Good-Bye to the Piano Man

We said good-bye to our Piano-Man Teacher tonight. He is a lovely man. He has worked with four of my kids for over a year. He had a talent for teaching chords, improvisations, and embellishments, in addition to the basics of piano theory and technique. He came to our house each week with such a cheerful and can-do attitude. It really was wonderful to watch the kids grow, under his tutelage, in their piano-playing skills.

But, the kids are done. While they enjoyed learning with the Piano-Man Teacher, over the last few months their hearts have not been in it. I know that I could have buttoned down and forced them to practice more. I know that I could have provided incentives for their continued participation. I am consciously choosing not to. 

Rose is in the high school choir this year. She has spent hours each day in vocal practice. She sits at the piano, not to practice the Piano Teacher's assignments, but rather to pick out the Alto part of the new choir piece she is learning. Her interests have turned from piano to voice. And I'm going to let her run with it.

Nonny is still a percussionist in the middle school band. Between that and the rigor of her school courses, she is feeling a bit strained. She still loves piano and wants to continue to progress and learn. But she's at a point where she wants to concentrate on learning individual piano pieces rote. And I can help with that! So she has also opted to forgo piano lessons.

Monroe and Joe still love piano, but after a long day of sitting at school all they want to do when they get home is run and play. Sitting for another half hour or so to practice piano has become awful for them.

The truth is, I felt kind of bad about signing them up for piano lessons in the first place. The reason...  I play piano and I have taught piano. But when I tried to teach them some basics, they would get frustrated with me and with themselves. I talked to my Mom about it years ago. My Mom is a talented pianist, but she didn't teach her own kids to play the piano. She had other people do it. Her reason...her kids (ie. me and my siblings) would get frustrated with her and with ourselves. When she first realized that, she and another piano teacher decided to swap kids. My Mom taught that gal's kids piano and that gal taught us piano. And surprise, surprise: the kids started learning the piano instead of getting into fights with their Moms.

Although I will miss the Piano-Man and the beautiful music he brought into our home, I think we'll be alright. He gave my kids the fundamentals. He encouraged them to find joy and fun in the piano, to not be afraid to make things up, and to not fall apart if you made mistakes. My kids may be done with the Piano-Man, but they are definitely not done with the piano. We are going to restart piano lessons with Mom.

Wish us luck!

Patience

Hubby has wanted chickens ever since we moved to our country home. For Father's Day we surprised him with six chickens and a rooster. They're already a family, so we don't have to worry about too much infighting...the pecking order is already decided.

 

Jim, our four-year old son, has been waiting for the chickens to lay some eggs. Chickens tend not to lay for a while when they're moved to a new home. They have to get used to the new environment. After a week of waiting, today the chickens laid some eggs. This morning Jim collected two eggs. He was so excited! He showed them to every member of the family twice then went out to show the goats that the chickens had laid some eggs. After that he carefully placed them in the fridge, where he faithfully checked on them about every ten minutes.

 

This evening when I went out to milk our goat, Jim checked the hen house. There were four more eggs! He could hardly believe his luck. He ran inside, grabbed a basket, and carefully placed each egg in the basket. Then he went to the fridge, took the two eggs from this morning out and placed them into the basket. He sat down on our front stoop and gently placed the basket beside himself. I was sitting on the stoop too, cleaning mud off shoes.

 

After a few minutes sitting there with Jim and the eggs, Jim lets out a big sigh and says: "I just waiting and being patient, but these eggs not hatch yet."

 

I tried to explain to him that the chickens need to keep the eggs if he wants them to hatch into chicks in a month or so. He told me no, he would be patient and they would hatch today.

 

I love that he thinks if he is patient enough those eggs will hatch. I love the faith and logic of my sweet four-year boy! And I love that he is already developing patience at this age. Hopefully, he won't be too put off when those little eggs don't hatch. :)

Hello Again

It has been a year and a half since I last posted. That is pathetic. The problem is I keep going back and forth on whether to post or not. Whether anyone really wants to read about my goings on. And then I start to feel really vain for wanting to post. But it truly is not vanity that brings me here. It is the thought that some of my family and friends from lands far away want to stay connected. And the way we connect is through blogs. So here I am again. Giving blogging another shot.

 

If you know me at all, you know that I like lists. I think a list is a good way to catch you up to speed.

 

1. Many of the trees I planted last year died! It was very sad for me. I lost some citrus to frost. I lost my peaches to a bacteria. I lost my plums and apricots to the heat. I lost a couple apples to a Haboob.

