Part Three Sentimental Journey

Oh, good! I finally got the photos on the blog in the right order! Do you like the front gate? Really different, huh? Ok, this house is green, not blue, and certainly not like what we lived in. The gravel in front of us used to be beautiful green grass that our mother worked so hard to put in so many years ago. Sheri, Marsha and Kent pose in this one.

We walked down the block toward the lake and realized how close we had lived to it as children. Kent told us a story about the only time he went there and why he never went back again. Ask him sometime. Government housing was torn down a block from our old home and now there is a fun water park and picnic area with tall trees and green grass growing down to the lake, with no beach. The old Moses Lake High School is now the Junior High across the street from the house. We walked down the block to the church. It is twice the size of our memory with additional classrooms and a larger parking lot. Uncle Jake and Aunt Orva's house by the parking lot has been torn down and is part of the parking lot.

It has been a great experience for me, to see the places of the distant past and have them put into reality again. I enjoyed sharing the memories with my husband and the others. I don't know if they enjoyed hearing them!

Sunday morning, we ate the free breakfast in the hotel, checked out and attended church in the building we had been in many times. The chapel felt so small compared to when I was a kid! The inside of the building had changed, just like everything else! We enjoyed all the meetings and tried to find people we knew or were related to and found a couple of them, but it was hard to find people still living that were there 5o years ago. The ward members were "newcomers" and only two or three had any inkling of who we were. That was ok with me.

After church, we drove around to find Midway Elementary School.
Kent and Sheri pose below the Midway Elementary School sign. We attended school here until June, 1959, when I was in fifth grade. It was built when just before I was in the second grade. It was about 4-5 blocks from our home. The SUV is our rental vehicle while on this journey, and the rest of our group stayed in the car while Eileen snapped the photo.

We stopped at an Albertson's Grocery Store and bought several kinds of flowers for our dad's grave at Kent's suggestion, and went back to visit his grave one more time. We laid and sat in the grass and talked about our dad and our lives. Then we said goodbye and drove out of town.
Sheri poses in front of the entering Moses Lake sign. Hope you can see it. Nobody else wanted to get out of the car. Don't blame them. It was a hot day!
Our return trip to Spokane and on to Salt Lake City was peaceful and restful, but we felt really worn out and glad to be home again. Kent and Eileen acted as great guides and hosts and we felt truly loved and pampered! Thank you very much for your great Christmas Gift to us! We really enjoyed it!

Part Two Sentimental Journey

Saturday morning, August 7, 2010, we decided to find a Denny's restaurant for breakfast since we couldn't eat at our "favorite" place. Before we reached Spokane, we found a Denny's, but right next to it appeared a European Breakfast Restaurant, with Germanic architecture. There was no dissension about where to go for breakfast when we saw that place! It was adorable! European decorations and sayings were at the windows and every space on the walls. The menus were even fun to read with a story about each item to choose. We all enjoyed something different like biscuits and gravy, Swedish pancakes, aebleskivers, omelets, German potato pancakes, or eggs Benedict with the most delicious Hollandais sauce ever imagined! We really wanted to stay until lunch or take some with us, but our stomachs were too full to complete the thought, so we left with happy hearts and went on our way.

We spent a few minutes at the Spokane Temple, enjoying the peaceful surroundings and beautiful landscaping. A nice pavilion and baseball field adjoined the temple grounds. It too, belongs to the church.

We stopped in Cheney, Washington, a few miles off of I-90 to visit Enoch Lybbert and his wife, Donna, and daughter, Debbie Kerkes and her granddaughter. They gave us maps of Moses Lake and shared some stories of our Lybbert people. Enoch is the grandson of Enoch Lybbert, one of the sons of CFB and Anthonette Lybbert.

The land surrounding Spokane is close to mountains and is covered with pine trees, but as we drove to Moses Lake, the land flattened out and became rocky and treeless. The arable land appeared green or gold with crops of corn, wheat and potatoes. Upon entering Grant County, we read a sign that claimed more potatoes were grown there than in any other county in the US.

We drove through Moses Lake out to the cemetery, found our father's grave with the new headstone Kent ordered. His grave is close to a corner, across the street from the little house where the caretaker lives, about the third grave from the street and close to a pump house. A huge pine tree makes a shady spot for our dad's resting place.

