Happy 18th Birthday Kylie!

Today is Kylie's 18th birthday. Let's just say it hasn't been the best birthday. For a few weeks now she has been lamenting the fact that her birthday fell on a Sunday. Sunday's are great days but fairly limiting for birthday activities. And it didn't fall on just any Sunday but a fast Sunday - ouch! And to top it off, it was also our Young Women in Excellence program today. Again, all great activities and experiences - just probably not the activities one would choose to do to celebrate their 18th birthday. To top it all off, David took Kendall to San Francisco on a special father/daughter trip. Kylie already had hers a couple of years ago but she still wasn't too psyched that it was Kendall who got to have a fun trip on Kylie's birthday weekend. So she already had a bad foreboding about this birthday.

So we show up at church today to find the stake presidency seated on the stand. What the hec is going on? First ward testimonies are good but they're not that good! Shortly after sacrament was passed, President Baker stands up and starts to quote scripture. Something about doing things you don't want to do because the Lord tells you to... blah blah blah. I will go and do the things that the Lord hath commanded...blag blah blah. Kylie and I just looked at each other and went "Oh no." We knew what was coming...

They moved the 1st warders who live on the Peninsula into 3rd ward! There was weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth. Well, on the inside anyway! We kind of knew this day was coming but we hoped it was a long way off. We love 1st ward. So Kylie's already not so great birthday takes a turn for the worse and she sobs all through sacrament. I think more than the friends she will leave behind, she is most sad about leaving her YW president, Ginger Merrell. That's the sign of a great YW leader!

Ryan Tolley is the new 1st ward bishop with Bill Palmer and Chuck Merrell as counselors. Don Tucker is now the bishop of 3rd ward with David O'Neill and Jim Nielsen as counselors. Luckily we get to make the change with lots of our good friends and neighbors but we will really miss the 1st ward family that we are leaving behind. Our hearts are heavy but we go willingly into the 3rd ward and look foward to making new friends there. One thing we know for sure, the church is true no matter what ward you attend and Jesus Christ is the head of the church no matter whether you attend in Moses Lake or Missoula or Mozambique.

Enough about that - back to Kylie! Even her birthday blog is being overshadowed by the day's events!!

Here are 18 things I love about Kylie...

1 - She sings like an angel. I love to listen to her.



2 - She does awesome impressions of people.

3 - She's good with makeup and hair. That comes in handy when you have 5 girls in the family.

4 - She loves Tinkerbell.

5 - She tells me about her day (unlike most of my other children!)



6 - She has a strong testimony and she's not afraid to show it.

7 - She is a good friend.

8 - She makes the best chocolate chip cookies.

9 - She is very artistic and an expert rhinestoner.

10 - She loves cats.



11 - She has never gotten a speeding ticket. (That's a family record.)

12 - She is an expert at Encore and knows the words to every song.

13 - She is a great example to her siblings.



14 - She gets all of her schoolwork done with little or no help from me (partly because she is so much smarter than me.)

15 - She is a good aunt. Scarlet loves her.

16 - She lights up the stage. I never get tired of watching her perform.



17 - She has every Barbie movie ever made and looks forward to the new ones coming out.

18 - She makes me laugh... a lot!

I love you, Kylie!

Happy Birthday!!