Eliza's Baptism

Eliza's 8th birthday was an extra big deal because she had finally reached the age of accountability, meaning that she is now mature enough to be accountable for her decisions and to choose to be baptized.  Her baptism was on Saturday, and thus she became a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, following Jesus Christ's example and joining His Church.  She had been looking forward to this for a long time and was thrilled to participate in this ordinance.

(Side note: Eliza's dress is one that her Grammy picked up in Hawaii shortly before Cat's baptism.  And we were lucky enough that the lei Suz had brought her from her recent trip to Hawaii lasted long enough to add an extra special accessory on Eliza's special day.)

The program was lovely.  Eliza requested "the Kit Kat talk," (see here) which Cat delivered very well.  Mema spoke about the Holy Ghost, talking about His roles and experiences various family members have had with the Holy Ghost, which was very special.

Eliza requested that Papa perform her baptism.
She was then confirmed by Ben.

Eliza also wanted to sing as part of the program, so we decided the kids would sing
"I Am a Child of God" while Cat accompanied them on piano.  I took this picture
when they were rehearsing, and in the end, Whit decided not to  go up front to sing.
Also, Luke managed to include the word "pizza" during the performance.

So many people came to support Eliza.  There were lots of family members from near and far, neighbors and friends from our ward, as well as a teacher and a friend and mother from Eliza's class.  She is certainly loved!

I asked everyone in attendance to assemble for a group picture if they wanted cookies.
I saw a couple of people sneak out.  I guess they don't like cookies.

Eliza is sweet, smart, and confident.  She loves to help people and show she cares.  She already recognizes the influence of the Holy Ghost and knows a lot about the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  She'll be a great member of the LDS Church and I'm excited to watch her continue this journey.

Eliza's 8th Birthday

Eliza is 8!  She had a really great birthday with lots of family and friends and fun and food.  (The four best Fs.)  We started off with a big yummy breakfast of sourdough waffles with buttermilk syrup, whipped cream and strawberries, sausage and eggs, and fruit.  Then Eliza opened her birthday gifts, which she loved.  She was thrilled with everything.  Turtles were definitely a theme!  Other highlights were a new art kit (just like she wanted!) and sketch pad, new colorful prop glasses to wear, a science kit, and her own set of scriptures and scripture marking pencils.

Then we drove to a trampoline park in Provo that also has a ninja warrior course.  It was so fun!  Half of the adults joined in the trampoline-ing and ninja-warrior-ing, and the other half enjoyed the spectacle and photographed.

Here, Ben is demonstrating what I was absolutely unable to do. 

And here, the other Ben is clearly photobombing what is supposed to be a picture
of me attempting to maneuver the pole-thing obstacle.

Ninja Warriors!

Most Ninja Warriors climb out of the foam pit at the end of the course, right?

Eliza just loved the trampolines.  But she went on the trapeze  few times too.

Suz made some great videos of the various shenanigans at the trampoline park, some of which are pretty funny fails, and I made some videos too, but I can't compile or edit the videos and I don't want to upload a ton of short videos, so I'll just share this one of Cat and Ben running up the Warped Wall.  (For the record, Ben got to the top on a later attempt.)

The whole group. 

We went home for lunch and had time to change and get things ready for Eliza's baptism (more on that in my next post).  Then we just hung out at home, playing games and enjoying Eliza's birthday gifts, watching Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella with Lesley Ann Warren, and eating pizza.

And, finally, we punctuated the day with cupcake-brownies (per Eliza's request) and ice cream.

 It was a great day!  We love Eliza and loved celebrating with her!

Spotlight on Eliza

Here are a few more things Eliza's been doing lately.  It so happens that she has a special event coming up this weekend so it works out well to give her some extra recognition.

My favorite thing was last week when Jack was struggling to figure out a Harry Potter theme on the piano, he was getting very frustrated and wanted to give up but Eliza was able to calmly help him get the right note so that he could finish his practice.

On Crazy Sock Day, Eliza thought her hair needed a crazy sock too.

Eliza made cards for each of her siblings and a cute little doo-dad for Whit
for Valentine's Day.

She also made me a picture frame and Ben a little car-thing.

Eliza has two 2nd-grade-boyfriends.  The first, A, she has been attached to for a
couple of years already.  They go way back.  The second, T, is a much more recent
addition to the party.  He asked her to be his Valentine a week or two before V-Day
and Eliza's friend said he should write her a note with three things he likes about her.
I think he did a pretty good job.

A, the original boy in Eliza's life, waited until Valentine's Day
to ask her to be his Valentine, but what he lacked in forethought
he made up for in spoils.  He gave her a cute little Princess box
of chocolates and a chocolate rose.  (Last year he gave her a real flower.)

Do you see the chocolate rose in the above picture?

I stayed home from Choir on Sunday because Luke had been sick in the wee
hours of the morning.  Eliza loved having time together to play games before
church, and we had fun trying to build a card house together too.

When I was working on homework with Whit and Jack the other day, Eliza helped occupy
Luke by working on an alphabet maze with him.

Eliza was really excited about the snow fort she made!

She also came up with a new recipe for snow cream, using hot chocolate mix.
I dubbed it Frozen Hot Chocolate, after the Dairy Queen treat.  It's really good.

When Eliza realized before school the other morning that she hadn't quite finished her homework
the night before, she immediately set about to complete every bit of cursive practice on her worksheet.

She was excited to participate in a "Show What You Know" with her class, reciting the poem

What I Like About Me by Allia Zobel-Nolan.  Children stood up at various times, whenever the text

described one of their physical characteristics.  She's standing here for the line "Mom says my glasses look

distinguished.  If I knew what it meant, I'd get an A in English."  Forget that Eliza only wears glasses

as an accessory.  I love it.   She had the opportunity to stand up several other times as well, including

when she proudly represented the freckled population.

Back to Four

Well, after what felt like an extended play date, Whit has gone back home.  There was a lot of playing and laughing and running around while he was here and the kids had a blast together.  I was a little surprised, but so thankful, that we didn't have any major meltdowns from any of the kids during Whit's stay.  It really was about as smooth as possible.  

We turned our Harry Potter closet into a room for Whit.
He had the idea of putting his bed in the Thomas tent
and he really wanted the play kitchen in there too.

Whit got out the art supplies every chance he got.
This is a little note he made for his mom and dad.
I'll give it to them as soon as I find it.

Day One:

 Day Ten:

Fun surprises from Ben and Suz's trip!  Real flower leis, a palm frond crown and fish for
Jack and Luke, pineapple lollipops, lava rocks, and a small turtle and Hula dancer pin for Eliza
and Cat.  Oh, and Whit's favorite: Petey the Happy Pineapple, who is wearing an octopus.
(Not pictured: cacao beans, Hawaiian honey, delicious cookies, and a cool necklace for me.)

Thanks for sharing Whit with us during your trip, Ben and Suz!

And thank you for the gifts!