Answer Key

Last Thursday, after wrestling practice, there was a group of cheerleaders that were practicing. They were running a relay race and asked Caden and some of his buddies to fill out the rest of the teams. Caden wasn't wearing any shoes and got an extreme case of turf toe and broke a bone in his big toe. One might think the moral of this story is don't run barefoot, but to Caden's big brothers it is definatley don't run with the girls!

Friday Foto (a day late) February 6, 2010

Several months ago Caden competed in a triathlon. He practiced diligently for it by running and biking. We however do not have a pool, so he only got to swim once before the big event. (he is somewhat like his mother in that he cannot swim a lick, although he is not deathly afraid of the water like she is) He hoped for the best in that area figuring that he would make up for lost time with the biking and running. We got there that morning and set up his area. He headed over to the pool for some practice laps and ran into miniature Michael Phelps. Some of those kids looked like they had been born in the pool.
Here he is all set up and ready to go. Gotta get your game face on!

Ready to take off.

Biking his 2 miles.

Swimming was first, then biking. He knew he had a lot of time to make up with the bike and boy was he flying. He came in first on the bike! After he crossed the finish line for the running they announced the winners. Even though it took him twice as long to swim than everybody else, he placed 4th! We were all so excited for him.

Friday Foto October 2, 2009

We are a wrestling family. I guess that is inevitable with a bunch of boys. We LOVE wrestling. There is nothing better than spending the whole day at a gym full of stinky boys and whiny kids watching your kid get his face smeared into the mat. Ok, maybe there are a few more interesting things, but this comes in at a pretty close 2nd!

When Caden was 4, he was all set to wrestle a boy up in Virginia. We told him to put on his game face, so he went out there and growled at the boy as he shook his hand. The boy ran away crying and forfeited to Caden! Caden is a tough competitor. He is a scrawny, scrappy little wrestler. Usually both Joe and I are yelling, I mean encouraging, from the sidelines. We get very into it. I am sure that we are embarrassing parents, but they can never say that we don't support them in all that they do!

Mr. Vice-President

Meet your new Vice President for the Middle School Student Body.

Caden is kind of like me in the sense that the less attention called to himself, the happier he is. That is why we were surprised when he told us he really wanted to run for vice-president. We set up shop one night making posters and coming up with clever slogans. He bought 2 big bags of candy to "encourage" votes and practiced the speech that his dad wrote for him. ; )

He got in the car on Friday with a sad look and I thought, "Oh man, he must have lost." All the sudden he busted up and started laughing. I won! I won! We don't know how many votes he got, but while we were at the football game last night, every kid that passed us said that they voted for him. He is a great friend to everybody. He always goes that extra step to make sure that everybody is included.

Congratulations Caden!

Turning 12 "aka The age when life starts"

For as long as Caden can remember, he has been the one who has been left out of everything. He can't go to scout camp. He can't go on temple trips. He can't go on any campouts. No Young Mens. No Stake Skate parties. He is "stuck" down in primary while his brothers get to do all the fun stuff.

Well not anymore. As of Saturday he is officially a "big kid". I cannot even begin to describe the level of excitement this kid has for his birthday to arrive. He was "inducted" into boy scouts last night by all the big boys. He was on cloud 59 all night. All I heard after scouts last night was, "I CANNOT WAIT for scout camp! Only 140 days till scout camp! Can I make a paper chain for scout camp?"

I am so excited for him. It would be the neatest thing to have 2 big brothers there, looking out for you, showing you what to do, and most importantly torturing you. This boy puts up with a LOT from his brothers, but I know that they love him and he loves them. That is something that I never had and always wanted. An older brother. I had several younger ones, but I always envied my friends who had older brothers, because it seemed that they just looked after them.

He is also so very excited to receive the Aaronic priesthood on Sunday. He has looked forward to that day for so long also. I cannot believe that I will have 4 priesthood holders in my home. How lucky am I?!

Caden, I am so very proud of you. You are an EXCELLENT example of Jesus Christ. You share the gospel daily with the people you interact with, by just being who you are. You are a great missionary. You talk about the gospel with your friends at school and teams.

You are the biggest help to me at home. You always help out with your younger brothers and sister. You always do your chores. You don't eat your vegetables, but that is ok. Most importantly, you aren't embarressed to tell me that you love me and give me a kiss and hug in front of others. : )

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CADEN.

We love you!