HAPPY BIRTHDAY CAROLINE!

First day of school Posing in new clothes!

Received an award for being a good friend to

classmates in October.

The tooth fairy responds!

Conversations with the tooth fairy (August)

Caroline and Brynn. Gotcha!!!

Gracie, the limbo queen!

I think she likes the boots.
Caroline and Devyn
Sweet friends.......til middle school (ha inside joke!)

The next girl band!!!
Oh how I loved my "Sassy Class" You should see

them dance!!! (May '08)

Caroline and Mia cooking up some sweets! (Aug)

Okay so you don't think I'm terrible for missing Caroline's birthday, I haven't been able to blog about it because my computer won't boot. Ugh!

Our Sweet Caroline turned seven-years-old on November 13th. Time flies when you're having fun! Caroline is the Spice to our family. She's full of energy and spunk. She remembers everything you say, do and wear and will give her opinion about it! She's an amazing singer, dancer and performer. If there is a spotlight she will find it (really...you should have seen her find the spotlight when she performed as an orphan in Annie two years ago). She loves cooking shows and wants to be the next Rachel Ray. She's a natural leader, of course it helps that she's a head taller than most! She's fun and creative and always having conversations......mostly with herself (it's very entertaining to watch)! She's my little side-kick and doesn't want to grow up cuz then she will have to leave mommy. I keep telling her that when it's time for her to move out of our home, she will be more than ready and very happy to go! She's full of hugs and kisses and loves to snuggle with me and read. Our family has been so blessed to have Caroline as our little caboose. WE LOVE YOU CAROLINE!!!

She had a Camp Rock birthday party. It was very fun. The party was on Tuesday because we had no school. On Thursday her school was having a family picnic at lunch time. So Tom and I had lunch with Caroline at school and I brought cupcakes baked into ice cream cones for her class. Thursday evening Nana and Papa Bolton came down from Salt Lake. We had dinner, opened presents and to top the night off we caught Brynn and Cindy Hardy after they put a bunch of birthday notes to Caroline on our front door! It was sooooo cute!!!

The only pictures I can post are the ones currently in my camera, which are her party and some pix over the last few months. I'm hoping to get our computer fixed so I can retrieve all my pictures. Yikes!

HALLOWEEN

This was Braeden two weeks ago for the "Bone Game"
between Vegas and Rancho....a 54 year rivalry! What a loot!!!!

Before trick and treats with Jensens.

School Parade

Carving pumpkins in a swimsuit!?!?

Halloween came and went so fast my head is spinning! We had a ward party on the 25th, which was lots of fun. We are now in a new ward. Our boundaries were realigned and the Christy Meadows ward is no more (sniff, sniff). We are now in the Mtn. Vista ward, which is wonderful! Caroline was very sad when all this occurred and I didn't understand it until Gay Whinery pointed out that Caroline was born when her daddy was the bishop of Christy Meadows Ward and she pretty much owned the place. Poor Princess Caroline's Kingdom is no more.

Anyway, back to Halloween! We had school parties, dances and parades on Oct. 30th cuz there's no school on the 31st due to Nevada Day.

On Halloween we spent the afternoon at the Jensens. The kids went swimming and played during the afternoon. We then ran home to carve pumpkins, then back to the Jensens for trick or treating. Braeden was surfing in California over the weekend. Greg Jensen took the boys to their place in Del Mar. I received text messages saying, "Weather is perfect. Waves are awesome. Having a Great time!" So we missed him over the weekend, but he's coming home tonight. Katelynn was with us for a short time, then off to a party. So it was Collin, Caroline and friends for trick or treating. We had much fun and I'm glad it's over. Now if I can just stay out of their candy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

GOOD NEWS!

Just checked my account online and the money has been returned to us!!! Yeah. I get a date tonight!!! Now it's just the inconvenience of Tom not having a debit card for a week or so......is that such a bad thing? Hmmmm. Tom not having ability to get money except through me....this is good news!!!!

Theme of the week..."Stealing"

My goodness. What a week. It all began when the seven-year-old girl, who lives behind us, stole Caroline's ipod. It was an old Shuffle that Braeden gave her when he upgraded. She had her Disney songs on there. The ipod was in her bag, which was in the back yard. Isabelle is always climbing the wall to play with Caroline. So she told Caroline that she sold the ipod to her brother. When Caroline asked for it back, she said her brother wouldn't let her have it back. So, last Saturday I had to go to the front door and ask for the ipod that Isabelle sold to her brother for $20. They said they would return it when they found it. The ipod was returned by tossing over the back wall. We found it on Sunday in the grass of our backyard. This was, of course, after the sprinklers had washed it and there were no headphones. The real kicker is when one of the other neighbor kids said, "Well, she found it" to which I replied, "When you find it in Caroline's bag and in her backyard, it's stealing".

