Jake's Baptism Day

Turning 8 is pretty special. This past week has been all about Jake. He had a party, started cub scouts, and to end the week family came into town to participate in Jake's baptism. This was by far the best part of the week for me. To watch your little boy go from playing DSi games to picking up his scriptures and by himself read the chapters the Bishop wanted him to is such a neat experience.

Jake was sharing his special day with his friend Grace. Our families took turns saying prayers, giving talks, and performing the ordinances of baptism and confirmation. I asked Jake how he felt after his baptism and he said, "I felt really good." I hope that he will always remember the spirit that was present. These are two very special kids. We are so proud of you Jake.

Some family and friends




Both Sets of Grandparents and Great Grandma Brown

Pinewood Derby

Our church has always been a supporter of the scouting program. For boys ages 8 and up, the program is available at little to no cost for the families. Jake's 8th birthday just happened to fall the day before our scouts annual pinewood derby and so he was invited to participate. Chad told Jake a story about how his brother made a pencil car when he was a cub scout and won the pinewood derby. Jake thought that sounded cool and so he wanted to make a pencil car too.

Well, pinewood derbys have come a long way and several dads in our area go to great lengths to help their children create a winning car. Having said that, Jake still ended up placing second in the wolf pack and forth overall. His cute little blue pencil car actually won every heat it competed in, but according to the electronic timer and some complex mathematical equation he missed getting first by a couple hundredths of a second. Way to go Jake, pencil cars rule!

Jake's Pokemon Party

Last year Jake didn't have a birthday party and so this year he decided to make up for it. Some time last November Jake approached me with plans for a Pokemon party. After weeks of preparation here is what we came up with.

Jake wanted a black & white themed Pokemon party. I used Jake's Pokemon guide book to come up with games we could play that would incorporate the different Pokemon's abilities. Winners received a Pokemon badge for that event. For those of you who might like ideas for your next Pokemon party, I will share what we decided to do.

Seismitoad’s Water Battle:

All teams will throw water balloons at each other. If you get wet from a water balloon either being thrown at you or exploding on you, then you are out. Last person left who is dry WINS!

Patrat’s Gathering Battle:

As a team you will run around and find all of the pecans that you can. When all pecans are collected the team with the most pecans wins. *Here’s the catch: You can only pick up one pecan at a time. Once you find one, you have to run to your team’s bowl and deposit it before finding another one.

Simipour’s Water Transfer Battle:

Each team will choose one person to battle. They will have 3 minutes to transfer the water from one cup to the other cup using a straw that will be given to them. The team with the most water transferred will win this battle.

Beheeyem’s Psychic Battle:

There will be one ball under a cup that will be moved around several times. Use your psychic abilities to find the ball by selecting the cup it is under. Each team will choose a representative. They will play this game 4 times. The team who gets the most correct wins.

Drilbur’s Digging Battle:

Each team will select one member to dig through a pile of sand collecting crystals. The team with the most crystals at the end of 3 minutes wins this challenge.

Ferroseed’s Destruction Battle:

Each team will have 10 balloons. The first team to pop all 10 balloons using only their bodies will win this battle. You can sit on, step on, bite, etc your balloon. You cannot use the side of the house, the grass or any other object to pop the balloon.

Timbur’s Strength Test:

Two teams will choose one person to face off against the other team. Each team will push against a board trying to move their opponent across the line behind them. The winners from each round will go against each other. The strongest team wins.

After completing all the games/battles, we had a soda burping contest (I forget which Pokemon that was attributed to), hit down a Pikachu pinata, ate our Petiny cake, and opened presents. What a great day. Happy Birthday Buddy.

January Outings to the Park

Chad put this hat and jacket on Carlee before strolling her to the park. The hat is still too big on her, but she looked so cute that I had to snap some photos when we came home. By the time we got back home she was hungry and so after a few pictures we were done.

Jake & Grace's Baptism

In two weeks my cute little Jake is going to be baptized. The girls each had their own special baptismal service and so we had planned to do the same with Jake. We had even considered going to CA so that he could be baptized with his cousin Blaine; but Chad's schedule being what it is didn't leave us with a lot of options. So, we decided to plan Jake's baptism for the end of January here in Arizona.

Some good friends of ours also have a little girl who is turning 8 this week. Grace's dad is finishing up a pediatric dental program and like Chad has a crazy schedule working and job hunting. After talking to the kids, we decided to have their baptismal services together and so today I took some pictures of the two of them for their program. I had to post them because I thought they were so cute. At 8 girls and boys still have cooties, but these two were good sports about posing for pictures. I can't wait for the big day.

Cindy's Crochet Blog

My sister Cindy is starting her own online business selling the cutest crocheted items. She makes hats, booties, hair clips, headbands, etc. in your choice of color and style. These are what my kids asked her to make them for Christmas. Check out her blog. It just went public.

I am already putting in an order for a new "Carlee" and "Jenna" hat for Carlee. Jake wants the Angry Bird hat for his birthday, and I was just told that Carlee is getting a pair of booties for her baby blessing. I'm so excited. Cindy you are amazing.

Here's the blog address: www.crochetqt.blogspot.com

Or you can click on the title of this post and it will take you there.

Another Joey/Carlee Moment

These two have a really cute relationship. I hope it continues as they get older.

Fishing

Jake got some new fishing gear for Christmas and so Chad decided to take Jake fishing at the lake. In less then 30 minutes Jake caught (on his own) a trout that was 12 inches long. He was soooooooo proud of himself. They took the fish home, cleaned it and barbequed it.

Unfortunately, Jake didn't think this trout tasted as good as the one he caught camping. Chad isn't willing to take Jake fishing if he doesn't eat what he catches and so fishing may become a boy scouting/ camping activity in the future.