It's Great to be 8!

Peanut had his big day! He was baptized as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Saturday afternoon, with lots of friends and family there to be a part of this new step.

He's such a sweet boy and was so excited for this day.

The 24 hours after his baptism, he was the most helpful, most agreeable little guy that he has ever been! It was nice that he was trying to take the whole thing seriously. (It didn't really last, haha.)

He was so glad to have his cousins here. I can't believe, even after talking about it, we didn't get a picture of all the family that came. He had all his grandparents, 3 uncles (and 2 aunts), and their kids, but this was the only extended family shot anyone took.

 

Love this family of mine.

Another Family Weekend

We got to see Daddy-o's family twice in one week! We were so grateful that we got to go see J. be baptized and be with him on his special day (he's the first of the short group of cousins, haha--quite a gap in there between Bug and the next oldest cousin!)

Looks like you have to have a beard to be part of this family now.

We headed up to another one of Daddy-o's brothers' homes Friday night so we could hang out with them and see there not-so-new house that we hadn't been to yet. The kids had a great time, of course. They love their cousins.

They also love games, especially weird ones.

(picture borrowed from Laura)

I really love that the kids get to be weird with their cousins, haha. These are the memories cousins are supposed to create together :)

Family Time

We spent the weekend in Utah for this sweet girl's baptism. (Picture stolen from my sister-in-law's Instagram, as well as the next one.)

I'm so glad that we live close enough to my brother's family that we can celebrate their special moments with them. It was a quick trip, and it's a long drive from CA to UT, but nothing like it was from NC! Daddy-o and Bean had to fly up a day after they boys and I drove, but at least we had them with us for the drive home (and I had help with the driving!)

My kids love cousin time.

After the baptism, they had lunch at their house and the kids had a great time running around the backyard.

Circus time!

And this little baby is so much fun--we love that we've gotten to see so much of her the last year.

She is just the cutest.

Even though these two are so much older than my brother's kids, they have the best time together. I love that our kids are getting to know their cousins.

Of course, we had to squeeze in as much as we could for the three days we were there.

Other highlights included a trip to the Museum of Ancient History at Thanksgiving Point where the dino-lover was able to explore.

I'm always impressed by the size and depth of this museum. It's so well done.

And so fun! 

I don't think they'll ever be too old to dig in the sand pits.

And it was just warm enough for a swim at the other cousins' house. The water won't be tolerable in another week or two, but these kids braved the chilliness and had a great time.

Peanut hung back for awhile, but finally decided it was worth getting a little cold and wet to join the fun. These kids have gotten together so many times in the last two years--even if it's only for a couple hours, I'm glad that they get to have this time. Family is awesome!

His Big Day

Our little Bug isn't so little. He's 8 years old and baptized now! We're so proud of the thoughtful, loving, conscientious person who he has become. He tries to make good choices and thinks pretty hard about anything serious before deciding what he should do. He's such a great friend and a fun brother, both for the younger and older siblings (we keep telling him how lucky he is to get to be the little brother and the big brother because no one else in our family gets both roles.)

His birthday fell on Sunday and he really wanted to get baptized that same day.

 

And since all the grandparents were able to come out this weekend, we decided what a great way to make a birthday weekend extra special! We're glad he had family there to celebrate with him. I know I keep saying it, but it's the one hard part about not living near our families. We don't make it to all their special events and most of them can't come to us for ours.

Grandma and Grandpa

Rara and Unkie

Love this boy so much! His baptism was a really special meeting. The spirit was very strong. Apparently, when he came out of the water and went back to change, he was pretty giddy. He wasn't sure if it was the good feeling he had, or the fact that the water was cold, but he said he was having a hard time not giggling through it :) It is supposed to be a joyous occasion!

And love this family. We're so lucky to have these three awesome kids. Sometimes it can be hard in the nitty-gritty, everyday chaos to remember what an awesome blessing it is to share our lives with three little people, but when I sit back to think of what they bring to our home and to my life, I'm amazed. Being a parent is a beautiful (if exhausting) thing. I'm grateful for these life events that remind me.

Special Day

 Bean was baptized today!  That's a pretty big day in our church.  We had all the grandparents, 2 uncles, an aunt, and a cousin out to share the special occasion.

 It's hard to believe this girl is getting so grown up and making such big decisions.

 She is such an amazing big sister, and a great example, and so excited to take this next step.

The baptism was simple and sweet.  We're so grateful to our family and friends who were there to share the day with us. 

More Family Time

We not only got to go to Uncle J's wedding, but also our cousin, S.'s baptism (in the blue shirt).  And with so many of the cousins there, we of course had to take the obligatory cousin picture.  Left to Right, M and J (Uncle S.'s oldest two), then C (Uncle J #1), S (Uncle S's #3), B (Uncle J's #2), Bean, M (Uncle J's #3), H (Uncle C's #4), Bugaboo, and C (uncle J's #4).  We were just missing Uncle D's family and Aunt C's little girl who wasn't into the picture taking right then.

 And we also spent some time at John's Incredible Pizza on Saturday--basically a Chuck E Cheese on steriods.  (And this is apparently the only picture of Uncle S.'s family that we got the whole weekend.)

 The kids LOVED the rides--and Aunt E was nice enough to go with them on the spinning one that none of the parents thought we could handle.  I have enough issues with nausea these days that I don't need to incite it.

 Another stomach dropper--Bug wasn't sure at first, but then he decided it was pretty fun.

 And Bean demonstrated just how high pitched she can scream--over and over and over again.

 They couldn't get enough of it.

 Bumper cars were very serious business for this guy.

 And this girl is a crazy driver.

They had a great time--Thanks Grandma and Grandpa!