Cute Story

We have been making a recording to send to Samuel. At dinner or just hanging out we set up the recorder to record our conversations and talk to Samuel. Last night at dinner we had it on and asked Kendall if he wanted to say anything to Samuel. He was a little confused, we told him to just talk. Anyway, the phone rang and James was talking for a minute and then hung up. Kendall started crying and said he wanted to talk to Samuel. He thought that it was Samuel on the phone. I started to cry when I saw how broken hearted he was that he couldn't talk to his big brother. I am really looking forward to Christmas so that we all can talk to Samuel on the phone!

The Crucible

Last weekend, Cameron was in the play "The Crucible" at Branham. He played the role of John Proctor. He had a very intense part to play. He wasn't very nice either! He cheated on his wife and he had a very bad temper. He got to push girls around and grab their hair. I was not proud of his character, but I was very proud of Cameron for his performance. He is another great actor in our family! In the end he is repentant. He shows a broken heart and a contrite spirit. His final scene was incredible, many were brought to tears by his confession. Cameron did an Awesome job!

Here he is with his good friend Dustin, who played the Reverend.And this is Michaela, she played his wife.

Gotta love Grandpa Cortez, he has always been so supportive of our kids and their many activities. Cameron's next performance will be in December. He is going to be Charlie in "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory." He is staying very busy with school, plays, church activities and lacrosse. Keep up the good work Cameron, we are proud of you!

Homecoming 2009

My son the Homecoming King Nominee! Cameron was excited to be on the Homecoming Court. He acted like it was an embarrassing thing to be nominated but I could tell he was happy about it. After all this was something that Samuel had never been before. At the game Friday night, the King and Queen candidates were escorted by a parent of their choice, during halftime. I was the lucky one that he chose. The kids were each given a box with a rose in it. They were told to wait until everyone had their box and the announcer would have them open them all together. The ones with the white rose were the King and Queen of Branham High 2009.

This is the medal that the Homecoming King candidates were given. The picture is very blurry, but you can see that it says King. The other words are: homecoming candidate. He wore it proudly.
Saturday night was the dance. The kids met at our house for pictures and then they went to BJ's for dinner and then off to the dance.He had fun all week participating in the Homecoming activities. We are proud of Cameron for the fun and positive attitude he had all week leading up to the announcing of King and Queen. He never felt like he was going to win, and he was totally okay with that, but he was happy to be the runner up.

We Are In Trouble Now!!

Kaelyn only started crawling last month just before she was 7 months. That wasn't good enough for her. She wants to keep up with the rest of us.

So now, she is pulling herself up anywhere and everywhere she can! She will be walking by Christmas for sure, maybe sooner. Samuel was an early walker, I guess she wants to be like her big brother:)If you ask me, she is growing way to fast! Why do they have to grow up so fast? I want to keep my baby, a baby, just a little bit longer :(

Samuel is off to Paraguay!!!

Today Samuel is on his way to Paraguay. I am super excited but the mother in me is nervous. I can't help but to worry about him getting there safely. I just got interrupted while writing this post . Samuel just called from the Salt Lake airport! Of course, I started crying, but I composed myself pretty quickly! He sounds great, he is anxious to get there! There are 19 of them flying to Paraguay together. I guess I can stop worrying now. He said that the pay phones weren't being cooperative, but there was a Ward Mission Leader there so he let Samuel use his phone to call home (thanks Bro. Smith). He has a lay over in Texas and from there he flies to
Argentina and then to Paraguay. He said that he will call back when he gets to Texas:)
These are just a few of the pictures Samuel has sent home so far. I am hoping that he sends pictures often so that i can post them. Study time

Taking a pic of himself in the mirror

Elders Ison, Batistich, Wright and Lau

I am so happy that I got to talk to Samuel today:) I thought this might be an emotional day for me with him actually leaving the country today. It really helped to be able to hear his voice. I am so Proud of him. He is going to be a great missionary! I look forward to getting his emails and hearing about the missionary work and how his Spanish is improving, and how his Love of the Gospel is helping to bring others unto Christ.

Kaelyn's Stats

At Kaelyn's 6 month check up in July, she had only gained about 4oz. since her 4 mo. check up. So her doctor had us start adding formula to her cereal and supplementing my breast milk with formula. Her weight in July was only 13lbs. 12 oz. She went from being in the 52% for weight down to 14% for weight. Now a month later, I am happy to report that she has gained 3lbs. We had a weight check appointment with her doctor today. Her weight is now 16lbs.2.8oz.

Kaelyn is such a happy baby! She is sleeping thru the night finally, and I think it is because she isn't starving anymore! She has learned how to crawl, which is driving Kendall crazy, because now he has to keep his little legos up off of the floor, or in his room.

We love our little Kaelyn, and are so happy that she is healthy.

Catching Up

A lot has happened since my last post, so for now here is a slide show of some of the events that have taken place since then. Cameron went to Mormon Prom, Kendall turned 4, we had a Cortez Family Reunion and Samuel left on a Mission. Sorry for not giving any details on any of them but it has taken me forever to put the slide show together and now I am very tired and I just want to go to sleep. I will try to be better at keeping up to date on my blogging.