Laura Paige Horsley

This post is to spotlight Paige. She is such a great kid and it was her birthday April 17th so I thought I would talk about some of the reasons I am so proud of her.

Well, this is how it all began having Paige in my life, no, I'm kidding. My friend thought it would be funny to take pics of me throwing up, but the laugh came back to haunt her when she got pregnant 3 months later!

Paige has always been smiley. Even when she was really little. She has always been cute and very caring.
Paige was born with a cyst on her right middle finger. It never bothered her, but it grew pretty rapidly, so he orthopedic surgeon thought it would be best to take it out. She was 11 months old when we went ahead with the surgery. Well, he said he got about 90% of it out, but then it filled right back up with scar tissue. It looks like it did before she had the surgery, but it hasn't grown. She was such a trooper through the whole thing. As the nurses were wheeling her away in the porta-crib, I started to cry. Paige on the other hand wasn't even paying any attention to me and says "whee" as she's being rolled away. That's pretty much how she is - happy with almost any situation and makes the best of it. Now we call it her "fat finger". We later checked with other pediatric specialists, but they said it was a cosmetic situation and were afraid that her body would react pretty much the same way and just fill up with more scar tissue. Meanwhile, she was a total crack up with that cast for 3 weeks. She just lugged it around, never slowing down.
I didn't know it at the time, but Paige was about the easiest baby anyone could ever have. People told me that all the time, but I didn't know any different. She was really happy and didn't complain much. She was so cute and there wasn't a place we could take her without people stopping us to oogle at her beautiful blue eyes. People were amazed at how grown up she sounded and how polite she was. In Lund at the time, there was only one other kid her age, so she mostly hung out with adults. From the time she was 2 weeks old, people would stop by and just pack a bag and take her with them - sometimes over night. Mostly they were the young women in the ward where I was assigned and Paige loved them all.
Paige has always been pretty athletic. She was on a horse by 6 months riding in a pack saddle with daddy's belt tied around her. This picture is of her fishing at 3. She caught this fish all by herself. She loves fishing - either in a boat or on shore. She loves to ride her horse, bike, 4 wheeler, anything - just as long as it's outside.

She also loves to read and is not a procrastinator, often asking me if she can just keep doing her homework, instead of eating dinner or watching tv. Paige taught me to be a mom. I didn't know what I was doing. I hadn't babysat in 10 years. Paige told me when she was ready for solid foods or walking, even reading. I know it sounds crazy, but I know the Lord sent her to me as my training tool for the rest. She has always been very patient with me, especially when I'm not. I had this little midget as my buddy for 3 years before her brother came along. Cam was always doing something, so it was always just me and her.


Paige has always been a great sister. I count this as one of her greatest attributes. I think back half fondly of one of the many times that Hyrum fell down outside as a toddler and started to cry, asking for his "seester". I would ask if he wanted a hug and he would tell me "no I just want seester". As I was looking for pictures for Hyrum's spotlight, I noticed that the first 10 pictures of him as a baby are of Paige holding and feeding him. She has looked after him since we brought him home. She taught him how to cast a fishing line when Cam and I were too frustrated to continue. She taught him to share and think of others. When I see Hyrum helping Hannah I know it's because of her kindness to him. She has been great with Hannah too. There have been more mornings than I would like to admit where she has taken Hannah out of her crib, changed her diaper, fixed her cereal and turned on the tv or started reading her a book. (these crazy children sometimes wake up as early as 5:00!) She never woke me up, just quietly went about trying to help. She's always trying to help. She started doing all the outside chores at 3 because she insisted. That includes feeding and watering 4 horses, a dog and multiple cats. She's always willing to help - anyone. She loves to do dishes for anyone who will let her. I think she one of the greatest blessings I have ever been given and I love her very much!

Paige's Birthday Party And More Family . . .

Starting at the top: Hyrum, Paige, Olivia, Karlie, Khloe, baby Ben, Hannah, Abigail and Collette



Hyrum's special frosting mustache - such messy fun!



A few days after my parents left our house my sister and her family came out to visit. It was a lot of fun to have the cousins back together - it's been 4 years since they came out here. While they were here it was Paige's birthday and we decided to go ahead with the party - hey what's a few more kids, right? My sister had the great idea to have the kids frost cupcakes for Paige's party and that was a big hit. Mostly for the 1 year olds! Hilarious! They just went in face first.



The next activity was Paige's suggestion - hide a bunch of old horseshoes. We did and the kids seemed to love it. It's always the simple things that make them so happy. Here's everyone searching and the final result:



On to the final phase: the unicorn pinata. This pinata was made by angels just for Paige - that's the only way I can explain it. We were walking out the door to take Ariane down to Vegas when Paige tells me that she has to have a unicorn pinata - or else she'll die!! I was as shocked as the next person over the fact that unicorn pinatas have life preserving capabilities, but I told her I would look (knowing full well I have never seen one in Wal-Mart). But my daughter had full faith and there it was at the store with a ray of light beaming down on it from heaven. The only one there and of course it cost more than any of the others (the extra light bill?). Anyway - the kids also loved this part because it spews candy when ever someone finally beats it hard enough. Because nothing says fun, fun, fun like blunt force trauma to an inanimate pony. Aren't we supposed to be avoiding this kind of violence? One day a year can't be so bad, right? It's tradition after all.



After the party finally wound down, the missionaries came by for dinner - Cam made about 10 lbs of pizza and finally the day was done. Busy, but fantastic! I will be spotlighting Paige and Hyrum here in a couple of days when I can catch my breath. The day my Sis left, the day was finally nice enough to let the kids go for a ride on the horse. They were so cute and seemed to enjoy the short rides around the yard. The guys watched the babies,



while Laura did the packing and the older kids took turns on the horse. I was sooo glad that my Sis's fam could come out and celebrate with us. We had a blast!

A week with family

Man - I can't believe how long it's been since I've posted! But the nagging coming from my mother has finally caught up with me and I am attempting a return to regular posting. My parents came out during my Dad's spring break and brought a cousin from Germany to visit. The last time Ariane came, it was December and it was miserable outside. This time she wanted to see Vegas and spend a little time in Lund. We took her on a 4 wheeler ride,

and horse ride and then down to Vegas to see the tourist spots. We stayed with Cam's cousin down in Vegas and they were soooo great to us. Fortunately for us, we convinced their daughter Brittany to be our tour guide. She took us to see the lions at the MGM,

and the chocolate factory at the Bellagio,

Ariane later blogged that she wasn't as thrilled by the lights and traffic as most people are. But she was glad that she did it all. My parents kept the kids while the three of us went to Vegas - which was like a little vacation! My parents and my kids seemed to really enjoy the week together. It was a really great week for all of us.