Baptism Day

As we prepared for Bryson's baptism, I came to the realization that I would soon only have one more child left to be baptized. It was a strange feeling. I know my kids are all growing up, but this made it so much more real. Hitting these big milestones are bittersweet... but definitely more SWEET than BITTER! Bryson is such a good boy, and was definitely ready to be baptized. He did admit to being a little bit nervous, however. I can't blame him. I remember being terrified that my toe would stick out of the water and that I'd have to be baptized all over again. We reassured Bryson that he was more than ready, and that Dad would make sure he went all the way under the water.

The day came quickly. He was all ready to go, wearing his brand new suit. We had the baptism on a Sunday evening, so that his Grandma Stafford could be there. Another special blessing was having his cousin, Sage baptized with him. Their birthdays are only 6 days apart, and we thought it would be perfect to do their baptisms together... and it was.

My dad gave the talk on Baptism. He always gets a little nervous, but he did an amazing job. He brought Bryson and Sage right up, front and center, so he could focus on them, and it was awesome. Then we went in for their baptisms. They both did great! I love watching baptisms. The Spirit is always so strong, and it touches my heart. After they were all dried off, Sage's Grandpa Young gave the talk on the Holy Ghost. We have a special relationship with the Youngs. They are in our ward, and have been like an extra set of Grandparents to our kids. That made it even better. My favorite part of a Baptism service, is the confirmation. Hearing the words of the blessings, and feeling that special Spirit as it becomes a part of the newly baptized person's life, is unlike anything else. The whole service was very sweet and spiritual.

Daddy and Bryson all decked out in their sweet Baptism Jump-suits.

Me and my boy. I'm so proud of him. He is such a great kid!

Our little family. Only one more baptism to go!!

We were so glad to have so many "Staffords" able to come! When our girls were baptized, we didn't get to have any of them here, since they were all in Virginia. Now there are three sisters out here in Utah, and Jared's mom was able to come out! So great!!

The cute cousins, all ready for their big day. They have a cute little bond. They have a great time when they hang out together.

And of course, both of them with Grandma Cheryl and PapaBob! It was probably extra nice for them to be able to go to both Grandkids' baptisms at the same time! :)

Bryson with all his Grandparents. Grandma Cheryl and PapaBob Grace, and Grandma Stafford. It's times like these that we sure do miss Jared's Dad, but we know he was there watching. We were just so happy that his Mom could be here!

After the baptism, we went to the Youngs for treats/snacks. There were all kinds of yummy things to eat, and it was fun to just sit and visit with everyone after such a great evening. I'm so proud of Bryson for choosing to be baptized. I know he has a strong testimony of the Savior, and I know that he understands that he followed the Savior's example by being baptized.

I have to add these fun pictures. We took Sage and Bryson out for a photo shoot in their Sunday best. We made cute baptism announcements, and had some of the pictures sitting on a table at the baptism, and at the Youngs when we went for treats. They turned out SO CUTE!!

If you want to see some of them a little better go HERE for some of Bryson's... and HERE for some of Sage's.

The Countdown...

The two weeks leading up to Spring Break were some of the craziest, busiest, most intensely insane weeks we've ever experienced here at the Stafford house, and that's saying a lot, because we have crazy weeks quite often! Trust me, we were literally COUNTING DOWN to Spring Break!!

Not only have we had soccer practices and soccer games, but we've had choir concerts, ballroom concerts, and the school play, as well as preparation for a baptism, and several volunteer hours logged at the school. Not to mention all the church stuff... and by the end of it all, I had to laugh when Jared said "Hey. It was good to see you today!" LOL. Pretty much sums up the fact that we felt like all we were doing was running around, passing each other all along the way. Phew! By the time it was all said and done, we pretty much just collapsed in exhaustion. I must say, however, that as busy as it was, it was FUN! I love seeing my kids perform. It doesn't matter if it's sports, music, dancing, whatever. And watching them excel in something that they love just melts my heart (and makes my eyes water a little bit. They tease me about that!)

I wish I had pictures of the choir concert. I love going to Eryn's concerts. Her choir teacher is awesome, and they sing songs that I would never think a 7th grade choir could pull off. I did take the camera to the other events, however.

Ballroom: THE SWING (my favorite dances are the fast ones: the Swing, the Lindy, those types. They are the ones I'd want to do if I were a dancer!)

And THE SAMBA: Eryn loved this one, and especially loved the costumes they got to wear for it!

The school musical this year was Once Upon a Mattress (which I had never even heard of before they started working on it... it turned out to be quite cute). It's the story of the Princess and the Pea.

