And Halloween

When my kids were little, I loved to create and sew their costumes for Halloween. Then I had a fourth child and something had to give. I guess (through default) I gave up homemade Halloween costumes. I also gave up on laundry, but that's a different story for a different time.

Usually, the children wear hand-me-downs from cousins or whatever they can come up with on their own. But this year was so exciting! Grandma Suzie was visiting from Hawai'i. We were walking through a store looking for winter coats for the boys and we saw a beautiful Cinderella dress--just in Beth's size. Well, who can pass that up? Not Grandma! Before we knew it, she had bought the kids their dream costumes! They've played in them for the last month, so the costumes are already a bit worn. But really, what is the point of preserving a costume for one night? Dress-ups are fun.

Ammon's baptism

Ammon got baptized on Saturday. This is a major milestone. Before I had children, there are certain things I looked forward to doing. One was teaching a child how to pray. Teaching people to pray was one of my favorite things to do while I was serving a mission. I imagined kneeling with a little one and teaching them the reasons to pray and some ways to pray. Then I had Ammon. Because Chris and I pray several times everyday, Ammon learned to pray by example. I never taught him. He says very personal, heartfelt prayers. This is the way a lot parenting is (in my opinion). While there is plenty we need to teach, there is more the children just naturally learn.

Ammon's baptism was a natural step. He has been preparing for it for 8 years. We didn't do anything special during the last few weeks to prepare him. I meant to do something special, but November and December were very busy. We kept doing the things we've always done. And he was very prepared. He understands so much about gospel doctrine and church organization and his personal relationship with his Heavenly Father and Jesus. He is an amazing child. It was a beautiful thing to see him in white making covenants because he wanted to be baptized. I love Ammon. He is a delightful boy. He makes parenting fun and easy and rewarding. During Sacrament Meeting, the counselor who was conducting asked Ammon to stand. He announced that Ammon had been baptized and confirmed. He asked Ammon how he felt. From the middle of the congregation, cute Ammon gave a big smile and a thumbs-up.