 

2. I have since replaced the dead trees. The new trees are doing much better.

 

3. Today, I planted two almond trees. One is a Ne Plus Ultra and the other is a Nonpareil. They look pretty cute.

 

4. We got goats. I have three Nubian goats. Desi is a 2 year old female. She is in milk currently. The kids and I have enjoyed milking her and using the milk in various ways. Fred is a 3 month old buckling. George is a 2 month old buckling. Those two boys are gorgeous! I am completely loving those goats. Some people warned that they smelled bad. But I have discovered that I like their smell. It reminds me of elementary field trips to the Phoenix Zoo and taking my own kids to that Zoo.

 

5. Hubby started his own law practice. He has been busy getting things set up. The business is really rolling along.

 

6. Rose will soon be graduating 8th grade and moving on to high school. Nonny will soon graduate 6th grade and move on to middle school. I am excited for them to enter this new phase of life. They are having mixed emotions: happy, scared, nervous, excited, overwhelmed, anxious, and so forth. It is kind of funny to watch them cycle through the emotions. I am SO glad that I am finished with that phase of life. It was a stressful time being a teenager!

 

7. Jim has been attending speech therapy preschool. His poor little ears were having some issues. We got those issues fixed, but he's got to go to speech therapy to correct some things.

 

Well, that is a good start.

Beth's Arrival

Here is the first installment of my "Catch-Up" blogging. While I am sure you would all like to see detailed posts on the progress of our house renovations, yard improvement, etc., I assume that the first thing you'll want to hear about is the New Baby.

 

 

 

This is a picture of me at 38 weeks. To preserve the memory, I want to note a few things.

 

 

1. I am normally 5' 7 3/4" tall. During pregnancy I tend to shrink an inch or two. It is pretty weird! The height loss returns by the time my baby is 3 months old.

 

2. All of the baby books, pregnancy websites, and doctors' offices recommend that a woman gain between 25 and 35 pounds during pregnancy. With all six of my pregnancies, I have put on between 50 and 65 pounds. My final weight during this pregnancy was 208 lbs.

 

3. My hair was driving me nuts by the seventh month. The front parts kept getting in my eyes. When the back touched my neck, I got so hot and had problems breathing. I kept it in a ponytail most of the time, just so I could breathe properly. One day was particularly hard. I was ready to just get rid of it all! I was planning on a haircut like this...

The only reason that it didn't happen is that during pregnancy I get motion sick easily. And that bad day with my hair was also a bad day for me motion-wise. I was getting nauseous from walking. There was no way that I would survive a car ride. And so my long hair stayed.

 

And yes, I do see that my hair is down in the first picture of this post. And yes, having my hair down in that picture does look contradictory. What you need to know is that I took my hair out of its ponytail so that Hubby could take a picture to document my big, preggo belly and the length my hair had grown. As soon the picture was taken, I threw my hair back up into a ponytail so that I could breathe.

 

 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

 

Since I have a history of having big babies, my doctor suggested that I be induced a week early to keep this baby's size down a bit. I do not like inductions. I much prefer to go into labor on my own and told my OB as much. Hubby agreed with my assessment with one caveat. He asked that if I didn't have the baby by Week 39 that I be induced. The reason? He was going to be out of town on business for most of Week 39. He didn't want to miss the birth. I didn't want him to miss the birth either. Hubby has the important task of distracting me from the pain of contractions by telling me stories. Lots of stories.

So we set up a tentative induction appointment. 

After Weeks 37 and 38 passed with no baby the tentative appointment became a for-sure appointment.

It worked out fine. The appointment was on a Sunday afternoon. The same Sunday as our Ward's Primary Program. I was happy that to attend the program. I love watching the children sing and bear their sweet testimonies. This year Anne, Joe, and Cakes participated. They all did a great job!

My parents came out to see the Primary Program then watch the Grands while Hubby and I went for the induction. My Mom snapped this picture just before we left for Church.  It's the last picture of our family with five kids. The next family picture will have SIX Children!!!

