Practice Post

Hey everyone,

I'm new at this and learning how to post because I'm so impressed with what Katie is doing...and you can too (that was from Katie). Anyway - I think this is a great way to stay connected. Thanks Katie!

Game Winning Point!!

This is a MUST READ! Alyssa scored the GAME WINNING POINT against Timpanogos High School last Tuesday. There is a great article you can read here! Way to go, Alyssa!! We're so proud of you!!

Photo by Scott G. Winterton, Deseret News

Another Party!

Please join us to celebrate Afton's, Max's and Chris' birthdays! Sunday, October 5th (Conference Sunday), at 6:00 pm at Chris and Katie's house.

Blog Refresher...

Just a reminder to check the family blogs and how they work...

*If you receive this as an email you are the only one getting it for your family. It is your job to forward it to your spouse and grown children so they can have the updates as well. For example: Tericia gets this email and should forward it to Corey and all their children... I need to forward it to Cassidy. The blog only allows me to send it to a few people so this seemed like the best system. It is very important that you do this, especially with the beach house information, so that everyone is aware of what is going on. We've had some people frustrated that they were not getting info and don't want anyone to be in the dark.

*Remember that any of you can post to the family blog. Those of us who are using it are really having fun and we hope you'll all start posting the exciting things happening in your families. Let me know if you would like help learning how to do this.

*To comment on any posts you cannot just reply to this email... that just send it to me. You have to actually go the the blog itself and leave your comment there. Doing this allows everyone to read your comment and even reply to your comments.

*Remember there are 2 blogs... one for the Higbee family in general and one that is strictly Beach House related. The family blog is www.jmhigbeefamily,blogspot.com and you can follow the link on the left to get to the Beach House 2009 Blog or follow these links.

Let me know if you have any questions... happy blogging! (And remember to forward this email to the rest of your family... do it now... before you forget!)

Look who's in the news!

It's Alyssa... she's #7 in the front. It was a HUGE upset! 

Click here to watch video and read the article.

Photo by: David Archibald/Daily Herald

Miss Utah USA 2008: Cassidy is a Contestant

It is Official. I will be competing in the Miss Utah USA 2008 Pagent. Something that I have been looking forward to all summer. It is being held in Ogden, Utah at the Egypitian Theater November 13-15, 2008. Family and Friends are all invited. I will let you know when tickets go on sale. I am looking for sponsors to help me in acheiving my dreams and goals. If anyone has any suggestions on sponsors or are interested in sponsoring me let me know. I would love the help and support. Thanks! Wish me luck in these next couple of months preparing for Miss Utah! 

If you are planning to come, Important Dates to Remeber: 

Charity Dinner (open to the Public) November 13th

Preliminaries November 14th 

Finals November 15th 

Introducing...

Coleman Somers Higbee
9/10/2008 @ 4:47 pm
6 lbs. 4 oz. and 18 inches

Just a few minutes old.

One very happy mother... he's so sweet and tiny! I'm so grateful that he's here!

The whole family! I can't believe we have 4 children (and a bonus kid)... CRAZY!

About 30 minutes old. He is so alert and aware.

A couple hours old. We are madly in love with the little guy.

Everything went great! We arrived at the hospital about 10 am but didn't start the induction until around noon. The delivery went smoothly and I feel great (well, as great as can be expected). All the kids were there and they were so cute. Max is just thrilled to have a brother, Abby kept patting my hand and telling me how brave I was and that she was so proud of me, and Afton was extremely protective... she didn't want anyone to hold him but her and she would get very upset when he cried. I think she is going to be a great big sister. We are grateful to Cassidy for being with Afton all day and getting the kids at school and bringing them to the hospital just in time. It was a great day and we are so grateful for our beautiful baby boy. We feel extremely blessed to have this little guy join our family.

Showered with Love

Karen threw a baby shower for me yesterday at her home. We decide to keep it small, family only, and we had a great time celebrating the upcoming arrival of our fourth and final bundle of joy. I am extremely grateful to everyone who came and for all the lovely gifts (the group gift was a much needed double stroller that I lOVE and I'm sure will get a lot of use!). We also tied a quilt together that Coleman is sure to love and I'll think of all of you when I use it. Everyone was so thoughtful and it meant a lot to me that you all took time out of your busy Saturday to be with me! It was so fun to just visit and be together... I have the greatest family on earth!

"The Quilters": Karen,  Abby, mom, my Grandma Jackie Farnsworth, Kathy Luke, and Suzanne.

Abby learning how to tie a quilt with Grandma Higbee. Abby was so proud of herself. When I said this would be a great blanket to put on the floor and have Coleman play on she looked shocked and told me this was a "special quilt". I wonder if I'll ever get to use it!

Karen and I holding up the (almost) finished product.

"The non-quilters": Melody (my sis-in law), baby Sarah (my niece), Aubrey (my sister), Wendy (my bonus mom), Saundra (my sis-in-law) and my mom, Bevan.

 Aubrie and shy little Emma.

Unfortunately a lot of the pictures didn't turn out (my fault... I had my camera on a manual setting... people who took pictures for me should not feel bad) so a lot of you aren't in here! Sorry and thanks for coming Jolie, Katie, Alyssa and Cassidy! You all made my day. We really missed all of you "out-of-towners" and wish you could have been here... parties aren't the same without all of you! Thanks again, Karen (and everyone who helped her)! It was so nice of you to do this for me and I am soooo grateful. (Be sure to check back late Wednesday for pictures of baby Coleman!!)

Congrats Grad!

As most of you know, Jaremy graduated from BYU on August 15th. We are all so proud of his accomplishment and are excited to see what comes next for him (he's planning on med school... go Jay!... and is currenty doing EMT training). Jolie and Greg had a party for him that night and asked me to take a few "graduation pictures". We were going for the official look, but it just didn't fit his personality and the wind was really bad so we changed our plan and had a lot more fun with a lot better results! I think they turned out really cool and different (and it was good practice for me... thanks for being my guinea pig). A whole crowd came to celebrate with Jaremy. It started out as mostly family and we had a delicious BBQ. As it got later his friends started to arrive and party late into the night. We even watched a few treasured home movies... you've come a long way Jaremy!

Soccer Champ

Alyssa is playing on the Lehi High School Girls' Soccer team again this year and I was honored that they asked me to come take their team pictures for their posters again (I did them last year too). They are always fun to work with... just a really cool group of girls. This year their slogan is "Bustin' the competition...one team at a time" (or something like that) so we found a cool old alley and got the Lehi Police to let them climb all over their cars. If you live in this area, look around and maybe you'll see one of their posters somewhere! The top picture is everyone and the second picture is just the Seniors. Isn't Alyssa gorgeous! I hear the team is doing awesome this year. Alyssa is such a great player and I know we are all really proud of her accomplishments in the sport and excited to see where she goes with it!