Olivia's 8th

Josh and Sara,

Olivia's 8!  It's hard to believe, isn't it?!  We hope this message finds you all well.  This year has had its ups and downs, but on the whole we've balanced out with many more ups.  

Before I tell you about all the positives of the year, I'd like to share with you that Olivia lost her Grandpa White (Robby's dad) this past October.  He was diagnosed with terminal liver cancer in late July and passed away during October general conference.  While we do miss him, we have definitely felt the comfort of the Spirit, and the kids understand that because of the blessings of the temple we will see him again.

For Olivia, this year had a lot of firsts.  She had her first pair of glasses (she's slightly far-sighted), first (and second) time to an airshow, first year homeschooling, first pet (we got a cat), first piano lessons, and first violin lessons, too!  

In addition to all these firsts, we took 5 trips to Texas this year.  The first two were to visit grandparents and cousins during Spring Break and summer vacation.  Then her first airplane ride came with mixed emotions--the excitement of flying mixed with the heavy heart of visiting her Grandpa White for the last time.  We then traveled back for the funeral and most recently to share Christmas with Grandma White.

As I mentioned, we also started homeschooling this year.  This has been a big change, but the kids really like it.  It allows us more freedom to do things on our own time schedule.  For instance, we had a light school day and "class party" for Olivia's birthday today!  We still get our work done, and we have fun together at the same time.

This year Olivia has had quite the array of extracurricular activities.  At the beginning of the year she participated in ice skating; during the early summer it was T-ball.  In the fall, she started piano, and in the last week she has started both gymnastics lessons and violin lessons.  For Christmas this year, her greatest hope was her very own violin (which Santa brought for her)!  She is excited to learn to play.

When we asked the kids at New Year's what the highlight of the year was, they all said getting a cat.  While Robby and I were never crazy about having a pet, the kids REALLY wanted a cat, so we invited a kitty into our family at the beginning of November.  All the kids LOVE her!

As a constant throughout the year and throughout her life, Olivia always lights up our days with her bright smiles, cheerful giggles, and multitudes of funny faces.  We feel blessed to have her with us.

We hope you enjoy this year's slideshow.  Olivia picked the music and helped me select some of the pictures to include.  As always, we send our love to you and your families.

With love,

Sharon, Robby, Olivia, and family