Jenna's baptism

Dear Jenna,

We are so proud of you for the decision you have made to be baptized as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This ordinance is a very important step in your eternal progression. I know that the covenants you are making with your Heavenly Father and the gift of the Holy Ghost which you received will be a strength and blessing to you throughout your life.

Your baptism was the day before Easter and lots of family came to support you from all over the country, including your Grandpa Schertz from Washington, your Great Grandma Green from Texas, and your Grandma King, aunts, uncles and cousins from South Carolina. What an exciting weekend we had!
You got to miss school on Friday so we could hike to Dark Hollow Falls with Grandpa to take some adorable pictures. We hiked a mile and a half with your dress in my bag and changed behind a tree. You were pretty embarrassed to wear your white dress in front of strangers and I dropped you in the dirt while getting your shoes on, but it turned out so cute. I'm glad you suffered through it for me!
The morning of your baptism we joined a group of friends from our ward for brunch and an Easter egg hunt at the park. At 3:30 we had your baptism at the church, and came home to dye eggs with the cousins. Then you got to attend your very first General Women's Broadcast. I'm so excited that we get to do these things together now; I loved having you there with me! We sat next to your friend Mary (who also just turned 8) and you both were "taking notes" in your notebooks and both fell asleep by the end. Just a testament to our full fun-filled day!

The baptism

We let you choose who would participate in your baptism program by making a list of who could attend and a list of the assignments, and you thoughtfully connected the two.
Brother Guengerich presided, Brother Jones conducted, and Sister Charles and Aunt Hilary were the pianist and music chorister. We sang "When I am Baptized" and Uncle Jarom gave the opening prayer. GG Green gave a talk about baptism, then you were baptized by your dad, with Uncles Jarom and Kevin as witnesses. After you changed into your baptism dress, Dad sang "Baptism" a Capella, then he, Jarom, Kevin, and the members of the bishopric layed their hands on your head and gave to you a blessing and the gift of the Holy Ghost. Grandma King gave a talk about the Holy Ghost, then Sister Charles had some closing remarks and a gift from the Primary. You chose to close by singing "Come, Follow Me" and Aunt Kristy gave the closing prayer.

It was an emotional morning for me, but once the program started everything moved so fast that I barely had time to think! I asked you how you felt right after you got out of the water, and with a big smile you said "Good. And cold!". Then later when I asked you what you remember about being baptized, you said "It was really deep."
You received some gifts to help remember this special day: a CTR necklace from Grandma King, a crown necklace from GG Green, a framed picture of Christ getting baptized from the Primary Presidency, an activity book about girls in the scriptures from your friend Ceseley, and a new set of scriptures from Mom and Dad. And Aunt Alissa made your beautiful white dress. When you think back on this day, I hope you remember all the family and friends that love you, and the happy and comforting feeling of the Holy Ghost.
I love you so much and am so proud of the beautiful and kind girl you have become.

*A funny story from the day:
Right before the baptism program began, a couple members of the bishopric took your dad and I aside to talk about what exactly would happen, and they gave us a piece of advice: To take a moment before you enter the water and think about you and this wonderful choice and what it really means.
Unfortunately, you had other plans. You got into the water so fast that we forgot to take off your hair bow. But, even worse, dad hurried in and forgot to take his phone out of his pocket (and despite our best efforts, it was completely dead).
Now we joke that dad baptized you and his phone that day!

Jenna's 8th

Jenna got a two day celebration for her 8th birthday!
On Friday I joined her at school for lunch and recess, then brought brownies to share with her class. Paul picked her up after school and brought her to a movie (zootopia) because he had to work on her actual birthday. Then the boys and I met them at Sweet Frog for dessert.

 Saturday was the big day! Before Paul had to leave for work we got donuts, opened presents, and played some games.

Then Jenna got to invite her best friend, Nicole, to spend a fun day with us. We went to the bookstore for a free cookie and traditional birthday book, spent a few hours at Bounce 'n Play, ate dinner at McD's (when will this stop being her favorite?) and then came home to eat her Pokemon birthday cake.

Can we just take a second and marvel at the fact that I have an EIGHT year old!?!
And what a wonderful one she is!!

Jenna is the absolute best big sister.
Don't get me wrong, they are still siblings, and definitely have plenty of sibling squabbles. But she is generally very kind and maternal to her little brothers. She loves to teach them, help them to choose the right, and is always quick to share (except for her bedroom - that is still a no boys zone).

She is shy around strangers, but once she is comfortable she loves to be the center of attention. She would do the FHE lesson every week if we let her.

It seems like she can never sit still. We have to constantly remind her to sit down while we're eating, and when we watch  a movie she is either walking around (jumping at the exciting parts) or trading off cuddling with Paul and me.

Jenna is a huge pack rat; She can't throw anything away. That's probably pretty common for kids, but she even turns garbage into craft projects.

She finally picked a favorite color, and no surprise, it's pink! But she's like me, and can't pick a favorite anything else. She likes everything... except for food - I feel like she is getting more picky as she gets older.

Every single day I thank my lucky stars for my smart, silly, crafty, friendly, beautiful girl!

February

I taught about the letter O for joy school this month. But I didn't write anything down, so I don't really remember much about it except that we made an octopus craft. And apparently jumped on the bed.

Two weeks later the kid scheduled to host the Valentine's party got sick, so we had that here as well.

For the real Valentine's Day, I found a fun scavenger hunt game online complete with treats and cute activities like candy heart stacking, kisses tic-tack-toe, and q-tip arrow blowing. Jenna especially loved it! Then we enjoyed a yummy steak dinner and lots of cuddles with my favorite valentines.

There are several girls around Jenna's age in our neighborhood who frequently come over to play after school. Lately they have really loved being crafty, and Liam will not be left out! One day they wanted to make paper crowns, so of course he did, too (actually, he made me make it for him).

After last Halloween, I got Iron Man and Captain America costumes when they were 90% off. The boys recently found them, and are obsessed! Gavin especially loves Iron Man, and shoots everyone with his hands while making laser sounds and shouting "Iron man!" So funny, and so cute!

They're a bit too big for right now...

Even super heroes have to do chores.