Isaac's baptism day

We finished off our Thanksgiving weekend with a very special day for Isaac. Today was Isaac's baptism day and he got be baptized by his dad.

I WANT TO BE BAPTIZED

I want to be baptized in clothes pure and white,

To follow the Savior, to do what is right.

I'll covenant with Him to always be true,

for this is the thing that He wants me to do.

I want to be baptized when I have turned eight.

To enter Christ's kingdom through baptism's gate.

I'll take His name gladly, be known as His child,

And strive to be worthy, more Christ like and mild.

I want to be baptized by God's priesthood pow'r,

Be given His spirit, be cleansed as by fire.

The Spirit will guide me if I will obey

And help me return to my Father one day.

This was the primary song that Isaac picked to have sung at his baptism. It really was a perfect song and explains so well what is means to be baptized, why and when we are baptized and how it helps us return to our Heavenly Father.

Here is Rian and Isaac in their special white baptism clothes. Stephanie and McKay's family came to spend Thanksgiving with us so some of Isaac's cousins were able to be here. Since we were able to have Isaac's baptism over thanksgiving weekend, there was a lot of family that was in town that were able to share this special day with us.

There was one other boy (Kevin Donovan) from our ward that shared the baptism day with Isaac. Each family was able to pick one person to give a talk and our family was given the talk on the Holy Ghost. We let Isaac pick who he wanted to give the talk and he ended up picking me. I tried to get him to ask his Grandma, but when he really wanted me to do it, how could I say no? I don't like speaking in front of people so I was a little nervous, but since I was Isaac and Kevin's primary teacher it was actually a nice experience to be able to do it.

Here is Isaac with his Grandma and Grandpa Allred.

When we got home we gave Isaac his very own set of scriptures. He was so excited to get them and I hope he will use them often. This was a great end to a very special day.

Ian turns 5!

Today Ian officially turned 5. Happy Birthday Ian!! We made the traditional pancakes again for breakfast. After dinner, there were a few more presents that came for both of the boys to open. (When your kids have birthdays only 3 days apart sometimes you have to combine things.)

They each got some clothes and the set of Harry Potter movies from Grandma Perry.

Party Time

In our family, we let our kids have their first birthday party with friends when they turn 5. This year was Ian's turn. We decided to do a Super-hero dress up party. The girl's of course were able to wear princess dress-ups instead of super-hero costumes. Ian's friends included: (from left to right) Aaron, Landon, (Ian), Carter, Grace, Scott, Monet, and Maren. Even cousin Alice happened to come with her own dress-up clothes. We started out with a craft inside - decorating their own placemat for later. Played games inside and outside. Then we came in for some super-hero cupcakes and ice cream. And we finished off with Ian opening up his presents. I think his smile says he was having a good time and I think the other kids were, too.

Isaac is 8!

Yes, my little boy is now a big eight-year-old! I can't believe it was that long ago when he surprised us by coming into this world 11 weeks early. Now, look at how much he has grown up. Sometimes, I think he is growing up too fast and wish my kids could all stay little forever. We started out our morning with #8 pancakes for breakfast. We've started making this a tradition on the kids' birthdays. Then we had our own family party when Rian got home from work. Of course, Isaac wanted a Harry Potter birthday so this is what I came up with for his cake. Harry Potter figures are hard to find, by the way. I could only find a couple of figures. Happy Birthday Isaac!

Costume Party

One of our neighbors (and good friends - the Heaps) had a Harry Potter costume party tonight to celebrate two of their kids birthdays. Isaac and Ian have been so excited about this party ever since we got our invitation a couple of weeks ago. Our family got hooked on the Harry Potter movies this last summer and have started reading the books, too. Isaac and Ian already wanted to be Harry Potter and Ronald Weasley for Halloween so it was nice that this party coordinated with their Halloween costumes. (All I had to do was get their costumes ready 2 weeks early - which worked out great for me.) Yes, I actually broke out the sewing maching and made the boys' wizard robes myself. Can you tell which one is Harry and which one is Ron? Isabelle made a cute little black cat and Rian and I got in on the fun, too. (Rian is suppossed to be Professor Snape - he just needed a little longer hair) Our friends did such a great job with the party and everyone had great costumes. There was even chocolate frogs and butterbeer and dining in the Great Hall. I just wish I had my camera with me to get pictures of it all. Thank you Mitch and Melissa for a great time!

