Happy Birthday Emma!

Emma celebrated her 12th birthday yesterday. I am amazed at how fast she has grown up. I remember bringing her home from the hospital and thinking, O.K. what do I do now? She was tiny (5lbs) and adorable. And because she was in the hospital for 10 days the nurses had mostly taken care of her. But I shouldn't have worried, she was a great baby. She has definately grown into a beautiful young woman. Since she was born Emma has been an amazing child. She is humble and honest. She tries to do the right thing always. She is smart but also wants to see all around her succeed. She is responsible and organized. I never worry about her getting things done, she usually does them before I ask. We are so glad she is a part of our family. We love Emma!

The kids after Nathan was born.


My favorite picture of Emma and Katie.

Preschool graduation.

Five generation picture.

Having fun in the rain.

We always knew she'd play the piano.

Our first family picture. (Emma was two months old)

Andrew's Wolf, Nathan's Cowboy and Emma's Last Day

Andrew received his wolf badge last Wednesday. He worked really hard to earn it (so did his parents). I had no idea the cub scout program was so crazy.

Here he is with his badge and the rocket he made. They launched them in the parking lot after the pack meeting.

These are his leaders, Bro. Darrington and Bro. Hales. Andrew loves them both.

Nathan decided he would be a cowboy for Halloween. Actually his parents talked him into it and doesn't he make the cutest sheriff. Gary showed him a scene with Doc Holliday in it to help him get into character.

This is a regular picture of a cowboy.

This is a cowboy getting ready for a fight. I love that he can't help smiling even though he was acting upset.

It was Emma's last Sunday in Primary. I was doing fine until we sang to her and then I stared feeling emotional. I can't believe she won't be with me next week. I also can't believe I'm married to a man old enough to have a daughter her age. She is growing up too fast, but she'll make a beautiful beehive.

She's dressed up like a Japanese girl for the song "Children All Over the World". It was part of my sharing time and Leah did a great job with the costumes.

Our Favorite Place

Most people would say their favorite place to go is Disneyland. And while we absolutely love it too, I would have to say our favorite place to go is Pine Valley. Gary's parents have a cabin there and they are so kind to let us use it when we need to escape. Which happened to be last Friday. We left as soon as the kids got home from school. We stopped in St. George to eat a sandwich and arrived in Pine Valley about 6:00pm. It was chilly but we didn't even make a fire. Of course the kids had to have hot chocolate immediately. We watched a movie and then went to bed. Saturday morning after breakfast the kids started screaming "It's snowing!" At first I didn't believe them but we ran to the window and there were snowflakes falling. It continued off and on all day.

We left about 2:00pm and headed to Cedar City. We stopped to visit Stacie, Dale and their girls for a while and then went to Jayce Owens baptism. (our old neighbor) It was so much fun to catch up with friends that are more like family. We got back to Pine Valley about 8:00pm.

Sunday we went to church. Gary, Emma, Andrew and Katie stayed for the whole three hours. Nathan and I went back to the cabin after sacrament because they don't have a nursery. The kids had fun going to Primary in the attic. I think Gary just enjoyed being able to sit through class. After church Gary's Aunt Joyce came over and ate dinner with us and she brought us some homemade caramel - she's the best. It was hard to pack up and come home. Hopefully we can make another trip before the year is over.

Here are some pictures of the kids having fun. I would have taken more but my hands started shaking in the 27 degree weather.

Pretending they are cold. I think they really were.