This is Liz. She is my first born and the sweet baby we took to the temple. She is very shy, but sweet and loyal and kind to everyone. She is ridiculously talented and seems to master everything she tries. I first noticed this when she came home in the seventh grade asking if she could tryout for volleyball. I said yes, with the idea in my head head that she knew nothing about volleyball and would not make the team. (Great mommy moment, right?) She came home so excited that she made the team. Watching her at the first game, it became apparent that she not only deserved to make the team, but that she was their strongest player. She now played softball for her high school. She is also a gifted artist, and plays guitar.
This is A.K. Not a nickname that I have given him, but one his baseball coach gave him. AK 47, like the gun, is because of the hard line-drive balls he hits into the outfield. This cute boy is my oldest son. He loves his mom well and always takes care of me. He has always been a gifted athlete, from the time he was tiny. He has always loved baseball, but has also played basketball and football. He is also loves girls. Last year he decided that he was going to have a girlfriend, despite everything that his father and I warned him about. I assured Hubby that 8th grade romances were notoriously short and I was right. Three weeks later, the young lady broke up with him and broke his heart. He decided then and there that he was going to wait until after his mission to have another girlfriend. Dad and I approve!
This is Roo, who is my single most challenging child. She is a free spirit, who loves to wander. She is forever getting in trouble for wandering too far from home. She is my protector and wants to make sure that no one every hurts my feelings. She is extremely loyal to her friends and always seeks to be a peacemaker among her friends. She is so excited about being in the Young Womens program next month. Roo was also our rainbow baby, the baby born after the tears. She was born 20 months after Nathaniel, the baby we lost. She loves to serve people and to make them laugh. I am constantly chasing her home again to do her own chores, because she is too busy helping a neighbor with hers. She plays softball as well, but has tried other things too, like tumbling and piano.
This is Sandman. Which is a funny nickname, because he always always beats be out of bed every morning. He is seven...almost eight years old. This kid can *MOVE*. He is in constant motion. He is following right after his brother and sister and loves to play ball. He learns things quickly, and loves to talk to grown ups. When he was three years old he watched and episode of Handy Manny. Afterwards he used a screw driver to take all of the outlet covers off all of the outlets and light switches. Sandman was born via emergency c-section 9 days late. He wasn't breathing when he was born. I didn't see him until he was several hours old. For a kid with such a rocky start, he hasn't slowed down since.
This is Bug. She makes us laugh. At six years old she is the self proclaimed princess of the household. She loves all things purple and pink. She has had a loose tooth that she refused to let anyone touch for several weeks. Yesterday she calmly brought me the tooth. She had been eating an apple, and thought she bit a seed. She said "I thought I was spitting out a nasty seed, but it was white, so I knew it was my tooth instead." She is also a willing partner with Sandman in all of his schemes. Together the two of them are unbeatable.
This is the Little Man. He was born at 5 lbs 7 oz. and promptly lost a pound! He is almost 4 years old, but is much smaller. He has seen as many doctors in his short life, then all of my other children combined. In spite of all of that, he is perfectly healthy (just small) and makes our family perfectly happy. He loves Mommy best and thinks I am just the most wonderful person alive....for now. He thinks he is as big as daddy and can do anything that dad can do. He is also Dad's little shadow and always hurries to get his shoes and jacket whenever he hears that Dad is leaving the house. He cries bitter tears whenever he can't go. He doesn't like to see anyone sad, and walks around the house bestowing kisses to everyone who may be unhappy.
This is Hubby. He makes me laugh and smile. He works so hard for his family. There are many days that he will come home from his job as a fork lift operator, only to change clothes and leave for his second job as a referee/umpire/scorekeeper for our city's recreation department. There is a reason why so many of my children play ball. (Actually, this year all six with be playing some form of baseball/softball.) It is because their father taught them the game he loves so well. When my daughter was talking with us recently about the many coaches she has had, I asked her who was her favorite coach. She said without a moments hesitation "Dad. He taught me to love the game, not just play the game." He is a man who spoils me as his wife. He always tries to do little things to make me happy. Whenever I fall short, he is there to pick up where I left off. He washes dishes and toilets and has changed countless diapers. He is the master of laundry, doing more on the weekends than I manage to do all week.
This is my family. They bring me joy and happiness and love.
PS While I did make sure both little boys had jackets on shortly after these pictures were taken, I take no credit or blame for AK and his bare legs. (Crazy kid.)
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