Let's go to Monday when Collin went to basketball practice after school and someone broke into his gym locker and stole his cell phone. I deactivated the phone and then looked up his records to see a call was made at 2:50, which was right in the middle of practice. Every time Icall the number it goes straight to voicemail. So I will continue to call 702-205-0263 everyday until somebody answers.

Okay. Wednesday is the worst because a child was stolen. Caroline's friend, Cole Puffinburger, was taken from his home because, it appears, his grandfather stole millions from a Mexican Drug Cartel. The police found gramps in California this morning, but still no sign of Cole. How do you explain this to a six-year-old child?

Just when you think things can't get worse in a single week the bank calls. "Did Thomas spend $466 in clothing at a store in Texas? And did he attempt to buy another $600 in clothes in NYC?" Tom hasn't spend that much on clothing in the past twenty years combined!!!! Shut down his card!!!! Luckily the bank became suspicious and didn't allow the $600 purchase, but we are out $466 for at least 10 days while they conduct a fraud investigation. Ugh!

At the end of the week I begin to wonder where I can find a cave to move my family for the rest of our lives, but then I remind myself of my many blessings. The person from the bank apologized for the money that was stolen from my account to which I replied, "That's okay because tonight all of my children are home and safe." I hung up the phone, read scriptures with my family and in our family prayers we expressed gratitude and prayed the Lord would bless and comfort Cole and his family. As this world becomes increasingly wicked I find peace in knowing I have the Gospel of Jesus Christ; I have the Priesthood; I have the Holy Ghost to comfort and guide my family. I am so richly blessed.

Homecoming

Braeden's first Homecoming was October 4th. He asked a very cute girl named Danica. They do Homecoming a bit different nowadays. It's an all day event. They started with an early morning breakfast. They all met at Jared's house and the guys cooked breakfast for the girls. Then they went riding ATV's. Which almost turned out to be disastrous when Braeden and Danica rolled theirs. That evening they all met at Melissa's house for pictures and the limo picked them up and drove them to the Venetion for dinner. The limo was a Cadillac Escalade....very fancy! After dinner was a gondola ride then back to Braxton's house for dessert and a movie. Did they actually go to the high school and dance???? Ah....no. Apparently that's not cool.

The kids had a great time! This was Braeden's third date. I can't believe my child is dating now!!! I'm too young for this. Tom's not.....but I am!

Happy Birthday Tom!!!

Tom's birthday with Mom! Cute baby! I've always loved the picture on the left and the one on the right is because of the shirt he's wearing!!
This picture is for grama and grampa who just sent Tom a Red Sox hat from Boston!!!
February 1986!

It's Tom's big 42nd birthday today! At breakfast, this morn, I mentioned to the kids that 42 years ago today, dad was in Germany! He was at Mt. Potosi from Thursday morning until 6:30 Saturday night with a bunch of Scouters for Wood Badge. So, by the time he arrived home he was too tired to do anything. Today has been a day of church service. So when he arrives home from meetings tonight, we'll have dinner, cake and ice cream to celebrate his day.

The kids and I made a birthday card which mentions 42 things we love about dad. I won't list them all, but here's a few:

2. Nobody knows music like you!

3. You Rock at Rock Band!

6. You patiently help us with our homework.

10. You take up too much time in the bathroom when you take the DS or Game Boy with you. 13. You're a great example to us and show us how to serve the Lord and others.

16. You would rather be with your family than anywhere else in the world!

19. You are the best snowman maker.

21. You're the most fun dad in the swimming pool.

22. You freak out when Katelynn grabs your big toe!!!

28. You give the best back rubs and foot massages. Mom loves that!!!

32. You try not to get mad when fixing broken things around the house!!

40. You work very hard for us.

42. You are the best husband and dad a family could ever have!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TOM!!!! I LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!

Wilson grandchild #32

The latest addition to the Wilson family arrived Saturday night and she's a beauty. They're just a cute little family. Congrats D and K! We wish you didn't live so far away. We hope to see y'all next summer.

More the EFY than meets the EYE!

Mmmmm. I think there' s more to EFY than
just spiritual experiences. Now I know why
it was "Soooooo Awesome"

Summer Fun

Kate swimming at grandmas
Caroline and Koley!

The old roller coaster!!

On the train with daddy!
The "after picture"
The "before" picture

Okay. Since I'm almost at the bottom of Carla and Jen's list, Carla suggested that I update the happenings of my little cuties! That's for you, Carla!!!

