Scout Cake Auction

Tonight was our ward's fundraiser for scouts and cub scouts. It was a spaghetti dinner and cake auction. The boys were supposed to work with their dads to create a cake for the auction. Thomas and Joel have enjoyed planning and preparing for this. They decided to make a sandcastle cake. They did all the work for it. Last night Thomas made me a shopping list for the final things they needed. That is all I did to help. As soon as Joel got home from work this afternoon they set to work finishing their cake. They had baked it last night. The other kids were so interested and really wanted to help so they played with the scraps and made their own creations! The cake turned out great and Joel and Thomas really enjoyed their time together. Our neighbors saw us as we were getting ready to leave and asked what we were doing. As we explained it to them we told them they were more than welcome to come. They said they would love to come. They ended up winning the auction for Thomas' cake and we bought another scout's cake. So, they came over to our house afterwards to share cake together. Their son is going to start going to cub scouts with Thomas to see if it something he would like to do and then possibly join the pack. It was a fun night and it was great to see Thomas doing all he could to help and work at the dinner. He really loves scouting and he loves being able to serve and work.

Baking Cookies with Spring

Spring told me yesterday that she hasn't baked or cooked with me in a long time because I always get dinner ready while she is at school. So, after school today I let her stay up while the little ones napped so we could bake cookies. We had such a good time together and she really did the majority of the work. I am glad she mentioned this to me so we could spend that time together. I am grateful she enjoys spending time with me even when it is doing the 'little things' in life. We had fun baking and talking about her day at school. I need to be more aware and try to leave some things for us to bake or cook together when she is home from school.

4 Months Old

Joshua is now 4 months old! He is growing strong and is such a happy and smiling baby. We love having him in our family. He is starting to really scoot himself around and loves to chew on anything and everything he can get into his mouth.

Accomplishments and Awards

When I picked Spring up from school yesterday she came out with a big crown on her head and an even bigger smile on her face. She passed off all of her high frequency words for Kindergarten! She was the first in her class to do this, just as she was the first to pass off all her letter sounds and number recognitions. She was so happy. It is exciting to see her excitement and joy in learning. She is reading books now all by herself and only needing help with a few of the words. She has begun to read stories to Sammy and Mary which reminds me of when Thomas would read to her. I am so grateful for Spring and her ability to learn and share her skills in serving her younger siblings and me! She is a wonderful daughter and sister.

Thomas had pack meeting this evening. It was held at our home because the carpets were being cleaned at the church. Thomas was awarded his bobcat. He was pinning the mother's pin on my shirt and the cubmaster was saying how it is difficult to pin it on and so forth. Thomas already had it pinned and he was still talking about how Thomas could have someone help him if he needed it. I guess all the practice he gets with his tie tacks has paid off! Thomas also earned the computer beltloop and pin as well as the chess beltloop. Unfortunately, they did not pick up these awards for him. He was disappointed but he handled it well. They will award them to him next month instead. Thomas loves cub scouts and I am so grateful for the lessons it teaches him and will continue to teach him. It is an inspired program that will help him not only have fun and learn about scouting, but also prepare him to receive the holy priesthood of God.

Waters Come to Town

We were so fortunate to have our good friends, the Waters, come to visit us this past Sunday. They are our friends from Manteca. They met us at church and then came to our house afterwards to visit and spend time together. It was so good to see them again. In Manteca we would in the pews right behind them at church so it seemed so natural to have them sitting with us again. Joel said it "just seemed right" to look down from the stand and see our families together again. It felt like we had part of home with us again. After church we came home and the kids had a great time playing together. Between the 2 families there are 11 kids so you can imagine how lively the house was! They had our traditional Sunday dinner of pancakes with us before they had to leave to go home. When it was time for them to leave there were a lot of sad faces as the kids wanted to stay playing with each other. How grateful I am for good friends and how grateful I am that friendships can last and flourish even when we move away.

Uncle Brandon & Aunt Heather's Visit

Uncle Brandon and Aunt Heather came to visit us this past weekend. They are in the process of moving to Arizona so they stopped by for a few days to visit. We had a great time with them and their little one, Isaac. Isaac is about 3 weeks older than Joshua. It was fun to see them together. Sammy and Mary thought it was great to have 2 little ones to hold and play with. Sammy called Isaac, "I-icks" and when we asked Mary where Isaac was she would point at her eyes! Thomas enjoyed playing chess with Uncle Brandon. All the kids had a great time jumping on the trampoline with them and playing games together. Brandon also took Thomas' 8 year pictures and Joshua's 3 month pictures.

