Little Miss B

Bryton Lou
Oh, how I love you.

You turned 12 on Friday.
I can not even believe it.
You went to Young Women's on Sunday.

Make sure you listen in there.
Believe it or not those lessons prove to be helpful.

I have always admired your strong personality.
You have ALWAYS stood up for yourself and others.

When Corey taught at your school he told me
You always befriended kids that were alone on the playground
and at lunch.

That is so like you.
Thinking of others.

You are honestly one of the most thoughtful people I know.
You make me laugh all the time.
Like when you told me about the traveling group of children
that came to your school to teach you about
trustworthiness.

I am so glad to call you my cousin and friend.
You are so special.
What a nice addition you have made to our family.
I think Heavenly Father knew our family needed someone like you.
With a big heart.
You help the rest of us to remember how Heavenly Father wants us to treat each other.

I am excited for you to do Baptisms.
Make sure you pay attention in there B.
That is a very special experience you'll want to remember.
Remember how peaceful you feel.
It is such a great feeling.

Oh Medicine....

Oh my lovely Maddy.

My precious cousin.

Did you think I forgot about your special day?


Surely I did not.

It just happened to fall on Mother's day this year. I did not want to overshadow your birthday message with lovely pics of my mom from the 80's.

Yikes.

I hope you had a lovely Birthday. I can not believe you are 17.

It does not seem long ago when you finally came home from the hospital.



Accompanied by your oxygen tank and heart monitor.

You were such a fighter. You still are.

I watch you fight for what you believe in all the time. Fight for what you think is right.

We are so blessed to be your family.

You were such a special gift. Sent straight from Heavenly Father.

I know we used to tease you constantly.

Call you "medicine".

Joke about carrying around your oxygen tank.

Honestly Maddy I am thankful I had the chance to carry it.

It meant that you were alive. You were breathing. You were fighting. You were part of our family.

Don't think for one minute that our family would be the same without you.

Happy Birthday Preshy!

Q and A

You know what those bags are full of?

Laundry.

You know what my eyes are full of?

Tears.

You know what my laundry room is missing?

A washer and dryer.

You know where I'm headed?

The JW laundry mat.

You know what you should do?

Come keep me company while I wash and fold wash and fold.
{unless you're the creepy guy from last week who asked to try on my underwear.}

I Heart Mom's

I have been blessed to be surrounded by many mother's.

My entire life.

So without further ado....

I give to you,

Some of my FAVORITE mother's.

My Mother- in-law.
She gave me my husband.
Enough said.

My Fabulous Sister,
Who gave me my Fabulous Niece.

Grandma Nicoll.
She gave me many fun summer memories.
She always makes me feel very special and beautiful.

Granna Nixon.
She was always so sweet and dainty.
Maybe a little bit sassy :)

Granna Claranne.
She believes in me.
Encourages me to follow my dreams.

Grandma Sonja.
Always makes us laugh.
Always makes me feel special.

Stacey.
She gave me the best siblings anyone could ask for.
I've been meaning to say thanks :)

She encourages us to make smart and righteous choices.

She challenges us and demands that we all do our personal best.

Mysti.
I am thankful for you too.
You always make me laugh.
You taught me not to judge.

Oh Mom.
Did you think I forgot about you?
You're going to wish I had once you scroll down :)

My Mom.
Always with a smile on her face.
(I am laughing so hard right now)


You taught me I was beautiful.
To give myself the credit I deserve.


You are so athletic.
I am surprised a camera could even capture this action shot.


You taught me about service.
You are ALWAYS serving other people.
Always.


You taught me to believe in a loving Savior.
You taught me how to be faithful.
You taught me how to love others.


You taught me how to make good choices.

You taught me how to follow my heart.
You always believed in me.

Most important,
You taught me how to be a Mom.
Someday that might come in handy :)

Happy Mother's Day.
I love you.

