Only Because I have to.....

I have been in a blogging slump lately and have no motivation to keep my blog updated....so I am only blogging today because I feel like I have to. Lots has gone on over the last week and a half and I have tons to do to get ready to go to Missouri on Friday. We had lots of family in to visit, I got sick with tonsillitis....again, several school projects, Christmas parties, and trying to get ready for Christmas. But the most important event that took place was Joshua's Baptism. My Dad was able to be here from Kuwait along with my mom. Cary's parents, his sister, Jenny, and my niece Jenna were all here too. It was a really nice baptism and the spirit was felt strongly. Joshua was so excited he could hardly contain himself. He gets very wiggly when he's nervous or excited and it is hard to keep him still for any amount of time. It was a very special day!


Another big event that happened in our house was that Kate let me curl her hair. I have begged her for years to let me do this and she never lets me. She is a ponytail kind of girl with the occasional pigtails and braids but never a curl. She gave in once about a year ago so I curled her hair up all pretty and when she saw it she cried and cried until I washed the curls out. On Saturday we had Cary's work party to go to and I asked her once again if I could curl her hair and to my surprise she agreed....and low and behold she loved it this time. I was so excited and she looked so beautiful. We only have one problem and that is that the curls won't stay in her hair for very long. She has very fine, thin hair and the curls fall out within a couple of hours. Does anyone know a trick for keeping curls in?? She loves it so much now that she had me curl her hair for church yesterday and wanted it curled again this morning before school.....I think I have created a monster!

We are very excited for Christmas and still have tons to do to get ready. Only 10 more days left!! I won't be blogging again for a while so Merry Christmas to all and a Happy New Year too!!

Eight is Great!!

Joshua had a great birthday. He requested a chocolate cake covered in white frosting with chocolate chips. I also put together a scavenger hunt for him to find his birthday gifts. It went like this:

Today is your birthday and we have some gifts for you, but in order to receive them you must first read this clue: Gift #1 is under your bed. Open it up and see what it says.

Gift #2 is waiting for you in the hall closet where we keep the glue.

Gift #3 is under the tree. Next to the window.....I guarantee.

Are you getting annoyed yet or ready for more? Gift #4 is in Mom's top drawer.

Gift #5 is somewhere up high. It's in the attic where it's a pig sty.

Gift #6 is somewhere outside. Open the mailbox and look deep inside.

Just one more gift and then you will see all your hard work will give you great glee. It's hidden somewhere you'd never expect. Think really hard and soon you'll collect. The gift you've been wanting for a really long time is hidden in the place where Dad keeps his dimes.


The kids loved the scavenger hunt so much. I decided to do this because Joshua really wanted a Nintendo DS. He has wanted one for probably a year now. We told him that since they are so expensive that if this is what he got that it would be the only thing he got. I wrapped each of the clues up like gifts so it felt like he had more presents to open. It was really lots of fun.

Yummy Cake
Blowing out candles and making a wish
Reading his first clue

More clues??
Finally!!

It was the best birthday ever!!!

Happy Birthday, Dude!!

These few pictures pretty much sum up the last 8 years with Joshua. It has been an adventure with this guy and his huge imagination. We love him so much and are so proud of him!! Happy Birthday, Dude!!