This first photo is Marsha, Kent and Sheri behind Dad's grave. You can see the pump house to my left and the pine tree to Marsha's right.
Eileen and I took photos of Nelson, Marsha, Darrell and Kent. There is an irrigation pipe running in front of us nearly over the headstone. Sorry, I don't know how to turn this photo around.
Eileen, Kent, Nelson and Marsha contemplate.

The next activity was going to Forrest Lybbert's house on his farm close to the graveyard, and visiting with him and his wife Betty. Forrest is Uncle Jake's son from his first wife, Elma Goodrich. (Uncle Jake married our mother's older sister, Orva Eaton, after his first wife died leaving him five children to raise. Uncle Jake also is the youngest child of CFB and Anthonette Lybbert. Jake's sister, Mary Sophia Elizabeth Lybbert, married William Porter Merrell. They had a daughter named Irene, who married Luther Gale. Luther and Irene had a son named Bruce Gale. Bruce Gale married DeLoy Eaton, the sister of Uncle Jake's second wife. Did you get that? No surprise if you didn't. Anyway, Uncle Jake is our uncle in two ways. another related tidbit is that Nelson Williams' grandmother is Elma Goodrich's sister.) It was Uncle Jake who brought many people from Vernal and other Utah towns to help settle and farm in the area around Moses Lake. The Grand Coulee Dam had been built before World War II and after it was over many people migrated to Washington for the rich, inexpensive farmland now available because of the new water source.

Anyway, Forrest and Betty were so kind to visit with us and take us on a tour around Moses Lake and the town named after it. He showed us everything we could remember plus some we didn't even know about the people and places in Moses Lake's past and present. We saw the sand dunes where hundreds of people enjoy the sun, water and three-or four-wheeling in the dunes. The tour included old downtown and farms, Grandpa Gale's property and May and Hiawatha Valleys, beautiful new homes built in a neighborhood where some streets are named Goodrich and Vernal and many other sites.

After returning Forrest and Betty to their home, we checked into our hotel, ate a great dinner at a Mexican restaurant, and then drove to the part of town where we lived 51 years ago.

Continued in next post.

A Sentimental Journey to Moses Lake, Washington

Kent and Eileen Gale, my brother and his wife, gave Darrell and me and Marsha and Nelson, our sister and her husband a wonderful Christmas gift last year. The gift turned out to be a trip to Moses Lake, where we lived over fifty years ago. We flew to Spokane, Washington and rented an SUV. On our way out of Spokane, we passed the Deaconess Hospital where our father, Bruce Gale passed away in 1953. Kent showed us a fun mall, where we ate lunch at Edo (Japanese)fast food place. We traveled to Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, just a few minutes from Spokane. Eileen had rented a house near the lake, where we dropped off our bags and then walked the few blocks to town. It's a beautiful quaint, tourist town with a large lake that has a huge perimeter because of all the inlets, bays and peninsulas. It was a hot day, but we enjoyed being together and seeing the buildings, lake front and swimmers. Kent rented a boat for the following day and we walked to a great restaurant called Scratch. The gourmet food was absolutely delicious, all made from scratch. Each of us chose a different dish and Kent shared some of his Chinese black rice. It was tasty! We topped our meal off with brownies and ice cream.

When we returned to the house, we found that it felt quite warm and explored it to find the air conditioner and tried to set the thermostat, but it didn't work. The only air conditioner was in one of the two upstairs bedrooms! The bedroom downstairs had windows that wouldn't open for the evening breeze, a double bed and a half bath, with no shower!

The master bedroom upstairs had a fan, a king bed and a walk in bathroom that was spacious and seemed to be newly remodeled with beautiful stone floor and shower walls.

The other bedroom upstairs had the air conditioner, a large flat screen tv, and a king bed, but the bathroom was across the hall.

Eileen graciously chose the downstairs bedroom and I chose the room with the fan, because it had an outlet close to the bed for the CPAP I use every night. I thought Nelson would enjoy the TV. Come to find out the TV had no outlet and the wire cable had no connection to a TV cable service! The next day, when Nelson got in the shower, there was no soap, but he did find the laundry detergent there in the bathroom next to the washer and dryer, so he became the new blue cheer guy!

