Seven.Eleven Years

 7.11 Years

Dear Millie,

Happy Valentine’s Day. I know it is different being home on a snow day, but I have enjoyed having you home to celebrate with. 

My favorite memory of you this year when you and Lainey got into the green food dye. I acted like I was really upset with you, but inside, I was laughing so hard. I will never forget that image in my mind.

I was so proud of you when we were skiing up at Hoodoo. Maggie picked the run and she picked a black. Sam was too scared to try. I wanted to try but deep down I was nervous. I hadn’t really done a black. I wanted to be brave in front of you kids. When I said that I was going to do it, you replied that you were going to do it too. Then you just flew down the steep hill. You were awesome. 

A favorite part of your personality is to take whoever is around you or wherever we are and turn it into a fun time. You have this ability to be friends with everyone. You bring whoever is near you into your amazing circle of fun. It doesn’t matter if they are a boy or girl, you see the best in everyone. You are also able to come up with the most imaginative games, whether you are stuck inside on a rainy day or exploring a new park. You can always come up with a fun new game.

Your greatest gift is your ability to stick with and work hard on your goals. You have focused on the piano this year and your improvement shows. When doing your chart, even after a tiring day at school, you can push through and get it all done without complaining. Your diligence will take you far in life.

If you could see yourself through my eyes, you would know you are always loved and wanted in our family. Being the middle child can be hard because you are stuck in the middle. But I promise you that we need you and love you so much.

Without you our family would bland. You spice us up with your exotic dancing and colorful projects. You keep us on our toes and have caused me and dad to laugh so much. I really do love it, even when it is extremely messy.

I like you because you are spunky and sassy and make life so much more fun.

I love you because you are my daughter. I thought we were finished having kids after Sam. But both Dad and God told me that we needed to have another one. And then you came along. You were the child who I didn’t know that I needed. When I held you, I just knew you were going to bring us so much joy into our lives. I am so grateful you chose our family. 

I will always love you, Mom

Seven.Ten Years

 7.10 Years

• Christmas festivities are under way. Dad and I were able to go to your Christmas concert. It was cute to hear you all sing. You kept telling us that there was a surprise for us. The last song, you all had snuck hand bells and sang a Christmas version of "We Will Rock You" with the bells. You loved how you wore a matching dress with your teacher. Other fun things that we did this month was visit the Keizer lights, decorated gingerbread houses, visited with Santa at the Ward Christmas brunch, and had Red Ribbon dinner where you got cute animal post it notes.
• You were able to preform in the Nutcracker for dance. This has been something that you have wanted to do for a while. Your class was assigned snowflakes. The costume was so beautiful. For your dance, they had your class come out with the older girls, so it was darling to see you all blend together. Grandma and Papa along with Auntie Annie, joe and Elaine came and watched you the first night. Lizzie Leder came the next day to watch you.
• This year was a bit different. We got to be in Utah for actual Christmas. We missed the last day of school before the break. I know you were bummed about missing the party, but your class has had fun all week so you were just missing the movie Polar Express. We made sure to watch it on the way to Utah. We stopped first in Brigham City and slept at Grandma's. It was nice to have a slow morning and breakfast with them. We then buzzed on south to visit our friends, the Barbers. We got to see the house they are building, eat yummy sandwiches at the gas station (where each of you were bold enough to ask for free popcorn), and end up at the trampoline park in Provo. They have a girl named Rose that you really liked playing with. Afterwards, we headed out to the Cowles. We introduced them to Happy Birthday Jesus and spent hours in their hot tub. You were all so excited to sleep in the same room together. The next day, we got ready for church and met up with Stinky Face's family for church. The weather was awesome in Springville. After church, we walked to a park and played fetch with Boba. McKay was home for the weekend, and all the older boys were so nice playing legos with you all. The next morning, Josh took our family skiing at Sun Dance. The snow was horrible, but that didn't stop us. He wears is bright BYU jacket, so it is easy for all of us to follow him. He is so good about making it fun for you kids. After skiing, we said goodbye to Utah County and headed back north to Grandma's house.
• Grandma was so excited to have you kids to be there on Christmas. She pulled out all her sugar cookies for you kids to decorate. You are a disturbing child and turned one of the gingerbread men into a red devil. I think you had more frosting on your face than on the cookies. Christmas Eve, we watched a movie, had steak and chocolate milk for dinner, and reenacted the Nativity (you were an angel). We hunted for the star, where you found donut pjs. It was hard to fall asleep, but you all slept in the same room together and eventually fell asleep. Sam was the first up in the morning. He turned on the TV and we watched a christmas movie downstairs while we waited for everyone to get up. You all ran upstairs to find your stockings. This year, Santa gave you a Harry Potter lego set. You screamed and jumped up and down. You opened it that day and got it all built. You and JoJo gave each other the ear muffs that you really wanted from Target. Mark and Kami were there and they loved seeing all your reactions. More cousins came over for dinner that night. It was a full house. We finished the week with a family party at the church and swapping gifts. 
• We made it home before New Years. We hosted a big Price Family New Years party with Hawaiian food, Just Dance on the Switch, and games. We popped out confetti at 9pm. 

Seven.Nine Years

 7.9 Years