Elise's Baptism

Elise's baptism day was a very special day. Her baptism took place on Saturday, September 8th at 9:30a.m. at the Hurricane Stake Center of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Cari and Trevon came home for this special event, Trevon bringing her a special birthday gift: a Beta fish she named Blueberry.

On the morning of Elise's baptism, Trevon looked out of the basement bedroom window and a king snake was there in the window well. He caught it and put it in a bucket when we left for the baptism. When we came back home, the bucket was empty and the snake was no where to be found!

 

Elise was both excited and nervous about being baptized. She told me she thought she wasn't ready and I asked her when she thought she would feel ready. She said, "In a year." She wanted to be baptized but having to be immersed in the water scared her. I reminded her that she had arrived at the age of accountability and was old enough to know right from wrong and that meant that it was the right time for her to be baptized. She agreed and was very courageous as she stepped into the waters of baptism.

 

 Another 8 year old girl, Hadley Clayton, was baptized too. They shared the planning of the program. Elise asked her Grandma Ferrin to give a talk on baptism and Papa Beutler said the opening prayer. Cari, Sadie and Kristi helped with the music: Kristi and Sadie played a violin duet together that was beautiful.

 

Elise had lots of support at her baptism. I gave her special doll to Hadley's mom to use for her talk on the Holy Ghost. She wanted to liken the Spirit to a comforter, and this doll that her Great Grandma Miller crocheted, is a great comfort to Elise. It helped her to understand the comfort the Holy Ghost brings.

Our neighbor, Judge Carr came to show his support, along with Grandma and Grandpa Ferrin, Dad (Mike) and Mom (Shelly), Grandma and Papa Beutler, Kristi, Sadie, Cari, Trevon, Cameron, (Elise) and Corban.
WE LOVE ELISE VERY MUCH and are so pleased with her choice to follow Jesus Christ.

I asked her to write down her thoughts about her baptism. These are her words: "On the day of my baptism I was nervous. I thought I wasn't ready to be baptized. My grandmother did the talk and my grandfather did the prayer. There's one thing I didn't like. My mother took my doll and let someone use it for a talk. When I went in the water I thought it was warm. It felt weird when I went under water and the water went over my face. After that, I felt really clean and my stomach felt warm. I think that was the most special day of my life. I was glad that I was baptized." (Recorded two days later on Monday, September 10, 2012)

"Peachy" Thirteen

There's another teenager in the house! Our kids just seem to get older by the minute (I guess they do!). Yesterday was our town's annual PEACH DAYS celebration and Kristi's birthday. We went to the parade in the morning. Cari came down for the weekend festivities.

 After the parade, Kristi helped me with making her birthday cake, and then I took her out for her birthday. We went to Kneaders for lunch and she ordered a Croissant Cranberry Turkey Sandwich (I had a Veggie Avacado Sandwich.); both were delicious. Then, I took her to Desert Book and she picked out a nice CTR (Choose The Right) ring. We went shopping for a dress next and she found a nice black one that she will be able to wear for her choir and orchestra performances throughout the year. You need black shoes to go with a black dress, so next we bought her her first pair of high heels. Voila! What a beautiful girl - inside and out!

I enjoyed the time we were able to spend together. She requested Taco Soup for dinner. After singing Happy Birthday, we enjoyed some Carrot Cake and Vanilla Ice Cream and then she opened up her cards and presents.

Kristi really likes pigs. Her sisters bought her a stuffed animal and she was so happy when she opened this gift that she almost cried. I couldn't believe it - she was so very crazy happy about it. I've never seen her so excited...I realized she is right smack in the middle of being a kid and an adult right now.

  The day ended in fireworks and we were able to watch them from our front porch. A parade AND fireworks on her birthday! That makes for an extra special day!

 Oh, and this little visitor that slid on by...

And They're Off!

She's off to college now. This year she has a car to drive and Cari is very happy about that, though it meant learning how to drive a stick shift.

Cameron "took off" with the lawn mower the other night. Now that Trevon is gone, he has a lot more responsibility around our home. He did a great job! Way to go Cameron!

Elise's Birthday

Elise requested breakfast in bed. At 7:30a.m. Corban helped deliver a tray of pancakes, hash browns, strawberry yogurt, and a bowl of fruit. She was happy and Corban now has hopes for some breakfast in bed on his birthday.

Because it was her birthday, she took some mini blueberry muffins to school to share with her classmates.
We had her favorite thing for dinner: lasagna! Then, we went to a Scout Pack Meeting where lots of games were played with an Olympic theme. Elise and Corban were given 2nd and 3rd place medals for their participation.

 

 

 

 

 We celebrated with some white cake and presents after we got home from our pack meeting fun.

 

 She enjoyed her gifts and the cards sent from her grandparents.

 She was surprised to get a camera that has games on it and takes both pictures and video.WOW!

THANK YOU!

Eight is a very special birthday year. Elise is now old enough to be baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She is excited for her upcoming baptism on September 8th. We gave her a birthday party to help her celebrate this super special time in her life.

She chose her party theme to be a trip around the world:

She invited 5 friends to her party: Emilie Holland, Jessica Holland, Ambrie Bettridge, Jacqui Stewart, and Hadley Clayton. 

When they arrived they were each given a passport with different countries listed throughout its pages.

As we "traveled" to the various countries listed in the passport, they were able to stamp them with a sticker relating to the activity we did. 

 

We somehow skipped over going to England (playing London Bridge) - but other than that, the party went as follows:

CANADA - as they gathered they were given a picture search/color sheet about Canada to work on (and I took photos for their passports); ENGLAND - play London Bridge; ITALY - we made little pizzas;

 EGYPT - we divided into two teams and had a contest of making a teammate into a live mummy using toilet paper; 

 

 SPAIN - took us outside to play a fun game of Four Corners; FRANCE - was where we decorated some Pineapple-Zucchini muffins with frosting and toppings; 

 

MEXICO - took us to a funky chicken pinata! 

 

 

Inside the pinata we found a clue that took us to AFRICA - sent us on a scavenger hunt Safari that led to the opening of gifts; 

 

 

 

INDIA - we played a tag game where we were cheetahs and cheetals; CHINA - was where we played the Dragon Catch-Tail game; JAPAN - introduced us to a Japanese girl (Sae) who showed us the art of origami and spoke to us in Japanese; DENMARK - was our last destination and we played a Capturing Chains tag game. Whew! It was a fast moving party, but very fun. The BEST part is that I didn't spend an extra dime on it - I was able to use what I had at home to make everything, including the pinata. At the end of the party the kids were given some home-made caramel corn in gift baggies for a favor along with their passports. It was GREAT! Most important, everyone had fun, especially our birthday girl Elise!