On Thursday evening, we relaxed in the living room, visiting and enjoying each other's company. We talked of memories of our parents stories about our relatives and ancestors.

Friday morning, everyone except Nelson took a walk for an hour few blocks near the house we rented. We really enjoyed seeing the tallest trees we have ever seen outside of the redwoods, no kidding! The houses and yards were old, small houses all well kept and some were for sale for like $250,000?

We enjoyed eating a delicious breakfast at a cute little, tiny restaurant run by the owner, operator, chef and waitress, all the same person, who said she was quite befuddled because something strange had occurred the previous night, but she wouldn't disclose what it was. Her husband, it seems, usually was there helping her, but not today.

About 11:00 am we drove to the boat rental office and secured the motor boat. Fifteen minutes after the arrangements were completed, we had walked to the pier and were boarding the boat. Kent steered and the rest of us enjoyed the beautiful sights around the blue lake. Pine trees covered the hills surrounding the lake and actually grew right down to the shore. Beautiful mansions and estates and small cabins nestled in the trees. We saw many private docks and boats waiting for a trip on the lake. The sun shone bright in bright blue the sky while puffy white clouds sailed over our heads. The breezes fanned our faces and it was a classic "Lazy Day."

After a great lunch, we found ourselves on a pontoon airplane. Kent and Eileen paid for the excursion, but remained on land. Darrell and Nelson positioned themselves behind the pilot, and Marsha and I sat in the way back, but each of us wore a headset so we could hear the pilot give us his tour of the lake. We took off in the water and curved around the other boats until we had a straight shot and then left the water for the air. It was a glorious sight from the air! For twenty minutes we sailed over the lake and some of the land near it. The pilot pointed out the homes of the rich and famous and taught us some of the history of the plane and the land it flew over. What a fun time!

We were all worn out from the great walks and exhilerating excursions, so we napped. Darrell and Nelson enjoyed reading some books. Eileen and Kent shopped for a fan at Walmart and soap for the bathrooms. Eileen and Marsha also bought some fun fingernail polish at a Del Sol shop. It's clear with sparkles, but turns bright pink in the sunlight.

After a super dinner, we walked to the mall and bought ice cream cones. What a glorious day!

Saturday morning, we walked again, and watched the swim part of a triathlon. We returned home while the first ones out of the water started on the biking part of the race. We wanted to eat breakfast at the same cute little restaurant where we had eaten breakfast the day before, but it was closed. Maybe the woman wouldn't do it by herself two days in a row!

I will add the rest of the trip later.

DeLoy Eaton Gale Heaton

DeLoy Eaton was born to Louella Mae Hatch and Henson Claudest Eaton in Vernal, Utah, on October 2, 1928. She was the much wanted and eagerly awaited fourth child in the family. Grandma May Eaton was put to bed for the nine months of each of the four pregnancies. She had been diagnosed with disetic acid or probably toxemia, which is now referred to as pre-eclampsia. In Mama’s life history she wrote, quote “To save her life, the doctors wanted to take me. Mom told her doctor she would never give up her baby. A blessing from the priesthood followed and was the answer to her problem. My mom’s faith in God has helped me to know of God’s love for me also. It has been my strength throughout my life.” End of quote. And so, DeLoy was born. Orva Luella, her older sister, was age 19, Armon the oldest son, 14, and Larae, 4 years old. Orva helped take care of DeLoy, and Armon loved her and called her his “little Feegan”. She was very shy as a child and hid behind her mother’s skirts when near other people.

DeLoy spent her young life in Vernal, Utah. Orva’s daughter, Joyce, and DeLoy played and loved each other like sisters. She also enjoyed associating with her Eaton cousins, Norma and Velden in Vernal. Grandpa Eaton hauled cattle, pigs and sheep, buying and selling them in Salt Lake and Ogden. DeLoy and her mother, May, would go on some of the trips and stay in Pleasant Grove, visiting May’s sisters, Oris and Sarah, and DeLoy would play with her Hatch cousins, Joanne, Marilyn, and Ida Mae. When she was 13, her brother Larae, 17 years of age, died of appendicitis. That broke Grandma May’s heart and devastated the whole family. DeLoy had fond memories of her older brother and some not so fond memories of his teasing her. I’m quite sure they have enjoyed a great reunion this past week. Armon built a basement home next door to Grandpa and Grandma Eaton’s house, and he and Aunt Melba raised their four children, Valoy, Maureen, Brent and Lou Anne in that home. Mama wrote that they were all one big happy family. They enjoyed many camping and fishing trips up in the Uintah Mountains.

