Sydney Kate

This girl.  Sydney Kate VanSteenkiste.  She is a beauty and a talented little person.  She is reader of the year, right now.  Seriously, she always has a book in hand, using the head-lamp to read at night.  The funny thing is she starts like 4 books at a time and reads them all a bit at a time.  We have been going to the library every few weeks and they are working on the summer reading program.  She is also a great swimmer, in the pool hours at a time.  I have also had her in swim club this summer.  She and Payton took a cooking class in June and they LOVED it.  I enjoyed having them in the kitchen preparing the recipes they learned.  It was really fun...wish it was all year long :)  She turned 7 in June and had a fun family dinner at Rio Rico and a friend party a few days later.  We went to see the movie "Brave"...then home for cake and presents.  She had a special birthday...one gift in particular: a plane ticket to Boise to see her Sophie!  She got to go by herself (I was a wreck) for 6 days.  She did great and had a wonderful time.  It will be a special memory for her and I feel like it helped her confidence.  She knows she can do things on her own.  We ended up not going to Idaho this summer but stayed in California a bit longer than planned ;)  So we had her flown into LA and reunited with us...it was sure fun.  Although it was a trains, planes and automobiles sort of adventure getting her from Boise to Salt Lake. I was thankful for all the people that helped get her safely back to us.  She is starting 2nd grade this year and she got the best teacher in the school, so that's exciting.  She is a smart girl. Verrrrry emotional and sometimes internalizes all her feelings.  She has a hard time communicating when she's upset.  I know I'm in for it when parenting this girl throughout the years.  But when she loves, she loves so strong and amazing.  She is a mother hen, constantly taking care and watching over her siblings.  She is kind and spiritual. Even Payton looks to her for answers during family night.  She is very thoughtful and tender.  We are coming up on her one-year broken leg anniversary.  We are going to have a little party to celebrate "brokey"... I love this girl and I'm proud of the young lady she is becoming.  I can't believe she's getting baptized next year.  I must constantly remind myself to tread softly with her for she is Heavenly Father's sweet daughter and needs that extra care and compassion.