He's 2!!

We celebrated Ben's 2nd birthday this week.  We love this little guys.  Everyone wants to play with him, hold him, kiss him and just be with him.  He such a light in our home.  He is pretty obedient and talks so much.  I love conversations with a two year old.

We celebrated with a couple presents in the morning, an old school London double-decker bus (it's also a pencil sharpener as Jonathan pointed out) and some road tape.  The road tape was a big hit.  The older kids were deciding how to ration it's use so they can take some home.  Ben carried his bus everywhere with him.  He loves it.

We spent the day at home working on Christmas decorations and I made Ben's birthday cake.  I found some cocoa so I made our favorite chocolate cake recipe.  I had seen pictures on Pinterest for a piñata cake so I winged it for Ben.  I cut out the inside of the cake and filled it with M&Ms.  Ben was pretty excited when I cut the first piece and M&Ms fell out.  Those were the only things he ate.

This little guys has been such a blessing in our lives.  I'm really glad he is part of our crew.  Happy birthday, Ben!

Birthday time!

Happy as a clam with her vanilla, vanilla cake and M&M 6 on top!

We've had a birthday!  Miss Charlotte turned 6 last week and we loved celebrating with her.  For weeks she's been correcting us when we say she is six and now that she really is, she can't seem to remember! Charlotte is sweet, spunky, talkative, funny and the life of the party.  She's a great kid.  We celebrated a couple of days early since Hyrum would be out of town on her birthday but she loved it all the same.  I made a cake, we had pizza for dinner and she opened a few presents.  We sang a few times through out the day as well.

The craft set was a huge hit.  Now our kitchen table is tinted yellow : (

Mr. J's Birthday and Baptism

He made it.  This kid was our earliest walker and talker.  So many things he has grown and matured into before his time but turning 8, he had to wait just like everybody else.

We started his birthday celebration in August, before we left, when Hyrum and I presented him with his presents from us.  One of the social opportunities presented to 8 year old LDS boys is the opportunity to participate in Cub Scouts.  His presents this year were his very own Cub Scout uniform with all of the necessary bits and pieces.  We'll get his patches sewn on when we get home.  He is really excited to be a Cub Scout.  We already enjoy working on his Bobcat and Wolf requirements.

On his actual birthday, he picked tacos for dinner, had an adventure with Dad to the British Museum, got a haircut at a "real" barbershop, and enjoyed his chocolate cake from the grocery store.  He also got to open up a couple of books and some candy to celebrate.  I think he enjoyed his day.

Our celebration continued with his baptism into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  8 years old is the minimum age required for someone to be baptized into our church.  Since we were traveling and making arrangements was difficult we weren't able to do the baptism until this past Sunday.  We are so grateful for the Bray Branch (small congregation) here in Ireland that helped us have this sacred ordinance.  The building we attend church in here doesn't have a font for baptisms so our options were to go to another building or the Irish Sea.   While the sea would have made for a good story, it's a bit cold here this time of year so we opted for another church building.  We found clothes and the Branch Presidency was so helpful in making arrangements.

Sunday came and Jonathan was ready.  He was sober and reserved all day.  I think he knew the gravity of the choice he was making.  We've spent much of the past year teaching and reminding what baptism means and why we do it.  I really believe he gets it.  This was his choice for himself and I am so proud of him.  Our whole family, sans Ben, participated in giving talks and prayers while Hyrum officiated in the ordinances of baptism and confirmation.  We had the Branch presidency with a few of their children and the Relief Society President and her children (our new friends) in attendance with us.  It was a small group but there was great love in that room.  We are so grateful for the kindness and love we have felt while we have been here from these kind Saints.

It was a special day with a special kid!

25 years

The 25th years seems to be a pretty big deal; it's a silver anniversary, the 25th anniversary edition of movies, restaurants, businesses, books, and so much more is celebrated with bells and whistles. Yesterday, I heard no bells and no whistles but it was great.

25 years ago I was born. It was February morning in Portsmouth, New Hampshire when I arrived on the scene. I sure am glad I did too. I think my parents were pretty happy too. It's funny because though an awful lot has happened in the last 25 years I really don't feel that old. There are times I feel just as insecure as I did at age 16, just as silly as I was at age 12, and just as innocent as I was at age 5. I definitely feel just as tired as I did Fall of 2001 (a busy semester; volleyball, junior miss, senior year, Nathan's wedding, college applications).

Thanks to my wonderful family, I had a beautiful cupcake arrangement for my birthday cake. We weren't sure if Hannah was going to be able to wait until after dinner to eat them. She was pretty excited. We also enjoyed having a couple from church over to help us celebrate.

The teller at the bank asked me how if I did anything exciting. I found it kind of funny considering I dragged my children into the bank with me. I told him no but as I've thought about it, I had a great day. Because it was Sunday, I didn't feel like my house needed to be super clean, I was able to go out for a bit while we were at church, and due to Hannah's seemingly inate ability to wake up before 6 on Sunday morning, we were at church with plenty of time for me to relax and sit back before the meetings started. It was great considering that after sacrament meeting the child juggling began.

I got to spend the day with my family and that is precious to me. Well, here's to 25 years. I hope the next 25 are just as blessed.