HAPPY, HAPPY BIRTHDAY WHITNEY!!

On Saturday, December 26, we will mark a big milestone. My sweet, darling Whitney will be 18--can you believe it? I know that every parent looks back and says that it seems like just yesterday that their children were born, but that is so true.
Whitney is a special child who was meant to come into our family. We received very strong impressions that it was time to start our family and once we committed, I got pregnant right away. She was due mid-January, but the day after Christmas, she decided to make her entrance a little early and very memorable. She wanted to make sure that all the extended family was able to be there for her big event. Everyone cherished her, then and now.
It is a bitter-sweet thing to watch your children grow up. I am so excited for her and all that her future holds. She has such a kind, gentle spirit and I know that she has great things in store for her. I guess it is the fear of not being able to be there for everything anymore and knowing that the time with her under our roof is limited.
Happy, Happy 18th Whitney! We love you more than words can express.

Why I knew how to call you

I have been known to get after my kids for calling me all the time while I am trying to shop and run errands because it takes me so much longer to get things done. The other day while I was out running errands, Alexa called twice for little things and Hayden called to see if he could go to a friends house. Katie called next and she said "you know why I knew to call you? because of my coat." I thought she meant that she had left her coat at school and was telling me that she would get it the next day. She was actually saying that she knew how to call me (she knew my number) because I had written it in her coat. She said "I let Hayden use it to call you to see if he could play and now I'm calling, but I won't call all the time--I won't use it a lot". She is the funniest child. We are so glad that she came to us.

Whitney Homecoming 2009

Here are Whitney's pictures from homecoming. She had a good time and I'm glad she got to go.

 

 

The cutest question

The other day, Tracy and I went and renewed our Temple recommends. Tracy had his sitting on the counter and it has a cover on it with a picture of Jesus. Katie came in and looked at it and picked it up and asked "is this Jesus' credit card or is this Jesus' license?" Aren't kids so cute.

Family Pictures

On Halloween, while Tracy was home, we had a great neighbor of ours take some pictures so that we could hopefully have one for a Christmas card. She took a ton and she had some really fun places to go. The only problem is that a lot of them have shadows and I don't know how to fix them or if they could even be fixed. These are in no particular order, but here is a sampling of some of the pictures. I have to say that I think I have some of the cutest kids on the planet. Seeing the picture with the family standing tallest to shortest in front of the barn made me kind of sad. I look at that and I see how my kids are growing up and know that I can't keep them home with me forever. You might get some of these same pictures on your Christmas card--enjoy!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Happy Halloween

Here is the start of our Halloween festivities. Hayden had a class party and I took Katie along to help me because she didn't have school. They decorated cookies, had a fish pond, did a pumpkin/beanbag toss and played bingo. They had a fun time and it is so cute to see how Hayden just takes her under his wing when she is around.
Whitney made a fish tank for the ward carnival fish pond booth. The Young Women were in charge of that booth, but Whitney came up with the idea and we had a big box from our water heaters, so they pretty much just turned the whole thing over to her. She came up with the idea of dressing the fish up in halloween costumes and she made them all herself. She is so talented and she did such a great job. She put a sign on the back that said "Please respect the fish tank, it took me a long time and I want to keep it". I ended up bringing it home for her.

Moms and Muffins

Hayden and Katies school (Hobble Creek Elementary) has a couple fun days where parents come to read with their kids. Yesterday was Moms and muffins. I didn't get in the picture, but here are the kids eating their muffins and waiting to start reading some fun books. In a couple months, they will do Dads and doughnuts--that is always fun.

Halloween festivities

Finally I took a minute to find the cord to the camera so that I could download some of the things that we have been doing over the past month. These pictures are in no particular order--in fact they are mostly backwards. As the kids get older, and Tracy is gone a lot, we have to take who we can get and do what we can when we have the chance. Tracy and I took Hayden and Katie to the pumpkin patch to go through the maze and to pick out pumpkins. Since the older kids didn't come, we picked out pumpkins for them as well.
Hayden and Katie, once again, were the only ones that wanted to make the haunted houses. Whitney started to help them, but someone called to see if she wanted to go to Sonic to get a drink, so we finished them ourselves. The little kids had a lot of fun and afterwards they ate part of their creations.
On Monday, we carved our pumpkins. Whitney was there--I should have got a picture--she was just watching a show with one of her friends. The other kids had a fun time carving pumpkins and now we are ready for Halloween.