Happy Birthday, Austen!

It's a very bittersweet day... on one hand I can't believe I have a twelve year old. It seems like just yesterday she was learning to walk, going to kindergarten, losing teeth, etc. And now she's in Young Women's, going to Jr. High in the fall, getting prettier every day, and wanting to wear make-up!!!!

On the other hand, I HAVE A TWELVE YEAR OLD!!! She has already had several "practice runs" with the whole babysitting thing, but she is official now! And THIS is very exciting. We are going OUT this weekend and Austen's in charge!! :)

The fact that she is super responsible and wonderful with her siblings makes this even better. Austen is an amazing girl and I don't know what I'd do without her. She has been SO busy this year, and things have slowed down recently. It's hilarious because she's BORED out of her mind!! She will accomplish many wonderful things in her life because of her energy and her dedication. I love her with all that I am. Happy birthday, sweetie. It's been another great year, and I'm excited (gasp!) for what lie in store.

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Break a Leg!

Austen is going to be in her very first play this week, and she is SO excited! I am going to be out of town and am very sad I will miss it. I attended a couple of rehearsals and got a few pics... Corey will have to take lots and do some filming, too. She really does shine up there on stage, and I'm not just saying that because I'm her momma!

you go, girl!!!

Austen is one busy gal! She amazes me with her ability to juggle the many different activities she is involved in. I KNOW I am her mama, but I am very proud of her!! This post is mainly for her grandparents to see a couple of the things she's done... (including a cheer performance and part of a speech for her (successful!) run for Student Body Secretary) She's also involved in an upcoming Destination Imagination competition as well as a school play, and just finished participating in an Oral Interpretation performance. It makes me tired just thinking of it all! She also earned straight A's last quarter... ! She really is amazing. I just had to brag. a. little.




I also added a link to youtube...Austen participated this past weekend in "destination imagination"... it's kind of hard to explain, but her team had to create a "music video" set to a book... they chose tacky the penguin, and the result is pretty cute... austen IS tacky... you won't miss her! :)

Seriously. Sonora.

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Can I just share how much fun we had at Sonora this week!! I am SO happy I got to hang out with Austen and friends for a few days. It was non-stop fun and we definitely didn't get much sleep. We laughed a lot, and saw tons of cool things. What a beautiful place! I just loved sitting back and watching Austen have the time of her life.

Volleyball

Austen's playing volleyball again this year. She's really worked hard and finally got her serve down!! The last time she had the ball, she got 5 or 6 over the net and scored the winning point! She's still working on her other skills, but it's fun to watch and practice with her. (We've been out in the not quite large enough back yard practicing serves... good thing we have nice neighbors to return the ball!) I told her that she might have a little volleyball talent in her blood since she has two uncles who are pretty AWESOME at the sport. Either way... it's fun to watch her have fun. She was SO excited when they won... she's definitely got spunk! :) And yes, that is Aidan in the BOTTOM of his stroller.... ANYTHING for a laugh!

You Go Girl!

Austen has had so many performances lately! She is a
very busy girl and involved in lots of fun extracurricular
activities! We've seen her sing in the choir, cheer, and
participate in both oral interpretation and Destination
Imagination. She's worked very hard at everything and had
a blast doing it. This is a recent cheer performance. The
quality of the video isn't great, but you can see that the
girl knows how to boogie! (Austen starts out in the front
of the group) She certainly doesn't get that from her mom!
I love to watch her dance! (which is a good thing, since
she rarely stops!) :)

Austen's Choir

Austen has participated in her school choir this year.
She wasn't quite sure about it, but has had fun with it.
They had a performance earlier this month and here
is one of the songs they performed.