Bella's Baptism

As your children grow there are certain milestones that they reach which touch your heart and soul more than you thought would be possible. Bella's baptism was one of those things. We were so excited to have family here, Nonie and Papa, Aunt Nancy with the cousins. All of them contributed so much to her special day.

Bella was very calm yet extrememly excited through the whole thing. She was very specific about who she wanted to give talks and prayers. The one thing that I picked rather than her was we had Brendan sing "When I am Baptized" and he did such a good job! I was so proud of him. He was very composed, not the least bit nervous. The only thing that we didn't talk to him about was what to do when he was done. So at the end of the song, I could see the hesitation and the "what do I do now" look in his eyes. His answer to the question was a little bow, not a big one, just a half one. It was very funny and so Brendan like.

The baptism had a very spiritual presence through the whole thing. I was touched at how strong the spirit was. And I was so very proud of Bella for making the decision to be baptized. Yes, her decision - not mine or Larry's. When Brendan was baptized I had a friend of another faith that "grilled" me a little bit on how Brendan felt about having to be baptized. I realized that she honestly felt it was not his decision to make but ours' because it is standard practice in the church for children to be baptized at the age of eight. But this is not a decision that we (parents)make. The children are so excited to be baptized. They are excited to start their journey towards following the savior's plan for their life and striving to return to him one day. It is a sign of our willingness to do what the savior has commanded. One brick in the path that marks our way.
The other thing that struck me as we were getting ready for the baptism is how much it reminded me of another special day that I know will come way to soon. Silly I know but I couldn't help but think as I helped her into her white dress and fixed her hair that before I knew it we would be doing this again. But on a much larger scale. That thought brought such perspective to me in regards to how fast time flies and how we really do need to try and savor each little minute that we have with them while they are young.

The whole weekend was so perfect and we just feel so blessed and loved not only by our family but by our church family as well.

The Dress

My friend Rachael offered to take pictures of Bella in her dress. Here are a few of my favorites.

Didn't she do such a great job? Also, a HUGE thanks goes out to Kim C for getting sleeves put on the dress!! Couldn't have done it with out ya

FINISHED!!!

I have been anxiously awaiting the release of Breaking Dawn since devouring the rest of the series in one week last November. With the release date set the same weekend as Bella's baptism, I wasn't sure how I was going to get any good reading time in. But, luckily I was able to steal a few moments during the day and well who can sleep with an unfinished book in the house?!?! So I finished it last night around 11:30.

It was SO phenomenal. There is something about her writing style that is just so addictive for me. My sister in law and I cheated a little bit and randomly read pages here and there because it was driving us nuts that we couldn't just find a place to hide and read. So, I knew a few things before I really got into the book. It helped with the "I can't put this book down for any reason other than an extreme emergancy" issue, but I still found myself completely engrossed in the story. Excitedly flipping each page, waiting for the story to unfold. I can't wait to talk about it with the rest of you "twilighters", you know who you are. And I promise, if you are not done I will REVEAL NOTHING!!!!

As for the important stuff, like Bella's baptism, it was absolutely perfect and I will be posting about that later after a serious nap. I am soooo sleep deprived!!

Summer Cold

I hate colds. I hate the blowing of the nose, the lack of sleep because you can't breath, the irritability because you are sleep deprived, the headache and pressure. It makes me cranky. So, guess what I have? That's right. A good ol summertime cold. Which I think are the worst. And to top it all off we have a crazy busy week and I don't feel like doing anything but laying in bed. But, since that is not a option I am trying to forge ahead and get stuff done. But I cannot lie, it has not been fun. Why is our week so busy you ask? Well, Bella's baptism is on Saturday and we have family coming into town. Which is going to be really fun and we are so glad that they are coming but the house does not clean itself. And when you have a cold, cleaning is the last thing you want to do. It is getting done though, just slowly. The problem with cleaning when you have small kids is that you clean something and then as soon as you turn your back, someone has messed it all up again. Why is that? Where does the urge to undo all of your hard work come from? And of course there are the day to day things that need to get done along with the special errands. So much to do, so little motivation.... I took Brendan to get a haircut yesterday and decided that it was time I got mine done as well. The original plan was to wait and have Angela cut it (she works wonders with her scissors!) but I was tired of pulling it back into a ponytail. Thinking that my cut is pretty simple and hard to mess up I climbed into the chair and went for it. Big, Giant, Colossal Mistake. As all bad haircuts start out, I thought she and I understood each other. Halfway through as massive amounts of my hair are tumbling to the floor I realize that we didn't understand each other at all. But of course by then it's way too late. So, it looks like I will still be wearing my hair in a ponytail day after day for the next few months until it grows out some. That is if the shortest layers will reach into a ponytail, which I'm not so sure they will. Oh well - It'll grow, right?? Please tell me it will grow!

A Pedicure Like No Other

Who doesn't love a good pedicure?? I know I do. Apparently there is a new kind of pedicure available here in the US. Instead of nice ladies massaging your feet and removing dry skin with razors hundreds of toothless fish eat away the dead skin.


I just don't know what to think about that one.

Two Must See Movies!

Have you ever gone to the movies and when the film is over you have a sense of disappointment that the film just didn't live up to all the hype or just wasn't what you thought it was going to be? Not the case with these!

Going into this movie I knew that unless they totally botched the transfer from stage to screen we were in for a good time. This movie did not disappoint. I don't think I have ever had so much fun at the movies. We laughed, we sang along and even got a little choked up. Grab a couple of girlfriends, guys just will not appreciate it at all, and go have a fabulous time.

I am not a huge fan of comic strip super hero movies. However, since Christian Bale started wearing the batsuit, I've had a little change of heart. And seeing that I am a huge fan of the late Heath Ledger this was a must see on opening day kind of movie for me. The movie is very dark and sinister but I loved it. Heath's performance as the Joker is phenomenal and not over hyped in any way. I think it is truly his best work and I found myself sad at the end pondering once again the loss of such a great young talent. The movie is long so cut back on the drink intake as you will not want to miss a single action packed second. Excellent movie that I am sure I will see many times.

Camera Woes

I am sad to report that I think my camera is on it's last leg. When we were at Bear Lake we got some water in it and thought for sure it was over. But the water evaporated and minus a shutter that won't close all the way, it seemed to recover. Then Bella took it to achievement days for a photography class and dropped it. Part of the cover got broken and pushed up but we pushed it back in and it seemed fine. But the last two days it has given me nothing but trouble. Yesterday we went to see the pigs at the library (they were supposed to be a large hog but ended up being two pot bellied pigs) a couple of shots came out ok but the rest were really blurry. And then today my shots have a faded look on the edges. Very disappointing. Does anyone know of a great digital camera to get that is a reasonable price?

The girls petting the pig.
Lily stealing drinks.