Today at church Natalie and her two cute friends sang in Sacrament Meeting. They sang the first verse of Silent Night alone and then the rest of the primary kids (ages 3-11) joined in and sang verses 2 and 3.  They did such a GREAT job! They smiled, looked out into the audience and sang out. I was so proud of them.

The other kids did a fantastic job too, I was really impressed with how well they were able to learn all the verses to Silent Night. I love Christmas music, and having hearing children’s voices singing it makes it even better.

This past Saturday Isabella turned 8 years old. In our church turning 8 is a big deal, it is the age in which you are baptized. Poor Isabella was the last one in her Primary (Sunday School) class to turn 8 and be baptized, she had quite the long wait this year. But, her day was extra special because her baptism was on her actual birthday.

 

We were also very lucky to have Grandma and Grandpa here visiting with us for her special day.

The dress Isabella wore to be baptized in is a very special dress. My mother made it when my older sister was baptized for her to wear and then I wore it when I was baptized. When grand-daughters began to be old enough to be baptized my Mom decided to bring it with her for each one to wear so it has now been worn by 6 girls in our family. It will be worn next in Wisconsin on the 23rd of this month.

It was quite an emotional day for me. I can’t believe my baby girl turned 8, she is so grown up and seems to be getting more and more grown up each day. She is a seriously fantastic kid. I am so glad our home was blessed with her. 

  

After the baptism we took my parents to Magic Kingdom for their first Disney World experience. It was a great way to continue the celebration and we stayed to see the light parade and fireworks. The castle is so beautiful at Christmas time.

Last Friday we had Bella’s birthday party. It was more than a week away from her actual birthday but with her Grandparents coming this weekend, her baptism being on her birthday, and the fact that it is December and the further you get into the month the busier people are – we decided to have it early.

It was a pretty simple party. We had a movie night. Pizza, cake, presents and a movie (Judy Moody). What I thought was fun about it was watching Bella with her friends. She can be shy but she’s made some cute little friends and it was fun seeing her be the center of attention – even if its a place she doesn’t like to be often.

She had a great time at her party, and the best part is that since her actual birthday hasn’t arrived yet we still have more celebrating to do!

Also, I wanted to share just a few pictures of her that I did last week. My mom needed a picture for something she was giving to her for her Baptism so I needed a few shots of her in her baptism dress. Before I had her change into that I thought her school outfit was so cute (she picked it out, as she always does. She has good style, most of the time) that I took some of her in that first.

We will do a full birthday session the week before Christmas when they are out of school with outfit changes and a different location(s). I look at these are see how much she is growing up and it makes my heart hurt a little. What happened to my baby? But really I am so proud of her and the young lady she is blossoming into. The day before her birthday she is being recognized at her school’s Character celebration as the student in her classroom who exemplifies “Responsibility.” And its really fitting, she is such a responsible child and helps me so much. She is a great big sister to both her sister and brother. Basically she’s just….awesome! I’m a proud mom.

 

…I swear.

I took a bit of a hiatus in November – in hind sight I realized I took VERY little photos of my own family. Which I hate because I can’t remember what we did all month, but it was busy I do know that.

I know it isn’t the new year yet, but I’m ready to make a New Years Resolution: In 2012 I will blog more. And I had better quantify that. In 2012 I will blog once a week (at least).

There it is. I said it.

On to the picture. We have a family tradition of visiting Santa on the night before Thanksgiving. I never want to cook dinner that night so we go see Santa after Daddy gets off work and then go out to dinner. Last year we discovered Bass Pro shop has free Santa photos. They give you a 4×6 with an option to buy more, but they also don’t care at all if you take your own. I did feel a little rushed by them this year, and it was sort of an uneventful Santa visit (something about having no screaming kids or other odd – kid happenings makes it boring I guess). But, the night before Thanksgiving is typically not very busy for Santa and so you get through with no waits. Bass Pro also has trains, race cars, play guns and a carousel set up for the kids to play with/ride free of charge so it really is a great place to see the big guy.

So what is on their wish list?

Bella: a Kindle (that is all she told Santa)

Natalie: A Scooter, a Lalaloopsy Doll, and…she couldn’t remember anything else when she talked to Santa.

Ethan: Chuggington Toys – He talks about this everyday and even has assigned characters to each of us so we know who we have to be when we play with him once Santa comes. (IF he’s a good boy!)

And as far as ‘Santa’ goes – he’s already filled the order for them this year…as in I’m done shopping. We’ll just hope the kids remain on the good list so I don’t have to stand in any return lines. 🙂