Baptism Day

I believe I mentioned in my last post that Jenna turned eight years old on Sunday, the 8th. Here's a picture of her with her ice cream cake.

Last Saturday, the 14th, Jenna had the opportunity to be baptized. We were so proud of the good decision she made, and we are so happy for our big girl. We were blessed to have our family come to town for the occasion. Joel's Mom, Brenda, and sister Erin flew in on Thursday morning along with my Mom. My sister Adrienne flew in Thursday as well, and my sister Cindy drove into town Thursday evening. Brenda's husband Roland was able to fly in Friday night, as well. And of course, my other four sisters already live in the valley. My cousin Kristin and her family were also able to come to the baptism.

Saturday was a beautiful day with the baptism in the morning. They do Stake baptisms here, so we didn't do anything for the program. But there were some nice talks and musical numbers. It was so special to watch Joel baptize and confirm Jenna. I cried more than once, and I think we all felt the Spirit strongly.

Here is Jenna before heading to the church...


Daddy and daughter...

Proud parents...

In their whites...

After the baptism we all came back to our house for a delicious brunch, starring Brenda's cinnamon rolls. Thanks Bren! Jenna got some wonderful presents, and she had a blast opening them, as always. One thing she got from Joel and I was a new scripture bag and a quad with her name on the front. She was really excited to have new, fancy scriptures. She has also really enjoyed ALL of the presents she received that day. She is a very lucky and loved girl!

And since all of us sisters were in one place at one time and even dressed up, we decided it would be a great time to get some group pictures. Aren't we cute!?!

And one with our beautiful Mother.

It was so wonderful to spend a nice weekend with our family. And it was even more special for our little girl to take such a big, important step in her life. We love you, Jenna!

First Day of School

Jenna and Will had their first day of school today! Last Monday Will had his Kindergarten roundup where they did a mini screening with the kids, and showed the parents around the school a little. Yesterday evening was the Meet the Teacher Open House, and that was the first time that all of us were able to really get into the school and see what was where. It's a large school with a lot of kids.

Jenna has been excited for school, but I think she got really nervous after the open house. She was less sure that she wanted to ride the bus to school, and she asked if school would be as busy/crowded as the open house. I tried to assuage her fears, but I'm sure it hasn't helped that I've been voicing my concerns about the bus and a large school for a few weeks now. She obviously picked up on all of that.

It was great to meet both Jenna's and Will's teachers; they both seemed like nice, competent teachers. We also dropped off our MANY supplies, which took two trips to bring in! They weren't joking around when they wrote the school supply lists.

We were up and ready in plenty of time this morning with little hassle and no drama. We walked just down the road to the bus stop, where we saw a few people we know from the ward. We chatted about the bus and I asked the Mom if they'd had any problems. It's nice to have people to take to about our concerns. We had to hang around the bus stop for awhile (probably not as long as it seemed), but when the bus pulled up both kids ran and got on without so much as a goodbye! I wanted to get a picture of them getting on, but I wasn't fast enough.

Here are the boys on the way to the bus stop. Adam wore his backpack, too. He was a little sad that he didn't get to go to school.

Jenna was leading the way.

Waitin on the curb.

And... on the bus.

Joel and I got a lot done while they were gone. We even had a long, productive trip to Costco, and at the end we weren't pulling our hair out. Wonderful! I tried not to think about the kids too much because when I did, I worried. Did Jenna find where she needed to go? Did she find anyone she knew on the playground? Is Will eating his lunch, or is it all going to be there when he gets home? Are they having fun? Are people being nice to them? So... I tried not to think about it.

When it was time for them to come home Joel and I waited at the bus stop. The bus was a little late, which feels a lot late in the afternoon sun. :) But I found some shade to stand in so it wasn't that bad. Of course I had worried that they hadn't gotten on the right bus, or that they had gotten off at a different stop. My worries were unfounded; they were both on the bus, they saw us when the bus pulled up, and they got off the bus with big smiles.

They had both had a wonderful, fun day. No one got lost, they ate their lunches, they had no trouble finding anything, and the other kids were nice. They both really enjoyed the bus ride, which was a big relief to everyone!

A few other things that have happened that I haven't blogged about: Adam got his cast off on the 5th. The fractures are healed (he did have a fracture on his fifth metatarsal as well as the third). He has to wear sturdy shoes most of the time for the next week, equaling two weeks after the cast came off. He limps a little now and then, but he doesn't complain of any pain.

Jenna's birthday was on Sunday, the 8th. We didn't do much to celebrate because she chose to celebrate this coming Saturday on her baptism day. We did do cake and sung Happy Birthday. I can't believe she's eight years old!

We are looking forward to seeing all the family coming into town this weekend for the baptism! Everyone's rolling in tomorrow, and we can't wait!