A Birthday and a Baptism

We had plenty of cause for celebration today. It was Paul's birthday and Emma's baptism. Hooray!

Grandma E made Emma's beautiful, white baptism dress. She was so excited to wear it and felt so special! She said it felt "thick" as she went down into the water.

The water was warm thankfully, though I can not say the same for Jason's baptism jump suit. Right before our baptism the Elders had a baptism of their own. They baptized a family of four and used all of the adult jumpsuits in doing so. Needless to say, all of the suits were wet and cold as they dripped dry in the changing area. He tried the medium on, it was too small and very cold. He tried the large one, it was inside out and very cold. He turned it around and put it back on, it was still very cold. He was especially glad for the warm water. :)

She was baptized with another little boy from her primary class, Landon Claybrook. We planned the first half of the program and they planned the last half. My sister Shelly gave a great, simple talk on baptism, holding up pictures that corresponded to each letter in the word baptism that helped explain what it is. Grandpa Claybrook gave a great talk on the Holy Ghost. He used a lot of visuals to describe what the Holy Ghost can do for us - blanket, comforts us; compass, directs us; light, gives us light and knowledge, seashell, speaks to us in a soft voice/we have to listen carefully; a bear, to remind them to bear one another's burdens and to bear their testimony.

We had a family gathering after the baptism where we ate and celebrated Paul's birthday. His request was sugar cookies instead of a cake. So I made him a letter P and we put a candle on that. :)

Get that candle Paul!

Some of his favorites: Star Wars

Transformers and Legos

Earlier in the day, I went in to Paul's class so he could celebrate his birthday with them. He wanted to make the same treats that Emma did, where you take an empty toilet paper roll, stuff it with candy, and cover it to look like a firecracker or popper. He had fun helping me put them together.

Paul's AM Kindergarten Class

Paul chose his friend Shane to help him pass out the treats.

Cold Kite Flying Winds

Several weeks ago, Emma and Paul picked out some kites at Costco for their birthdays. Today was windy and of course they thought it was perfect to fly their kites. So we did.

We tried so hard to get Emma's kite to catch the wind and fly, but it wouldn't very well. It was very pretty, but defective.



Paul's kite took off pretty good. Once it got up higher, he kept telling us to reel it in because he thought we would lose it.

As you can see, Jason is still messing with Emma's kite.
It was fun, but I couldn't believe we were flying kites in December.

A Birthday and Santa

We started Emma's birthday off with french toast for breakfast, at her special request of course. No one makes french toast like Grandma Zirker, but I tried it anyway for my daughter...because I'm such a nice mom. :) I have to say that it turned out pretty good. They all ate it and there was none left. That's a good sign, right? Only, don't let it get back to my mom because then I'll become the resident french toast maker.

Close to the end of the school day I took in a little treat for Emma to pass out to her classmates. Emma used toilet paper rolls and tissue paper to make candy filled poppers. She really liked being involved and it cut down on what I had to do. Her classmates were so excited to get a treat and be involved in the joy of someone having a birthday.

with classmates Joleen and Spencer Buchannan

with classmates Charity, Vivianna and Faith

Faith is an especially good friend of Emma's.
I'm so glad that she has met such a nice girl at her new school.
She misses her friends from Othello.

After school, we went to Mattawa for a Christmas Family Home Evening.

We celebrated Emma's birthday with the cousins.

We read a great nativity story.



We had a visit from Santa.
Benjamin would not go up to him at all - naughty list notwithstanding.
Claire finally went up there, but clung to my leg the entire time.

And the kids got bags filled with their favorite things to eat.
Paul gave me the best reactions over his favorite things.
First off, sugar cookies...he LOVES them!

Sour Cream and Cheddar

and 3 Musketeers!

These are our two family Santas who filled the goodie bags for the kids.

Early Birthday Celebration

We celebrated Emma's birthday today with Grandma and Grandpa Erickson. Grandma made Emma two dresses- one for church and one for her baptism day. Her Aunt Lara made her a cool flower cake and her Aunt Heidi gave her a butterfly necklace. She got a set of scriptures from mom and dad with a cute scripture case to go with them. (Thanks so much TyLeen!)

Little Quin was trying to get into the presents. :)

Counting Down: the 9th

My sister gave us this countdown candle.

You burn it down one number a day.
The kids really like watching the flame do it's magic on this one.

This has also been a fun one for me because
I remember doing this when I was younger.
I think we'll have to keep this tradition.

Counting Down: the 1st

We love advents at our house - we love to count the days until Christmas.
Grandma Erickson made us this beautiful pocket advent to use this year.
We borrowed a tradition and put a mini ornament in each pocket for our mini tree. We get to decorate the little tree throughout December.

Falling into Leaves

Grandma and Grandpa Erickson have a huge maple tree in their front yard.

We just had to go over and jump in their leaves. There were plenty.

We had to sit in the tree for a bit.

We had to throw the leaves A LOT!

We had to run and play and have tons of fun!

Lainey loved her first time in the leaves.

The park is Green

They hydroseed-ed the park. Yay!
The great promise of a park across the street is actually coming to pass.

Button Friends

Emma traced Ben and Claire with buttons. They were still as stone on the patio so she could creatively place each button.

Walking to the bus stop

Emma & Mckenna

::Added Bonus::
We get to walk to the bus stop with our friend.

The wheels on the bus

They absolutely love riding the bus. Emma even went so far as to say that it's more fun on the bus when Paul rides. Awesome! I'm so glad that they like the bus; I had my worries.

First Wildcat Day

We're Wildcats Now!
I was a wildcat in Elementary.
Our Second Grade and Kindergarten handwriting

Two kids off to school.
Don't they just look so big?

Emma sitting in her classroom.
I am so impressed with Emma this year.
She wasn't so worried about leaving me.

There wasn't much room on the carpet, but that is where he was told to sit.
He was determined to do what he was told.

We made first day buckets for our teachers. They drew pictures and then we scanned them and printed them onto card stock to make cards. We threw in some box tops, because what teacher doesn't love box tops? An apple, some chocolate, and a homemade apple/inspire necklace to finish it off.

A Baptism

Emma's cousin Katelyn was baptized today. This year Emma will have the chance to go to four baptisms before her own comes around in January. I think it's good preparation for her.

Mind the Gap

Emma pulled out her second top front tooth today. The first came out on the 4th. She's been saying a whole mess of words that sound really funny with her knew gap.

Working on the Park

We're excited that they're finally working on the park that's going in across the street in front of our house. Can you tell?

Friend + Craft = FUN TIMES!

Emma and her friend McKenna made their own journals.

Cross-eyed CLowning Around

Emma mastered the art of crossing her eyes early.