Lydia's Baptism

 Look at our beautiful, beautiful 8 year old daughter! We are so excited for her! I love this age and opportunity for these 8 year old children to start making grown up choices. We have spent the last year talking about Jesus Christ and his example to us of getting baptized.

 Lydia decided that she wanted to get baptized, too.
Working in the Primary is such a great constant review to me about what we are promising to do when we are baptized. Lydia promised to follow God's commandments, to always remember Jesus Christ, our savior, to stand as a witness, and to lift and comfort those around her. Then she is promised to have the Spirit to be with her, to guide, direct, warn and comfort her. What a great promise and something so wonderful to strive for.

 Look at the world all dressed in white, just like Lydia, for her baptism!

 I hope Lydia felt loved and supported on her special day! She was surrounded by loved ones, friends and family!

 Mimi and Pa and Hilarie were there. Pa gave the closing prayer, and Mimi gave an amazing talk about the Holy Ghost. It was such a special talk, all for Lydia (she was the only one getting baptized from our ward). The Spirit was so strong and special.

 Grandma and Grandpa Sam and Shawna were also there to support Pearly. Grandpa Sam gave the opening prayer in the meeting. Also, Richard and Laura (just days away from having baby boy 4) brought Ethan, Gabe and Logan to support us, too!

Lydia and her Daddy right before the meeting. Such a wonderful day!

Lydia is 8!!

 Of course the highlight of Lydia's actual birthday was her birthday party. We had a pretty fun day all around.

 After hours of party-ing with her friends we had a family party that night!
Cake, presents, and grandparents and auntie to boot!
She got some canvas's, acrylic paints, paint brushes, and other art stuff for her birthday. She was pretty excited. Mimi and Pa got her scriptures, a scripture bag, and mini Children's Songbook, so she was all set for the baptism.

 We also made a trip to the mall, where she had some money to burn, AND she got her ears pierced. I am not sure why this is such a coming of age in my mind. I guess because I will only let my daughters pierce their ears if they are old enough to take care of it themselves. I can't even get my kids nails cut, I don't have the time to clean her ears.
She was very brave. Not too excited before, but after she was glad she went through with it.

It's Great to be 8! Birthday Party

 Breakfast in Bed!! Lydia loves breakfast in bed! She got pumpkin bread, nutella and strawberries, yogurt, and tropical punch.
I had to kind of throw it at her while I was busy getting ready for her party. Decorations, food, last minute pinata paint. Thank goodness I had Mimi and Hilarie here to help!

 All the kids got into the theme!

 Notice the coconut bra!

 Preparing the tropical drinks.

 Mimi made a gorgeous treat table!

Zoe was in charge of all the games. We did hula hooping, limbo, a tacky tourist relay, and lots of food! For details, of course you can look at my craft blog.

Lydia update

She is missing her two front teeth and is seriously adorable!
Lydia gets up every morning and picks out a cute outfit with matching headband. She brushes her hair and it ready to go. It is a relatively new thing.
A few weeks ago, she decided she wanted to learn to ride her bike. She was very tentative and scared as I ran her around the neighborhood and cul de sac. Then, as Travis and I were chatting, she hopped on the bike and rode off. Yes, she is 7, but we were very proud of her facing her fears and learning so fast. She now wants to ride her bike every waking hour. Which is fabulous!

totally toothless turtle

 It was dangling pretty good!

 She looks like Nanny McPhee.

 Here is the note she wrote to the Toothfairy. I think she had some help from cousin Gwennie.

I guess I need a better "after" picture where you can see the gap. She is adorable. She also got a little bob haircut with bangs, that I am generally pulling back because it is in her face. She just wanted to have sweepy bangs like her sister.

Trapping little bearded men

 The plans.

 The building.

 The construction.

 The posing.

Retrieving the reward!

Lydia designed this years leprechaun trap. I was very impressed with the design and helped construct it (with her instruction). While we were unable to catch the little guy with all of the glitter and coins we placed in the bottom layer of the inescapable trap, the kids were pleased by all of the green goodies he left behind.

Lydia's birthday

 We had an early birthday party with Grandma and Grandpa Sam before they left. It was a combined one, since Lydia's birthday and Grandma Sam's birthday are just a few days apart.

 Lydia wanted to go swimming at the YMCA for her birthday. I think the kids had a lot of fun. I was freezing.
We came home to pizza, cake and presents.

 I think she enjoyed her special day. I say "I think" because you can never be sure with Lydia. I am not even sure she knows when she, herself, is happy.

 She did get some fun toys and lots of attention.

 Our little Pearly. Lydia is getting so big, it freaks me out a little. Okay, not so big in stature, but just grown up in attitude and age. Of course, she has always had a grown up attitude (meaning she acts older than she actually is).
She is beginning to loose teeth. 4 on the bottom, with some loose on top! She has started reading more fluently. She struggled at the first of the year but is doing so great now. She is still drawing and coloring obsessed, but mostly she LOVES being with people. She really can't get enough attention and love.