Mama’s best friend in high school was Ina May Collier Johnson. Just recently, Ina May told me that they had been soul mates and Mama had called her every day for the past two years. In junior high DeLoy participated in the drum and bugle corps and marched in parades in Roosevelt and Vernal. DeLoy thought high school was fun. In the ninth grade she played a clarinet in the marching band. In her junior year she was in Pep Club, on the newspaper and year book staff, and served as Spanish Club President. She also sang in the glee club and in a sextet.

In 1945, when Orva and Jake Lybbert and their family moved to Moses Lake, Washington, Armon drove his truck up to Washington and helped them move. DeLoy, age 16, went with them for the summer. Armon hauled potatoes and DeLoy worked in the factory sorting potatoes. That summer while she was in Moses Lake, she met Jake’s nephew, Bruce Gale, and they dated and fell in love. DeLoy returned to Vernal to finish high school and Bruce lived with his mother’s sister, Elva Manwaring in Bluebell.

In her senior year, Mama participated in the same activities as before and graduated in June 1946. In fact, I understand that Mama graduated from high school one day and was married in the Salt Lake Temple the next day, while she was still seventeen years old. By the time she turned eighteen in October, she was pregnant with me and her friends were away in college having fun.

Bruce suffered with eczema and had terrible itching on his arms and body. He experienced many infections and several operations. At first, they lived with Grandpa and Grandma Eaton until I was born in May, 1947. Then they moved to Salt Lake City. Dad drove taxi and then became a salesman for Century Metalcraft Corporation, a cookware company. They moved to Rexburg, where Kent LaRay was born in August, 1949. We moved again to Ashton and then Pocatello, Idaho, Dad continuing to sell cookware. They decided to move to Moses Lake and live with Grandma and Grandpa Gale.

After a few months, Mama and Dad found a house they could rent. The house needed to be finished and when the main floor was done, Dad worked on the upstairs in the evenings after work. Missionaries rented a room upstairs, and our parents enjoyed having them there. Mama got pregnant with the twins and the house sold, so we had to move again. Linda Loy and Marsha Joy were born in September, 1952.

This time we lived in a two-room cinderblock duplex. They bought a washer and Mama washed diapers and hung them out on the line. She baked bread, nursed the twins and tried to stay sane. The twins had measles and chicken pox while we lived in that duplex. Aunt Orva came over to help Mama take care of the twins sometimes. She would hold one baby while Mama nursed the other one. One night Mama and Aunt Orva held the babies facing each other. All at once they smiled, recognizing each other. Mama wrote, “It was a heavenly feeling.”

Dad did get a better job, selling cars and tractors. One morning, after Dad had gone to work, Mama received a phone call from a doctor, saying that Bruce was in the hospital with a normal temperature. Bruce had insisted he be hospitalized. That evening his temperature rose to 107 degrees. The doctors didn’t know what was wrong with him, so they sent him to the Deaconess Hospital in Spokane, Washington. He went into a coma and died a few days later June 23, 1953. The twins were less than 9 months old. Kent was almost four and I was six. It was a very difficult time for us.

We moved into Jake and Orva’s old home and Grandpa and Grandma Eaton came to live with us. Grandpa became ill, so Mama took him, Grandma and the twins to Utah, where they found out Grandpa had cancer. Kent and I rode with Aunt Orva to Utah. Grandpa died in early December. We stayed in Vernal until after Christmas.

After Grandpa died, Grandma stayed home with us and Mama worked sorted potatoes, worked as a receptionist and finally got a good job as a teller in a bank. She always worked hard and made our home clean and comfortable. She sewed a lot of our clothing, tended a garden almost every year, and cooked delicious meals from scratch. We almost never ate out. She was frugal and could pinch pennies until they screamed!

