Through the years with Kara---Happy Birthday!

Tomorrow  my youngest went ahead and turned 16!  Below are a collage of pictures of Kara from birth until now.

Kara when only a few months.  She had the most beautiful dark hair and BIG, gorgeous eyes.  She had such a sweet personality.  I was so grateful that after living with four brothers and then having three sons, that I was finally blessed with a beautiful daughter.

Have I mentioned yet how much I really, really like this girl?

I love her for a million different reasons, but here are 16 of them.

1. She is a kind person to her family, extended family, strangers, peers, friends  adults. I wish we all could be as kind as she, as the world would be a much better place.

 

2. She loves music and we are all blessed because of her talent.  She is either writing music, listening to music, playing music or singing music.  Whether she is happy or sad, her favorite thing to do revolves around music. 

Kara at her  2nd birthday. She loved to have her hair curled and she loved all the attention her brothers dotted on her. 

3.  She is super duper easy going.  It is really hard to ruffle her feathers.  She just goes with the flow. 

 

 Kara as a flower girl at my brother Jared's wedding.  She was 4.

4. She is a peacemaker.  If ever there is contention in our home, which seriously there rarely is now that my kids are older, it never involves her.  She despises hearing a voice raised or if she thinks anyone is being unkind.  We all have become better becomes she is this way. I am the same way, but she is leaps and bounds ahead of me. 

 

 Above Kara waiting in line for her 1st day of 1st grade and below her first time participating in Reflections.

5. She loves her Heavenly Father and never goes to bed without reading her scriptures or praying.  She is a wonderful example of someone who is very disciplined. 

Above Kara's first day of 2nd grade. Rollers in her hair at night and Kara getting an award.

6.  She is extremely smart.  History is her favorite academic subject and she very dedicated to getting good grades.  She works very hard and always goes the extra mile to do her very best.

 

Kara in 2nd grade.   Her baptism day, dancing and a lunch date with mom at the American Girl store.  And then one random picture when she was 11.

7. She always knows if someone is feeling bad, mad, sad, or happy. She has a knack from reading peoples emotions.  It is hard to hide your feelings from this girl. 

Kara turning 9 years old

8. Kara is extremely low maintenance.   She doesn't need much or ask for much, but she sure is fun to give a gift too, always very grateful.  I don't think you could squeeze drama out of her if you tried your hardest.

Kara at around 10 with siblings and cousins

10. She sees the good in people.  She is non judgmental and likes everyone.  I can't honestly think of her ever telling me she didn't like someone.

 

Kara turning 11 years old and above that is a family picture of us at Yosemite.

11.  She is an excellent listener and gives sound advice to others.   She is wise beyond her years. 

Summer of 07.  Kara with brother right before he went into the MTC.  And pictures of our family at Disney world, and Kara with Spencer on his birthday

12.  Kara really doesn't have any fear and is very confident.  If you ask her to talk, sing, or do whatever she is always willing.  She isn't afraid to do much in front of a large audience. 

6th grade and Kara turning 12!  Above one of her 1st place Much Ado about Nothing and she played Beatrice!  Also above is Kara playing with her cousin Bella! 

 13.   Kara is a great helper.  If you ask for her help she does it and does it well.

Kara above at12 and 13!

 Kara's 14th birthday with family and with friends!

 14.  I can't think of the last time I ever heard her complain.  She seriously doesn't complain about much. She always sees the good. 

15.   Kara is more beautiful on the inside than the outside.    And I love that her beautiful sweet spirit shines. 

 15th Birthday!

16.  I love how happy she is.  She has a smile that can light up my world. 

Kara I love being your mom. You teach me each and everyday.   I am grateful  more than you can ever realize that you are my daughter. You are exactly the kind of daughter I would have chosen if I was special ordering a daughter!!!!!  I love you forever and MORE!!!

Metaphasia a radically updated retelling of the 12 DANCING PRINCESSES

Last week Kara performed in her musical/play.  She did a wonderful job.  I really want to thank everyone that supported her and came to her play.  It was so sweet to have friends, piano students,  and a lot of the children in the neighborhood come to support her.  I only took some random pictures and some of them didn't turn out too well since I am a poor photographer, but here are a few.   Sorry, I didn't get any of my children or hubby that were there.

In case I didn't tell you, Kara was the villain in the play.  She was the evil one.  It was strange to watch her do so well at being so bad. 

Also, I have three links that show her performing in her play.  Again, I find it difficult to hold a camera and watch the play at the same time.   Sadly, Matt was out of town some of week so he didn't get to go with me to all of the performances.  But he left early Saturday morning so he could come in time for her last performance.   Kara and I are both glad that play is over.


http://youtu.be/Jj1E9-2wpLc


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ET4kebY-pw0


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2C1mWsDqJSA

 Kara and some of her cute cousins

 Julie brought Kara some pretty flowers.  These two are pretty good friends, being carpool dance buddies each week.