 

 

Birth stories are quite personal, so I'm not going to share many details here. The details I am willing to share are:

 

1. Miss Beth was born in her amniotic sack. The nurse said it is very rare and considered lucky.

 

2. She was born at exactly 11:00 am.

 

3. She weighed 8 lbs, 12.1 oz. and was 20 1/2 inches long. She has lots of dark brown hair and gray-blue eyes.

 

4. Hubby didn't cut her umbilical cord. He cut every other child's umbilical cord. The reason he didn't get to do it this time was that a nurse delivered our sweet baby girl and kind of freaked out. And the other nurses were kind of freaking out about how fast Miss Beth came and had to hurry to get stuff ready and in all their rushing about, they bypassed Hubby and me completely. They didn't even hold her up so I could see her! They just whisked her away!

 

I didn't even know if the babe was for sure a girl. I had to ask. My doctors and midwives in the past make a big deal about holding the baby up so the Momma can see the babe and announcing "You have a BOY!" or "You have a GIRL!" And nobody did that. They were to busy trying to get the medical trays ready.

 

All I can say to that is, I told you all that I go fast! I told you to get ready. I told you the baby was coming. You chose to ignore me. You implied I was being melodramatic.  You kept telling me that it didn't matter if this was my sixth child because every labor & delivery is different so I really didn't know what was going to happen and that you knew how labor really progresses since you'd been a nurse for so many years. Give me a break!!

 

There were many other problems, but I don't want to get into those. Enough ranting and complaining. Let's move on to happy things. :)

 

 

Hubby took this picture shortly after birth.

This picture was taken later that day. Miss Beth is BEAUTIFUL! She has dimples in both cheeks. We know this because she started smiling on her first day of life. :)

 

 

In the evening, Hubby brought the kids to see their new little Sister. Cakes and Joe got to hold her first. They were quite enamored with her. :)

 

 

Anne held her next.

 

Then Rose's turn.

 

 

Jim came in the room and headed straight for me. He looked at his new Sister, but didn't want to hold her. He just wanted to snuggle up next to me. That dear boy missed his Momma and was so happy to see me. :)

 

 

(I don't like pictures taken of me in the days after I give birth because I look so haggard and drawn. I don't usually let Hubby take any of me. But I had to have one of Jim all snuggled up next to me. I adore that sweet little boy.)

We are thrilled to have this newest addition to our family! Welcome, Welcome Miss Beth! We love you dearly!

 

One last note, Beth and I were discharged from the hospital the day after her birth. Hubby took us home, spent about an hour getting us settled in, then left for his business trip. He was gone for the next three days. Yowsers, that was tough. My parents stayed long enough to get all the kids tucked into bed, but then they had to leave too. Fortunately for me I have two fantastic daughters! Anne and Rose took turns staying home from school to help take care of Jim and Cakes while I recovered from labor & delivery. Those two girls are turning into lovely Young Women.

4-H Fun

We signed up to participate in 4-H again this year.  

Rose and Anne signed up for Cooking, Sewing, Photography, Shooting Sports, Arts & Crafts, and Rabbits. Miss S signed up for Shooting Sports and Rabbits. I informed all three girls that Rabbits were out of the question this year. I will be student teaching in the spring and cannot be their chauffeur to all the rabbit events.

Joe and Prof. X signed up for Cloverbuds. This is the group for 4-H kids who are too young to compete. They have a new leader this year and she is turning out to be FANTASTIC! She wants the Cloverbuds to have a thorough 4-H experience so she has arranged for them to participate in a ton of different events. It is wonderful!

Here's what they've all done so far:

Cloverbuds

Joe & Prof. X toured a seed sprouting facility. We saw acres upon acres of baby plants: lettuce, cabbage, artichokes, celery, broccoli, and more! The place was a dream. The month before the boys (& Rose) painted pottery at a local studio. This was a combined activity with the Arts & Crafts group. The Cloverbud leader is also the Arts & Crafts leader! She has planned for the two groups to do an activity together once every other month. Very fun!

The most recent Cloverbud activity was a tour of a local bakery. I was informed halfway through the activity that is was also an Arts & Crafts activity, so Anne & Rose were invited. Tough luck for them. Fortunately, they were at other activities that Saturday so didn't feel bad about missing the bakery tour.

The boys in their baking aprons

Reading the recipe

Rolling out their dough. Prof. X chose that small pin. Goofy kid!

Joe decorating his cookie

Prof. X showing his decorated cookie.

Can you tell he's been taking bites of the frosting?

Shooting Sports

Miss S., Rose & Anne are working on perfecting their aim every other Saturday using air rifles and bows & arrows. No pictures.

