Emma Lee Waite

Emma was our surprise early baby. She came two weeks early and I was in denial of being in labor because I had never had a baby early. Neil and I took the children to the Powell football game that night. We went home at half time and put the children to bed. Neil thought we should go to the hospital but I didn't want to get sent home. I figured by our 5th baby I should know if I was in labor. We finally decided to go to the hospital, but it was the one year anniversary of the Billings Temple. The temple was open for 24 hours straight and our ward had the middle of the night sessions. Everyone we had planned on watching the children were in Billings attending the temple. We finally got a teenage girl from our ward to come over. We got to the hospital about 11:10 and Emma was born at 11:58. We weren't sure if her birthday would be October 20 or 21. Neil liked the 20th because 10/20/2000 is a pretty cool birthday. She sure was a pretty baby. I was glad to have her here safe and healthy.
 Our sweet little Emma Lee turned thirteen yesterday. She is a sweet girl and works hard to make sure everyone is happy. She is a good sport about sharing her king sized bed with a little one or two at bedtime. Joshua and Lydia love to have turns sleeping with Emma. Emma is playing in the band for the first time this year. She started a year late, but she is doing a great job of catching up. I will try and upload a video of her concert from last week. They did a great job playing. Emma had a busy week last week with a band concert on Thursday evening, a birthday/volleyball party on Saturday, and her birthday on Sunday. She helped clean up the downstairs on Friday evening instead of watching a movie with the other kids so it could be ready for her party. We enjoyed getting to know some of her friends she has met at school this year. The girls seemed to have a good time together playing games, eating pizza and watching a movie. There were 16 girls at our house for the party. Emma wanted cupcakes with volleyballs on them for the party. I think they turned out pretty good. Emma was happy with them, and that's what really matters.