Kenedy turns 13

Kenedy Michelle Carey, our first-born child, was born on July 7, 1996 weighing in at 8 lbs 12 oz. She was born just a month before Jim graduated from BYU. She was a very sweet baby and always had a great smile for us. She is most famous in her infancy for how much she loved to jump in the jumper we would hang from any door jam we could find. We spent a good amount of time just watching her jump. As she got a little bigger and we added another child to our family, she became quite a challenge for awhile. She didn't like having my attention taken away from her and given to someone else and spent a lot of time being naughty because she knew I was busy and sometimes couldn't do anything about it at the time. It's a good thing she's grown out of that-at least most of the time. She has grown into a beautiful, smart, and talented young woman. She has a beautiful singing voice, plays the piano well, draws very well and loves to play volleyball. I'm so grateful she was sent to our family. She is a treasure.

Posing at one of our favorite parks in Portland, just before we moved to Richland. Kenedy was almost 5.

She has a little bit of a devious look on her face. I wish I could remember how Hallie was reacting to Kenedy holding her shirt like that.

We had a wonderful time on Kenedy's birthday this year. She chose to go out to Nothin' but Noodles for dinner. We enjoyed a yummy dinner as a family, then went to Sweet Treats to get some frozen yogurt. When we got home, she was able to open her present-a camera. The next day, she and Hallie were able to fly to Los Angeles to spend a week with their cousins Mckay and Maddie. Happy Birthday, Kenedy. Can't believe you are 13 already.

Check out Haden in the background. He's eating cotton candy with chopsticks. We didn't really mean to capture that moment, but it's pretty funny that we did.

Orange flavored frozen yogurt from Sweet Treats.

I don't think we've ever had a frozen yogurt birthday cake before. Needless to say, we sang really fast before the candles melted the yogurt.

That's a big box for such a little present. We were trying to be a little bit sneaky.

Just what she wanted. Spoiled!

Just thought I would end with a cute picture of Calvin that just happens to have Kenedy in it. He is a cute little boy who is growing way too fast.

Haden's birthday party and baptism plus Calvin's blessing

Haden turned 8 on June 5, but I decided to wait until we had his party to post pictures of the event. It's hard to believe that Haden is actually 8 years old!

Brand new baby Haden

Just a couple weeks old with big sister, Kenedy.

I had Haden in Portland, OR just 3 days prior to Jim graduating from Dental School. He was a very calm baby and it's a good thing because the first couple months of his life were a whirlwind for our family. Jim graduated from Dental School(June 8, 2001), we moved to Richland 4 weeks later into a rental house which actually sold the day we moved in which meant we had to move out 13 days after that. Then, we couldn't find an apartment, so we moved our family to Bend to live with Jim's parents. Jim lived in Motel 6 in Richland during the week so he could work and came to Bend on the weekends to be with us. Jim found us an apartment which we could move into the 2nd week of August, but we still had a couple weeks until that time, so I drove with the kids down to Idaho to stay with my parents and attend my cousin's wedding. When we finally got settled into our apartment in Richland, it was Haden's 5th home and he was just over 2 months old.

He has grown into a handsome young man and we love his sense of humor. You never know what he's going to say and that keeps us laughing all the time. Love you Haden!

Haden chose to eat at the mongolian grill for dinner and really enjoyed his food. :)

Haden loves Legos and playing on the playstation. He was very excited about the Indiana Jones Lego set we got him. I found the shirt below at Target-"just one more level..."- and since that's what I always hear from him, it was perfect.

We had his birthday party on July 2 at the church pavilion. We played a couple games, built things with legos, ate birthday cake and broke a pinata. What more could an 8-year-old ask for?

I was very impressed with how the cake Jim made Haden turned out. They really look like lego bricks.

Opening presents

Swinging at the pinata. I think Jaret actually broke it.

A mad dash for the candy!

On July 4, Haden was baptized. He was able to be baptized with his friend, Kirby Robertson whose birthday is just 3 days after Haden's on June 8. Grandma and Grandpa Carey were able to come and also Grandma and Grandpa House and Uncle Rob. It was a very nice baptism that I hope he will remember always. We're proud of him for making the choice to be baptized.

Smile for the camera. :)

My three beautiful girls.

Kenedy, Hallie, Lexie, Tiffani, Mikayla, Amy and Lilly sang "When I am Baptized" for the baptism. It was beautiful.

The next day, July 5, we blessed Calvin in sacrament meeting. He has been such a wonderful addition to our family and his blessing capped off a wonderful weekend. He's growing so fast and I'm loving every minute I have with him. He's smiling a lot now and I think my favorite part of the day is when I talk to him and he smiles and coos at me. There's nothing better than that.