How can it be 18 years since this little soul entered our world- and what would we have been without her? Lynn and I feel blessed to be her mom and dad. I treasure the little girl she was and the woman she is becoming. These are the days I take all the moments I get with her and try to enjoy them... when we cook together and make a mess, when we laugh just looking at each other, or when she needs use of my shoulder. These are days when she still asks me sit on her bed and she tells me some of her secrets. These are the days that pass all too swiftly. I will treasure all these times.
It seems the older our children get, the less time we get with them! Elise celebrated her 18th with lots of fun gatherings. Her friends took her out for dinner and the student body officers surprised her with breakfast out after a fun sleepover. Her room was decorated as a surprise and filled with candy to Jacob's delight- and ours!
I was happy to get a few pictures at least- Her birthday is over conference weekend. -always a great time to be together. We managed to get her away for a quick dinner after the priesthood session with Grandma C and aunt Pam, Grandma and Grandpa T, cousin Alli from BYU who came up for the weekend, and the Gillan family. We also had a fun October b-day celebration with uncle Chad and cousin Eric. Noticed the gorgeous cupcakes I slaved over.... ok, not...thanks to Costco. What would we do without Costco?? They are actually really yummy- especially the orange ones! :) But.. between traditional conference cinnamon rolls, pumpkin muffins, birthday cake and birthday cupcakes we were all "sugared out" It was a great weekend, a much needed break, fantastic conference addresses and good time spent with lots of family and friends!
I have fallen behind again blogging... but am trying to update a few pictures at least. These are from Elise's Fall Formal, from what I remember a busy hectic day... I had a stake primary activity that day and with all Elise's activities going on, we missed her date and I never got a picture of her-which I was not happy about-- but I do have these, so I thought I'd share them! Elise is pictured with date Corey and good friends! It was a memorable night at the old BYU Academy building (where Elise' great grandmother attended school) which is now a beautifully restored library.
How can it be 18 years since this little soul entered our world- and what would we have been without her? Lynn and I feel blessed to be her mom and dad. I treasure the little girl she was and the woman she is becoming. These are the days I take all the moments I get with her and try to enjoy them... when we cook together and make a mess, when we laugh just looking at each other, or when she needs use of my shoulder. These are days when she still asks me sit on her bed and she tells me some of her secrets. These are the days that pass all too swiftly. I will treasure all these times.
Homecoming 2009... Same day as my stake activity, of course! Elise had a ball helping with homecoming. She designed the Homecoming poster and tickets, did announcements, set up with the other officers etc.. It's fun for her to be so involved. We were proud of her leadership skills in a variety of ways, some seen, some not seen by others. She had a fun date Trevis and although tired, she managed to dance the night away.... and then stayed to clean up. Trevis stayed and helped, what a great guy! The top picture was taken the next day at church for YW's Evening of Exellence Night coming up. It was so cute, I added it on here.
We attended AF High's Swearing In Ceremony for all the councils. Elise is serving on the Student Body Council as video specialist. It was a long evening with all the different councils represented, but wonderful! Lots of kids from our stake were there, which was fun to see. It is proving to be a very social, fun and busy year for Elise. She tapes/edits announcements 3 times a week, designed and printed this year's school theme on posters that are put up in every classroom, attends a LOT of events, makes videos and is now (as I write this) designing the homecoming poster to take to the printers in the morning as well as the tickets. I think we estimated easily 20+ hours a week she dedicates to the council alone. She is getting great feedback and it's fun to be so involved. We don't see her much, but are proud of all her hard work and the responsibility she takes in her work.
Summers bring parades and carnivals and everything fun. We cheered Elise in this year's parade as a student body officer for AF High. They quickly abandoned their float for walking and throwing candy!
