Arrival of John Austin Herrick Feb 26th, 1997

Isn't this a cool sign. Whitney drew it for her brother. I thought it was the perfect beginning to a perfect baby boy. I reminded him that I went into labor on a Wednesday evening just like tonight after mutual. I stayed up all night in pain & didn't go to the hospital till Thursday at about 3 pm. My water broke in our van on the way to the hospital & he would have been born 5 minutes later but the nurses kept telling me to breathe and not push. Yeah right! So I held off (was also waiting for a Doctor to arrive) till he was finally pushed out at 3:40 pm on Thursday Feb 26th, 1997.


Another beautiful, perfect, dark complexion, ton of black hair, baby boy. Aren't newborns beautiful? Yes, they are.

Here he is on his second day home. He's four days old here. Getting a sponge bath. You forget how little they were. How is it possible they were so small?

My muscle baby. Showing off his pecs. Funny huh?

This is one of my favorites. This was taken on the Sunday he was blessed. Our little man.

Love this pic with his Uncle Ryan. See Ma-Key & Poppa's blog for the updated version of this.

This is out of order chronologically. Sorry. I call this my fuzzy wuzzy bear. Playing dart guns with his daddy. They were shooting at Craig Franklin who was shooting back. So cute!!!!!!!

Oh my handsome little boy. We sure had fun dressing him up for church. He seemed to love all the attention, obviously.

"Hey Mom - I fixed the sprinkler for you"

Our blonde little boy on our family vacation to CA. This was at the observatory in LA.

Austin's first steps in the ocean. He kept falling down in the waves. How could he not they were so much bigger than he was. Great memories.

At Disneyland waiting in line with his Poppa to go inside the Haunted House. Love that hair!

Thumbs up for the carousel ride. I think this was one of maybe five rides he went on.

Unfortunately this was how he spent much of Disneyland. That's why we have to get back there. He was just too little & slept through most of it.

Austin discovered the water in the toilet. Note the wet floor. Good thing he didn't fall in.

If looks could kill. He didn't want his picture taken. Duh!! This was the Herrick Family Reunion in 1999 in Utah right before we moved to Arizona.

Look close & you can see what their beverage of choice was. Not much has changed in 10 yrs.

Austin loved to play in the warm rain while in Tucson Arizona. My cute little brown bear!

Oh here he is holding baby Mason the day of Great Grandpa Pen's funeral. This is also the sweet little boy who drew a picture for his Great Gpa & placed it in the casket. He wanted the picture to go with Gpa to heaven.

Got this bike for his bday & still loves to ride his bikes.

This is one of Austin's favorite pictures. He's holding his cousin Dallin.

Baptism day! How great to be able to have his Daddy baptize him.

Baptism day too! Was he proud or what to be wearing his very first suit.

One day soon he'll be driving this tractor all by himself. He's had some great training!

Ma-Key is forever saying "I love you" in sign language to the kids. They took this pic and sent it to their Ma-Key to remind her they love her.

Look at how carefully he's placing that pinewood derby car on the track. This was the year he took 2nd place. In fact he took 2nd place every year except his last when he finally took 1st. He got it finally right on the last try.

Driving his go-cart is one of his most favorite activities. He even drove it this winter. He just can't wait for the snow to melt. He'd drive it everywhere if he could.

Peace Dude! Austin loves to snowboard. Mom hasn't been to Mission Ridge this year to take any pics as he rides the Link bus to and from the ridge with his friends. He's gotten real good!

This Jan 1, 2009, Austin wanted to make the bday cake for Daddy. He spent hours at the store picking out the fondant, decorating tips, stands, etc. We won't mention what this cake cost. He baked the cake, both double layers, rolled out the fondant and did an excellent job decorating the fondant with smiley faces and other notions. He spent at least five hours making this cake. He sure was proud & so was his Daddy. It even tasted great! Austin found a new talent.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AUSTIN! We love you & are so proud of all your accomplishments these past twelve years. You are growing up & are a handsome young man now!

Sweet 16 - Whitney Christine - Born 2-21-93

Here she is a couple days old. Our first family picture. Just as we were ready to take the picture these flowers arrived from some friends.

Minutes after her first bath. Ma-key helped Mommy give her a sponge bath & then fixed all that beautiful dark hair into spit curls only we used water not spit.

I just love this pose. She just happened to have her hand under her chin. Look's intentional like she knows how beautiful she is. Babies do the darndest things.

Oh how angelic they are when they are asleep. And when you are a new mom you cherish those moments when they're sleeping so you can gaze at them realizing they are yours and what a special gift they are from a loving Heavenly Father. Babies are miracles!

Whitney is just three weeks old here. Daddy was the first one to get her to smile by blowing in her face.

Whitney's first Easter. Daddy again performing his magic and getting whitney to smile big.

Whitney was constantly throwing up. Only this time she rolled her face in it. She thought she was so funny and yet she didn't even know why. Gross and funny at the same time.

These 2 pics are some of my favorites. They really capture an unspoken story.

Hope this doesn't offend anyone. We're not trying to show too much skin just show off the Ferris Buehler hair. This picture is a prize possession. Daddy/Daughter being silly. Hope you laugh too.

I love her eyes in this pose.

Wow! Some things never change & isn't that interesting. She loved to read (or look at picture books) at such a young age. She's still reading now & would never sleep if I would let her stay up all night to read & read & read some more. What a blessing this has been & will continue to be for her.

Had to include this pic too as I was about the same age out in the same orchard having my pic with the beautiful cherry/apple blossoms. How neat to be able to share the same experiences in the same family home & orchard handed down from generation to generation. Special!

Bathtime buddies. Aren't they cute?

Whitney & her Ma-Key. Inseperable!

Whitney loves her Ma-Key & Poppa!

Ma-Key & Poppa came to visit us for her b-day while we were in Tucson. This was the first time Whitney & Ma-Key had been apart for so long. It had been 5 months since they'd seen each other. I didn't tell the kids they were coming. This was taken at the airport. See the joy!

A favorite picture! The SLC Temple on our family trip to Utah. Look close & you'll see Austin holding up his brand new BYU football. He was proud!

Whitney with her 2 cousins Jaelyn & Jacie during a family reunion.

This & the next few pictures were taken 2 yrs ago the day of her 8th grade graduation party. She looks gorgeous & all grown up. I'm sure you'll agree. Don't think I've shared these before.

Celebrating 8th grade graduation at DQ.

Isn't she lovely? Isn't she beautiful?

Nothing compares to that Daddy/Daughter relationship!

This was taken at the Christmas Tree Lighting in Leavenworth Dec. 2008. My how they have grown!

And here she is 16 yrs later. Mom & Dad (or at least Mom is) are nervous. The day has finally come. The day she was wanting to come years ago but now she's not so sure? What is it about the anticipated yet frightful magical age? We are afraid the phone is never going to stop ringing. Boy after boy after boy will be calling to ask our beautiful, sweet, loving, kind, fun, daughter, out on a date. How would it be? Oh to be 16 again? Just continue to have fun! Happy Birthday Whitney Christine!