Christine, you are a beautiful soul,
who is full of life and energy.
You are the energy that pulsates through our house and lives.
You are talented when it comes to music, especially with dancing,
and playing the piano.
You are so fearless. You create new recipes, take chances, try out for all kinds of things
(sports, school play, class elections), and make new friends easily.
(Notice how I didn't mention anything about Mr. Rogers or gorillas ;)
You are your siblings' best buddy when they need one: giving them gum, curling their hair, letting them snuggle with you, helping them calm down, etc.
You have a great and infectious laugh - especially when you're running through the house.
You are admired by many, and have often impressed the adults in your life (teachers and such) with how responsible you are.
You are a "sassy monkey, hahaha." You've always thought that you knew more than me (even when you were 3), and maybe you do, in some areas. You always wanted to be older than your age. I warned you in kindergarten that someday you would miss those years; I hope you're enjoying your teenage years, and aren't in too big a hurry to become an adult. Rush it too fast, and you'll be old like your Mom, awfully fast :)
You are beautiful! You have great brown skin, and those big, brown eyes, a wonderful smile, and when you straightened your hair, you seemed to mature right before our eyes.
You are a talker. When you were young, I could barely hear myself think because you would be jabbering up a storm. Not much has changed. You still talk fast and furiously, and always seem to have a lot to say. Remember, don't take my silence as an "I'm not listening to you," instead, I'm just trying to keep up with what you're saying.
You are amazing at hula - a natural, and I never tire of watching you dance that way.
Your coordination and grace are breathtaking.
You are so backwards sometimes (and you KNOW what I mean),
and it makes me laugh. I love it when you make me laugh.
You are funny and spontaneous, and
(not quite as backwards as you used to be :)
Keep making us laugh.
You are creative, and your creative juices flow big and free.
You always have some idea brimming,
some question burning,
and some inspiration budding.
You are a wonderful daughter, and I'm so glad that we found each other.
You're a friend, and a helper, and I count myself richly blessed to have you in our family.
You have so many talents, and so many great attributes.
I love you so very much! Happy Birthday!
Oh! And you find joy in weird things. Who asks for pomegranate juice for their birthday?
Evidently . . . You do.
Happy Birthday, sweetie!
After the summer we've had . . .
Ahhhhhh. School's back in session!
We did have a little reprieve these past few weeks,
since we put James in a summer daycare program.
Now . . . Let the fun begin . . .
taxi service, after school activities, appointments, homework, no sleep
Happy 16th Birthday, Christine! Where did the time go?
I swear it was just yesterday, when we brought you home,
as a sweet, little bundle of joy.
You've changed our lives forever!
Thanks to Kamrie, for hosting a fun Hawaiian, Sweet 16 Bash,
for the Birthday Girl.
Christine's joined the working class - taking pictures for the Easter Bunny.
We're really proud of her initiative, and her desire to work.
And . . . her popularity went up ten fold with her two younger brothers!
After a lot of hours and hard work,
Christine debuted in Footloose
as one of the main dancers.
I can't believe that it's been 15 years
We've gotten in a lot of swimming this summer,
thanks to an elderly couple in our ward,
who have opened their swimming pool to us.
It has been great, and the boys have really improved
in their swimming.
Jalen Andrew has become quite the daredevil in the pool.
He'll jump in to us, and will even jump into a floating tube,
he likes submerging himself in the water and staying under as long as he can,
and will even do a little jump/swim to us from the steps.
************
Jalen Andrew got invited to his first birthday party.
It was a My Little Pony Party for his good friend Elizabeth,
who specifically requested his presence.
He gave Elizabeth a little tea set,
with some cookies and juice.
He was so cute about the juice;
he carried it all around the store,
and would not let me put it in the cart,
because he was going to give it to Elizabeth.
Evidently she has the same infatuation with him,
because her mom told me the other day,
that she won't play with the tea set or partake of the contents,
because she keeps insisting that it's for her and Jalen Andrew.
Before the party, I kept asking him if he was going to ride
a little pony, and he corrected me every time,
saying that he was going to ride a Big Horse.
***************
Other items of interest:
Rebekah was just put in as the new Beehive Class President,
which she is very excited about.
**************
Also, Christine played a piano solo in church the other day.
She did a medley of Because I Have Been Given Much and
Lord, I Would Follow Thee.
She was very nervous,
but she did a great job!
Other things that have transpired for Christine lately: 1. She had her follow up x-ray, and there was no change. She won't need surgery at this time, but they'll re-evaluate her scoliosis in 6 months. 2. She ran for Sophomore VP for Student Council - didn't win, but had fun campaigning anyway, and 3. She made the Color guard team for next year.
It took a lot of work, a lot of practices, and it made for many late nights of homework, but we finally got through the roadshow. Jessica Holt wrote and directed our ward's entry which was Wonderland Reloaded. It turned out great! Everyone did such a good job, and it was so fun to watch. Our girls were singing, dancing flowers, and as always it was fun for us, their family, to watch them bloom.
Centennial Color Guard was chosen to march in the Fiesta Bowl parade, so we went downtown to watch the parade. The traffic wasn't too bad where we parked, and we didn't have to walk very far to get to the parade. We sat right where the parade began, which gave us a nice view of who and what was coming.
All willing Eagle Scouts were invited to march in the parade as well. When Erik got there, however, many of the volunteers had dropped out, and they needed extra people to help carry the banners. There was a Cub scout there that had come with his Eagle Scout brothers and dad, so Erik called us to see if Joseph wanted to come help in the parade too, which he did.
I got these pictures ahead of time, which was good since my camera batteries were being fickle, and would only snap pictures every now and then.
Christine is in the back of the picture, and is visible on the televised broadcast of the parade. They got a pretty good shot of her kicking up her leg.
We were pretty excited to see Darth Vader and a whole bunch of other Star Wars characters there. James yelled out "hello" to Bobo Fet, and Bobo turned and waved at him - James was pretty star struck by that. His other favorite part was seeing the race cars. Jalen Andrew liked watching small helium balloons float into the air after their owners accidentally let them go. He liked the marching bands too, and the horses, but he was mostly interested in watching the balloons float away. It was really fun to be there with the crowd, and to see all the fun things that came by, like these little tiny cars that some men were driving, and especially to see the people we love walk by us. Joseph had so much fun, that he's requesting to do it again next year.
