Cierra

Cierra, Christina, Renee England was born January 20th 1995. Her original due date was January 15th but apparently she enjoyed her housing arrangements and had a hard time leaving. She was a big baby and weighed 8 pounds 12 ounces and was 21 inches long. At that time Cierra's father (bret) and I lived in Hawaii, on the island of Oahu while bret attended BYU Hawaii. It was an exciting time for us because she was our first baby and we were very excited. We did not have a vehicle on the island so Cierra and I spent many hours walking with her in her stroller, and we loved every minute of it. To be honest, she was a crabby baby. The first few weeks of her life she awoke every hour to nurse, and it was incredibly hard to get her back to sleep. I am sure it was my lack of experience and I jumped up every time she made a noise. Cierra was a breastfeeding nazi and would not take a bottle so needless to say we were connected at the hip and still are to this day. As she grew into a toddler her little personality had most people intrigued with her intellect and she entertained many.

Cierra was 29 months old when her younger twin brother (aaron) and sister (abbey) were born. She instantly became a little mother for the both of them. She helped me with everything from changing diapers to helping bathe the babies. She was a life saver even back then when she was so little.

I will tell you a few stories about Cierra that clearly define who she is. When she was 5 she came home from kindergarten and asked if she could do more chores around the house to earn some extra money. I looked at her strangely and she explained that there was a young man in her class that could not afford to bring in the $0.50 that he needed to partake in the classes Thanksgiving dinner. She did the chores and turned the money in anonymously. Cierra would give away anything that she had to help another person out, she is amazing.

Cierra is a lot like her father in the fact that she is very organized. She does have some qualities that she was born with and were not learned behaviors, reading-that girl can plow through a book and have it completed in a short period of time. She completes assignments for school months before they are due.

So here she is turning 15 in less than 3 weeks, where on earth did the time go and where did that little girl go? She has her four year college plan mapped out and wants to become a vet. She knows what she wants and goes after it with determination.

I would not even want to imagine a world without Cierra in it. She makes me smile daily with her goofy attitude. She loves people and fills the room with her positive attitude and courage. I love that she is apart of my world!