No More Tonsils

Thomas has his tonsils and adenoids removed this morning. We arrived at the hospital around 6:00 am. He was really nervous but the doctors and nurses were so wonderful with him. Unfortunately I forgot my camera so I don't have any pictures of his cute hospital pajamas. He is probably happy about that though! The surgery went wonderful and he was so good through it all. When I was able to go see him in recovery he had a few tears on his cheeks. I gave him a hug and asked how he was doing and he just started to cry. He told me his throat hurt. I almost cried too...I had to try really hard to hold back the tears and be strong for him! After a short time he told the nurse, "I just want to go home now." Wow, he sounds like me! After they watched him for a while he was able to come home with me. As we pulled into the garage he said, "Home sweet home." It was so cute.

He has had such a positive attitude today and barely complains. Joel told him how brave he was because he needs to have tonsils removed but is too scared to do it. He has been so patient with Sammy and Mary who just want to be right next to him on the couch. Spring has been taking good care of him and made him such a sweet get well card. She told me tonight, "Mom, I don't know what to do for Thomas. I just want to make him not hurt anymore."

I know he has a few rough days ahead of him but I also know things will be so much better once he has recovered! Thanks, Grandma, for the popsicles and Danimals. That is about all he has had to eat today.

Enjoying Time Together

After Thomas' baptism we came back to the house for lunch and to visit and spend time together. The kids loved having Aunt Alanna, Aunt Tammy, and their grandmas jump on the trampoline with them and play the Wii together. Thomas took time to write in his journal about his special day. We played games with each other, visited, and just had a good time. Mary enjoyed having Grandpa read her stories.

Thomas' Baptism

Thomas was baptized this morning by his Dad. I am so grateful he decided to be baptized and confirmed a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. It was such a wonderful service. It was very emotional for me as I saw our son dressed in white with a grin across his face and his eyes so bright with joy and excitement. I was also overwhelmed with gratitude for a husband that loves his family and honors the Priesthood with which he has been entrusted with. We were so blessed to have friends and family travel to attend his baptism...both sets of grandparents, Aunt Alanna, Aunt Tammy, and Joel & Katie Henderson came for his baptism. Katie was Thomas' primary teacher in Manteca about 2 years ago. During the baptism I found myself reflecting on the wonderful blessing Thomas is to our family. He has been blessed with such an obedient and kind nature. He has a tender and believing heart. He is an example to me of the kind of life I want to live. I know our Savior was so happy with Him as he decided to enter the waters of baptism and make those special covenants with Him.

Grandma Powell gave the talk on baptism. She did a wonderful job talking directly to Thomas about the importance of this step in his life. She read the account of Alma teaching the people and baptizing them in the waters of Mormon (Mosiah 18:8-11). She talked about how they "clapped their hands for joy." She compared this to the excitement Thomas had for being baptized. Thomas had been up every hour starting around 2 am because he was so excited to be baptized.

Grandma Biggs gave the talk on the Holy Ghost and brought some fun items that he would use in scouting and compared them to ways the Holy Ghost will help him spiritually. Thomas was the pianist for his baptism and did such a wonderful job. How many kids can say they were the pianist for their own baptism?!

It was such a special day for Thomas and for us, as his parents. We are blessed with such joy from his righteous decisions.

Silly Sammy

Last night Sammy was walking around with Spring's headband around his head and ears. He looked so funny we had to take a picture of him. We can always count on Sammy to give us something to laugh about. He truly does bring laughter into our home and keep us entertained.

Rub a Dub Dub....Our Babes in the Tub

Mary and Sammy were taking a bath tonight and we decided to see if we could sneak Joshua in too so we could bathe all 3 of them quickly. Sammy was so proud to be able to hold Joshua all by himself and Mary was excited for him to be in the bath too. Joshua did very well and seemed to enjoy it.

New Year's Eve

I am a bit late at reporting our New Year's Eve festivities. We had a great time together at home. We played games, the Wii, jumped on the trampoline, and enjoyed lots of fun snacks. Joshua went to bed about 7:30. Then around 9:30 we told Sammy it was bedtime. He said, "No, me stay up and party till midnight." We told him it was midnight and showed him how dark it was outside. We went outside and yelled "happy new year" and then came in and put he and Mary to bed. They were out fast! Then we enjoyed the rest of the evening with Thomas and Spring. They played cars together for a long time. Around 11:15 they started to tire out and wanted to watch "Robots." We thought they would fall asleep but they didn't. They rang in the new year with us and then Joel and I went to bed. They stayed up and told us the next morning they finished the movie and didn't go to sleep until 1 am. And, yes, Thomas was awake at 6:11 am the next morning! Spring slept in until 7 am! We have such early risers!

We are grateful for the wonderful year we had in 2008! There were changes and challenges that provided opporutnities for growth. As we look back on all that happened we know we have been blessed abundantly and we know the Lord is mindful of us at all times. We are grateful for the opportuity to rely on Him and reflect on the many great ways in which He has blessed our lives. We look forward to all that will come in this new year!