Happy Birthday Cass!

This past Sunday on September 14th we celebrated 23 years ago to the day that Cassidy came screaming into the world and I don't know that there is anyone more thankful for that arrival than I am. I love you Cass and I'm grateful that I've been able to spend at least the past three out of those twenty three years of your life with you. That's only 7.67% of your life, but hopefully if you don't get sick and tired of me following you around, by the time your life is over I will have been able to spend a big majority of it with you.

In honor of your twenty three years of life, here are some photos of the first twenty that I missed along with the past three that I have thoroughly enjoyed. For those of you who witnessed the first twenty this should bring back some good memories of the Cassidy that we all know and love and for the rest of you who missed it along with me it's a glimpse at what we missed. Poor us!



The beginning...



What a cutie.



I don't think there is any doubt where Scout's cuteness comes from.



This is where the chocolate obsession began...



... but it definately didn't end there.



This is where she picked up her holiday spirit. Anyone who's been to one of her Halloween parties knows what I'm talking about.



The smile that I can't resist.




Cass likes to tell me how she taught herself to ride her bike with no training wheels when she was still jsut a little kid (she likes to remind me of it everytime she tells me that she can do something without instructions or cook something without a recipe).



One of her favorite places when she was a kid in Bawwwwston.




One of my all-time favorite pictures. I can't wait to teach Scout how the digestive system works and what happens to a Big Mac after you eat it. Have you ever seen a cuter face full of freckles?




Little nature girl and animal lover.




My little athelete.




Cass and her little brother and sister. You can tell just by looking at this picture that she would be a great Mom and Social Worker.




The breakfast in bed tradition that we now have in our house too. Speaking of which, I still owe you one for this year Cass.




First of all, I am probably going to be in big trouble for posting this, but there are differing accounts as to what is really happening in this picture. Cass swears that she was just brushing away some dirt or a bug or something while everyone else claims she was just caught in the act. I'll let you decide.




I've never seen anyone play field hockey before, but if Cass did it then I'm a fan.




Cass just before heading off to college and eventually BYU-Hawaii where she had no idea what was waiting for her. (Awwwe Brandy).




Look what she found in Hawaii, a real Hawaiian. One thing led to another...




...and another...




...and another(notice now the half hug is with BOTH hands)...




...and another, until...




BLING!!




Ahh Yeah!!! There's no getting rid of me now. I'm going to follow you forever!


Thanks Steve and Sandie for raising an amazing girl and thank you Cass for letting me be part of your life. Scouter and I are very lucky.

Scouter's Blessing!

Sunday September 14th we blessed Scout in our ward in Orem. We're so thankful for everyone who came and it was great to see everyone. All of my family was here including my brother and sisters who came up from Arizona and Cedar City and Cassidy's family came up from California. A few of Cassidy's aunts came down from Salt Lake and our good friends the Thues, the Woodhouses, and Brittany Stevens were there too. Brandon's wife Michiko's sisters were in town for the weekend too and we were happy to have them there also.

Cassidy made Scout's dress with her mom's help and it turned out really well, other than the fact that the Counselor in the Bishopric pronounced her name as "Scott" and thought she was a boy, we've gotten that more than once (the receptionist at the doctor's office still refers to Scout as a boy even though we have been there a few times now).

Later that afternoon my uncle David and his wife Jackie were nice enough to have us and all of our guests over to their house for lunch and a get together. It was great. Jackie always has everything so nice and we're so grateful for them and their hospitality.



September 14th is also Cassidy's birthday so we were able to celebrate that as well. Cass made a cake for both the blessing and her birthday and it turned out perfect. It was fun to celebrate both events will all of our family there.

Update Time!

It's been a long time since I've posted something new and so much has happened since Jack came to town so I will do my best to catch up here. Scouter's been getting big. We celebrated her one month birthday in August and we had both Cassidy and my family in town this past weekend for a visit and for Scout's baby blessing. It was a lot of fun and we were able to do quite a bit and spend a lot of time with Cassidy's family since we don't get to see them very much. Cassidy's parents came up from San Diego as well as her brother Brandon and his wife Michiko with their little girl Cosette who is just a couple of months older than Scout. My brother and both of my sisters came up from Cedar City and Arizona and Nana and Papa Almodova and Malufau were here too. My Uncle Dean was here from Reno for the BYU-UCLA Football game on Saturday so it was good for Scout to meet him, but unfortunately he had to leave before her blessing on Sunday.

It's been so fun having Scout in our family and watching her grow up. She getting to where she can focus on faces and recognize people and she smiled at me the other day and I was ready to go by her a car, clothes, toys, and anything else she could ever want to spoil her. That smile is going to get the best of me during over the next 20 years I can just tell. She's such a good baby, so content with life and everything around her. She never cries unless she is hungry or needs a diaper changed and we're happy to help her out with that.

Here's some pictures from our weekend with the Deans.