Kavan's "First" Date!



October 2013

 

 

Sister Dent came and picked Kavan up for a ride in her cool car, and took him to Steak-N-Shake for a shake and burger!  This lady is awesome and holds a very special place in my heart (and Kavan's)!  She is the epitome of southern charm!  She works hard, she plays hard, she is incredibly talented, she has an amazing heart... and she's beautiful!  She has taught my kids the gospel and has been an incredible example!  She has moved and we miss seeing her every week, but never a day goes by that we don't think of her... and thank her for all she's done for our family!  We love her!  :)

A Family Birthday Celebration!

It was so fun to have family and friends for celebrating!

 

 

Karlee and Kavan are so animated and full of life (ok, so maybe dramatic is a good word) that you see it all over their faces!

Grandma Mitchell has a really neat tradition of making the grandkids an afghan for their 12th birthday!

 

 

Karlee loves it - and it's her favorite color! :)

 

I love Ryan's expressions!  He fits right in! 
He makes me laugh!

"Half Occupational Therapist, Half Ninja!"  So Fun!  :)

Kavan turns 10 in 2013!

 

Kavan was so excited to be 10!  We had a short celebration that night with doughnuts and presents, then Saturday he had some friends over for a party!

 



Kenzie gave him soap on a rope because we always give him a hard time about being a stinky boy!
It was really funny!  :)

 

His party was all about Nerf guns, football, soccer, and Mac -n- cheese!  :)

I was working a band competition with Kenzie, so Layne and Karlee handled the party!
They're awesome like that!

JJ, Wilkes, Zarek, and Luke

Cade, Kavan, George, Korbin

Hot dogs, crockpot macaroni and cheese, chips, Caprisun...



and 8 crazy boys!

Oh, and a candy!

I love the boys' expressions in this picture!

So much fun!

Annual Radiology Meeting 2013

Layne "had" to attend an annual radiology meeting in Charleston and we decided that I "had" to go with him!  We've been to Charleston before and it is beautiful, and this time we were able to visit the Magnolia Plantation.  It reminds me of an old southern plantation that could be featured in the movies.  It was charming and lovely, but I would imagine it to be hot, muggy, buggy and kind of miserable in the heat of the summer...But during great weather, it would have been amazing!

 

 

Can't you picture a "courting scene"... man rowing canoe - lovely lady with a beautiful dress and hat, holding a parasol?
 Ohhh, the romance of it all!

It wouldn't be complete without an alligator, right?

Charleston has so much history and so much beauty!  We took a bus tour and saw the Citadel and the College of Charleston.  I didn't really get pictures of either, but the College of Charleston is gorgeous!  They shared with us that on graduation day the girls dress all in white and carry bouquets of red roses, and the boys wear summer tuxedos (white jacket and black pants) with red rose boutonnieres.  I found that interesting and would imagine it to be quite pretty! 

 

This was an old jail.

The homes and iron work in Charleston are beautiful!

 

 

These next pictures were taken from our hotel balcony.  We stayed in the Hotel of Charleston.  When Layne was in class (he also presented this year),  I would read, work out, walk, sleep...and when Layne was available we would walk the town, sightsee and eat!  We ate some amazing food!  :)   

This old theatre is where the "final big dinner" took place.

I felt very relaxed, and very spoiled, and really enjoyed my time with Layne!  I am very grateful for my parents who got the kids everywhere they needed to be during the week, and kept some order in the house...and for taking care of Kyler's baseball injury (he split his hand open between his fingers during a game - the "webbing" between his fingers will never be the same - what a crazy weird injury!) -Much thanks to them and all they do! 

Karlee turns 12!

Kenzie and I took Karlee to Cracker Barrel for a "birthday breakfast."  When we got home, Layne had her first birthday surprise waiting as she walked in the door!

 

 

A Bunny...

 

Then, she opened the rest of her surprises.

Ohhh, the love!  :)

Then, early afternoon, Karlee's friends arrived for a celebration!

 

 

McKenzie and Samantha were a huge help as the girls did facials...

 

and relaxed!  Who knew that so many girls could be so quiet...it was amazing!  :)

 

Karlee received many wonderful surprises from her friends!  Karlee was very grateful and put her gifts to use right away...fingernail polish, fake fingernails, hair stuff, makeup bags, "smell good stuff", room decorations, money, etc...  Much appreciation and thanks to all!

 

Karlee requested red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting this year!



wishes...

 After Kenzie and Samantha washed all the "facial bowls" we were ready for foot scrub - which became leg scrub - and hand scrub - and arm scrub! :)  Anyway, they ended up with soft amazing skin!  :)

 

Then, the girls played a very innocent game of "spin the bottle."  Whoever ends up with all of their fingernails or toe nails painted first, wins.  It was a close competition, but Lexi pulled ahead to win the game!

Very colorful!

 

So Fun!  The girls were very pleasant!  They sang, and laughed, and had a good time!  -And thankfully, they never got totally crazy!  :)  I am grateful for that!  And Kenzie and Samantha were amazing helpers and I thank them for that!



 

That evening, Layne took Karlee out for a date!!

 

A full, fun day!

 

Karlee was so excited to turn 12 and be able to attend Young Women's!  :)