Our family has been apart for over three weeks. Braeden left for Volleyball camp at BYU on the 20th, just a few hours before I got home from New York. His team won the final tournament, which was pretty cool. He and Trevor spent a few days at grama and grampa Bolton's house, swimming, golfing and playing basketball with cousins. Braeden was most excited to take over the place as tallest cousin and he's going to enjoy it while it lasts, cuz it won't last! He just hit the six foot mark. It's crazy to think that he was 5'5" at the beginning of last summer. He then went to EFY in Cedar City. It was great to hear his stories of fun times with new and old friends, good classes and spiritual experiences. I also learned what COW means....crush of the week!

Katelynn went to Utah to hang out with cousins and grandparents for 10 days. She had a blast going to Lagoon, parties, High School Musical, more parties, a baptism, a museum, more parties, swimming, sleepovers, manicures and did I mention parties?!

The rest of the family joined Katelynn in Utah on the 6th of August and it was nice to have everybody back together. We had a great time at Lagoon. Braeden and Katelynn even rode the Catapult, which is a crazy ride that even costs extra. The are in a ball that is shot about 200 feet up, like a sling shot. It's crazy!!!! Caroline is big enough for all the crazy rides, but doesn't care for them, so Tom and I took turns taking her around. I must say that after a few hours of spinning in circles, I was beginning to get sick! I prefer the fast moving, upside-down crazy rides that last a few seconds and you're done!

The rest of the trip was spent swimming, hanging out with family, eating, celebrating Steve's birthday and joining Jim, Kym, Taylor and Lauren at church, where Taylor was advanced to a Priest. It was great seeing you guys!!! We were going home after lunch at Kym's house and we forgot that we had Crystal (Kate's dog) with us. We couldn't just leave her in the car so we called Jim and asked if we could leave her in the back yard. Jim was worried that she might jump over the fence, but I assured him that the fat dog can't jump that high. Well apparently the fat dog can squeeze through the fence. After two hours at church and Kym's house we went back for the dog and found her sitting under a tree in the front yard. It was pretty funny to just pull up, open the door, dog jumped in and we drove away!

We're now home and preparing for school to start. I'm getting ready to start up dance lessons and Hollywood Kids. Tom's busy with seminary registration. Braeden has been working for Greg Jensen as a runner for his law office. It was pretty funny when he called me on his first day and said, "I'm Lost". Collin is gearing up for middle school and Caroline has been in swim lessons. SUMMER HAS BEEN FLYING BY!!!

New York City!

Can you believe this is Central Park? Can you
believe I took this picture?
Jessica Elmer and I at Young Frankenstein!
Jackie, Cheri, Pam, Nicole and Jessica in front
of 2 of the billboards of shows we saw.

A early walk through the park with Nicole, Pam and Jackie.
The whole gang. Dinner at Bubba Gumps.

I just spent five fabulous days in New York City! Eight of us went to a Broadway Teachers Workshop where we learned much, ate much, played much and walked even more.



The workshop was incredible. It took place in the rehearsal rooms of the Hilton Theatre. I learned a dance from the dace captain of Young Frankenstein, and then watched her dance in the show. We met and learned from actors, composers, choreographers, music directors, writers, stage managers, casting directors from broadway shows such as Wicked, Legally Blonde, Rent, South Pacific, Spring Awakening, Grease, Phantom of the Opera and oh so much more. My favorites were composer Jason Robert Brown, Emma Hunton from Spring Awakening and Max Crumm who plays Danny in Grease. They all sang for us! I went home and downloaded Jason Robert Brown's song, "Someone to Fall Back On" it is soooo beautiful.



We saw five shows! Legally Blonde, Young Frankenstein, A Catered Affair, 39 Steps and South Pacific. They were all soooooo good. We also had the opportunity to go to the front the the theater after Young Frankenstein, a Catered Affair, and 39 Steps where we had a post show discussion with some of the actors, writers, managers, etc.. Harvey Fierstein was my favorite!



We had a backstage tour of the St. James Theatre with their stage manager and the stage manager of Phantom of the Opera. Very Interesting.



We also took in a few sights, went to the temple and spent a couple hours in Central Park, which isn't nearly enough!



It's great to be home. I missed my family, but after a few hours of bickering children, I was ready to go back!!!

CLEAR THE ROADS!

Braeden's wheels!!! 4th of July!!
Caroline and Tom lighting fireworks.
Collin was soooooo into the 4th!

It's official. He has a license to drive! Braeden passed the test on the first try, yesterday. When he asked if he could go to his friends house (which is a 20 minute round trip drive) I said YES!!!!! GO FOR IT!!!! He drove himself and Collin to scouts. I also sent him on a slurpee run! It's awesome! Although, when I get the first insurance bill, it won't be so exciting.