Ammon's Baptism

As you can read from the invitation, Ammon chose to be baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ this past January.

We had some great friends help us out with his baptism pictures, and he was a trooper sitting out in the cold for some shots of him being all handsome in his suit.

He does clean up nicely doesn't he?

It worked out that Ammon was able to actually be baptized ON his eighth birthday. We flew up his Grandma Nonie to visit for the weekend so that she would be able to attend as well.

The morning of the big day, we headed to the church and Brigham and Ammon suited up in white and we took an array of pictures with the birthday boy.

Sisters, grandparents, aunts, friends, etc. We had so many people come to support Ammon and our family.

As for the program, Ammon wanted to keep it short and simple. Grandpa Nils gave a talk on both baptism and the Holy Ghost combined. Kayleen and Lydia performed a musical number of I am a Child of God. Lydia played the piano and Kayleen delighted us with her violin.

I am seriously impressed EVERY time these two put something together like this. They come up with the song, how they want to do it together, practice, and then just perform something beautiful.

Ammon chose to have his dad baptize him, and then Grandpa Nils to confirm him into the Church.

Fun Fact: We remembered the white underwear (thanks to some friends) but we forgot to bring towels! We waited and waited for Brigham and Ammon to come back after Ammon was baptized, but they were taking forever. My mom was playing songs on the piano until they got back and it seemed like she played through the entire Primary Songbook and they still weren't back! Little did we know, they had no towels and were attempting to use paper towels from the bathroom to dry off so they could get dressed. Hahaha! Poor guys.

After the baptism, we went back to my parents' house to have a luncheon, sing happy birthday to Ammon and have his peanut-butter chocolate cake, and visit with family and friends who could stop by.

We couldn't linger too long, however, because Ammon had his first basketball game to get to!

We were packing it all in.

After the basketball game, we took Grandma Nonie out to Kanaskat Palmer to show her around and to throw rocks in the river.

A bald eagle flew right over our heads and then we saw another big bird (a heron?) about to fish the river in front of us. We also had a friendly bear sighting! It was the cutest little brown bear I've ever seen.

After the Green River, we headed back to my parents' so Ammon could open presents and we relaxed after a busy, fun-filled day.

When Ammon was getting his baptism pictures taken, I asked if there was any pose or anything fun we wanted to do for a picture. He thought for a second, then nodded seriously, and this is what we got:

I'm not sure what that is or what it means, but we went with it. And I love it. Because it's all Ammon. He's his own person who is sweet, and good, and crazy, and handsome, and wonderful. I can't believe he's old enough to be baptized. I miss my little blond-haired toddler that won us over with is cheese-grins constantly. I still fight hard for Ammon's grins, but as he matures and that innocence slowly fades, I want to stop time in its tracks.

I'm so proud of you, Ammon, for this decision. I know that covenanting to follow Christ and becoming a member of His Church will bring you happiness, and that is what I wish for you more than anything! I love you, my boy!

Tappana Time: Don't Forget About Me December

Just a little extra post to make sure we get the little pictures left behind in the month of December, 2018.

Uncle Ryan left on his mission in December, but not before we squeezed in a few more Scythe game nights. Ivy decided to learn how to play young so she can beat everyone by the time she's twelve.

Speaking of Ivy, she's my favorite. Because when you have a sweet, sleeping baby on your chest, that baby automatically becomes your favorite for that moment.

We watched Ammon's best friend, Hyrum, for the weekend while his parents were away on a trip. The nerf guns got some good use, and Kendrick really went to town with his....armor.

Ivy had her first Christmas.

And we reviewed my nine most-liked pictures of 2018. Pretty much all related to pregnancy and baby. Makes sense - a baby is pretty wonderful and I love all four of mine! Happy 2018!

Christmas Week 2018

For Christmas this year, my brother, Scott, and his family were able to come up for Christmas vacation.

Together we went and enjoyed the sunshine at Lake Wilderness Park.

It was cold but beautiful.

For our Christmas Eve dinner, we had a Cafe Rio night where we all made different parts of the sweet pork Cafe Rio salad.

It didn't taste exactly the same (something about the dressing was off) but it still tasted delicious!

We performed musical numbers for the Christmas Eve program and watched a video about Christ's birth. Lydia and Kayleen put together a musical number all on their own with Lydia playing the piano and Kayleen on her violin.

They sounded beautiful and I was so impressed they orchestrated it themselves.

Lydia and Ammon slept overnight at my parent's house, as is the tradition, and Brigham and I took the two littles home with us overnight.

I woke up Kendrick Christmas morning to go over to open presents at my parent's and he wasn't thrilled to get out of bed, "I'm still tired."

Once he was up, he got to put Baby Jesus in the manger. We had been working hard that month to do good deeds. With each good deed, we would get to place a piece of straw in the manger, hoping that we would have enough straw Christmas morning to have a nice soft bed to lay Baby Jesus in.

Everyone worked hard and we had all the straw ready on Christmas morning. I loved watching Kendrick sweetly place the baby on the straw.

Once we arrived at my parent's house, it was time for everyone to come down and see their stockings.

Some pretty fun surprises were waiting from Santa.

Kendrick got his beloved power rangers and Lydia had a Harry Potter party with all of the movies and the first two books, beautifully illustrated. Ammon got an echo dot, and Ivy a new bumblebee toy to help her crawl.

We each received a pair of cozy socks in our stocking and they are still loved and worn by each of us.

After stockings came breakfast and then presents.

With two toddlers and two babies, it was a fun morning watching the little ones experience the wrapping paper, chaos, and lights of Christmas morning. It was fun and overwhelming for them at times.















My dad received an eye-massager as one of his gifts and it was a fun one to pass around for people to try.

We had a gift exchange when Sandy and family arrived later followed by good food and good company. We missed those who spent Christmas with others, but talked to them and sent our love.

After Christmas Day, we arranged some fun activities together.

We went to the aquarium and to the Science Center.

Though we don't have any pictures, the adults got all dressed up and went out to a fancy dinner in town. It was fancy, delicious food. But what was really delicious was the time spent together, kid-free! Laughing and eating and talking as adults without the distraction of the kids was sublime.

A finger food extravaganza was on the menu for our New Years Eve party.

Each of us picked a different finger food and made it or bought it to share. I made zucchini fries, Brigham made homemade mini corn dogs, Scott made a meat tower, Grandma Busby bought shrimp platters, Polyana made Brazilian cheese balls, Dad made yogurt parfaits, Kayleen and Lydia made apple rings with a peanut butter spread, and mom contributed cheese ball and creme puffs. Mmm, it was delicious. We played games and cursed ourselves for staying up so late when we hate it so much.

We had other fun times playing sports, other games, and the general Christmas fuss and fanfare. Just as Christmas should be.