Leah's baptism day was very different than we originally thought it would be, thanks to the coronavirus. Usually in our neck of the woods, baptisms are done by stake on the first Saturday of every month. All the primary kids who have turned eight the month before come to the stake center in a big group and take turns being baptized and confirmed. We sing a song all together, one or two of the kids get to choose someone to speak, and that's about it. Then when it's done, we have a little get-together with family and friends at our house to eat and visit. On that plan, Leah would've been baptized yesterday.  Instead, we got to choose our own day. And she was eager to do it as soon after turning eight as she could. We were limited to 20 people that could physically be at the baptism, and those 20 had to wear masks and social distance. So it was our little family, Grandma and Grandpa, our bishop, and Kim, Isabel, and Ben. But several family members got to be there on Zoom. ...

Leah turned eight last month.  It was a treat having her home to celebrate instead of her spending most of the day at school. We took advantage of it and started the day with a Dad, Mom, and Leah date to the nursery to get some plants for our garden. She got a candy lei and lots of fun presents, which she had a REALLY hard time waiting to open. Also, she had her birthday outfit and hair picked out days in advance. I had several friends dig through their craft drawers and look for extra stuff, and between what they all found, we made Leah a craft kit to end all craft kits. Hawaiian haystacks were the birthday supper of choice. And she had carrot cake cupcakes, which we hired one of the deacons in the ward to make and frost. They were SO good. And adorable. Our number one favorite babysitter and her mom, who used to teach Leah in Sunbeams, dropped off a balloon and some goodies on our doorstop at the end of the day. What a su...

Addison's baptism day was a special day for our family! What a blessing to see this day as a parent. He was baptized on Saturday, December 5. The morning of his baptism, Nate and I found a quiet moment and pulled Addison into our bedroom and gave him a set of scriptures and told him how proud we were. The baptism itself was wonderful and went off without a hitch. Dad confirmed him and gave a beautiful blessing. There were lots of family members and friends there to support him. By the end of the whole thing he and I both were rather overwhelmed from all the hype and emotion of the day, so it was nice to go home and relax a little and enjoy dinner that Addison had chosen with all our family. All Dad's side of the family. Mom's side of the family.

Addison turned 8 in December! Talk about a big-deal birthday! He is thrilled to be a Cub Scout! Here he is before his first den meeting. Serious business. We had his friend party the week before Thanksgiving, just because of our schedule, so it was nice to have just the family to celebrate on his big day. He got a birthday hat and notes from each of his classmates at school. Played with his sweet flying toy from Grandma and Grandpa. And gobbled up his clam chowder with no celery. He got cards and notes and presents. And a big rainbow cake frosted purple, his favorite color. And here's our eight-year-old: