seventeen years!

today is my baby's seventeenth birthday!

in honor of her on this special day, i have decided to share seventeen things about Hailey...in no special order.

#1- she sings pretty

#2- her bedroom is always clean 

#3- she is usually constipated

#4- she is president of her laurel class (she is the only active laurel)

#5- if you can drive somewhere with her in the car, just you two, she may talk your ear off (i love this about her)

#6- she is totally dedicated to the gym

#7- she gets up (by herself) and goes to seminary every morning

#8- today as we were driving to stanford for my cancer check-up, she wondered if the doctor could check her breasts too

#9- she is an amazing public speaker

#10- she attends a hard school/she gets good grades

#11- she is not swimming on the swim team for the pumas this year

#12- she is not afraid to call someone on the phone or ask someone for help in a store (unlike her three sisters)

#13- she is loved by her niece and nephew

#14- she is taking a piano class at school

#15- she talks all the time about where she would like to go to college and wonders which schools are off limits

#16- she is well rounded/she will try anything

#17- she is planning to do a humanitarian expedition to peru this summer/they call it hefy

her father got her these cool sunglasses!

this cake isn't really on our diet/thank goodness for free day!

 hailey- we love you! life would be so boring without you! thank you for being such a wonderful, fun, kind, loving, beautiful daughter. happy, happy birthday to you!

January, 2012

 When we came to Santa Rosa in 2009, I seriously never thought 2012 would come, and here it is already the middle of January. It is starting to freak me out a little. I know the President and his wife, that will replace us, have already been called. They will probably receive their assignment in February and we will talk to them and answer their questions, if we can. The reality is, I can't believe how quickly the time is passing now. I can't think about what the calendar says. We have too much to do! We just keep on working every day and don't think about what we are going to do come July 1st. Just letting you know how I am feeling about the next five and a half months. I am trying to live every minute of it.

A few things about today:

1- The rains have arrived. The shocking news is that I am excited about it! I am looking forward to the amazing green that the rains bring. AND. I have a polka-dot umbrella!!!

2- I really love the young men that take care of me at the Apple store Genius Bar! They are so friendly, helpful, positive, funny, encouraging and careful. (maybe they are boy scouts!) Today I spent awhile at the genius bar. There were a couple of REALLY old people being helped before me. The old people were there for a LONG time (so was I, but not as long as them). By the time they left, they were thanking all of the young men that had helped them and one of them said, "We'll see you tomorrow!" I asked, "Are they your grandparents?" He laughed. He said, "I've never seen them before in my life, but all of our customers are like our grandparents. (now, I'm not old enough to be his grandmother, I promise!) He said something about being included in their will, and then I thought, we are all very grateful when you fix our computer problems. Luckily these young men don't hold it over our heads, and they treat us nicely, and they enjoy their jobs, because everyone is so happy and relieved when their problems are fixed.

I have been to the genius bar many times, in Las Vegas and Santa Rosa. Why haven't I ever been helped by a nice young woman?

3- On the way out of the mall, crossing the street, an older lady said to me, "You look so cute today. I really love your outfit!" What? Who gives compliments to total strangers as they are crossing the street in the rain? I have decided to compliment total strangers more. It kind of made my day!