That is one reason that she and Felix do so splendidly together. She has a minion and he has an entertainer. Roles that they are both happy with. Occasionally, on a day that she has little patience I have to separate them but they are usually as thick as thieves. It is so great!
Lydia is imaginative. Her stories and pictures are detailed and elaborate. She loves music. She loves to dance and sing and is surprisingly really good at both. She got a guitar for Christmas and likes to pretend she is a rock star. She has that attitude to go with it. She loves hugs and wrestling with Dad.

Pearl of Great Price

 Lydia came home from school the other day excited about a project assigned at school. She was to decorate a shoe box to be a "float" in the first grade Thanksgiving Parade. We had a lot of fun decorating the shoebox. I showed her how to dip crepe paper into glue to make it look like flowers.
It was so fun I thought about how fun it would be to have all of the kids do one every year with a theme of "what I am thankful for". It would be a great Thanksgiving day activity.

 After the parade, the teachers were ambitious enough to host a Thanksgiving Feast. When Lydia found out that the feast consisted of Turkey, mashed potatoes, and stuffing she literally cried. Geez my kids are picky eaters. I packed her a lunch instead.

 My little Pearly girl is getting so big! Look how lovely she is. She has made a lot of progress with some behavioral issues she had been dealing with this year. Also, she has been working really hard at her reading and sight words and doing great.

Here is a picture she drew. I love how, while the drawings are very simple, you know exactly what those little stick figures are doing and feeling. Hilarious! Thank you public schools and cable t.v. for my 6 year olds knowledge of Justin Bieber.
Lydia is always drawing or coloring. She can't help herself. It is a compulsion (in the best sense possible). She always has a pencil, pen, marker, or paintbrush in hand. I love it. I know it won't last, so I really savor this passion she has.

First and foremost

 First day of school for Zoe (5th), Liam (4th), Lydia (1st), and Felix starts preschool next week. He couldn't be left out this morning so he donned his backpack, too.

 See how they are all smiles? I was so mean to them, and they were so bored that they were overjoyed to start school.

 Zoe and Alexis

Liam and Ethan.
The bus stop is directly out in front of our house this year. It is a pretty sweet deal. When they almost miss the bus, they don't have to run all the way down the street to catch it. In the wintertime we can wait for the bus in the comfort of our livingroom. Nice.

One last Hoorah!

 School starts soon. Summer is winding down. The kids are needing to get onto a schedule, but I couldn't resist one last quick trip.
I loaded up the kids and headed to Rexburg. We stopped many times, but weren't in a hurry, so it didn't matter. We got to Sam's house late afternoon. We had time for dinner, a game of Barbie cards, and some visiting with Sam's before we headed to Heise Hot Springs.
I have recently written about my historic friendship with Kate when I posted about my trip to Hawaii to visit her in February. I couldn't pass up a trip to see her and her family. Even if only for a short visit.
It was so nostalgic for me to drive to Heise. I spent quite a bit of time there as a child, but especially as a teenager. I even lived there for a fun-filled month the summer before our Senior year. We stayed at Kate's house, which holds a lot of memories!

 The kids totally loved the house. I wish I would've got more pictures. It has the loveliest porch (with lots of seating) all around the house. Any way you look there are AMAZING views of gorgeous countryside. 
Liam wanted me to take a picture of him being cool on the porch. Wow, Liam. Super-cool!

 The next day we went Zip-lining. I went with Liam and Zoe while Kate and Josh stayed with Lydia, Felix, Kai'a and Finley. Then Kate, Josh, Kai'a, and Lydia went after us.

 All suited up! Zoe's helmet would not behave!

 All ready to Jeep to the first zip line.

 Liam went first, the first time. He didn't even hesitate. He was super excited! The guys working the lines called him "Crazy Tim"! We all LOVED it! It was so fun! We got to go down 7 zip lines. The zip lines were all on the mountains behind Kate's house. On a few of them, we could see her house and the kids playing out on the porch!

 We all went down the last line upside down with the lines twisted. I got some good video. I guess I need to figure out how to put video onto the blog.
Certainly a highlight of our entire summer!

 As I mentioned Lydia went later with Kate, Josh and Kaia. I just love her look in this picture. The guys that worked on the zip line were totally hilarious and made the trip so fun. Lydia really got a kick out of them.
I was worried that she wouldn't be brave enough to go down, but she did. She rode down with Josh or Kate each time. She loved it and I was so proud!

 We spent the rest of the day swimming. Lydia also went down the water slide by herself and spent hours taking turns with Kai'a swimming to Josh in the "deep end". What a big girl. Thank goodness she and Kai'a got along SO WELL! It seemed very natural to them both.
We all had fun swimming. I think Felix spent the entire time jumping off the edge to me.

 How much fun is this? The kids got to travel around in the Mule.

 I know, I know.

We finished off a perfect day by heading down to the pizza parlor for some delicious dinner.
After getting the kids to bed we were even able to spend several hours chatting. What an absolutely delightful trip!
If you have never been to Heise Hot Springs, you really should go. Not only is it so BEAUTIFUL, it is super fun! There is a lot to do! I would like to promise you that you would have as much fun as we did, but I can't guarantee that unless you go with your oldest best friend and her awesome family!
Thanks, Kate. We had a blast!