Baptism Day

James was baptized at member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints yesterday morning by Rich.

We didn't have anything to do with the planning of the program since they do stake baptisms here. In a way it was nice (no stress!) but I kind of missed having some say. There were 11 total children being baptized that day--3 from our ward.

This is what he said about his special day:  "My baptism was cold.  I felt the Holy Ghost."  He said that he felt the Holy Ghost even stronger after he was confirmed.

James is such a great boy.  I'm so proud of his decision!

I asked him to bear his testimony for me so I could record it here.  This is what he said, "I bear my testimony and I know the church is true.  And that Adam was the first prophet.  And that President Monson is our prophet now.  And it's almost General Conference and we can listen to him. I know the scriptures are true and that Jesus died for us."

The Book of Mormon

James recently completed his goal to read the entire Book of Mormon before his 8th birthday.  It was rough at times but he did it!  He is so proud of his accomplishment--and we are too!

James is prepared and ready to be baptized this weekend.  He is a great boy.

Legends Basketball

James had a great time playing basketball this winter.  He really improved throughout the season as well.

His team, the Legends, did great!  The best player in the league was on his team and they went undefeated. This meant that they got to play for the championship game.

Here is his team line up.

My favorite part of watching the games were seeing James hustle.  He was always the first one down the court.

His coach sent this out in his weekly team email: "I was really excited to see James get real active as he did yesterday – and it made a huge difference!  When James applied pressure on the ball handler they threw bad passes of which Jase intercepted and this directly resulted in points for our team.  It was great to see and I was very happy for James."

In the end the Legends beat the Cougars to win the championship!

It was a fun season and great to watch James learn a new skill!

Eight is Great!

James has always been such a sweet boy.  He is so full of energy and determination.  He thrives on reactions... whether it's his cousins cracking up at his jokes, making his brothers crazy with teasing, or getting a sincere compliment when he's done something good.  Seven seems to be a difficult age for my boys... so we are glad we've moved onto 8!  Next weekend James will be baptized and he sure is ready and excited!


What is your favorite...
color? neon green and black
food?  pizza
toy?  football
show? Uncle Grandpa
animal?  wolf
book? Harry Potter
song? Ewok song
What do you like to do?  play football
Who is your best friend?  Colton
What do you want to be when you grow up? a football player
Do you have a girlfriend?  NO


I am - awesome

I am afraid of - nothing

I like - football

I like to eat - hawaiian haystacks

I don't like - carrots

I know - six divided by two is three

I want to be - a basketball player

I like to watch - Ogie and the Cockroaches

My hero is- dad and mom

I cry when - I fell off a tree

Mom gets mad when - I disobey

Mom is happy when - I obey

I can't wait for - my birthday next year

Something Mom says to me - thank you

Something Dad says to me - thank you

My favorite place to go is - the beach

My Mom and Dad make me laugh by -tickling me

I know my mom loves me because - I'm her son

I know my dad loves me because - I'm his son

Potty Time

Potty training is my least favorite job of motherhood.  Alex was so difficult that I just really dreaded doing it with Henry.  To make it a little more difficult we have mid-day kindergarten pick-up to throw in there so we don't really have a full day to work on it.

Henry was awesome!  He caught on quickly and was always willing to go sit on the toilet when asked.  The hardest was in the afternoon when I was distracted by big brothers doing homework and getting dinner ready.

It must have been exhausting work because twice he fell asleep in the stroller on the way to school--which never happens!

I'm sure we will still run into accidents but for the most part he is done with diapers!  Four down, one to go.  (I sure hope that the rumor is true that girls are easier to potty train!)

1st lost tooth for our shark boy

Several months ago we discovered that Alex had a "shark tooth" growing in his mouth.  We couldn't get into the dentist for a few months so we just worked on wiggling that baby tooth.

When we finally got to see the dentist he let us know that we should extract the tooth and the one next to it.  We couldn't get an appointment until April though so we worked on that tooth even harder!  A few weeks ago we finally got the tooth out with a combination of tying a string to the door and the use of pliers.  Hooray!

We noticed a shark tooth coming in behind the neighboring tooth as well so we are really trying to get that baby tooth out.  Alex was pretty excited about the tooth fairy visit but not so much about our methods of extraction.

Valentine's Day

Our Valentine's Day was full of fun!  The boys had school off that Friday and a friend of ours had a party at her neighborhood park.  We decorated (and ate) sugar cookies.

We crafted.

And exchanged valentines.

And hung out in the beautiful sunshine.

The boys spent a long time playing football and on the playground as well.

That night William helped me make heart-shaped pizzas.  They were delicious.

On Valentine's Day we had some chocolate chocolate chip muffins for breakfast and some chocolate mousse that night for dessert.  Rich and the boys got me a box of chocolates and a new glass water bottle.  In the evening Rich and I went out to dinner (with Lydia). 

I'm so grateful for all my little valentines and, of course, my forever valentine!

Daily Sunshine

This morning Alex was listing off his favorite things.  "Legos, then squinkies, then football."  Then he paused and looked at me.  "Acutally," he continued, "You, then football, then Legos, then squinkies."