Happy birthday to Susanna! Here is her birth story: Susanna was due on October 30. About a month before her birth, the doctor worried that she was too small but when a specialized ultrasound was done they said she was fine. Another challenge we had is that Scott really wanted to attend a conference in Rhode Island, October. 23-26. It was early in his career and he felt it was important for him to make those professional connections. In the end he decided to attend and we prayed that the baby wouldn't be born before he came home. Scott came home on the 26th shortly before midnight. About 1:25am on the 27th a very strong contraction woke me up. Immediately the contractions came hard and fast. At 2am I woke up Scott and told him we had to go but I didn't have a bag packed. Finally we got to the hospital but we went in through the emergency room instead of the women's clinic entrance. They walked me to the right place wondering if I was going to make it. I quickly changed in...

Happy birthday to our sweet Camille! Here is her unique and long birth story: The Delivery When I was 23 weeks along in my pregnancy with Camille, in mid-October, I started to notice symptoms of late pregnancy but this seemed illogical since I wasn't due until February. A few days later, I started feeling regular contractions. So while I picked up our youngest son from kindergarten, I called my doctor. He told me it would be very unusual for me to be actually in labor at 23 weeks with 8 previous full-term births. He thought it might be a bladder infection and told me to go to Insta-Care. I took my youngest two home, got them some lunch, and then lay on the couch not knowing what to do. I didn't have a babysitter for them and I just wanted those contractions to go away which they definitely were not. Miraculously, David came home early from school. He didn't have a last period class and he had always stayed at school before, but today he decided to come home. So I left him ...

 Yesterday after Katie's baptism, we decided to make a girls trip to  Anthony's Antiques and Fine Art , an art gallery in Salt Lake City, to see the "Certain Women" exhibit which featured "Reflections on a Mother in Heaven."  I have to admit I was a little apprehensive but it turned out fine. There were some pictures I especially liked. This might have been my favorite. I especially liked reading the experience the artist shared about a dream she had about coming back home after her mother had died. I also liked this one featuring a mother saying goodbye to her missionary son: This one was done by Rose Dall, probably the most prominent and successful artist in the exhibit. This picture is growing on me: Camille really liked this one because it reminded her of her Aunt Alice. It was a fun activity and I'm glad Stephanie suggested it!

 This summer I got all of our analog video transferred to digital files. Now I'm in the process of editing them so they're a little more watchable. Here is a 7-minute video of cute little Everett being a racoon in his kindergarten play. It's a little long but look for the slide off stage at the end.

My birthday was last week. It was an incredibly busy day with my class, a hair appointment, homeschool for Camille, then taking her to piano followed by swim team. We got home about 6:40 and then I had a quick dinner with my husband before going to my orchestra rehearsal (and being late). But with all that, I count it as one of my best birthdays ever because I received so many kind birthday greetings. My sister came down from Rexburg and visited with me. All my children were able to talk to me--I think they got a reminder text from their father😀. Several daughter-in-laws texted me or talked to me. A friend brought me a big peach pie for my birthday and another friend brought me some carrot cake from Kneaders. Several siblings texted me birthday greetings. I felt well-remembered and loved. Here are some pictures of my childhood that I want to save. With my brother Neil Imitating my dad who is holding my brother Neil At the church with my dad after my baptism With my brother Craig, 6 ye...