Guess who turned 6 yesterday?

Joseph is the dragon and his buddy Carson is the knight in this picture from pre-school last year. Aren't they just so cute?

We spent the day together as a family, tooling around Independence, MO and Liberty, MO, taking in the church sights that Andy works on every week. The Independence visitor's center was totally redone this last year and was very interactive. The kids loved it!

Next was a picnic lunch at the park in Liberty, which is a very cute town, and visiting the Liberty Jail. We watched the very touching new movie about the life of Joseph Smith while we were there.

We capped off the night with dinner at Applebee's with an Oreo cookie milkshake for the birthday boy. When the waiters started clapping and walking through the restaurant I looked at Joseph and said, "What do you think that's all about?" His eyes were so big, and he replied,"I don't know!"

Dinner at Grammie's tonight was chicken enchiladas. His cousin Ephraim made him this sign to wear. Notice how he spelled birthday? And the smudge of chocolate cake at the side of his mouth?

Happy birthday, my sweet boy!

Spotlight Sunday

OK, this is going to be something new that I'm going to try doing. I'm going to spotlight someone in the family on Sundays. Now, I'm not promising every week, but I'll try to do it as often as I can. I've been promising my first subject that I would be talking about her soon, and since we do a spotlight on Sundays in Primary to a little more about the children in our ward, I thought this might be a cute format. But I won't make you guys guess who it is like we do in Primary!

I'll give you all some background info. Don't worry, Tara, I won't dish any dirt! Tara is my Sis#3, the 6th of 7 kids in our family. She is 12 years younger than I am, so I like to think I was a big influence on her while she was still in her formative years! She had the cutest little round cheeks, and cute and curly red hair. We all thought she was the cutest thing around. She loved to hang out with my girlfriends and me, and I would take her over to my friend's house sometimes. Then, when I was living in my own apartment, she would come over and spend the night sometime.

She has always been a good girl and tries to do what's right, and to have everyone be proud of her. She does NOT like it when someone is disappointed in her, or mad at her. Tara does a lot of things because it is expected of her, and because of that, we have all begun to expect great things from her! She is the first of all of us to go on to a 4-year college, and not just any old college, but BYU! She's become so grown-up and independent! Whatever she puts her mind to, she gets accomplished.

Tara was only 7 years old when I got married, but when she was 14 or so, she started coming out to California to visit for a few weeks each summer. I loved having that time with her, to see her just a little bit more grown-up and mature each time I saw her, and she was taller each time, too! Now she is over half a foot taller than I am. Babies love her. I don't think I've ever seen a baby that she can't charm; it must be some mystical power that she holds.

Tara, I'm proud to call you my sister, and I miss and love, love, love you!

Love and XOXO

Annie

{your favorite sister}