Bickerstaff Family Pictures 2009

I am so pleased with how our family pictures turned out. Stacie did an awesome job of capturing our personalities in her photography. I cannot wait until I get to hang all these awesome pictures on our wall. Now, I just have to figure out which ones are the best.

Michael and I haven't had couple pictures done since I was pregnant with Adam.

This is just one of many great pictures of Angela.

Levi definitely had the most personality come out in his pictures.

I am totally surprised that Adam's doe eyes didn't melt the camera like they melt my heart.

Hyrum's smile melts my heart like Adam's eyes.

Ben is growing up so quickly. He is so handsome and smart.

This is, sadly, the first professional picture that we have had of all the kids together. I couldn't have asked for a better one though.

Family Picture Preview

Stacie Eldredge took photographs of our family on Angela's birthday. You can see a preview of some of the pictures of the kids on her photography blog. Enjoy!!

Oklahoma Bickerstaffs

Well, it seems that we will be soon becoming the Oklahoma Bickerstaffs. We have decided to make a 3 hour move north of Arlington, TX into Duncan, OK. We know a great family, the Lims, up there that we have been friends with ever since Hyrum was born. Michael will have the opportunity to start a voice coaching career, but will need to find a steady job up there in the mean time to get us moved and settled. The cost of housing is amazingly less than it is here, and we will be able to raise our children outside of the big city. Neither Michael nor I grew up in a big city, and we really don't want our children to grow up in the city either. So, wish us luck that Michael is able to find work in Oklahoma soon, and I am going to need all the prayers I can get as I begin to pack up our house that we have been in for the last 4 1/2 years.

We went up to Oklahoma for an extra long Labor Day weekend. While up there, Michael had the opportunity to perform. I think he did a great job even though he doesn't agree. Here are some videos of Michael singing in Maysville, OK.

Angela's 1st Birthday

I cannot believe that my baby girl is already a year old. Where have the past 12 months gone?

Today, we celebrated Angela's first birthday. We had our family and personal photographs taken by a sister in our ward @ Veteran's Park. It was a beautiful morning for pictures. It wasn't too hot outside yet and it was nice and sunny. Though, by the time we were finished, it was getting hotter.

After pictures, we picked up Angela's cake from the grocery store. I usually make my own cakes, but we had gotten a coupon for a free 4x4 inch 1st birthday cake with the purchase of a 1/4 sheet or larger cake. So, we figured, what the heck. Angela had picked out a "Hello Kitty" cake earlier in the week, and it turned out very cute and girly.

We had our little family party in the afternoon. You can see us singing "Happy Birthday" to Angela and her first taste of birthday cake in the video. She really didn't know what to do with it at first, but then she just dove right on in. Enjoy!!

The First Day of School

School started this morning. My camera refused to save my pictures to memorialize the event. Sorry.

Ben started 3rd grade, and wouldn't even let me walk him to class. Hyrum started 1st grade and told me I could only walk him on the first day, but couldn't walk him from now on. Adam starts Pre-k 4 this afternoon.

It will be so quiet in my house since Angela and Levi will be napping. What will I do with myself for 2 1/2 quiet hours every afternoon? I am sure I will think of something.

Count down until school starts

We have two weeks until school starts, and we are gradually preparing for this big event. This week I have to go register Adam for Pre-K 4 which entails going to the pediatrician to get his shot records that have somehow disappeared from existence. Then, on Wednesday or Thursday, I have to take all of the kiddos and myself to the school to fill out paperwork, and fight with the boys to not run around the cafeteria while I am doing so. Hopefully, everything will run smoothly with that.

On Thursday evening, Ben has his last Cub Scout event for the summer. We are going to the Randol Mill water park to have a picnic dinner and lots of swimming fun for the whole family. This should be very exciting, and we are all looking forward to this event.

We have decided to buy school supplies for one child a week so we don't get wiped out by buying for three kids all in one lump sum. We bought most of Ben's supplies last Friday, and this week will be Hyrum's turn. He is very excited to get his school stuff and start first grade.

On Friday, we have a wedding reception to go to in the evening. A very good friend of ours from church is getting married Friday morning. She is probably one of the best single mothers that I have ever met, and I am so excited that she has found a great guy to take her to the Temple. I am going to be helping another friend of ours with the food for the reception.

I hope that our action packed week runs smoothly so that I don't get too stressed out as I am prone to do.