quite the weekend.

this last weekend, was one to never forget.

ashley turned 8.

she was baptized the day after her birthday.

(thanks dad for taking this picture!!)

it was a good day.  2 soccer games (at the same time no less), conference, and ash was baptized between sessions.

we like to keep it simple in our family, simple program, short and sweet, nothing too crazy. 

merrill baptized and confirmed her, he did wonderfully.  it was fun to watch them in the hall before, practicing the hold and dunk move.  this time, I made sure to remember the controls to the electric blanket to help warm her afterward.  (I forgot them with lynn, she froze!!)  I love how simple ashley is, she has a different personality than lynn, and her taste is more simple.  her hair wasn’t a big deal, neither was her dress.  love this girl.

I did find it interesting when merrill confirmed her, that she was blessed, again, with integrity.  the same thing was said when she was blessed as a baby.  I found it interesting then too. 

it has been fun watching her grow up and come to this point.  she’s quite a girl!

and I marked one year (ONE YEAR!!) of no yelling (out of anger) at my girls.

(soccer is another matter.  that qualifies as excitement, not anger.)

more on that later.

ashley’s special shoot.

when lynn was preparing to be baptized, we started a couple of traditions.  one was to go out, just me and that almost 8 year-old girl, and buy a special dress. the other was for me to take out the special girl, just she and i, and going to a location of her choice, take some special pictures in that special white dress.

ashley chose the salt lake temple. 

so we made dinner that night (fresh halibut from merrill’s recent trip, that I survived.), and hurried (and by hurried, you have no idea how hurried we were..), to salt lake, trying to get there before the sun set.

we made it.

just in time.

I have to say, I enjoyed that whole drive down and back.  we turned off the music, and talked and talked.  we talked about her upcoming baptism, and what it means.  it was so special to me, to be able to bear my testimony to her, just to her.  we plotted out her whole birthday, from her treat at school, to what she wanted for her birthday dinner, and the cakeS too, of course.  we talked about what she was hoping to unwrap that day,  and she somehow managed to get christmas into that segment of conversation.  I even shared my favorite memories of the day she was born, and more of her when she was younger.

I didn’t want to go back home.  it was such a fun evening.

Lynn’s special day (just the pix).

Our little family on Lynn's special day...

Really..  this is the best one.  Ashley did her best to look like a total gomer in the majority of the pics my dad snapped.  It was either awesome facial expressions or her dress in the air. :)

Merrill and  Lynn.

I keep reflecting on that day, it really was wonderful.  I am so thankful that we had it all to ourselves.  I am also thankful to see the change in Lynn, how she looks at her choices differently and how she truly understands the effect her choices have on her little life right now.

Lynn's Baptism.

Yesterday was such a great day for our little family.  Lynn was baptized and confirmed a member of the church.  Merrill did such a great job with both the baptism and the confirmation.  It was amazing to see Lynn walk down into the font with such confidence, to do just as we talked about with her.  Merrill said the prayer, and Lynn remembered just how we told her to sit and let him lay her back into the water.  I couldn't help but cry, joyfully, as I watched her go down into the water, and come back up with such a happy look on her face.  She was cold, but she was so happy!  We spent time, just she and I, while I dried her hair, and we got her dressed.  I have seen a change in her throughout this past year.  There really is something to that great number of eight.  She really does understand so much about this commitment she has made, and I know there is so much more that she will come to learn and understand.  It is quite a responsibility on my shoulders, as her mom, but it is such a great time for us.
While confirming her, Merrill blessed her that she would be worthy of all the blessings that Heavenly Father has in store for her.  I loved watching as she gave everyone there in her confirmation circle a hug.  There were some missing from that circle, some that she wanted to be there, but she was so thankful to everyone.
We enjoyed the rest of the evening together as a family. 
I prayed that the day would go smoothly, that the spirit could be with us in our home, that there wouldn't be stress.  It was a simple day but it was a perfect day.

Great to be 8..

Can we really be this old?  I mean, really?!
Lynn turns 8 this year which means a big event will commence in her little life, her baptism (if she so chooses..  and she is pretty excited about it.).
We got to attend the "Great to be 8" fireside a couple of weeks ago to see what it would be like.
She was on cloud nine!
It only got better as the stake primary gave her a balloon, a special book for that special day, and cake on top of that?  (Merrill and I really liked that cake..) 
Our Family Home Evening lessons this year will focus more on what this means.  They will also include a lot of scripture finding and reading..  she is in Senior primary now...
So really..  are we really here?..  now?..  already?..
She was just my baby!

A remeberance..

Okay, more than one.. that's how I roll. ;)
Ashley had a remembrance when I told her to go and get her pajamas on.
"Mom! I remember that I used to have TWO nightgowns!! (As opposed to the one Hannah Montana nightgown she now owns..) One was purple with princesses and the other was blue with princesses.. I miss them! They were so beautiful and gorgeous.. I wish that when I growed, my beautiful and favorite clothes would grow too so I could always wear them!"
Oh, I would love it if they would shrink accordingly as well.. :)
Another remembrance, came to me as I watched a dear friend's daughter enter the waters of baptism this evening..
A flood of memories.. myself in white, hair braided, my dad standing on my toes to keep them from popping up.
What a wonderful memory!
I am so thankful..

My day started kind of early. It was that short time before dawn that the sun isn't up yet, but the sky is giving up the darkness. Ashley was crying, in her sleep. I can usually just let her whine for a few seconds and she quits. This morning, she didn't. On and on it went. I clumsily got my preggo body out of bed and went to her. She was surely asleep. I started to console her as she kept mumbling, "Daddy left me.... Daddy's gone..." I thought for sure she is having a very unpleasant dream. Then Lynn's sleepy voice comes, "I thought I would talk to you in my sleep to make you feel better..." there's a yawn and some lip smacking, "...but I don't think it's working." She rolled over and was out again. I just laughed. I thought it was so sweet that even as groggy as she was, she was still trying to help her sister to feel better.
I got to attend a baptism tonight. It was awesome. I was in awe at how well the program was put together and which songs were selected, I was thinking about what an amazing job the elders had done only to find out that this ten year-old girl had put it together herself! Asked the speakers and everything! I am so thankful for those experiences, that even though I had a hectic day, I am able to go somewhere that I am guaranteed to feel the spirit.