KKSmith.net

hi taryn, amber and cheyenne:

i wanted to say hi and i am thinking of you all, i just got to the website for the first time today. pam sent me the url.

amber, i am not sure if you remember me, you were 5 when we met. i am your cousin, i live in virginia. remember we went to ride roller coasters together? i remember you liked my tongue ring a lot.
kristin’s dad was my dad’s brother. i always felt a special bond with kristin since we both lost our dads when we were little. my heart is still with her every day, and i think of her more like a sister than a cousin. i have a new baby now, his name is ethan. so you have a new cousin! i hope you can meet him soon, he is 5 months old and is getting ready to crawl around and get into a lot of trouble. you know how boys are.
cheyenne, i am your cousin too and i hope i can meet you soon. take good care of your mom and amber for me. i can already tell you are doing a great job.
taryn, i miss you, and i hope you are doing well. i think of you often. ethan is thriving, and mick and i hope to get out there with him to visit. we were talking about this winter, but we’ll see how things go. i am not so sure i could even get on a plane any more, and our vacation time is slim. but grandmom is dying to see the baby so maybe we can make the rounds – she is in tombstone now.
if you need anything at all, let me know. i am moving in 2 weeks and have 2 extra bedrooms at the house – you are all welcome at any time. i know we will catch up at some time, and my thoughts and prayers are with you all.
i love you!

La Tosha talked about Kristin’s 14th birthday party in her post of 9/16. As I remember, that party was a swimming party held at Kristin’s home. Does anyone have pictures from that day? I was there, but unfortunately I didn’t have my video camera with me.

As Kristin’s birthday draws near, I think about all of her birthday parties of years past. They were always such huge celebrations.

When Kristin was a baby girl, I remember her all dressed up in a gorgeous little party dress, sitting in her high chair at John, Taryn and Kristin’s first home, surrounded by family and friends. She was so excited opening presents and she loved everything she got, whether it be toys, stuffed animals, clothes or whatever.

I also remember a birthday party/picnic that was held at Mehl Park. There had to be like 50 people there! I have quite a few snapshots from that party. I don’t remember how old she turned that year, but I’m guessing she was early elementary school age. I recall a huge pinata, kids in swimsuits, water balloon fights, and lots of food.

Then there was the year, I think maybe 5th or 6th grade, when she had a swim party at the community pool of their patio home near Skyline. Again, there were lots of kids there and I remember that Taryn rented a cotton candy machine and we made a sticky mess. That was a lot of fun too.

Oneof my fondest birthday memories was a party that Taryn threw at a local hotel. She rented a suite for the night, and a bunch of girls had a slumber and swim party. Again, Taryn brought tons of snacks, drinks, dinner, and an immense birthday cake. What stands out in my mind at that party was something hilarious that the girls did. Kristin and several of her talented K.U. friends were hiding in a large armoire in the hotel room, so Taryn and I got out the video camera. These girls were stuffed inside this piece of furniture with the doors pulled closed, and they were singing beautifully! Taryn and I snuck up, threw open the doors, and took home movies of their reactions. It was priceless! Taryn, we’d better look at that video again; we might need to send it in to America’s Funniest Videos.

I am so sad that Kristin didn’t have many more birthday parties, but I can honestly say that her mother made each and every one of them an extraordinary celebration. Taryn didn’t just invite a few kids, there were dozens of Kristin’s friends there. And she didn’t just serve cake, it was always a huge, delicious, artistic masterpiece. Taryn also put together creative and thoughtful gift bags for the friends who attended, like crayons and color books or bubbles when the kids were young, and nail polishes and lotions when they got to be young ladies.

I would love to hear from Kristin’s friends as to what they remember about Kristin’s parties. Try to be specific as to what year it was or what grade you guys were in. I know you can fill in a lot more detail than I can, and probably clear up some things that are vague to me. It would be nice to relive those memories through your writings.

Also, I ask that each of you please keep Taryn in your thoughts and prayers as October 1st draws near. It’s going to be a very tough time for her, for Amber and Cheyenne, and for all of us who were blessed to know and love Kristin.

My best memory of Kristin is at her brithday party last year. I couldn’t get my back hand spring so Kristin asked everyone if they could get off the tampolen for a minute. By the end of the night I had it. So that is how I will aways remember her.

The July Kindness Project Blood Drive has been revived because of the great need of blood due to the tragedies on the east coast today. Please consider donating blood in Kristin’s memory. Thanks to those who donated in July. I have some “Kindness Cards” in Kristin’s name that the blood bank will post or you can let them know that you are making your donation in memory of Kristin Kay Smith and they will give you a card to fill out. Please send me a card or post a mesage here to let us know of your donation.

Below is an e-mail message that I received from the M.I.S.S. Foundation:

As many of you know, our July Blood Drive was highly successful at raising hundreds of pints of
blood all around the United States. Undoubtedly, many of the families who donated will be helping to
save the lives of those injured in the tragedies that occurred today.

We are calling for a revival of the July Kindness Project Blood Drive. Please, go to your local blood bank (look
in your yellow pages) and go and donate blood. Make sure you eat well and are well fluidated before you go.
I donated a pint in July and will be returning again to re-donate. For every pint donated, you can help
to save the lives of 4-8 people. It doesn’t matter ‘where’ you are in the U.S.

