16

16 years today and counting....

12

Happy birthday Cassidy Lyn!12 years ago she quietly joined our family and we love her more than we can say. She is kind and wonderful and thoughtful and smart and stylish, to name but a few. She is  the peacemaker in our home. She is my ally in a house full of boys. She's awesome and amazing and extraordinary.

Halloweenie

My motley crew---

Vampire Garrett

Captain Sam Sparrow

Cassidy Sue

"Vampires don't smile, Mom."

(Duh.)

"AAAArgh."

"So, Grandma actually WORE these skirts to school, right?"

Twinners and besties.

And don't forget the cat.

And preschool friends.

Handing out candy might be more fun than receiving candy, especially if you have cat help.

His Very Own Knife

We turned the 4 year old loose with a pumpkin and his very own carving knife and.....

he did an EXCELLENT job and everyone escaped without injury, minus the pumpkin. 

Nine

9 years ago Cass held her 9lb brother for the first time as we welcomed Garrett Preston King into our family. Can't imagine our life without him.

The best things about Garrett are....

he has a kind heart

he is adventuresome

he loves animals

he always says thank you

he loves physics---how his world works

he loves sports

he loves his family

he loves to cook

he loves to read

he loves life

To celebrate his ninth birthday, we....

had awesome friends over to roast marshmallows, drink hot chocolate, and play night games,

frosted cupcakes to take to his soccer game,

went to said soccer game where he played awesome and

scored a goal and

they won 12 to 1,

then later we celebrated at JCWs,

and finally finally Grandma and Grandpa came over and we opened presents and had cake and celebrated this wonderful person in our lives.

Love you, G-dawg.

Soccer, Football, and Cougar Tails

Dynamite soccer finished the season strong with a win! It is so much fun to watch them play. Cass loves her coaches and all the girls on the team. She has learned so much.

The soccer girls had a blast decorating Coach Kellen's door in appreciation for all his hard work this season. 

I took this photo on Grandpa's 75th birthday, but forgot to include it in an earlier post, and I didn't want it getting lost. Notice the gift we gave him for his birthday? His very own extra large package of Oreos. Yum.

The six of us had a fantastic time at the BYU v. Georgia Tech game last Saturday. It was so much fun, and it was Garrett and Sam's first time at a BYU game. 

Half-time included Cougar Tails (extra large, extra yummy maple bars), and some silly photos:

And we had a blast during Fall Break going ice skating. Don't worry, I was chaperoned by 7 kids. 

Sam must have fallen down at least 50 times. The amazing thing was that he kept a smile on his face, had a fabulous time, and got up each and everything he fell and kept going. I'm sensing a FHE lesson/church talk in this somewhere.... Love him!

 Cass and I enjoyed a fun girls' night with friends at the BYU Women's soccer game. Despite the frigid temps and lack of scoring, we had a great time.

And one last photo for good measure...

These two are such good friends. For a long time Ben has endearingly called Sam "Stink". 

Maybe if all my kids were 10 years apart they would all be best of friends??? So grateful for the bond these two share. Love you guys.

Sept/Oct

Beautiful.

I love watching my kids play soccer. Seriously, I love it. And it's a good thing, because I get to watch a lot of it.

Grandpa turned 75 and we celebrated at Olive Garden, of course! 

Lucky me got to go on the 6th grade field trip to the Renaissance Fair in frigid, rainy weather. Somehow we survived!

And the highlight of Sep/Oct? Attending the Saturday morning session of General Conference with R and C and G. Amazing!