My Birthday

This year for my birthday...

Taylee baked me a chocolate cake from scratch with homemade frosting too.

I requested Chinese food for dinner.

Jason brought home lots of yummy choices.

Taylee gave me a candy gram.

It says, "Dear Mom, Life can be (SweetTarts) But you know how to keep your (Stride) Even when your kids are being (Air Heads) You're a (Smartie) and know what to do with my (Atomic Fireball) when experiments go wrong. Love, Taylee"

I received some awesome gifts; an HP printer (yay!!!), a fire pit, a fire pit cover (Jason knows me so well), camping chairs and s'mores fixings.

We were excited about the fire pit and had to try it out that night.

Snuggle up..it's chilly!

Thank you for a wonderful birthday, family.

It's Great to be 8!

Abree turned 8 years old on October 5th. Because of General Conference, our stake baptisms were moved to October 13th. So instead of having to wait until the first Saturday of November, she was able to be baptized the week after her birthday. We thought that was pretty cool.

Powdered doughnuts and pumpkin/cream cheese bundt cake. Yum.
It's GREAT to be 8! (get it?)
I had to spell it out for many of my family members. :)

 Taylee and Abree washed and braided Piper's hair (doll) and Abree put her white dress on.. so they could be "twins".

 Abree's dress was made by Grandma Smullin. Isn't is pretty? Thank you Grandma Smullin!

 Months before Abree's birthday..at least 6, Abree told me she wanted "high heels" for a gift. I found these "high heels" brand new at Goodwill. They were a little big, but fit ok with socks. She'll be able to wear them for a while. :)

 Taylee braided Abree's hair and we put her flower headband on that she got for her birthday.

 Abree is ready to get baptized.

This year, Abree's Primary teacher Sister Morrison, asked me (as Primary president) if their class could attend each baptism. I thought that sounded like a great idea (if parents supported it).
Each month, as Abree would go to her classmate's baptisms, she would get more and more excited for her own. She and Catherine Chandler were the LAST ones to be baptized (in our ward) for the year...finally. Abree also had a school classmate (Tyler) and a friend from another ward (Allie Brown) get baptized the same day..kinda cool.

After the baptism, we gathered in a classroom for her confirmation, so family and friends could participate.
Family pictures followed.

 Sweet cousins... a.k.a. the "princess posse" (in part).

 Julia-Christian-J.C.-Me-Jason-Lexie-Tyrel-Tim-Dad Waite-Dad Smullin

Treyson-Amber-Rylee-Taylee-Mom McKinley-Karen-Mom Smullin-Baby Savannah

Cameron-Audrey-Katelyn-Sydney-Abree-Lizzy-Micaela

Joshua-Adam-Matthew-Jackson

 We gathered back at our home to have homemade soup and bread. I made a potato soup and chicken vegetable noodle soup. Karen made whole wheat and french bread.

Thanks Karen! Yumm-o.

Grandpa Smullin-Grandma Smullin-Lizzy-Amber

Lexie-Tyrel-Tim

 We took turns holding sweet Baby Savannah, J.C.and Julia's newest addition. Isn't she cute?!

 Christian

 Cameron-Jackson

 Matthew

 Daisylyn

 Joshua

Grandpa Waite-boys-J.C.-Jason-Audrey

Katelyn-Taylee-Micaela

Julia-Savannah

Amber-Tim-Karen

Grandpa Waite-J.C.-Grandpa Smullin-Julia-Savannah-Rylee-Grandma Smullin

Tyrel-Lexie

Family, thanks for being with us on Abree's special day.

It was lovely.

General Conference

My kids look forward to General Conference every time. They each gather their "stuff" and settle in for a quiet listening.

This time we had cousins with us, which made it even more fun and exciting.

Audrey, Katelyn and Sydney joined us for the Saturday morning session, while Karen ran a 10K with a friend.

We got out our well-loved "file folders" which only come out at conference time. My kids are starting to get too old for most of them, but Sydney was the perfect age for many of them.

I was proud of how the kids did. I shushed a few times, but generally they were quiet and listened.

"We Thank Thee O God for a Prophet"!

Abree turns 8!

Abree requested a princess cake for her birthday. She said she wanted it to be a "regular princess", which I interpreted as not a Disney character???

I borrowed a Barbie from the girl's stash, but had to take the legs off to make her fit into her "dress". Little did I know, but I picked Taylee's beloved "first Barbie" and she was upset and heart-broken I had taken the legs off (one of them might not be able to be repaired). Sorry Taylee.

The "princess" turned out a little squatty. She kind of sunk into the cake as I was frosting it. Abree didn't seem to mind. I used a new frosting technique I saw on Pinterest. I liked that part of it at least. :)

We invited Grandma McKinley and Grandpa Waite over for dinner, gifts and dessert.

Abree's requested birthday meal was nachos. So I made "deluxe nachos", which included black beans, taco meat, olives, salsa, sour cream and avocados. Yum.

Abree was very excited to open gifts. After dinner, it was FINALLY time. She wondered why this gift was so heavy...it was her own set of scriptures! An 8-year-old gift tradition.

Funny story: Taylee and I were recently talking about buying scriptures. When she found out how much they cost, she was shocked. She said, "You mean to tell me that you trust 8-year-olds to not loose them or ruin them, when they cost that much?! Wow!" Then I reminded her that's why I was so upset when Treyson lost his promptly after receiving them. Thankfully they turned up later..whew. :)

Abree was spoiled with gifts.

She received; scriptures with a purse-type holder, a journal, pink sheets, a dress, socks and DS game (from Jason and I), pens, stickers, journal and crafty masks (from Grandma McKinley), Sunday shoes (from Rylee), a picture of Jesus (from Treyson), a homemade CUTE doll bed for Piper (from Taylee), a kite, a potholder craft set, a ball, beads and much, much more (from Grandpa Waite).

Happy Birthday sweet Abree!

Can't believe you're so grown up... my baby is 8!!!

Primary Appreciation Dinner

Our Primary presidency wanted to thank our Primary staff for a job well done. We wanted them to know how much they are appreciated, so we decided to put on a Primary Appreciation Dinner.

On first count, because we invited spouses and anyone who was associated with Primary (scouts, activity days, etc.), we could have had 80+ people come!

Whoa.

But as we received RSVP's our total only came to 20. We planned for 30, just to be safe.

Our menu for the evening was shredded ham sandwiches and a craisin/walnut/feta cheese salad. We asked our guests to bring either a side or dessert to share too. The table looked slim at first, but filled up nicely as guests arrived at "Mormon standard time"...lots of variety, lots of yummy.

We filled the 30 places we had set, plus one. More had shown up, than RSVP-ed, which turned out great.

We visited, talked, laughed and ate until we were full. Good company and a nice evening.

It's always nice when people come to an event you've planned. I seem to almost always have a little fear that no one will show up. :)

Two small regrets:

1. Should have done some name introductions.

2. Should have taken some pictures during the dinner.  

Oh well...everything else was great.

Thank you Primary staff, we literally couldn't do it without you.

Jonathan Grant Waite

Meet our newest baby cousin...

Jonathan Grant Waite

October 3, 2012

10lbs 8oz -- 22 inches

Hope I got that right.

Isn't he sooo cute?!

Congratulations Dean, Candice & family!!!