She also taught us to work and to contribute in keeping the home and yard clean and tidy.

Grandma May’s sister, Erma, her husband Stan and their children, Hatch, John, Mereda and Oris moved to Moses Lake from Logan, Utah, and we enjoyed having them nearby.

DeLoy met Gus at a community dance. I remember that they spent hours on the phone. They fell in love and then eloped to Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, May 18, 1957. Gus was an Airman First Class, and later a Staff Sergeant, and was stationed at Larson Air Force Base outside of Moses Lake. He joined the church about three weeks after their marriage. On April 17, 1958, Randall Robert Heaton was born. Shortly after that, Gus received orders to go to Ramstein Air Force Base near Kaiserslautern, Germany. We stayed with Gus’ parents in Blue Ridge Georgia for 3 or 4 months until we could fly to Germany. Mother was active in church and taught Relief Society lessons in our branch. We were sent to Travis Air Force Base in the fall of 1961. While living in Vacaville, California, DeLoy gave birth to David Darryl, July 14, 1963. We older children adored our little brothers and helped take care of them but we also teased and terrified them.

Gus received orders to serve in Vietnam and left our family in California in January, 1964. On his way to Vietnam, he stopped in the Philippines and, miraculously, his orders were rescinded for Vietnam and he was stationed at Clark AFB. Our family experienced the adventure of living in the Philippines for about a year and a half. It was here, I turned 18. The month after I graduated from high school, Mama took me to Relief Society and we did her visiting teaching together. She taught me to love Relief Society, to love babies, and to love cooking, baking, sewing, and to love being a homemaker. I left our family in the Philippines to attend BYU.

Gus was sent to Charleston AFB in South Carolina next. The family flew to California and drove across the states for the third time to South Carolina, and Mama was 7-8 months pregnant. Her last baby, Jeffrey Alan was born on Christmas Day, 1965.

Mama always took good care of her children, making sure their needs were met and they received the proper nutrition. She also taught home evening lessons and encouraged us to read the scriptures and pray. We attended church every Sunday, dressed in our best clothes. Not always on time, but we were there every Sunday!

When Gus retired from the Air Force in 1967, the family moved to Granger, Utah. Valoy and Ellie took this family of six children into their home until they found a home of their own. Mama was grateful for their help.

The photo above includes (top to bottom, left to right) Marsha, Randy, Linda, DeLoy, Gus, Jeff and David.

After a few years in Granger, they decided to move to Provo. Gus passed away February 19, 1995. DeLoy lived with Randy and his family from April, 2001 until May, 2009, when she moved to Tucson with David and his family. She passed away March 12, 2010.

DeLoy has seven children, thirty grandchildren and 48 great-grandchildren. She loves them all and tried to keep up with their birthdays this past year by calling them. Of her descendants and spouses, you will find medical doctors, a chiropractor, a university professor, successful entrepreneurs, school teachers, computer geeks, a truck driver, pest control agents, a stock trader, a manufacturing engineer, industrial design engineer, a chemical engineer, an auto repair store manager, budget manager, massage therapist, clerks, secretaries, editors, singers, actors, dancers, musicians, artists, college students, athletes, snow boarders, carpenters, and wonderful homemakers. Her descendants have contributed 45 years of missionary service and have 21 temple marriages. Her family members are kind, loving, generous, helpful, positive and hard-working. She was a diligent, loving mother and grandmother and we honor her for all the good things she accomplished in her life.

Scott velociraptor

April 10, 2010 after Kalvin's baptism a dinosaur appeared at the church. It was a velociraptor dressed up like Scott!

