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!