It's great to be 8!

One big milestone just happened for my little man. The big 8! We are so proud of him for choosing to be baptized! What a big step for any person. When Bill had asked him a few months ago if he wanted to be baptized he acted like Bill was crazy for even asking the question. He replied, "Why wouldn't I?!" We had to laugh. He is such a good kid. Can't believe he's mine! How'd I get so lucky?

We love to go to Antelope Island as a family and thought it would be fun to take his pictures up there. The weather was perfect! Big fluffy clouds and blue skies. It was 65 degrees at the beginning of February. After his last undefeated basketball game of the winter season we headed up there. It was such a fun day! We had a picnic and played around at the farm there. We unfortunately forgot Tristan's change of clothes so we couldn't go hiking.

Tristan's had a blast with his closest friends at Jump & Bounce. After an hour and half they were sweaty and tired and ready to eat some cake and ice cream. He was stoked about all his new presents. Every time he opened a present he'd say, "bring it in" and give each one a hug. He's such a crack up sometimes! After we made them sick on sugar we sent them home. It was a fun day!

The next day was baptism day. As I was ironing his clothes I was telling him how proud I was of him for choosing to be baptized. He just said, "I just know it's the right thing to do." Simple as that. I love his faith! I love that he "just knows". I hope he always has that faith and builds upon it. I know we don't do a lot of things right but once in a while I feel like maybe we do. He was so excited when we got to the church. He was beaming and had such a sweet glow about him. I felt a little sentimental as I watched him on the stand and heard the speaker say that these children were taking a step towards being like Jesus. The primary songs always get to me too.

After the baptism we all headed to Applebee's for lunch. It was lovely not having to stress about cleaning my house and making a ton of food or transporting a bunch of stuff to a church. We are so thankful for all of our family and friends that came out to his baptism to show their love and support. It meant so much to us!

'Tis the Season

Christmas has already come and gone. Hard to believe. December always seems to go by in the blink of an eye! All of the planning and prepping and it's just gone. I feel like it went so much faster simply because we were gone the whole first week. We didn't even get our tree up til the following week! I don't want to admit that it's still up and I'm having Christmas music withdrawals. Don't judge. I'd listen all year long if it were socially acceptable.

The kids had a wonderful Christmas! We all did. Stella got the ipod touch she's been talking about forever and Tristan got the go kart he'd been long awaiting for! They were thrilled! They were adorable this year. They thanked and hugged us after pretty much every single gift they opened. I love that they recognize the thought and money that goes into our gift giving. It's nice to feel appreciated! Stella got a bunch of little things because her ipod was cheaper than the go kart so she had a lot to open. Mostly she got books and speakers/ear phones/ipod cases, etc...Tristan got a book as well (not that he wants to read it!), a light saber, and a new DS game. He was a little disappointed because he couldn't drive his go kart right away since it had to charge for 12 full hours! But once that baby was good to go he didn't waste any time making a race track around our living room/dining room! The baseboards have the marks to prove it! Stella on the other hand decided since she is on her ipod "practically all day" she needed to set some time limits for herself. What a responsible kid!

We did our usual December festivities. We had Christmas with the Carroll's/Higby's which is always wonderful! We went to Bill's work party. Lots of shopping. Ward Christmas party. Stella still won't sit on Santa's lap and Tristan was seriously worried after thinking about whether or not he was good enough. A surprise video from Santa confirmed that he was! Girls night with the Duffin's at Tepanyaki and then to see The Forgotten Carols which totally set the tone and got me in the Christmas spirit. Stella was completely captivated the whole time; laughing hysterically and singing. Loved it! Christmas Eve with my family. Visited Liam's grave - sang some Christmas songs and lit some illegal Chinese lanterns. Shhhh. Followed by dinner. And one of my favorite things - baking gingerbread cookies with Tristan (Stella doesn't do any kind of cooking) for the kids to decorate and leave for Santa.

It was such a fun month! And I really hope that we were able to talk enough about the REAL reason for Christmas and show the kids by giving to others throughout the month. I try to emphasize it's not about the presents, but I'll be the first to admit that even I get caught up on seeing my kids face light up when they see a bunch of presents under the tree on Christmas morning.