Richard and Joy Smith

Our first son, Rich and his wife, Joy, and their children, Kaleb, 14(back), Kolby, 11(left) Katy, 5 (center) and Kalvin, 7 (right) are a busy, happy family. Rich was born at Utah Valley Hospital in 1968, while we, his parents were attending BYU. He was raised in Freeport, Texas, Lake Charles Louisiana, and Cottage Grove, Minnesota. He served his LDS mission in the North Tokyo, Japan. He attended Ricks College, which is now BYU-Idaho and Brigham Young University. He has learned how to work on engines and keeps his cars, trucks and boats in good repair. Rich works as an industrial design engineer and supports his family well. He teaches his family the gospel of Jesus Christ and lives the precepts he teaches. Joy was born and raised in Tustin, California. She attended a junior college in California and BYU, and served an LDS mission in Costa Rica. She graduated in Health and P. E.. She is unwaveringly valiant in living her religion and is a most fun and interesting person! She is so energetic, it's hard to keep up with her activities. Rich and Joy and their family enjoy many family outings as they bike, motor bike, water ski, snow ski and snow board, camp, and hike. The children are involved in karate, football, soccer, basketball, and kickball at one time or another. They play the piano and sing and dance. Joy teaches a twice- weekly kickboxing class, and also runs marathons and participates in triathlons and duathlons. They serve their extended family, neighbors and fellow church members with love and involve their children in work, play and worship. We really appreciate their good lives and love to be around them whenever we have the opportunity!

Lillian Audrey Smith

Lillian is the third child of Ryan and Lauren Smith. I do not have a photo of her because she passed away a few minutes after she was born. She is a precious part of Ryan and Lauren's family and of the Darrell and Sheri Smith extended family. Her life on earth encompassed one day, September 10, 2002. We all look forward to the day that we can see her again and are working to be valiant and obedient to God, so that we can live with her in the celestial kingdom.

Olivia Clara Smith

Olivia Smith is Steve and Dani's third child and only daughter. She was born very early, at 29 1/2 weeks, and weighed 2 pounds 10 ounces, on July 17, 2009. That birthday is also Grandma Clara Smith's birthday, who recently passed away. So Olivia has her name. She is a beautiful and fun-loving baby who is adored by her two brothers and parents, as well as her grandparents.

We are grateful that she is healthy and strong and growing and developing well. Her mother writes wonderful stories in her family blog about Olivia. We are so happy she is part of our family.

Katelyn Joy Smith

Katy is the fourth child of Richard and Joy Smith. She is one of our June babies, born June 25th 2004. Her older brothers are Kale, Kolby, and Kalvin. She is now in kindergarten and loving it. She enjoys learning to read! She certainly knows how to stand up to her brothers and let them know what she wants and likes! I love to see her art-paintings and drawings. She's a real artist!

Katy is a loving, sharing girl who performs with gusto the songs and jokes she learns from her family and at school.
The photo on the far left is her school picture from last fall and the other photo is at our family reunion in August. Kaleigh is on the left, then Katy, Bridgette and Eden. Katy is friendly and kind to her friends and classmates. She is patient with the younger cousins and teaches them and advises them how to have fun! She loves to tease her mom and wrestle with her dad. She gives wonderful hugs and makes everyone want to be her friend! We love to be where Katy is!

Jacob Tyler Smith

Jacob Tyler Smith is our oldest grandson, son of Robert and Karen Smith. He has an older sister and two younger sisters and a younger brother. He was born on December 30, 1993.

So, he is now sixteen years old!
My how time flies. He's a tall slender fellow with piercing blue eyes and thick rich brown hair. He's very intelligent and quick. This past summer he attended a wilderness scout camp, where he learned to live off the land and hiked many miles. A big milestone in his life. He is looking forward to getting his drivers license and enjoys playing swords. He is currently writing an adventure book which he says he will let Grandma read when it is done.

He doesn't stay still very long, so I have very few photos of him up close. The photos above are from 2007 and the ones below are last summer at family reunion and Thanksgiving Point.

We love this grandson and wish him a good year-the year of sixteen.

Braden Adams Lowe

Braden Adams Lowe is the third child of Stuart and Debra Lowe, twin to Brianna. He was born on December 19, 2001. Braden is a really active, fun kid. He has bright orange hair and freckles. The photo to the left shows him with his cousin, Kalvin. (Kalvin left, Braden right.) The next photo shows Braden tossing a marble at the family reunion in August 2009. Lynnie and Cameron, his cousins look on. The following photo is Braden after accomplishing the zip line at the family reunion. Wonderful dimpled smile! Braden loves sports, excells in school, plays the piano and is the most fun kid you ever saw. His laugh is infectious! The last photo is one of him looking for Easter eggs in his backyard. He turned eight this past December and was baptized on his birthday. We are all excited about his energietic personality and love to be with him!

