July 7th, 1998

Today is Mikaylas 11th Birthday. I can't believe my little sweet, timid, yet very loud and impatient Mikayla is 11 years old.

I just wanted to quickly tell the story of the day Mikayla was born. I was outside with Kyle and Sadie, they had just finished playing in the pool, so I was cleaning it out. I had let out most of the water and decided it was taking too long...those who know me understand. I lifted the pool to let out the rest of the water and realized that the pool was heavier than I thought it would be, so I twisted and pushed and finally was able to empty the rest of the water out. As soon as I finished I felt my first contraction. Bret had gone to Costco with his mom, and since we didn't have cell phones then, I waited for him to get home. He got home around 4 and I told him it was time to take me to the hospital because my contractions were coming every 5 minutes. When we got to the hospital they quickly gave me an epidural (that's another story), and a few hours later I felt like I needed to push. My doctor had just gotten to the hospital and the nurse had just checked me, so they thought it strange that I needed to push already and decided to check me again...turns out Mikayla was ready, so the nurse told the doctor he needed to hurry if he wanted to deliver this baby, and as soon as he came into the room and got "into position" Mikayla was born. She is still the same, when she is ready for something to happen, it's going to happen now.

Mikayla is the source of laughter in our family. She is quick to tell jokes, some of them actually funny, and when she tells a funny story she usually laughs all the way through making everyone listening to the story laugh at her sillyness. She is always so sweet with younger children and loves to entertain them. I have a special place in my heart for Mikayla, we are very different in some ways (she's very sensitive) but we are also very similar. I love you Mikayla, Happy Birthday.

June 25, 2003

Samantha has always had a special place in my heart, she is my baby and she always will be. I'm so glad she came into our family 6 years ago. She loves to be just like her sisters...mostly Kylee, so she owes a lot of the times she got in trouble to her. Samantha is a daddy's girl mostly. Recently Samantha and I got to spend some time together in St. George while her older siblings were on their annual Grandparents Vacation (Samantha can go on these little vacations when she turns 8, so only 2 more years). We had a great time together in St. George, we went swimming, bowling, shopping for clothes for her birthday and we were able to feed the ducks that live by Grandmas house breakfast lunch and dinner ever day.

Samantha is always quick to smile, and laugh. And loves to be with Kylee ever second of the day. Samantha loves to play board games, or cards and I'm usually the one who gets to play with her (I only cheat when we play Clue, can you imagine playing Clue with a 5 year old?? It's a Nightmare). We love you Samantha, Happy Birthday.

June 13th 1992

This is actually a picture of Kyle when he turned 1, but it is one of my favorites, I hope you can see all his curly hair. Kyle has always been a blessing in my life from the first time I saw him in the backseat of Brets car. The way I tell the story is, I fell in love with Kyle and married Bret so I could be a part of his life (no this doesn't make Bret feel bad, he figured that's why I married him).

Today, Kyle is 17 years old, and he is still an example and a blessing to our family. He baptized Kylee in February and he recently baptized his sister Madison. He is, more often than not, a good big brother and all his sisters look up to him.

For Kyles birthday, he actually let Bret and I take him out. We went and saw Star Trek and went to dinner at Applebees, because Kyle said he wanted a steak, and then we went shopping to buy him some clothes. It's always nice when you have the opportunity to spend time with your teenager, it doesn't happen often. We love you Kyle, Happy Birthday.