8 is Great!

Jane is 8!  Last Monday was her birthday, and this weekend was her baptism where she was so excited to become an "official" full member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  This special birthday required extra special attention, so even though she gets to have a "friend party" this year (which hasn't happened yet), I still wanted to make sure she really felt the love last Monday and this weekend as well.  :)

I thought the outfit she chose for her birthday was hilariously adorable.

Her big surprises when coming home from school on her big day were that I had redecorated the mantle in her honor and I had made cupcakes as an after school treat.  She was pretty thrilled about both.  Obviously.  Hahaha.  For her birthday dinner request, we headed over to Panera after picking Ethan up from cross country, and Scott joined us straight from work.  Once everyone's bellies were happy and full, we came back home to finish off our Family Home Evening with an extra special lesson on baptism.

Even though we haven't gotten her family presents yet -- we're planning on doing that with her friend party this weekend -- I still wanted her to be able to open at least one gift on her actual birthday day.  So, I bundled up her newly finished Rainbow baptism quilt to present to her and serve as an object lesson for FHE.  I've made each of the kids a quilt in honor of their baptism to remind them of their baptismal covenants (part of which is to comfort those that stand in need of comfort), and also to stand as a tangible symbol of the comfort and love which they can feel from the Holy Ghost when THEY are in need of that peace and comfort.  I finished off the lesson by wrapping Jane in the quilt to help her feel that peace and love and comfort.

For her baptism on Saturday, she was so lucky to have her Grandma and Grandpa come to town along with her Aunt Kristin and cousins Hannah and Jonah.  The day may have been a little cold and drizzly, but the warmth inside her baptismal service more than made up for it.  I was so touched that she asked ME to speak on Baptism at her service {none of the other kids have ever asked me to speak}, and I was excited to use her quilt as part of the remarks in my address.  I tried to keep things as simple and basic as possible, but I have to be honest in that I don't really remember what I even said while I was up there!  Haha.  Because she LOVES rainbows, I wanted to talk a little bit about the connection I've thought about between Rainbows, Covenants, and Baptism.  Hopefully, SOMETHING of those thoughts came through.  Because our church believes in baptism by immersion, I could tell that she really picked up on the connection that just like the Earth was completely covered with water during the Flood, she would be completely covered in water when she was baptized.  But the most important point I hope she got was that just as God put a rainbow in the sky as a token of the covenant he made with Noah after the Flood, I hoped she would remember the covenant she made with Heavenly Father at baptism every time she looked at her Rainbow quilt. 

 

It was a lovely baptismal service, and it was so nice to have family and so many friends from the ward in attendance.  After the service was over, we headed over to the kitchen where the famous CTR cookies were waiting to be inhaled, along with some Oreos for the allergy girl.  ;)  I know Jane enjoyed her day and felt so much love.

 {Just stopping to smell the flowers.}

 Me and my half-birthday twin.  :)

An added bonus to having her baptism on Labor Day weekend, was that we had the fun of having family stay around for all three days!  Blake and Ben joined us on Sunday after church, and the kids have been "Fall Bash-ing" since Saturday.  Hahaha.  Just what does that entail, you ask?  Well, as far as I can tell, it involved a lot of dodge ball in the basement, movie time, and of course, a new music video.  :)

 Alex was thrilled to have Grandma help him finish the Yoshi puzzle she sent him for HIS birthday.

 Working on some scenes for the music video...

We wrapped things up at the park today and to celebrate Scott's mom's 70th birthday while they were still here, we went out for ice cream and picked up a cookie cake in her honor for after dinner this evening.  The cookie cake was REALLY for the kids' sake, but Kristin did pick up a delicious looking carrot cake cupcake that we were able to stick a candle in and sing Happy Birthday with, and it did the trick.  It's been such a nice weekend and I hate to see it end!  Here's to hoping for some more family get togethers in the near future.  :)