Happy Birthday Isabelle!

My little girl turned 1 today! She already looks so big to me. Happy 1st birthday day Isabelle!

Birthday Celebrations

This evening we went to Rian's parent's house to celebrate two birthday:

Isabelle turns 1 tomorrow and

Rian's dad (Grandpa) turns the big 60 on Thursday.

Isabelle wasn't quite sure what to do with her pretty presents, but she having fun playing on them.

Isaac's Spring Concert

Isaac had his spring choir concert tonight with his local children's choir. Here he is warming up before the concert started. Isaac was much more comfortable being on stage in front of everyone this time around. He sang every song this time, too.

Isaac even volunteered for a solo part this time. It was just one line of one of the songs, but he remembered it, didn't get shy, and did a great job!

Our whole family enjoyed the concert. Rian's parents came over to see the performance, too. Rian and I were so proud of Isaac for getting up there and doing a great job!

Card Exchange

When Rian and I lived in Iowa, I made a lot of friends who also loved to scrapbook and make cards. 12 of us started a group where we each make 12 cards and then we exchange them with everyone else in the group. We each end up with 12 different, beautiful handmade cards. It's been three and a half years since we started our group and now, only three members still live in Iowa while the rest of us are spread out all over the country. We still exchange cards about every other month and I LOVE getting my package of beautiful cards in the mail.

This is the card I made for our February exchange this year. Our theme this time was birthdays.

These are some of the beautiful cards I got in return. (You can click on the pictures to see them better.)

Unfortunately, my camera doesn't quite do them all justice. Maybe I should have Becky take pictures of them for me. :) I love our card exchange and all of my wonderful friends who are apart of it. I am always amazed at what everyone creates!

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Another thing we do with our card exchange is that we send a letter with our cards to help us keep in touch. In our letters we answer a few questions that are chosen by whoever is hosting the exchange that month. I haven't been able to send my letters because I don't have a printer. So, instead of emailing them this time, I thought I would post my answers here for all of your reading pleasure. (I'm sure all of you are just dying to know what my anwers would be, too.)

1. What is the most romantic thing that you have ever done for your spouse or your spouse has done for you? The most recent thing that comes to mind was when Rian surprised me and took me out on a date this last January. I was told that Rian had an open house to go to after work one Friday for one of his bosses who was retiring. I met Rian at his parent's house after work so they could watch the kids while we went to his 'office party'. To my surprise, Rian instead took me out to dinner and a movie. I think that was our first real date in months. The funny part was that I was actually a little annoyed that Rian only gave a couple days notice about this 'office party'. The reason for his short notice was that he is not good at keeping secrets from me and I found out that he did have this date planned for a couple of weeks.
2. What is your favorite romantic comedy? Some of my favorites are: Just Like Heaven, 13 Going on 30, The Prince and Me and How to Lose a Guy In 10 Days.
3. What book are you loving right now? I just finished reading Because of Winn Dixie with Isaac for school and I just started reading Twilight, again.

Party faces

One of Isaac'a really good friends from school invited him to her birthday party today. He was looking forward to it all week. When I came to pick Isaac up from the party, all of the kids had their faces painted. They were all so cute! However, Ian was feeling a little left out. The face painter was still there and was nice enough to let Ian come in and get his face painted, too. Ian, of course, wanted his done just like Isaac.

11 Months Old

Not only is it Rian's birthday, but Isabelle also turned 11 months old today. Only a month to go until her first birthday. How can that be? The time has just flown by. My BABY girl is becoming such a BIG girl. She's learning to walk, tries to do whatever her big brothers are doing, and likes to 'talk'. She has gotten pretty good at squealing to let us know when we have something that she wants.

Isabelle is so much fun to have around and I just love watching her everyday. She always brings a smile to our face.