To Madelyn

Happy, Happy Birthday Madelyn Dear.......

Can you believe she is four already? So to all those that love her this is a little glimpe of the past and some of my favorite moments with my favorite girl.....

Here she is on the very first day we meet. Dallan spent days and days making sure he picked out the very best car seat for her. It amazed me the amount of love he had for her from the very moment he held her.

Madelyn was definately a colicky baby. We tried everything and then by accident we discovered that the warm vibrating dryer calmed her down and put her to sleep. Adorable!

Her first Halloween. Have you ever come across a cuter pumpkin?

This was the day we had Madelyn sealed to us. She was so exceptionally good natured that day. It was almost as if she knew what an important day it was. This is one of my favorite pictures of that day. The dress and blanket were made by her great grandmother, Nana, or Hannah which is what Madelyn calls her.

Watching the Jungle Book with "Beba", her great grandfather. I am not sure how many times he was forced to watch that and Barney. I am sure the nightmares were abundant.

Madelyn and grandma. They have always shared a special bond. My mom was diagnosed with breast cancer just weeks before we got the news about Madelyn. So for my mom Madelyn was a sign of hope during a very difficult time. Every time we visit they both cry when it is time to leave.

Her first experience with snow.

Her first trip to Disneyland. We had so much fun with the Tenney's we went again the following year.

Madelyn loves horses! And so for her birthday last year we bought her a red rider horse, which she promptly names "Buddy".

Meeting her brother for the first time. She has many names for him..Jaskin, buddy, little buddy, brother boy and finally big boy. When you call him Jackson it doesn't even register.

This was taken on the day we took Jackson to the temple to have him sealed to our family.

She loves music and loves to dance. Her favorite lunch consists of a sandwich with peanut butter and grape jelly, and she could probably eat pizza every day if you let her. The girl can put down milk like you wouldn't believe! She loves chocolate and blue juice. Her favorite people (besides her dad, me and brother) are grandma, hannah and Uncle "D". She loves both pretend and real horses, especially if they are white. She loves to act silly and can easily make me laugh. She is bossy and quite sassy. I love that she loves doing "girly" things, but also loves to go out and play in the mud. She hates getting her hands dirty and hates washing her hair. If you ask her what color her hair is she will tell you brown. If you insist it is red she will argue with you until you give up. She is stubborn and sweet all at the same time. When I asked her what her favorite food is she told me chicken but not zebras. Her favorite song is Jesus wants me for a sunbeam. She loves to tease Dallan and in fact told him the other day when it was time to say family prayer that she no longer likes Jesus. You could see Dallan trying to restrain himself all the while telling her how much he loved Jesus. When his "talk" was over she looked at him and said well I don't. After he went to bed and I was reading her a book she looked at me and said mom, I love Jesus. That is when I knew she only said it to him to get under his skin. He has taught her well and now it is coming back to bite him in the well you get the picture. She is my best girl and I am so thankful every day that I was chosen to be her mother. She has changed me in so many wonderful ways. I look forward to many more birthdays and years of watching her grow into someone and something more lovely than I ever could have imagined. I love you little one.