 Above is Kara opening the necklace that Ally (sp) made for her.  So sweet of her.

Some of the cast above.  

The MTC is so blessed to have her and other things

 Colleen entered the MTC on February 6th of this month.    She will spend 8 weeks in the MTC before she heads to Thailand.

Above is a picture of her 1st time going to the temple with her family and friends.  She chose to go to the Manti temple. I am really hoping to have this young woman become a member of our family someday, but for now she will be one terrific missionary!!!

 

I had a moment of fame when I was asked to be in a Time out for Women video several years ago. It was a lot of fun. I had checked out the video  this last week and Diane (she is the friend I went with) and I were taking pictures since we didn't buy the DVD.   

 Pictures of where I work. I am getting so sad about leaving. This Wednesday is my final day at Heartland.  I am going to miss it so much.  Above is the place were we have our planning time.   I took pictures to help me remember it.  Below are the bags we carry with us to each classroom.

Everyday my boss leaves an uplifting message to all of her employees. I am going to miss her very much.  I will be pleasantly surprised if my new boss is as wonderful as she is, but I sure am hoping he or she is!

 Yummy food my boss brings once a month to celebrate birthdays.  She is always buying chocolate.  Well that is one thing I certainly won't miss.

 Below is the letter I posted to each of the ladies I work with. Some of them I don't see each day so I wanted to say good bye.  I have done a terrible job at telling them, only because it is so hard.  I love them all so much, so it has been a challenge to bring it up. 

Dear Amazing Women,

Many of you are already aware that I will have my last day here on Wednesday, February 27^th.  Starting in March, I will be working at Ebay.  Since I don’t see each of you each day, I wanted to make sure I said good bye to everyone, thus the reason for the letter.

After a lot of consideration I have made the decision to switch jobs.  I made this decision due to financial reasons.  This decision is full of mixed emotions and has been very hard for me to make.

I want to thank all of you who have supported, guided and encouraged me over the last 3 years. I have felt so privileged to work with each and every one of you. 

Warmly~

Cami 

 
I finished my 6 week fitness challenge. I came in 3rd place.  There was a tie for 1st place so it isn't as good as it sounds. I had a perfect total, until I was vacillating between which job I would take.  Then my computer broke and I had always tracked electronically. It didn't work so well by hand, or maybe I wasn't as motivated for two days.  So I was happy.


The next day I was done, I started another challenge.   In this challenge you pick 6 things you want to work on and you can switch them after 3 weeks again. It last for  a total of 6 weeks. I really like the challenge.  Here are the 6 things I picked. Anyways, I am hoping it goes well. I like how this challenge helps me focus on being more well rounded, which is always my goal. I am grateful for friends who start these challenges.  Thank you!!!

1. Limit technology (leisure time on computer is 15 minutes). If I have an assignment, lesson, or something then I only get on and off to do it.  2. Read uplifting literature (scriptures) for 20 minutes.
3. Lose weight
4. Exercise 30 minutes a day. (rotating cardio/strength training)
5. Stop eating before 8pm.
6. Track everything I eat/stay within calorie goal.

Scavenger Hunt Birthday---for my hubby!

For Matt's birthday last week I decided to do a scavenger hunt.  I thought it would be fun and all of our children were gone working, or at play practice.  So on Saturday morning when we woke up I gave Matt our first clue for our Scavenger Hunt.  I would read the clues, but probably shouldn't because they are catered just to him! It told him to get dressed and that we were going out for the day.  He was pretty intrigued. Of course I told him to only have a piece of fruit before we left. 

So we dropped Kara off at play practice and then we headed for a beautiful drive to Ruth Diner's  Above is a picture of Matt waiting and you can see how deep the snow is. We both had the yummy food. I love the food there. So delicious.

 After that I gave him the next clue and we headed  to the movie he wanted to see. I continued to give him clues as I had planned out the whole day.  It was fun to do things that I know that he likes.

Our sixth and final clue was an outing to Chick Fil A for a candle light dinner.  Colton had gotten this for his dad's birthday.  He liked it, and of course I did too.  They even had a professional photography there to take our picture.  They had beautiful music playing, they gave us some roses, and we had our server in a tux.  It was a lot of fun.  All in all Saturday was a perfect day. 

On Sunday after church everyone was home to celebrate.  It was fun to be together.  I made what Matt requested and it all turned out well.

For his cake this year, I made a Chocolate Torte cake.  It is my sister in law, Suzanne's recipe.  Very yummy, and darn good cake!  I love my man and I love celebrating his birthday each year!!!!!

Wow, maybe next year we won't use all the candles.

I made this Birthday wreath after seeing my friend Adrianne's.  I went over to her house and we had a wreath party.  She is very creative!!!   And this wreath will be up for a few weeks as we celebrate Kara and Coby's birthday over the next couple of weeks!!!!!