It's Great to be 8!

I don't know if all parents have a little freak out moment when their oldest child turns 8 and is ready for baptism, but I did. Andrew turned 8 on Saturday and was able to be baptized on his actual birthday. With him being our oldest and being the first one baptized, it really made me stop and reflect a lot. We have been having lots of home evening lessons and family talks the last few months about the Baptismal Covenant and this important step. It was a great reminder for me to stop and reflect about the importance of the Gospel in my life. I often feel so inadequate as a parent. I really do. I feel like I'm not doing enough to prepare my kids for this very challenging life. But Andrew's baptism was so beautiful and special, I was just overcome with a very peaceful feeling. And Greg's blessing during his confirmation was so touching to me, even though I wasn't the one receiving it. Anyway, it was a great day and Andrew was so happy all day long.

Signing his baptism certificate.

Brand new suit he was confirmed in.


We got his birthday celebrations rolling the day before. This is an "off year" for friend parties, but I did allow him to choose one buddy to take to the movies. He chose his pal, Brevin, and we went and saw Cars 2. I am the BIGGEST Pixar fan. I have loved everything they've ever done. That being said, I was a little disappointed in Cars 2. The plot was too complicated for my kids. Nathan kept asking me when it would be over and being super fidgety. David had absolutely ZERO interest after the first 20 minutes. Dialogue was too "adult." Plot was too "adult." It was fun and flashy and exciting, but overall, I didn't care for it as much as the first Cars. But I hope Andrew had fun bringing a friend to the show. Treats were good, anyway.
After the show, we went shopping and got things ready for the birthday the next day. Greg's family was having a family reunion up Spanish Fork canyon and he took the boys up to the campsite to visit while I stayed home. My parents came into town and we went out to dinner with my brother.
After Andrew's baptism we had lunch back at our house catered by Jimmy Johns (a family favorite). We then had presents and cake. My friend Amber is a super talented cake maker and I had asked her a few months ago if she could come up with something for Andrew's birthday. And since Andrew is a Star Wars freak, she made the coolest Star Wars cake for him. David got to it and bit off some important parts while we were not looking, but not before we snapped some pictures. So no real harm done. Andrew got a new bike from Greg and me. He has outgrown his old one so we got him a bigger size. I'll be honest, he doesn't love it. It's a lot bigger and heavier than his old bike and it's hard to ride it up our street on the hill. But he'll get used to it and grow into it, we hope. My parents got him his own set of scriptures with his name embossed on the books and a carrying case with his name on the front. He was pretty excited about those, even more than the bike. He loves carrying them around and I've found him several times by himself looking through them and reading them by himself already. Warms my heart.





After birthday celebrations my parents entertained themselves while Greg, the boys, and I went up to the family reunion still going on up the mountain. All three kids succeeded in getting the filthiest I have ever seen them. But that's the joy of tromping around in the mountains when you're a young boy, right? I couldn't even stand to touch any of them, they were so gross.

We went to a Salt Lake Bees game on the Fourth of July. Mom, Dad and Uncle Paul came with us and we had a nice time. Bees narrowly won, and there was an amazing fireworks show after the game. It was very impressive and the boys were subdued into silence as they watched the show. So loud! with patriotic songs choreographed to go along with the fireworks. Pretty fun night.
But I'm exhausted and trying to play catch up with sleep now.