June 6, 2009 ~ Max's Baptism

Max was baptized on June 6th and it was such a special day for our family, we adore Max and were very happy to see him choose to be baptized. I was a little concerned at first because Max is sort of a shy boy and doesn't like to be the center of attention in public situations so I wasn't sure how today would go over for him. Leading up to the baptism he was very excited and asking, "how many more days until my baptism?", and was super excited to get dressed up in his suit which made me hopeful that it would go over very well. That morning Max was still very excited but a little nervous. Max and Blake went over to the church a little earlier than the rest of us so that they could get ready and when I got there Max wouldn't let me take his picture in his baptism clothes, what a stinker! This worried me that he wouldn't go up on the stand with me (our stake has the mom's go up and introduce their child to everyone in the chapel) when it was my turn to introduce Max and tell all about why he is special to our family and why he loves the Savior. Max must have been comforted by the Spirit that day because he came into the chapel and was no longer nervous, he didn't even hesistate whether to go up on the stand with me and there was even another boy who went before him that refused to go up with his mom. If the only thing that went wrong with the day is that I didn't get any pre-baptism pictures, I'll take it. I am so thankful for the Spirit and for the guidance and comfort it brings to our lives and to our loved ones. I am also so thankful for Max being a part of our family. We love and adore him so much, he brings such a sweet spirit into our home. He has a smile that melts my heart. He is always so kind to others and will often put any of our needs ahead of his own. He remembers things about us like our birthdays and what our favorite things are. I am always impressed with how well he gets along with Gage and how sweet and kind he is with Eliza. Max is an honest person and I even had his teacher tell me how she can always count on Max to give her an honest recollection of events even if the person at fault is a friend. Max is an amazing brother and son and I am so thankful for the opportunity to be this sweet boy's mom. We love you Max!!!

Other things that I said when introducing Max to the audience were:

His favorite primary song ~ Scripture Power and I Am a Child of God
Why he loves the Savior ~ because he made it possible for us to be a family forever and he set a good example for us to follow.

Max being too shy for pictures...
Eliza's cute hair...
I can't remember where she got this cookie. I probably gave it to her and was so preoccupied with getting to the church that I don't even remember.
Max finally allowing some picture taking, yeah! Here he is with Brother Ogden, the first counselor in the Bishopric.
Right after Max's Confirmation...

Eliza with my friend Heather's daughter, Summer.



After the baptism we went to the kid's school and played kickball. It was actually a ton of fun. Max loves playing sports so it was a perfect end to the day for him.

My Little Photographers

Does anyone else's kids LOVE to take pictures as much as mine do??? All three of them love to take pictures and as soon as I pull out the camera they are almost immediately asking to take pictures (thank goodness for digital cameras!), especially when we are on a vacation somewhere. At Disney World they were asking for the camera constantly. I finally had to tell them no more because my battery was getting low and I wouldn't be able to take any pictures of them. Max got a camera for Christmas and that has been great. He loves to take videos and pictures and then put them into a little scrapbook of his own. He is such an artistic child. Well anyways, Eliza got a hold of my camera one day without my knowledge and took a ton of pictures! It is fun to see what she took pictures of. It gives a small glimpse into what she finds interesting or some of her favorite things in her life. Here is some of her beautiful photography....

Field Day

Today was field day at the kids school. I went in the morning and took pictures of Max and then went back in the afternoon and took pictures of Gage. Somehow the pictures of Max got lost or deleted and I can't find them anywhere! I'm bummed about it too because I had some really cute pictures of Max going down the "waterslide". Max said his favorite parts of the day were the waterslide and the popsicles. Gage's favorite part of the day was also the waterslide. The school does a pretty good job of putting this together. There are usually around 8 or 10 activities and the boys always look forward to it.








Okay so I finally found the pictures of Max at field day. Here they are....




I love these two pictures! Max sharing his popsicle with his little sister and then them looking at each other and smiling. So precious! I live for moments like these, they melt my heart.

Pack Meeting

During the May pack meeting Max received his first cub scouts award ~ his bobcat. Way to go Max! He is sooo excited about scouts. I hate that he is getting into it right before they take their summer break, but at least he has day camp to look forward to. In the pics below he is pinning the bobcat pin on me and playing a couple of different games with a balloon. Max always likes to call it balloon ball.


Here Gage and I am trying to take a self portrait of ourselves and Max and Jordan jump in behind to make funny faces in our picture. Those rascals! It was actually really funny and we laughed about it, but then we were also a little disruptive ~ OOPS! Thanks for the laugh Max and Jordan!

Gage's Fieldtrip

The day after Max's fieldtrip I went on one with Gage's class. We went to This Is The Place State Park and then on a hike. It was quite fun, but I was pretty tired. I worked the night before Max's fieldtrip and the night before Gage's as well. No matter though, like I always say, it was definitely worth going on them. Plus I had never been to either place that we went on Gage's fieldtrip.

Gage and his friend Taylor
Pushing handcarts.
Learning the do-si-do or something like that. It was really funny to see the boys and girls embarrassed to have to dance with each other. They were laughing so hard. The boys definitely would of rather been partnered up with another boy. I wonder how much longer that will last, probably not much!