Arts & Crafts

The arts & crafts leader is also the Cloverbud leader. She is lovely. On the Arts & Crafts side, she has arranged for 4-H members to paint pottery at a local studio which was then fired. Anne was sick for this activity. Rose painted a Halloween monster mug.

The other activity they had was to decorate t-shirts. They used iron-on pictures, puff paints, jewels, and more, to jazz up the plain white tees. The end results were crazy! 

Cooking

Rose & Anne have experimented with pancakes. Their leader had them try different kinds of flours and rising agents. They also made some sweet potato pancakes and vegan pancakes. Then they tasted all the varieties to see the differences. 

For their meeting just before Christmas, they baked all sorts of cookies. Their leader told them to pick out any recipe, but no chocolate chips allowed! She wanted them to try new things. Anne made sugar cookies and Rose made toffee bars. Rose's toffee bars were Excellent! She used the recipe that I used growing up and the bars turned out delicious.  Poor Anne's cookies were not so good. In all the excitement of baking, she forgot to add the baking soda, and the baking powder. It is amazing the difference that a teaspoon of each can make!

Sewing

Rose & Anne have done nothing. The youth sewing instructor they had last year did not return. The main sewing instructor, who took all the advanced sewers last year, flat out refused to take any new students. So the girls were left with no instructor. Except, I know a little about sewing and my leader status finally went through...  So I volunteered to be the sewing instructor for my girls and any other potential sewers/quilters. We haven't done anything yet. We will have our first meeting in January.

Photography

Rose & Anne have been meeting once or twice a month with the photography leader. She is helping them become familiar with the cameras, teaching them how to set up shots, and other photography related things. One of the things she has stressed is the need to Practice, Practice, Practice! 

Here is evidence of the girls' practicing:

Photos of Desert Flora at local park 

Photos at Wal-m's Garden Center

 I think they are off to a good start. :)

Say What?

I took Joe and Anne to see the pediatrician for their annual check-up. This is their first Well Child Check with this doctor. Doc wanted to do a TB test on both kids. They were less than thrilled, but bravely held still for the nurse to administer the skin test.


Two days later we returned to the Doc's office to have the tests read. Joe and Anne both tested positive for TB. Hooray! The nurse was quite taken aback. I told her that their dad always tests positive too. The nurse started laughing then. "Lucky them!" she said. "They never have to get that yucky skin test again." I agreed. They are lucky kids! Hahaha!


Anyone who has ever tested positive knows that the next step is a chest x-ray. The x-ray shows if the individual really has TB or if they are a false-positive-reacting-type person.


So we head downstairs to the imaging lab. The gal at the front directs me to sign in on the "Walk-In" side. I ask her how long the wait is. She tells me about thirty minutes. I say alright, we'll go ahead and do this now. And I sign in. Then I have this odd conversation with her...


Gal: "You can sit down." (pause) "I call you right now."


Me: "You'll call me right now? Great!" (and I stand there smiling at her)


Gal: (looking at me weird) "You can go sit down. I call you right now."


Me: (still standing there) "Oh good. Here's my insurance card. Did you want my driver's license too?"


Gal: (slightly exasperated for reasons unknown to me) "No. You go sit down. I call you right now."


Me: "Wait. What? You want me to go sit down?"


Gal: "Yes." (smiling cause she thinks I understand what she is saying now) "You go sit down. I call you right now to get your information."


Me: "What? You'll call me right now. Well, I'm here. Here's my information." (and I try to give her my insurance card again)


Gal: (looking exasperated again) "No. Go sit down. I call you right now."


Me: (really feeling confused because why in the world am I going to sit down when she is calling me right now) "Why would I sit down? You said you are calling me right now."


Gal: "Yes. Right now I call you. Go sit down."


Me: (comprehension slowly dawning on me) "You keep telling me you'll call me 'right now'. 'Right now' means this very instant. Is that what you mean? That you are calling me 'right now'? Or do you mean something else? How long do you mean when you say 'right now'?


Gal: (looks like she is trying to be patient with me cause I obviously don't understand plain English) "Yes. Right now. Like five minutes I call you right now. Go sit down and I call you right now."


Me: (feeling really confused) "Oh. Okay, we'll just go sit down."


Gal: (sighs in relief that I have finally left her counter)




My Dear Friends, Can one of you please explain to me when the meaning of "Right Now" changed from "this very instant" to "In five minutes"?


Hahahaha!!!


