Family Friday: Featuring My Daughter Caitlin

... just remember in the winter, far beneath the bitter snows, lies the seed that with the suns love, in the spring becomes... the Rose.

As I have been writing and editing this weeks "Family Friday" feature, my heart has been feeling a little extra tender, because I'm writing about my daughter Caitlin Rose. Next month Caitlin will celebrate her seventeenth birthday and during the past seventeen years I have often referred to Caitlin as a gift to our family. She was truly a gift of love and healing from a loving Heavenly Father, of that I have no doubt. She has been and continues to be one of my heroes and I am ever grateful that I am blessed to be her mother.

Several years ago my friend Becky made a comment that reading "The Book of Mormon" aloud with her children helped them to become better readers. I decided to put this idea to the test. When Caitlin started kindergarten we set a goal that we would read from "The Book of Mormon" reader (for children) together every day and then pray together before she left for school. The first word I taught her to sight read was "of" and as I read the book aloud, every time that word appeared I would point to it and she would say it. We then learned "it" and "and" and other simple words, and then we learned bigger words like "Heavenly Father" and "Jesus". On the day that Caitlin was actually able to read an entire sentence herself we cheered for joy. Caitlin was reading.


My favorite books of all time are the "Little House" books by Laura Ingalls Wilder. I wanted to share these books with my daughter, so Caitlin and I began reading them together when she was in the first grade. We read them each night, taking turns reading aloud. We finished the entire series in just over two years. As we completed each book we both signed our name and wrote the date at the back of the book. I hope that one day Caitlin will read these books with her daughter and add their signatures to ours.

Caitlin has always been a goal setter. When she was in the second grade she decided that she was not going to eat candy or drink soda pop for an entire year; her reward if she accomplished this would be $100.00. As the year progressed and I could see that she was accomplishing this goal, I was busy saving the hundred dollars. I decided that a hundred dollar bill wouldn't mean as much to an eight year old as one hundred single dollar bills would, so each quarter of the year I saved twenty-five ones. On the day that her goal was achieved the brothers and Kristin were there for a celebration party. We enjoyed rootbeer floats together and watched as Caitlin took her first bite of chocolate, which was a Cadbury Flake (her fav), she was very hesitant to take that first bite but she ended up enjoying it very much. She was able to spend her money any way that she wanted; she chose to buy a new set of scriptures.



Caitlin began ballet classes at the age of 3 1/2. She is a beautiful and talented dancer. When she reached the right age and height requirements she auditioned for Ballet Wests "Nutcracker". We were thrilled when she was chosen as one of the child dancers. When I picked her up from her first rehearsal at the Capitol Theatre she was a little distraught as she informed me that she had been assigned to be in a cast that would perform on a Sunday (they usually have 4-6 casts of children throughout the season). She told me that she would not do it. Caitlin was adamant about it and now I was a little distraught as well, I was going to have to call the person in charge and explain why my daughter could not dance in "Nutcracker". I'll be honest, it would have been very easy to just say, "Caitlin, dance on Sunday." I'll even admit that I did give her permission to, but in the end I called the lady at Ballet West who was in charge of all the children in the production and explained to her why my daughter would not be performing; I was heartbroken for Caitlin. The lady informed me that she could fix this, she could put Caitlin in another cast that wasn't performing on a Sunday, she then said to me, "you have to admire someone so young who stands up for what she believes." Caitlin was an example to me as I was reminded that the easy way is not always the best way, sometimes it's hard to do the right thing but it's always worth it.

We have been very fortunate as a family to enjoy many nice vacations through the years. Although we enjoy going to the beach we also love going to Yellowstone which is Mike's favorite place, Caitlin is a really good supporter of her dad's love of nature. She loves the animals and is particularly fond of the Buffalo. While in Yellowstone she will get up early in the morning and go for a ride through the park with her dad to look for animals, and she will go out after dark to do the same. Just last week while on a date she spied a Utah license plate with an Elk on it. Her date saw it too and commented about the deer on the license plate, Caitlin responded, "that's not a deer, it's an elk."


Caitlin has three brothers and one sister. Although Caitlin was born eighteen months (to the day) after Ashleigh passed away, she has always known that she has a sister. There was never a defining moment or an announcement, she just grew up knowing. Caitlin loves her brothers and they love her. Although they are all significantly older than she is they have always been genuinely interested in, and concerned for her. I don't think that any of them realize that they are the most important people in the world to her. She admires them, she wants to please them, she simply... loves them unconditionally. She has watched as each of her brothers left to serve missions, as each one got married and left our home, and as each of her brothers have become fathers. I'll never forget the day that I found four-year-old Caitlin kneeling over the heat register on the living room floor, and calling down to Andy who we had just taken to the MTC. When I reminded her that Andy was on a mission she said, "I know, I'm just pretending that he's down in his room reading his scriptures." I'll always remember the time fifteen-year-old Jeff tended her all day, when I returned home he was sitting on the front porch watching over her as she played in her wading pool. Jeff had fixed cute little pigtails in her hair and made sure that she was wearing sunscreen. Jeremy has looked out for Caitlin since she was little, he often calls or texts her just to visit and find out what is up. I have been asked occasionally if I feel like I've raised two families, the answer to that question is a resounding "NO". We have always been one family no matter the span in our children's ages. Once in a while Caitlin struggles with being the only one in the family who is caught in between the married kids and the grandkids, but Caitlin has the distinctive and honored title of "Princess Royal", there is no question that she belongs; and we all love her very much.

Caitlin and her brothers: Andy, Jeremy, and Jeffrey

One day these sisters will meet, and I am sure that I will be there to witness that joyous moment

Things to know about Caitlin: She is FUNNY!!! She keeps her mom and dad laughing all of the time. She is a good student. She is a good friend. She became an aunt at the age of nine. Caitlin's dream in life is to be on "The Disney Channel". She was a big fan of Hilary Duff who is her "Disney Channel" Idol. She is also a fan of Taylor Swift; Caitlin has seen both Hilary Duff and Taylor Swift in concert (she went to the TS concert with a boy named Taylor Smith). She has had a broken arm. She wore braces. She has a beautiful smile. She always looks good. She has the perfect hair. She has a job and is responsible for some of her own expenditures. She loves musical theatre and has performed in community theatre as well as her high school theatre. She can sing. She is almost perfectly obedient. She seldom complains. She shows gratitude. She's honest. She's a good sport. She has faith. She's in her Laurel class presidency. She's been on trek (twice; once as a child actor). She can play the piano. She's thoughtful. She is very tenderhearted. She is Christian Bales biggest fan. Her favorite movie is "Newsies". She doesn't eat fruit (everyone knows that already). Next month she will be 17 on the 17th. She loves her family. She LOVES being an aunt. She has two pink guitars and loves playing them; especially with her dad. She prays about everything, and her prayers are answered. She's considerate. We are all so grateful and blessed to have Caitlin Rose in our family, and we all love her very much.