Samantha Reine Noftle 15 years old.....let the countdown to 16 begin

Aunt Brenda did a photo shoot at Ensign Ranch during Christmas Break.

The photos are so good that they are Sammi's 15 year old pictures.  I literally couldn't see a bad one.  But since I am SOOOOOOOOO far behind in blogging you will get a small sample of the photos. 

Sammi turned 15 on February 11, 2012.  FIFTEEN I can sing that "when your 15" song to her this whole year--I think she will really enjoy that.

There are 15 things about Sammi that I am about to share, I could share 15 million, but again behind in blogging!

1.  She is smart, and so far great grades.  She has set a goal of getting into BYU provo, which as we understand it, is getting harder by the minute--YIKES!

2.  She showers at night, and still spends over an hour getting ready before early morning seminary each day.  OVER AN HOUR--no wonder she looks so beautiful!

3.  She sleeps with two stuffed elephants, because one isn't enough. She also sleeps with the blanket that I got at the baby shower just before she was born.  Mrs. Bolen, and Mrs. Cuske made it for her, and they are both gone now --- but she would want them both to now how much she loves that blanket.

4.  After she leaves for seminary/school in the morning the stuffed elephants weep at conditions of the room that they have to live in.  Seriously I think she is Holly & Heather trained(the must have a secret training camp I haven't discovered)--not Becky trained.  My room growing up was clean, the twins 'not-a so-a much-a!!

5.  She sings like an Angel, especially when she thinks no one is listening.  She just sang a solo in Church February 19th, 5 days after we found out Jackson has new lesions in his brain (another post!).  The song had been picked out long before this appointment but of course the words seemed to match what he was going through perfectly.  On the way home from the hospital with Jax she practiced her song and we all cried, Jax the hardest, but all of us were weepy.  I thought there was no way she would have enough composure by Sunday to sing that song with the touching message, but she proved me wrong (again!) and did beautifully.

6.  She is either the life of the party in our house or the wet blanket that slaps us in our face--harshly.

7.  She is determined to be a "good girl" .  We don't have to encourage her to dress modest, watch her language, be careful of her music, she polices herself on those fronts harsher than I would. 

8.  She has a love for children and the lifeskills students.  She also has tried over the years to communicate with a deaf student in her grade--so much so that the girl has a name sign for Sammi.

9.  She never met a dollar she didn't want to spend.

10.  She loves the mall--it's getting serious between them too.

11.  She is talented athletically and could be amazing with a little more effort.

12.  No amount of bribing can make her invest a little more effort in anything she doesn't care to put more effort in!

13.  She is happy 75% of the time, and a joy to be around.  The other 25% of the time she is a teenage girl--we have faith she will outgrow that!

14.  She is responsible for her own schoolwork.  In gradeschool, I used to have to really follow up with her to make sure she was doing her homework.  But sometime in Middle School she took that burden on and I can trust her now to do what needs to be done.

15.  She is a daughter that we are blessed to have, and a daughter that is so very loved.

Happy 15th Samantha Reine!