Living in the town I live in, I should be used to the idiosyncrasies that exist. But I tell you, this "right now" one is brand new to me. :)

Autumn Catch-Up, Part 3

Grammy and Grand (my mom and dad) came for Joe's baptism. We were all very happy to see them. At one point during the visit, Grammy made a comment about us coming to visit them and spend the night at their house. I didn't think anything of it...until Monday morning. Cakes had his backpack stuffed full of underwear, socks, pajamas, shirts, shorts, and shoes. He even packed his toothbrush! He had interpreted Grammy's comment as a personal invitation to spend the night with her. He was sure that she was coming to pick him up soon. I tried explaining to him that she was not coming to get him today. After thinking it over, he decided to carry the backpack with him so he would be ready when Grammy came.

Cakes checking the mail, Jim right behind 

Autumn-time in our town means the arrival of Hot Air Balloons! Our town has an annual balloon festival. The skies before and after are filled with hot air balloons getting ready for the festival. It is a beautiful sight to behold.

Lone hot air balloon 

I have been teaching preschool in my home for the past few months. My students were Cakes, Miss S, and two neighborhood boys--T & D. I threw a little party for them a few days before Halloween. Unfortunately, D was sick! His mom left a message saying he had been throwing up. I thought he had the flu. His mom told me later that he had been to his brother's Halloween party the night before and got a ton of candy which he promptly sat down and ate...ALL OF IT! That's why he was sick! Hahaha! Poor guy. What a terrible way to learn the valuable lesson of Moderation in All Things.


Here are the kids who weren't sick. They wore costumes, ate cupcakes, played, told spooky stories, and generally had a good time.

 Miss Nita: princess vampire, T: Tigger, Cakes: ninja, Jim waiting

patiently for his cupcake while his mom takes a picture

Rose, Anne, Joe, Prof. X, and Miss S are members of 4-H. This is my kids second year in and Prof. X and Miss S's first year. Members of 4-H are required to do so many hours of service each year in order to qualify for fair. This year we opted to do "Trick-or-Treat-So-Others-Can-Eat". I'm a certified 4-H leader (only took a year to get my paperwork finished.  Grrr.) so I organized the service project around my schedule and my home. It was great! So convenient. :) 

In addition to my kids, about eight other kids showed up. On the last Tuesday of October, we passed out flyers detailing the food drive. On the following Saturday, we went door to door collecting food. We ended up getting a few hundred pounds of dry and canned food donated. Rose and I took all the food the our town's community food bank. 

 4-H members, with Cakes & Miss Nita improperly using their pillowcases.

Part of the haul. The truck bed was filled by the time we were done.

Thanks to everyone in our neighborhood for donating so generously!!

And then it was Officially Halloween!! The kids were allowed to wear their costumes to school. They were so excited! Look at all that red. The kids did not plan that. Just a happy coincidence. 

Anne: Devil girl, Prof. X: Red Ninja, Rose: Red Riding Hood 

Poor Joe threw up the night before. He had to stay home and miss his class party. I thought he would be really bummed. That sicko didn't even mind! The thought of eating candy made him want to die!

Joe chilling out on the couch. Happy to watch cartoons and NOT eat candy. 

That night we had a party. On Sunday the kids and I hand delivered invites to the neighbors on our adjoining streets. We invited them to our house for hot dogs and chili. When we lived in Mesa, our neighborhoods used to have block parties. In the first neighborhood we lived in (remember--we lived in two different houses in Mesa. A small 3-bedroom then we upgraded to a small 4-bedroom.) one neighbor would have a hot dog roast on Halloween. Every one in the neighborhood was invited to come to his front yard and eat. Lots of neighbors stopped by to eat and visit. It was wonderful! In our second Mesa neighborhood our street had a block party once a year. We counted it as our neighborhood watch party. Since our house was in the middle of the street, our driveway became the home of the party for three years. It was wonderful!!! It was a chance for neighbors to get to know one another. I knew every neighbor on that street and they knew me. It makes a difference!! There is a certain bond that develops when neighbors know each other. They start to care for and watch out for each other. Lend helping hands and so on.


Hubby and I were hoping to cultivate a neighborhood bond on our new streets. We have lived here for three years and have yet to see some of the neighbors. Wanting to remedy the situation, we invited the neighbors for dinner Halloween night. We had hot dogs, buns, ketchup, mustard, relish, jalapenos, diced onions, chili with beans, potato salad, lemonade, and water bottles. Basically, we had a ton of yummy Halloween food!!