“The minimum time between donations is only 59 days. That means
that people who donated for the first half of our blood drive can donate
again. And from what the lady said on the phone, you can specifically
earmark the blood you donate for the tragedies that occurred today. “

hey everyone it is Katie this is the frist time I have been to the site because I all thought it was going to bring back sad memories but it has also brought back the good too. It is a great website that really shares her life and what she was all about and I am happy to remember these stories so I just hope that people can come here and read about it. u guys this was a great I idea.I miss her a lot but I never cry because she would never want that. I also never where all black because I know she hated that. I am just hoping that everyone can come here even people who didn’t know her very well or even at all can learn about her.She wasn’t on this earth for a while but she touched everyone she mets lives.
Everyone in the words of steph copperman in her last show “remember a little piece of Kristin is in our minds effecting our thoughts, a peice of her is in our hearts and a peice of her is in the back row making sure we don’t mess up:)”
Love always and forever,
Katie

Just last Monday, I tried out for Highschool cheerleading. After doing the cheers and dances, we needed to work on jumps. The first person who came to my mind for help on them was Krissy. I was saddend, but knew she would be there with me. I needed her the most since Kelli and Natalie were both out of town. At the try-outs, I wore the blue ribbon, that La Tosha made for all KU members in memory of her, and thought of it as her being there with me. I take that ribbon with me whenever I feel I need Krissy with me. She was the angel that was lifting me up from the ground on my jumps. I had to go to tumbling classes before try-outs and see where I was on the tumbling scene. I took that ribbon, and that night I did a round-off back hand spring. It was my first time. I really belive Krissy was there during try-outs and tumbling, because I made the squad. Highschool is going good Krissy, and you would love all the cute guys and fun classes! Im taking French next year, just as I promised I would!! I wish you were here so we could call and talk about it for hours like we used to. I miss you more than ever and I know you are with me every day! Love you tons!

dear Kristen,
I just started school again and it is actually preety fun.I have a lot of friends in my classes and school looks a lot better when your the eighth graders of the school.I haven’t seen Cory lately though I wish I did. When i get to highschool I’m going to take french as my language. I’m really excited about it. Nothing much lately but taryn found our old Tucson pictures and they turned out great!!!!!!
P.S.SKNURT TSOL SIH SKNURT!!!!!!!
love always,
Shayna V.(Sailor Saturn)

As I was trying to think of things that describe Kristin, one word stood out in my mind that I have used many, many times over the years…busy! Kristin kept herself very busy. She took lessons in gymnastics, tap, jazz, ballet, pointe and lyrical; keyboard, drums and the marimba; she took horseback riding lessons; she had private voice instruction and group voice lessons. Through the years she won many awards in dance competitions, pageants and percussion. It seemed that when she wasn’t learning, she was performing; and when she wasn’t performing, she was teaching.

I would be lying if I didn’t say that there were times that I thought she was too busy. Myself, being a person who generally enjoys being at home, I couldn’t imagine that all this activity could be good for a kid; as a mom, I couldn’t comprehend how Taryn kept Kristin’s schedule straight and found the energy to drive her everywhere. Hindsight has given me a different perspective on this. I think that Kristin lived more and experienced more in fourteen years than many people achieve in decades. Kristin thrived on activity. In spite of her hectic schedule, she still found time to read books, write poetry, and watch her favorite animated movies and Japanimation shows; she still had time to construct the most awesome homework projects and get straight A’s; she still had time to go to church, youth group and camp; she still had time to travel with her family to the east coast, the west coast, and many places in between, and to travel on more cruise ships than I can recall (I’ve never even been on one!) To quote the old cliche, Kristin “lived life to the fullest.” Every day of her life was an adventure…every year a celebration. She had the most incredible birthday parties, but that’s a story in itself that I will tackle another time.

I miss her so much.

Dear Kristin,

Guess what! We have a new cousin named Daniel Richard. I wish you were there with me today so you could hold him. He’s cute, he has no teeth, his hair is fuzzy. He grabs onto fingers really tight.

Love,
Amber

I have been contemplating which of my many fond memories to share with everyone here. I have chosen one which brings a smile to my face every time I think about it. I hope it does the same for you.

Being away at college during Kristin’s first couple of years was very difficult for me. As my college friends can attest to, I was a very proud Aunt and treasured the times I could come home to Arizona for vacations and spend time with my nieces and nephew.

One of those favorite times was the Christmas of 1987. I remember my mom gave me the very important task of frosting the Grandma Winnie cookies (an annual tradition in the Wiersma family). I had never done it on my own before, so I was anxious to impress everyone with my developing homemaking abilities. I had also offered to watch Kristin for the day and thought nothing about letting a 14 month old “help” with the frosting task.

Kristin was sitting on the kitchen counter with the cookies and frosting ingredients. I would give her a spoon and also occasionally let her pour in some of the ingredients. Then, I stepped away from the counter for a short time and turned my back to Kristin. In retrospect, not the smartest thing I have ever done, but I didn’t know any better.

I worked furiously frosting and applying candy sprinkles to about 3 dozen cookies before my mom came home. I was excited to present my masterpieces to her. She eyed the first sheet of cookies I had done and had a strange expression on her face. She asked me, “Amy, have you tasted these yet? They look a little…different.” I hadn’t really noticed, but I replied, “No, you go ahead.” She took one bite and didn’t look like she particularly enjoyed the flavor. She then questioned, “How much salt did you put in the frosting?” Feeling a little defensive at this question I replied, “The recipe said a pinch mom, so I put a little pinch in Kristin’s hand and she put it in!” She then moved to the frosting bowl and we observed together that the frosting appeared to be developing tiny holes that the cookies were also developing. It was then that I noticed the salt container open and tipped on its side and remembered clearly that moment I had turned away from the counter. Of course, Kristin was all smiles. She had no idea what trouble she had caused. However, we had to be amazed that she knew at such a young age how to copy what we did. Fortunately, there were plenty of cookies left and after preparing a new batch of frosting we finished the cookies the right way. And they were delicious as usual.