Koston's baptism

What a good day it was! Kosty had been gearing up for his baptism and started being extra sweet & mature the weeks that led up to his big day. That's a cool change to see happen. 8 is a special age and I get to see a lot of 8 year olds prepare for baptism, its always confirmed to me that eight is the age for a clear reason. Just enough innocence but enough knowledge to make the choice. I think 8 year olds are my very favorite. But I'm pretty sure I say that about every age, so....

In true Kosty fashion, he scoffed at the idea and the pleading for him to wear a suit for his pictures. Then the day before the baptism he suddenly had to have a suit. I was a little more than thrilled to see him in it. The baptism and confirmation went great, and its a special day as a parent to watch as your child makes that first big step following our Savior. 

As soon as we got home for the luncheon, he ripped off his suit, so its just him in his pjs' for those pictures. We had chili and cornbread and "8" sugar cookies again. Not an empty food table like the one in the picture ;) We had our family over for hours, and Kosty enjoyed it so much. I asked him to write his feelings about his day so he would have a memory when he forgot someday. He wrote on a notecard, "Heavy. Then light." 

A few days after his baptism he seemed really angry and quick tempered, moody, and irrational. I'm so thankful for the prompting I had one night to scoop him up in his angry "pretend sleep" so that I could tell him a few things about repentance and baptism. He is a little prideful so I knew he was pretending to be asleep so he didn't have to fight me and avoid the conversation. It made it easier actually. So I took him to our old rocking chair in the spare room and told him I knew he wasn't really asleep so he could hear me and I told him that after baptism he probably sinned, like everyone does. The prompting was that he was severely disappointed in himself and thought he ruined being "clean." I got to talk to him about how we all sin after baptism but that the whole purpose of the Atonement is that we can repent. None of us stay clean after our baptism forever. I talked quite a bit about it and then took him back to his bed. I read all the notecards that his friends and family had written on his baptism day and he instantly changed his demeanor. It seemed like a heavy load came off and he was so sweet and happy. I'm so thankful for that experience with him. Now when I get to visit kids getting baptized I make much less focus on being clean and way more focus on the afterwards. 

Koston's 8th.

I'm laughing as I post these, look at the kid's poor face! So, my sister n law offered to take his 8 year old baptism pictures at the temple. I remembered there was a cool, woodsy location behind our house and fearing we would be short on time at the temple, I voted for the closer location. Little did I know what was about to transpire....
As we were setting him up and she started to take some pictures, he was super smiley and cooperative and everything was going great. I asked her to get some close ups, and as she moved in, a big angry wasp came up and stung him right on the nose. It must have been painful because he's been stung by a bee before, with no crying and hardly even a reaction. But this was screaming and crying and really intense. I scooped him up and my heart was racing because he was holding his eye and we thought it stung him in the eyeball. Once we finally got a look at it, we saw it was the top left of his nose. We rushed home and put some ice on it and he went to his bed, broken hearted. When he got up 15 min later, I didn't know whether to laugh or cry at his sad little face, eye swollen shut, and face SO puffy. That's how I felt for the week while it healed, always on the verge of laughter or tears...he just didn't even look like the same kid, at all. But life went on, and he had a "friend" party at the Power Ranch pool/park. The boys swam, fished, played at the splash pad and playground, climbed trees, ate pizza, and opened presents. We celebrated later with our families with some Oreo cake and ice cream. He asked for a set of black and gold scriptures, a Voldemort wand, and a Minecraft guy. When he opened his scriptures, his face was priceless...even with a swollen eye. He hugged them tightly and said, "They're amazing." 

camping

Just when we started craving some nature and planning a camping trip, my sister called and she said they were heading up camping the same weekend. Thankfully, she insisted we tag along. My sister and her family (and her inlaws) have all the fun toys, know all the great spots, and are pretty much camping professionals, so it was an easy choice for us. We drove up just past Strawberry and met them up there. We got there in time for set up and dinner around the fire, and then we hit the tent. I was surprised at how well I slept there. We were in bed by 9:30 and I slept like a rock. It felt so good to be out in the fresh air, under the stars with our little family all cuddled up in a tent. One night is always good enough for me though, so we enjoyed the next day quading, exploring, eating, swinging, playing with the dogs, catching frogs, finding snakes, spooking the cows away from the lake, playing catch, and having one last smore around the fire just before we packed up to sleep in our own beds and get back in time for church. One night campers, that's us. 

dream come true

Watermelon is one of the ultimate highlights of summer for me. And it nearly kills me that my own child won't have anything to do with it (kosty). My sister grew watermelons (in her front yard!) a couple years ago and we were all so surprised that they actually grew, and grew a ton. So this spring, when we planted our first veggie garden, she gave me the seeds and told me to plant them far away from the garden because the vine grows crazy huge. So we did, and it was slow at first. But then that vine grew like crazy and we were picking 2 watermelons a week all summer long. The vine took up the entire side yard and would've grew for miles if it weren't for fencing. It broke my heart this week (in december!) that we are having to throw the leftover watermelons away now. They are tricky to pick but not to grow. And the ones on the vine that were left after peak season, never fully ripened or else they probably suffered from the freeze and they were out of season. We will end up throwing away 10 or so, but we picked (and ate) more than that so I guess that will have to console me till next summer. Oh, and they were the best tasting watermelons I've ever had! I tell everyone now to grow them, knowing how easy and hearty the vine grows. Just a little water every day and that's it. Till next summer! 

first job

don't mind the grease stains, he came home and set it on the dirty kitchen counter

Brayden came home one day and started going on about how he had to type up a resume and interview for the classroom job he wanted: class photographer. He took it very seriously and worked hard on the resume itself. Then he dressed up in a white shirt and tie/church pants to school and interviewed for it. The teacher said dressing up was optional but not to him. I got a text from his teacher later that day that said, "I just had to let you know that Brayden's job interview was over the top fabulous today. He is such a fun kid!" (he got the job)