Joe wanted to see the neighbors. We donned his transformer costume and hung out in the front yard. I managed to get Jim's D.J. Lance costume on, but the boy hated it! Not that he has anything against D.J. Lance. Jim loves that guy! Jim's problem is with changing clothes in general. He does not like the transition from one outfit to the next. It is kind of funny and kind of annoying at the same time. By the end of the evening, Jim did not want to take the costume off. 

Jim and Joe waiting for neighbors to arrive.

Rose, Joe, Anne, neighbor M, Miss Nita, Cakes, & Hubby

waiting for the hot dogs to finish on the grill.

Cakes helping pull the cooler to the drinks table while Hubby grills hot dogs.

Hubby grilling up a ton of hot dogs.

Rose's dear friend Sarah and Prof. X

Miss Nita and Cakes chowing down

Neighbor M showing her empty basket

Neighbor boys coming to chow down.

Considering this was our first attempt at throwing a neighborhood block party, I think we did alright. Some neighbors were vary wary of us. Others could not quite believe that we weren't charging for the hot dogs. There are a few things that we will do differently next year. But overall, it was a good event! We met several neighbors and had a great time eating and visiting, which is exactly what we wanted! :)

Moving on from Halloween...

Cakes has been in that weird transition phase for about a year where he doesn't want naps, but still kind of needs them some days. It has been hectic at times. It has also been hilarious at times. Cakes will insist that he is not tired, but then I will find him conked out in the funkiest positions. One example is him snoozing at Joe's baptism. Here is another zany position. I'm including both shots to give the full effect. I sure love this little boy!

Joe's Baptism!

Joe was baptized on a Saturday in October 2011. He is now an official member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 


It was an exciting day. Many family members traveled for many hours to attend Joe's baptism and show their support. It was lovely seeing all of them. Here are a few pictures from the day.

Joe in his new suit, pre-baptism. Isn't he such a handsome and happy little boy?!

Joe with his parents (me & Hubby!)

Three Generations: Joe, Hubby & Papa

Joe sans jacket

Joe up-close

I tried to use this opportunity to take family photos. I figured it would be easy since my children would be dressed nicely and there would be extra adults around to take the picture and help ensure every kid was smiling and looking in the same direction. The family picture idea was a fail. We did manage to get 1 decent picture, but I don't want to use it because Cakes and Jim aren't facing the camera and Rose is in the middle of licking her lips.

Only decent shot of my darling family

I also tried taking individual head shots. Surely if only one person was involved I could get a picture with that person looking at the camera and smiling. Wrong. The kids either 1) would not hold still or 2) gave me weird half-smiles half-grimaces. On the bright side, I did get some good candid shots. Just nothing I could use for a Title Page in the kids' memory books.

Cakes flying around the front yard.

Jim being held in place by me.

Cakes chilling by Hubby's feet

Our Stake Primary Presidency was in charge of the baptism set-up, so we didn't have to leave our house until twenty-til. It was great not having to worry about showing up early to fill the font, set out chairs, play prelude music. Our only job was to Show Up! Hooray! 


There were four other kids being baptized. The cultural hall was pretty packed with all five children's family members. I have no idea why, but it appears that I did not take any pictures of Joe & Hubby in their pre-baptism whites. 


It was wonderful seeing my dear Joe baptized. I am so happy that he made the decision to accept Jesus and follow his commandment to be baptized. It was also thrilling to then see him confirmed a member of the Church and receive the Holy Ghost. Both ordinances were done by Joe's father (Hubby!).


About twenty minutes in to the baptism service, Cakes fell asleep. All that running around before the baptism and not holding still for pictures tuckered the little guy out. Best part of Cakes falling asleep: the odd position of his body! Check it out...

After the baptism, my parents took loads of pictures of the extended family that showed up. I'm hoping to get copies of those soon. The pictures I took afterwards were of my darling son.


Just looking at this picture is filling me with so many emotions! Astonishment that my son is old enough to be baptized. Nostalgia thinking of the sweet baby boy he was and how much he has grown. Pleasure in knowing that he has a strong testimony. Pride in his striving to always choose the right. Sadness that time seems to be slipping by so fast. And through it all I have an overwhelming love and admiration for this sweet, sweet boy!

I am thrilled that Heavenly Father sent this choice son to me. I am humbled that he would entrust me with the great responsibility of nurturing and guiding such a stalwart soul as Joe. I am so happy to be a part of his life!!!