Yep - She is Eighteen!

Kelsey turned 18 on Monday.....How did that happen?  How did my first baby girl turn 18? 



Kelsey holding a birthday present from her friend - yes, that is a trophy.

 This is what the trophy says:

 



I still think of her like this:

Or like this:

But the reality is, she is growing into a wonderful young woman.  She likes to tell me that she is an adult now....  Umm I don't think so. 

She does give me glimpses of the adult she will be.  She will go out of her way to help someone, including me, just to be helpful.  She will rush over with pie, don't ask I have been told it is a teenaged girl thing, when a friend has had her heart broken.  She is trying to pass on her love of  music to Caroline - well maybe I don't love that one.  I do love her spending time with the twins and talking to them.  She and Sophie still have a love/hate relationship.  More love than hate.  You can catch many of their "arguments" via facebook and twitter.

Cross Country meet at Spring Creek Park September - 2012

She loves the color purple - not the book or the movie, but the real color.  She likes to listen to music from bands I have never heard of - and there seems to be a lot of screaming.  She is enjoying her work at HEB - even if she pretends that is not the case.  She has found a love affair with Netflix - and who am I to blame her for that?  She is not running CC this year due to Mono this summer.  She still enjoys running, and is planning another half marathon this year. 

She is getting ready to go to school next year, and like most seniors, spends less and less time at home.  I think that is to help prepare us for next fall when she is gone.  For now, I still like to know she is home at night - usually not in her bed, but she is under our roof.

I love you my Kelsey Belsey. 

Random....

More pictures from Linfestation.  First the original 10 Linfords...



All the Linford Children - (From back left) Steven, Michael, Patrick, Mark, Matthew, Megan, Laurie, Melissa, Michelle, and me. 

Linford Sista's

Pearson Clan in the beautiful Estes Park mountains

This just seemed typical of our family.....

And So It Begins....

The first week of school brought the first football game, and the first cross country meet.  On the same day.  Pretty much at the same time. 

From there is was right to the football game - the band was already there and we had to make it by halftime.  Changing into uniform outside the stands....  Never a dull moment, but we made it.  It was the first game.  The band did great.  The football team lost.



Oh - is there a football game going on?

Kelsey is not doing cross country this year.  She had mono this summer, and really I do not want her to get run down and relapse.  That would make for a kinda stinky senior year.  She was on the fence anyway, so I don't know that she was that disappointed...  She went to the Tomball High School football game on Friday night - two high schools, two different games.  I stole this from facebook, so the quality is not super great, but it does show what she was up to....

The twins were troopers being drug from one thing to another.  Now that they have both entered the world of band, as percussionist (yes, I am full out crazy), they did not complain as much about being at the game and the halftime show.  I have a feeling we will be band parents for many years to come -and I am OK with that!

First Day of School - 2012 Edition

Pretend the date is August 27, OK?  That was the first day of the 2012-2013 school year.  This is Kelsey's senior year.  Where did the time go? 

Of course, the older girls left at 5:35 am -  so there was no light and these are not that great, but they are a recording of the first day of school.

My senior!  Last day of leaving this house for first day of school!

Sophie begins her Sophomore year.

Sophie has cross country  before school, after seminary.  So no pretty picture - and she came home from school after marching band, so I am guessing she looked nice at some point during the day - I will never know!

The the second shift left.  My babies, my true babies are entering the SIXTH grade.  How in the heck did that happen?

Allie age 11 - 6th grade.

 

 

Backpack shot.  Notice the green Toms???  She is stylin

And because they are twins, the obligatory twin shot. 

Here is their first day of school - six years ago....  Just for nostalgia sake.

Linfestation

Leave it to my family to call the family reunion Linfestation.  We did.  And have the t-shirts to prove it.

Jordyn and Patrick who helped design the shirts.

We had the first Linfestation in Estes Park Colorado, which was wonderful.  Cool temps, beautiful scenery, and believe it or not, no drama (this is a first for a Linford Family Gathering).  And did I mention lots of fun?

Entertainment included a LFFG (Linford Family Football Game), Wiffle Ball, Soccer, Family Photo, Diet Coke Challenge, and outdoor laser tag.  Some photos - because that always says it better than I can - and HUGE shout out to Chris who served as family photog.  More are coming, so this will have to be a multi-part post.

LFFG is always fun and interesting - here is Ryan with Uncles Mark and Michael - it is supposed to be flag football, but well you know how boys are.

This photo is compliments of Kelsey's cell phone.  For some reason my father was sure I could not tell the difference between Diet Coke and Diet Pepsi, so he created the Diet Coke Challenge.  Of course, I only ever said I could tell the difference between DC and DP.  He, in true fashion, took it to a new level and had me taste test 3 sodas - Diet Rite, Diet 7-up and Diet Coke.  No DP there.  FYI, I did correctly pick out the DC - but did not know what the 7-up was.  However, I was able to back up what my mouth runs on about.....For once.

Our lodge - nothing fancy, but seeing a rainbow over the Rainbow Lodge was fun.

