Memorable highlights and sayings from 2007

January Highlight: Staying at our friends cabin up by Mt. St. Helens. Just a quick drive up the mountain and we had plenty of snow for sledding and great views of St. Helens.

January Quote: Scott and I were in the car with Cassidy. I was complaining about how tired I had been. It didn't seem to matter if I slept 4 hours or 8 hours, I always felt tired. Cassidy who had been relatively quiet up till this point pipes up and says, "maybe you are going through menopause." Scott and I started laughing and then Cassidy admitted she didn't even know what that meant, she had just heard it in "Father the Bride II". (by they way, we believe it is due to sleep apnea, not menopause!)

February Highlight: Hosting two BYU Young Ambassadors in our home for a couple days while they performed in the Portland area.

February Quote: After rushing to find Will's shoes before leaving to run errands he tells me, "Before we go to heaven, we need to remember to put our shoes on too."





March Highlight: Watching Karsyn take 1st place "All Around" at her gymnastics meet.

March Quote: After arguing with Will in the car, I told Layton to apologize to his brother. Layton then said a "sorry" through gritted teeth. That didn't qualify as an apology to Will because he said, "That didn't count - he said 'sorry' real mean.....like a Robber!"





April Highlight: Grandma and Grandpa Stewart came out to visit with us and we went to the Tulip Gardens.

April Quote: While walking with Will into the Elementary school he noticed our shadows. He then went on to tell me that my shadow looked like Elvis!

May Highlight: Layton got to be one of the leading roles in his private kindergarten's spring musical "The Wizard of Oz". He played the role of the Cowardly Lion. The show runs two nights to give all the kids a chance to rotate roles and participate. Layton, however, was asked to participate both nights. After seeing him the first night, the teacher said to me, "Now how do I duplicate that? That is why he is here both nights". So we went back to watch him the next night as well. Turned out all the buzz before the show was to watch for the Lion - that he was hilarious. Parents even came back to watch that didn't have kids in the play that night. I know this is one of those things that you needed to be there for to appreciate. Someday if I learn how to upload videos onto my computer I will put this footage on my blog so you all can appreciate it as well.

May Quote: I went out to Utah for my annual "Girls Scrap Weekend" leaving Scott in charge of the kids. When Karsyn found out I was leaving Scott in charge she yelled in a panic, "What will we eat? Dad only knows how to cook on that outside oven"!

June Highlight: Our annual trip to Sun River for the Pacific Crest races. Scott runs the half-marathon and the kids get to participate in a kids triathlon called the "Splash, Pedal, 'n Dash". Layton is a little obsessed with trophies and medals and also the fact that he doesn't have any. This was his chance to get that coveted "Participation" medal that they gave to all the kids. They only thing holding him back was the fact that he can't ride a bike! The kids used the bikes supplied by the rental home and of course there wasn't one with training wheels. Never fear Layton - Daddy is here! Scott ran a whole mile along side Layton literally holding him up on his bike. He said that was harder than running the half-marathon the next day!

June Quote: Scott talking to Will says, "You know I love you Will?" Will replies that he knows. Scott then asks, "Why do I love you?" and Will answers without a moments hesitation, "Because I am such a cute boy".

July Highlight: Our annual two-day stay at a hotel just 15 minutes away from our house! We have started a new tradition of staying at a hotel on the Columbia River with several friends over the 4th of July. We swim, play games and best of all, the hotel cooks for us and we get exclusive front row seats on the beach to the firework show.

July Quote: Will asked me while driving in the car (because we are always driving in the car), "Mom, is dad more handsomer than me?" I then explained to him that no, he was just as handsome, in fact, he looks exactly like his daddy. Then he went on to ask, "Then why did you marry him and not me?"

August Highlight: Going to Utah for BYU Education week. This year Kennedy was old enough to go to classes with us. We broke her in easy with only taking her two days. The other kids had fun swimming at grandma's, taking swim lessons from Uncle Blake and hanging out with cousins.

August Quote: While trying to wash Will's face he told me to stop, he didn't want his face clean. He said he didn't like the color of his face when it was clean. When I asked him what color that was he replied, "It is shiny, and I don't like the color shiny."

September Highlight: Scott and I went to San Francisco for the first time. We loved it! Of course Scott's favorite (and the reason for the trip) was the Tennessee vs.California football game. My favorite is a toss up between seeing real "tree-dwelling tree-huggers" on Berkley's campus or seeing a Broadway Musical.

September Quote: Driving home from pre-school Will asked me if I wanted to hear him count to 100. I said, "you bet!" Then Will said, "Well, I'm going to need some other peoples fingers then."



October Highlight: Layton had been wanting a "boys night" with Will and Dad. His only stipulation was that they make something. He really wanted to whittle a branch from our backyard into a toy but Scott wasn't too excited about that. So I found a kit that let the boys dig for and find dinosaur bones.

October Quote: I for some reason went a little crazy decorating our new house a few years ago with Roosters. It came time to replace an old rooster floor mat in the kitchen with a new rooster floor mat. After putting the mat in it's rightful place Layton looked around the kitchen and then asked Scott, "Are Roosters special to our family?"






November Highlight: Watching Kennedy and Cassidy's winter dance recital (see Kennedy's blog to view their dances)

November Quote: While driving with Karsyn we passed some Presidential Ad signs. She asked what they were. I explained they had a man's name on them that is running for Pres. She then replied in surprise, "You mean George Washington isn't President anymore?" I then reassured her that George Washington indeed was not Pres. anymore, and hadn't been for quite some time.

December Highlight: Looking outside our window at breakfast and seeing this coyote in our fenced backyard. Could this be why our Koi fish keep disappearing? This other picture is of a bobcat walking in our front yard last summer.

December Quote: Layton asks when he can go to "ranches" classes. Apparently he associates fences with ranches because what he really wants to do is take "fencing" classes.