Sophi's baptism

Last Saturday was a super special day for our family!  Sophi chose to be baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.    She chose to have Taylor baptize her, which made it extra special.    

A couple of months ago, my friend, Robyn, approached us offering to make Sophi dresses for Sophi's baptism.  She let Sophi help design the dresses and they were absolutely perfect.  One dress was for the actual baptism ordinance.  She weighted the bottom so that it wouldn't float in the water.  It was simple and beautiful.  The other dress was to wear after her baptism and it was breathtaking.  She also made an extra pink sash so that she could switch it out and wear it after her baptism day, and she made the most gorgeous hairpiece to go with it.  

Robyn is the sweetest and most talented lady!  Please consider using her if you need a special dress for a special occasion!!  Her Facebook page is Robyn Kim Design.  I can also give you her phone number if you are interested.  I would love to thank her by sending lots of people her way.  Feel free to share her information with anyone you think might like custom work done.  Truly, she is the best!!!

Sophi's baptismal service was beautiful and perfect.  Among other things, her Aunt Jenny gave a talk, her Grandma led the music and her cute brother Conner gave a prayer that had people in tears.  She and Lexi sang "I Will" by Hilary Weeks and oh how I wish I had a recording of it!  After Taylor baptized her and she came into the dressing room with me to change, she exclaimed, "Mom, this is the best day of my life!  I feel so happy that I almost cried in the water.  I want to do it again!  I feel so warm inside!"  She didn't want to stop giving me loves.  She loves Jesus so much and it was a privilege to watch her take His name upon her.  Two of her best friends were also baptized that day, and the girls were like little angels together, giggling and squealing and hugging each other.

Thanks to all who came to witness her special day!  We love you, Sophi!

The best bottle flip you will ever see (:

Check out what Xander taught Sophi to do tonight!

I'll have some of that...

Tonight for dinner, Christi made sloppy Joes.  This is one of few dishes that everyone likes.  The larger your family, the less of those dishes there are!  As we were gathering around the table, I had a question for Sophi, whose toes don't always fit very well around large sandwiches.

Me:  "Sophi, do you like sloppy Joes?

Sophi: "Yes!"

Me: "But are you able to eat them very easily?"

Sophi:  "Not really.  They're too big."

Me:  "Do you want me to cut up the bun and put the meat over it and you can eat it with a fork?"

Sophi:  "Nah.  I'll just have the slop."

:)

Keeping Promises

At the beginning of summer break I made two promises: I told Xander we would watch Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 2 and I told Sophi I would take her on a hike.  Both of these activities had to take place before school started.  I was given multiple reminders of these promises throughout July and early August, but there always seemed to be something else to do.  Finally, the Saturday before school started we watched the movie (a great one, by the way!).  Then, Tuesday night before school started on Wednesday, I took Sophi on a hike up Rose Canyon.  She wanted Lexi to come, so it was just the three of us on an easy, beautiful trail.  Of course, Heavenly Father really looks after those two, so of course we saw six deer in the 30 minutes we were walking!  Love those two SO, SO much!!!

-Dad

Daddy Daughter Campout

I love late summer and early fall.  It's the best time of year to go camping, and we try to do a fair amount of it.  Over the years I've done a lot of camping with Taylor and Parker.  Our church also has an annual "fathers and sons" camp, so I get plenty of these opportunities with all of our boys.  When Graci was nine or ten she asked why we never had a "father and daughters" campout.  So we decided to make it happen.  This year was the fourth time we've done it.  There is a campground close by with great wheelchair access, and the girls love to go.  Well, the younger girls LOVE to go.  The older girls had to weigh their options a little bit more.  But in the end, all five eligible daughters decided to hang out with dad:).  (Elli would not do well on a camping trip.)  Here are some pics from our adventure.  Notice that Cali would not let me take a photo of her face in the morning, so she just held up her arm and gave me the peace sign;)

-One lucky dad!

The campground is called Willow Park because of all of the large Willow trees. 

Goodbye Summer :(

Summer is awesome.  Late nights.  Swimming parties.  Camping and campfires.  Tons of time to spend with family.  No homework.  No school activities.  It is a great opportunity for families to bond and for sibling relationships to develop.  This summer I really noticed Sophi bonding with her older brothers.  Sophi definitely loves her sisters and often spends time playing with them or make-believing with them or following them around.  But this summer she really seemed to become more attached to Taylor and Parker particularly.  She loves to play with them, tease them, attack them, be held by them, be tickled by them and spend time with them.  She also happens to be the only one of our girls who enjoys watching sports, which certainly endears her to them.  (To be fair, there is one sport Jessica will watch - American Ninja Warrior!  We love that show!!!)

This scene encapsulates much of what is great about summer: time to spend with family, no set bedtime, fewer pressures to finish anything by a particular deadline.

I walked into the kitchen and found these four watching YouTube clips of America's Got Talent.  I love how Sophi is so comfortably cuddled into her big brothers.  I love this phase of our life.  I love kids who are all a little older and more self sufficient.  I love having teenagers who have great friends and are in and out of the house on their own.  It's crazy that they will start the exodus next year when Graci graduates.  I'm going to soak it up as long as I can!

-Jer

Family Picture

We haven't had professional pictures taken since 2013 and we really hadn't even taken a good family photo of all of us since we got back with Conner two years ago.  So a few weeks ago we stood in front of our garage and took a family photo.  I think it turned out remarkably well for an amateur shot.  This was right after church, but you can see that we had already changed Elli into her Houdini jammies:)