Brianna Marie Lowe

Brianna Marie Lowe, daughter of Stuart and Debra Lowe, was born December 19, 2001. The is the second child, but first twin born. Braden is her twin brother. she has blond/strawberry blond hair, which used to be longer, but she cut it and donated it to Locks of Love. Her present haircut is just darling on her. Her fair face is graced with a host of freckles, which her dad says there are 280? Her blue eyes sparkle when she is teasing or enjoying a good laugh!

She is a good athlete and played in the soccer finals this fall in her city. She turned eight this year and was baptized on her birthday. She is a good student, works hard at her assignments and plays the piano, as well. These photos show the tricks and fun activities that she can do in her yard and home.
We love to hear her laugh and see her bright smiling face!

Jonathan Robert Smith

Jonathan Robert Smith, son of Robert and Karen Smith, was born December 11, 1997. He has an older sister and brother and two younger sisters. He's athletic and solves tricky problems with great creativity and speed. In the photo to the top left (in white shirt), he is participating in a game of marbles with his cousins, Davy, Rylee, Lynnie and Austin Smith at our family reunion in August 2009. IN the next photo down, he is a couple of years younger (front right). He looks like his dad and both of his grandfathers. He's a really fun person who loves to tease and play tricks on people.

He loves riddles and jokes and is quite a literal guy. He is interested in knights, warriors, swords, and knives and enjoys drawing them. He enjoys playing legos and computer games. In the photo lower left, he is at his new home in Ohio, and the lower photo on the right, he is climbing the telephone pole and will go on the zip line when he has walked across the wire. Brave kid! He actually is rarely afraid of things, like his dad. He is precious and we love him and hope to see him again soon! In the bottom photo, he is sporting his happy face as we get ready to leave our family reunion.

Dallin Wallace Smith

Dallin Wallace Smith was born December 16, 1998. He is Ryan and Lauren Smith's oldest child. He has three sisters and a brother and is a loving, kind, polite, intelligent, modest, talented, creative and hard-working boy. He knows how to work and play and can play the piano well, acts in plays, participates in sports like soccer, football, basketball and swimming. He raced in a triathlon with his parents this past summer and did well. He likes to read, earns excellent grades in school, and creates fun projects with things around the house as well as construction type toys like legos and other toys. He's a peaceful person

who listens, thinks and reasons instead of arguing and becoming angry. He tries to do his best
and earned his Arrow of Light this year. He knows who he is and conducts himself accordingly and we all love him very much!

Eden Clara Smith

Eden Clara Smith, fourth child of Ryan and Lauren Smith, came into this world on a Sunday, October 31, 2004. She's real princess and she knows it. Her daddy says you can see heaven in her eyes. That's why they named her Eden, and Clara is her great-grandmother Smith's given name.

Here she is at our Darrell and Sheri Smith Family reunion last August, 2009.

She is interested in learning to read and loves to write letters. She enjoys her preschool classes. She's a good artist and loves to play with her many Barbie dolls. She challenges Grandma to games and puzzles galore and plays a long time. Eden is fun to be around and has a winning smile that we all adore. She's a smart cookie and we all love her a lot!

Sydney Fay Smith

Sydney Fay Smith, born October 27, 2006, is now over three years old. Her parents, David and Nichole Smith, tell her she is so cute. So I ask her, "Why are you so cute, Sydney?" She answers, "Cause my dad told me." So then her dad asks her the same question, and she answers, "My grandma told me." She is so grown up, three going on thirty. She thinks she can do anything and she's just about right! She loves to help Grandma in the kitchen, with laundry, and decorating for Christmas. She loves all three of her brothers and her two sisters. and they all love her!

Sydney makes messes and then cleans them up when she is asked to. She likes to draw and color and loves to have stories read to her. She has a really fun laugh and makes the sweetest comments about how much fun some activities are. The first photo was taken in August at our Smith family reunion; the second on Jesse's birthday in July and the last photo was when she was about eighteen months old. She's our beautiful little princess and we all love her very much!