Wait, She's 15?!?

Happy Birthday Caitlyn!!
I'm having a hard time believing she's fifteen years old already. Where in the world has the time gone? It doesn't feel like that long ago when Brook and I were busy in our lives, getting ready for our first baby. I was student teaching at Ogden High and Brook was going to school and working at the bank. We thought we had three more months to finish up things and prepare for her. Caitlyn, however, had different things in mind. She decided to visit us early (13 weeks early) and bless our lives in ways that we had no idea about. We are so lucky to Caitlyn! It has been so much fun to watch her grow from a bald baby with huge blue eyes into a beautiful young woman with a heart of gold. She is a great daughter and sister and we just treasure her in our family.

It was fun to celebrate her birthday with her yesterday. She started the day by breakfasting with friends at the local IHOP before school and she finished the day by celebrating with a family birthday dinner and cake. She felt the need to keep reminding us that next year she can DRIVE and DATE at this time. Geez Caitlyn, let us catch our breath first. :)

Happy Birthday Sweetie!

FIFTEEN things we love about Caitlyn:
1. Her laugh
2. Her sense of humor
3. The way she asks daily if Mom needs any help
4. Her relationships with her siblings
5. Her shining example
6. Her blue eyes
7. Her artistic abilities
8. Her determination
9. Her taste in books
10. Her smile
11. Her talent in writing
12. Her dependability
13. Her efforts not to be critical of others
14. The way she puts up with us
15. The way she loves her friends

Riding Lessons

For the past week Grandma Lola has been telling Brynn that she had an early birthday present for her. "Ooooooooh," was all Brynn would reply. Really, who doesn't like early birthday presents? Brynn literally counted down the days.

Friday night we drove Brynn to Syracuse to meet her cousin Haley and Grandma and Grandpa Buhrley. For her birthday this year Brynn got horseback riding lessons! Boy, was she excited.

They both thought they were pretty cool. It was at a great place. Jay Fowler and his wife Marilyn have a huge stable and indoor riding area behind their house. You can tell Jay just loves it.

They were first taught how to give the horses directions and then they rode around until they felt comfortable.

After they felt comfortable on the horses, Jay had them try things at a quicker pace. Hailey really caught on quickly. Brynn took a little while. When she would get going she'd pull her hands back (pulling back on the reigns in the process) and slow down immediately so it was stop and go, stop and go............you get the picture. She eventually caught on and really liked it, too.

They had the two sweetest horses. Here they are, Barbie and Smoke

Caitlyn made a great cheerleader

Jay Fowler and his two best students. What a fun birthday present. Thank you Grandma and Grandpa!