Eryn didn't get a main part this year, but she still had fun being one of the "Ladies." She was on stage most of the play, dancing, singing, and making us proud. ;) Seriously, I am the biggest baby when I watch her perform. I always get all teary-eyed, and get laughed at by my hubby and kids. LOL!

We capped off the countdown to Spring Break with Bryson's Baptism. I'll save that for it's own post, since it was such a big and special day ;) Then we had a wonderfully relaxing Spring Break full of sleeping in, playing with cousins, and taking a fun trip up to the Children's Museum... I'll post about that later too. It was kinda sad this morning to send kids back to school (however, one stayed home sick, and one TRIED to stay home sick... sorry Hayds, you don't get to be sick just because B is!)

Official 8-yr-old Portraits

Wow! It took me a lot longer to get back here and post some pictures than I had planned. We had two weeks of intense craziness at our house, including a ballroom Spring Concert, a Spring Choir concert, the school play, tons of soccer, you get the picture. But I just had to come back and post B's official 8-yr-old portraits. I thought it would be fun to go out behind our church building where there is a little basketball court, since he loves basketball, and get some pictures of him doing things he loves: playing basketball, and skateboarding. He had a fun time, even with me making him stop every now and again to pose, and he didn't want to leave when it was time to go! We are planning on spending a lot of time there this summer in the mornings. There is a track around the baseball field, so I can walk, Kaitlyn can practice her soccer on the grassy area, Bryson can skateboard and practice basketball, Hayden can play in the sand under the volleyball net, and Eryn can do whatever she wants! That's the plan... we'll see how it really goes! :)

Anyway, here is my awesome B-man:

I'm so glad this little man came to our family 8 years ago. I can not imagine a world without him in it. He is such a sweet and thoughtful boy. He worries about how others feel, and wants everyone to be happy. He always tries to make good choices, and does very well in school. He makes friends wherever he goes, and is just a JOY! LOVE YOU BUDDY!!

Birthday Weekend

Since B's birthday was going to be on a Monday, we decided to have a little birthday party with his friends on Saturday instead. We had the invitations handed out before we realized what kind of day that particular Saturday was going to turn out to be. Between soccer practices, soccer games, ballroom dress rehearsals, YM and Scout stuff, and all kinds of craziness, our day quickly became packed!! Turns out that I would be all alone doing this party with a whole bunch of 7- and 8-yr-old boys. We probably invited too many, but we also knew this would be the last big party. (I'm hoping to convince him to just pick an activity and invite one or two friends from here on out.) Bryson likes basketball, so what better theme for a party in March, than a "March Madness" party!!

Here was his fun invitation! B's head on Jimmer's body! LOL.

Of course the ones we handed out also had the information for the date/time/etc.

I had fun decorating, and made these little signs and banners that hung in the kitchen. I couldn't find my hole punch, so I figured tape would do. Too bad the "invisible" tape I got wasn't very invisible. LOL!

At the party, we played some basketball type games: A dribbling relay, Pin the Ball on the Hoop, and a ball toss type game. I hardly took any pictures, because I had to run the entire show... but it was fun. To pick what order the boys would give their presents, we played HOT POTATO with a basketball. Whoever it ended on would give their gift. Bryson loved all the nice gifts his friends gave him.

That night Bryson chose Pizza for dinner. YAY! Made our crazy day just a tiny bit easier, because as soon as we were done eating, Eryn and I were out the door to go to the Young Women General Broadcast. It was awesome, but I was so exhausted by the time I was able to sit down, that I kinda dozed off a couple of times. Oops!!

Monday came quickly, and since it was his REAL day, he got to eat breakfast in bed:

He had a fun day at school, then later that evening we had aunts, uncles, cousins and Papa and Grandma over for Cake and Ice Cream. Just before they all came, B got a birthday call from his cousin Jacob who lives in Pennsylvania. It was hilarious listening to their conversation.

Bryson was so excited when one of his gifts turned out to be a Jimmer Fredette jersey!!

Anyone who knows me, knows that I am not a cake decorator. We joke that I got my cake decorating skills from my Grandma. Don't get me wrong, she was a wonderful cook, and made DELICIOUS cakes and desserts, she just wasn't very good at DECORATING them. Now on the other hand, my mom always made some sweetly decorated cakes. I have a couple of sisters who got that gene. It passed me by. However, I was pretty proud of these ones... after I pieced them back together when they fell apart coming out of the pan. LOL!!! All that mattered was what they tasted like, anyway, and B thought they were fantastic!!!

I still can't believe that my sweet little boy is EIGHT!!! Those 8 years flew by. This coming weekend he will be getting baptized, and hopefully we'll have some 8-yr-old portraits really soon.