Karlee's 9th Birthday

We had a little party last night to celebrate Karlee's birthday. I cannot believe that she is already 9 years old. She is a very sweet girl and is the little mother around our house. I can always depend on her to help me out. She loves to listen to music and watch her favorite Disney shows which include I-Carly, and Wizards of Waverly Place.

This year Karlee decided she wanted to look on-line to see if she could get any ideas for her birthday cake. After doing a lot of searching she told me she wanted a brown and pink layered chocolate cake. This is what we came up with.

Her presents included a fuzzy purple pillow, an mp3 player, and a Chipmunks cd from us, a new shirt and chapstick from Grandma and Grandpa Hyde, a Hannah Montana cd and treats from Rob's family, a card from Peggy, and a card and love dollar from Grandma and Grandpa Putnam.

We love you Karlee Rae and hope you had a great birthday!

Ok, I was trying to get caught up with pictures so that I could post some of Karlee's birthday when I came across this on Journee's camera......

Labor Day at Porcupine Falls

On Labor Day we decided to go on a hike, have a picnic, and enjoy being together outdoors. We had the added pleasure of having Vicky and Warren visiting for the weekend. We decided to take them to see Porcupine Falls. For those not familiar with the area, you hike down a trail to the falls. It is not very far but is quite steep. (there is a picture of the trail in the slide show) Gerry did a little fly fishing, the kids found some wild raspberries that were ripe, and Talon and Kyle threw lots of rocks. Talon also decided it was really fun to get his picture taken and would move from rock to rock and say "an sit" then pose for the camera and say "cheese". It was so funny because he came up with new poses for each new place he sat and then quickly move on to the next one.

Vicky and Warren

aka Grams and Pop

12 Balloons

On September 3rd Jada would have been 12 years old. A new year of school beginning (she would have been in 7th grade), a birthday, and on Sunday she would have been called up to the stand by the bishop to officially graduate from Primary. It was a tough, emotional week. It would have been so fun to have her and Journee in Beehives together. To celebrate Jada's birthday we got 12 balloons to release to heaven with special notes from all of us.

I made her a sunshine angel food cake in remembrance of her and her smile. She could sure light up a room.

Gerry and I had 'Back to School" night that evening and so after we met with the kids' teachers we hurried home to release the balloons. Right as we got home there was a rainbow in the sky. No rain, only a few clouds, but just enough with the mixture of the sunshine to give us a special little treat. We tried to hurry out to release the balloons before it was gone but only a hint of it was left. If you look above the house and yellow balloon in the right corner, below, you can just barely make it out. I had everyone look into the sun so I could try to capture what was left of it. It is really hard to see.

Here are the fronts of some of the notes we sent off.

We let them go, one by one.

Again, if you look real close, you can find all 12 balloons on their way to our angel.

After we released the balloons and watched them until they were out of sight we went in and had dinner, Jada's favorite, lasagna.

One of the hardest things about losing a child is the fear of everyone else forgetting them. I am very blessed to have such supportive sisters who remember Jada's birthday and angel day. They know how especially hard those two days are for me. It means more than I can express, their efforts to reach out to our family on those days. Both of them posted on their blogs for her that day.

Vicki's / Teri's

They also joined us in releasing balloons.

Vicki's kids....

Teri's girls.....

It really touches our hearts to know they loved her too and that they help their little ones to know and remember her. Thank you for sharing with us. We love you guys!