*** Grandma Middleton:
I love all the many projects we worked on.
You taught me how nurture my testimony.
You taught me how to be kind and virtuous.
(I am sorry I couldn't find a picture!)

Dear Tay Tay

Today is your birthday.

I kind of remember when you were born.
Not really all the details.
I just know it was an awesome day.

Do you remember when we would spend hours trying to name all your freckles?
I do.
It was kind of ridiculous.

You were the happiest baby.
We used to fight over who would go get you from your crib.
Even Grandpa Lou.
I remember several occasions where I woke you up on purpose when your mom would ask me to check on you.
Big mistake Mysti, especially if you wanted her to stay asleep.

You are an amazing dancer.
My mom cries when she sees you on stage.
She is a total emo.
But I agree.
You are blessed with an extroardinary talent.

I am very impressed with the friends you have chosen.
You have a very magnetic personality.
People are drawn to you.
It is a relief to see you surround yourself with good people.
Friends that encourage you to be your best and make good choices.

You are a beloved;
Sister
Daughter
Cousin
Niece
Grand-daughter
Friend.

You are so much fun to be around.
So kind and sweet, but sassy when necessary.
You are clever and sarcastic
And loads of fun.



I know it has been an interesting year.
A lot of things have changed in your family.
I think it's because of your example and strength.
I get emotional thinking of how proud I am.
I can't believe you graduate this year.
You have grown up so fast.
I know the entire family as a whole is anxiously awaiting your future.
I know that you will conquer the world and do many great things for yourself and others in your lifetime.
Please know that we are so proud of you.
I am so impressed with the young woman you have turned out to be.
Impressed but not surprised.
I have always expected great things from you.
You have always delivered.
I love you Miss Taylor.

Happy Birthday from "Frystle".
p.s. I had to crop this picture cause you were groping my boob.
Awkward.

Deeply Offended.

Thursday night we played Racquetball at Gold's Gym.

I am pretty good.

In general I don't typically like to honk my own horn, but freaking BEEP BEEP cause I can hold my own when it comes to this game.

I am all over the courts like a fat kid on a cupcake.

It's not a sport I take lightly.

Needless to say I noticed on Thursday, Corey and I had an audience.

It consisted of the two Hispanic gentleman who had been playing next to us and some random pregnant girl.

I lost the first game 15-14. Okay whatever, there's always the next game.

If you're not first, you're last. I understand this saying but that was a pretty close game.

Corey earned every point he scored. I fought a good fight.

As we left the court for our intermission drinks, we were approached by one of Corey's adoring fans. It was one of the gentleman from the next court over.

"Hey man. My buddy wants to play you after you're done with her." He says to Corey.

About a billion comebacks entered my awesome brain. I bit my tongue. After he's done with me? Are you kidding?

"Oh okay. I only won by 1 point though. I think we're going to play a second game. Maybe some cut throat after that? " Corey replied.

Yeah that's right. I thought to myself. One point. I will show you some cut throat. Would you really like to start busting out the stereotypes sir? I don't think so. I am a girl. I can play racquetball. Get over yourself.

We then played our second game. The final score was 15-6. I won. Don't challenge a Garrett sir. Hello. My Grandpa is Lou Gehring. Racquetball extraordinaire.

I deserved that win. I left my heart on the court that night.

I told Corey I didn't want to embarrass them when I dominated. They could play on their own if he wanted.

I left the court. Glared at our remaining audience of one. Thought to myself, go easy sir.

I just wiped the floor with him.

Blocked

I have blogger's block.

I don't really understand it.

Mostly because I have had more going on in the past month than I have the last 5 years.

I should have lots to blog about?

I got my first stress-induced cold sore.

It was awesome.

What have I been up to you ask?

Here you go.....


As a side note: Thank you Mysti my hair looks pretty good.


Aimee: You saved the day with all your help. I am blessed to have a friend like you. I wish I could have packed you in the back of the U-haul. I will be asking the guy at the gym tonight if he is single and free to mingle with my homegirl A-train.