As we were driving to our cabin, we met this Elk.  Right in the middle of camp.  His antlers were huge!

We had two babies there - Sam, on left and Lucas on right.  It was so fun to play with them.  Weird to think I am closer to grandma than having a baby.....  But we got to love on them and give them back!

One of the best events was the outdoor laser tag - thank you Uncle Mark and Uncle Michael (forever more known as Cool Uncle Michael).  Think laser tag mixed with paintball.  It was something EVERYONE could do AND enjoy.  The last two games were boys vs girls, so as you can imagine the stakes were high.  It was a split - we won one and they won one (of course, the owner helped us cheat a little, but who is counting?)  Crazy Uncle Patrick had already left to go back to work, so that did not give one team a HUGE advantage since he is a professional soldier and all.

My son who took glee in killing me.....hmmm

Sophie can shoot and entertain Shelby at the same time.

Action shot - Kelsey running in to get someone.

Caroline in the action as well.





Allie backing up Aunt Erika.

Girls organize and attack.

Eric and Rich Uncle Mark in bushes - prime killing spots.

The whole group - minus a few who had to take care of little ones.  It was totally fun.  However, I am such a wuss my right forearm was killing me....  Good thing I have a day job!

It Only Took 24 Years

When Eric and I decided to get married in October, 1987, we planned on an August wedding.  I would come home from BYU, work, and then we would get married.  We were then informed the temple would be closing for ONE YEAR for renovations, and we would have to get married in April, or wait a year.  Of course waiting a year seemed impossible, so we set our date for April 15, 1988.  This date was difficult since BYU classes were not over, and I had to take all my finals before then, but it all worked.

Shortly after that, Eric ran the Dallas Whiterock Marathon in a blistering 2:52 which qualified him for the Boston Marathon.  I believe this was his first time to qualify - but I have not fact checked that, so I could be wrong.  Anyway, the marathon was the same weekend as our wedding, so running Boston was not an option - something his brother could not fathom (side note this same brother did NOT attend our wedding, but did go to Boston for the marathon instead).  But, we were in love.....

April 15, 1988

Eric has qualified once or twice since then, but we have never been in a position to go to Boston.  In 2010, he once again ran the Dallas Whiterock Marathon in 3:16 - which was a qualifying time since age factors into the equation.  He really wanted to go, so we were off to Boston to celebrate our 24th wedding anniversary - oh and so he could run the marathon.

Number pickup, April 15 2012 (sorry it is a cell phone pic)

Boston is considered the grandaddy of all marathons.  It is hard to qualify, hard to actually get in, and it is a hard course.  It is a huge accomplishment to qualify let alone run, so we were happy to finally be there. Of course, this is the year it was 87 degrees at the finish - yes 87.  Last year it was 45.  Go figure.  I do think this allowed Eric to slow down and enjoy it. He did not love his time, but he did have a good time.



It was an exciting race to watch - and it was exciting to be there.  I am glad Eric was finally able to check this off the bucket list.  I think we will be back, but if not he can say he has done it!

Thansgiving 2011

We were able to spend Thanksgiving in Dallas this year.  When I say able, really we were forced to since Sophie had a soccer tournament in Dallas, and lucky for us our families decided they would put up with us! 

Since this was Ryan's first Thanksgiving home, we were suckers (well let's be real Eric was the sucker) and we flew him to Dallas to spend the weekend with us.  It was so great to see him, to have fun with family, and it was not even too cold during the soccer games.  Sophie earned some new bruises, so that is a success for her.

We had Thanksgiving dinner with The Linford Fam.  Eric fried us up some turkey - good eats.  I turned the camera over to Kelsey and Sophie, so they were the photogs for the weekend.

Caroline and Ryan

Kelsey and Crazy Uncle Patrick

We were able to go over to Eric's mother's house for another dinner and we got to see Larry, Anabel and their kids.  They live in San Antonio, but we don't get to see them very often.  Again, Kelsey and Sophie took lots of pictures while we were talking.

Kelsey and her new BFF Jacob

Pearson kids and the other Pearson Kids - Jacob and Catherine.

Is he the cutest or what?

Whenever you go to Grandma Pearson's house, she wants a picture of the family - this time we made her jump in.

Eric and Ryan got to see a HS football playoff game, Euless Trinity and Arlington Martin.  That is something they used to do this time of year - drive all over Texas and watch HS football.  Eric has missed having someone to do it with him!

Ryan requested a pilgrimage to Babes's - home of the best fried chicken.  No really.  Too bad they are skimpy on the serving sizes.

Sophie and Allie at Babe's

And of course, there was soccer. 

This picture is Sophie's proof she should no longer have to wear headgear.  Each time she head it, the headgear slips.  Oh well  - I would rather have her fix the headgear than have a concussion.  I am mean like that.

No game is complete without one slide tackle.

It was so fun to relax and spend time with family.  It was REALLY nice to have Ryan there with us.  We have missed him the last few years!