A big day for my 8 year old.

My baby boy turned 8 in December...why did he grow up so fast? 

He made the choice to get baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

It was a great day full of family, fun, and of course food :)

Thank you to everybody that came to support him in this big decision. 

So what is up next on this big kids agenda for life...CUB SCOUTS!!! yes he is a little excited for that.

yellow belt 001.avi

It is offical...Mr.A is a yellow belt.

The old white belt and the new yellow belt... I think he is a little excited. Mr.A started karate this fall at a local Rec. Center. It has been so good for him. He actually has some place to focus his extra energy. With a house full of girls he needed someplace to "be a boy" and this is a great place for that. He has been doing a great job.

Shawntell opening her Christmas present.

Miss. S opening the wonderful J.Wride jacket...I think it is funny that she thought we had gotten her Capri Suns, and that she really seemed OK with that. It was even a flavor she liked :)

Winder Dairy and Cindy Lou Who

We did our usual family tradition of going to Winder Dairy for scones and honey butter. Santa Claus was there also, so we got pictures of the kids with him instead of pictures of our food :)

Then Miss.P had to dress up as her favorite Christmas character for school. So she went as Cindy Lou Who from  "The Grinch who stole Christmas". We stuck a plastic cup on her head and pulled it up into a pony tail, then tucked the ends under. It turned out way better than I thought it would.

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.

(WARNING: this will be a fairly personal blog post...so if you're not up for that today I advise you to not read any more)

The Good

Last night my brother and his family just showed up on my door step. They live in Pennsylvania! I had no idea they were coming. In fact he had called me and was talking to me on the phone when the doorbell rang. I told him I needed to get the door and that I would call him back...man I love a good surprise! I screamed and screamed...then sat down on the stairs and began to cry, yep the good old fashioned ugly kind of crying. I have missed them so much. Dustin is going to school to become an ER dr. He just got word this morning that he passed his last test and WILL be graduating this summer, woo hoo!

The Bad

The reason they came to town is the bad part.  Laurens father is dying of cancer and they needed to be with her family. How ironic is all this...my father died of cancer the night before Dustin and Lauren were married. Dustin and Lauren are amazing people and the Lord knows they can handle this, but it still breaks my heart to see her family go through so many of the same things my family went through 7 years ago.

The Ugly

There are a few ugly points to this story. The first is the ugly crying I did...I am not a pretty crier. The other ugly part is the conflicting emotions I am having over seeing them. I love these guys so much, I am so happy they are here...but I feel so bad that Lauren and her family have to go through all of this. It's not fun. I feel bad that Dustins children will grow up without knowing either of their amazing Grandfathers.

I feel that I should end this post on a good note...so here are some sweet pictures of my brother, Dustin, and me :)

A house of Ginger...

Yep...a little family time building a Ginger bread house. The pre-made kits are the best :)