagram3

Lillian Ruth Rust Smith Funeral

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I need to get a copy of the Obituary for Grandma Smith, but until then, we’ll record what we remember from the funeral. Abe remembered that Grandma Smith told her grand-daughter Marni that she needed to be a cub scout leader. So – Marni asked to be the Wolf Leader for her boys. Hannah remembered that Grandma Smith’s sister, Marjorie showed her a doll named Donald that she and Grandma used to play with as girls. Truman, enjoyed a nice potty break in the middle of the funeral. He came back in with Jimmy and announced quite loudly in the middle of Emily’s glorious singing of Oh Divine Redeemer, “I went potty Mommy.!” Sigh… Eliza slept through most of the funeral. Oh joy! I learned a lot of great things about Grandma… that she was a quiet, mellow person who was very loving and kind. She said “you can never have enough tomatoes in your garden… to share with neighbors.” Uncle Rusty told a story about how he crumbled up his math homework in frustration. His mother, Grandma Smith came to him in his room with an ironed and erased paper and taught him patiently how to do division. Sweet.02 february 20131

Grandma was buried in the St. George cemetery next to her husband who passed away 16 years ago. The kids loved gathering pinecones while the adults talked. Grandpa Smith said the prayer at the gravesite. Brock, the child whisperer, helped with Truman. All the kids love Brock!
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We saw the SUN

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Before the funeral we let the kids run off some energy at the park by the St. George Tabernacle. Oh, they smiled… and laughed… and had a great time. Truman was happy! He needs sun, grass, wind, and exercise. Liza wasn’t sure what to think about grass… but soon realized it was safe to run on. We love the sun and hope to have more warmth here soon.02 february 2013 instagram6

Cedar City

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We stayed at Jimmy’s Aunt’s Family’s house. Did that make sense? It’s an extra house they keep for relatives passing through town. It was great! Our family had the master bedroom. We had 3 air mattresses for the oldest three. Tru and Liza ended up sleeping in our king-size bed. Liza didn’t sleep well at all, but she would have nothing to do with her pack-n-play. We made spaghetti and waffles and the younger smith adults played a lot of games. Our kids played lots of hide-n-seek… With 5 bedrooms & 5 bathrooms, there were oodles of places to hide.st george funeral with gr gr smith

The Long Drive

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This past weekend we drove to St. George to spend time with Jimmy’s family… to attend Grandma Smith’s funeral. We spent oh, like 12+ hours in the van. Overall… I’d say the kids did pretty well… Ipods and Jimmy’s Tablet with movies helped everyone. Zuzu had the hardest time. See everyone all cozied up… Tru has a blanket on his head because it was too bright for him. I read most of this parenting book, “The Entitlement Trap”. It provided some good conversation for Jimmy and I. Hannah did lots of reading and math problems. Max mostly asked, “Are we there yet?” like a hundred times. Abe helped with Liza and attempted to keep the positive thoughts coming. We had lots of potty breaks… lots of snacks… lots of time together.02 february 2013 instagram4

“What are we supposed to be doing out here?”

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2012 12 dec instagramwith tears in his eyes in the 24 degree weather, Abe asked, “What are we supposed to be doing out here?” I just don’t think looking at Christmas lights in the cold means quite as much to kids – even at Temple Square. When asked to share one good thing about our evening this was the response:

Max: “It was so beautiful.”
Abe: “I’m grateful that mom bought us food and helped to kept us warm.”
Hannah: “I loved it all.”
Mom: “I loved when we had that one happy moment with nobody crying or sad.”

We had a nice time visiting with Amy’s family. Trevor and Abe made White Chocolate Party Mix. We had sloppy joes. Amy got lots of loves from Liza, a few seconds with Truman on her lap playing Angry Birds Stars Wars (sigh…), and lots of quick conversations and smiles from Max. My kids love to see Aunt Amy.

We crashed their activity in SLC to see CityCreek & Temple Square lights. They were nice to help with the tots. I’ll tell ya what though – keeping track of 3 kids is much easier than 5 kids. We used our $5 McDonalds gift-certificates from Grandma Smith for dinner. The kids loved that! We stopped by Farrs and had a sample of some tasty yogurt & some hot chocolate & apple cider. We made it home without frost-bite and snuggled in for a long night’s sleep.

Adventures in Wintertime!!!