Summer's Baptism

Best Buddies

Happy Day!

I love this little girl. I hope she will remember the sweet spirit we all felt this day at her baptism and confirmation. Grandpa Gary gave the talk on baptism. He told about a man a taught during his mission in Denmark named Olaf Olafson. Grandpa reminded us that Heavenly Father uses the Holy Ghost to help us find those who are seeking the truth of the gospel. David and Collynn played a violin arrangement for the musical number; they did such a nice job. Emily Neilsen (Collynn's future sister in law) played the piano for us; so kind, considering she had never met us before. Summer looked so sweet in the font for the baptism. It was special for me to help her get ready in her baptism dress and dry her hair right after the baptism. She said she felt so happy and she loved Jesus. When we came back into the room, it was just in time to see Ethan bear his testimony. While Summer changed, people had the opportunity to share their baptism experiences and testimonies. I gave the talk on the Holy Ghost; then Dan did her confirmation. It was a beautiful blessing he gave to her. It was a day I'll never forget. I'm so grateful to be a parent. This is one of the greatest joys; to have family gatherings to share testimony and feel the Spirit of the Holy Ghost together.

Grandma Eleanor, Grandma Linda and Grandpa Larry

Summer's Birthday week

Summer celebrated her 8th birthday on Wednesday this week. Went to Mimi's for dinner, Thanksgiving Point dinosaur museum, then tried to figure out her new iCarly game on the Wii. Squeezed in as much as we could on a school night!

First time ever at the dinosaur museum. Awesome exhibits!

Nice pose, Sum Sum!

February in Utah

Scout Banquet: Ethan earned his second class rank. Ethan is getting ready to give my my Mother's Pin. I have learned to always wear a scarf to these events. It really decreases my anxiety related to the "pinning ceremony". Dan and Ethan went on their first overnighter this month in the snow! Dan's calling is in the Young Men's organization. I'm so glad they get to do scout activities together.

Summer inside the snake's mouth at the Mayan Restaurant. We had a girls night while Dan and Ethan were camping.

One of the main reasons for coming to the Mayan. Chocolate lava cake with the firework.

Caught picking her nose.

Sledding at Grandpa Henrie's is a great tradition. We've only had a few good snow storms this winter so we were lucky this one hit on a Saturday and we were the only ones there to break in the sledding runs. Grandpa has the best backyard, as we try to get as close to the bank, without falling in the river! That makes me sound really irresponsible, don't worry, the kids didn't even make it close to the edge.

San Diego

San Diego Temple

Imperial Beach- at twilight. This was our first time being at the beach as the sun was setting. People were having bonfires and it felt so calm. Only stayed for a short time, but it was memorable.

Summer wore her favorite shirt to the zoo - from her cousin Aubrye in Australia, it has koala bears on it. What a great surprise when it just so happened that it was Koalapalooza week at San Diego Zoo and it looked like she planned for it!

Ethan by the freaky needle nose alligator from India. It never moved during the 10 minutes we stared at it, trying to figure out if it was real or just a alligator sculpture.

Inside the Aviary. I don't really like being in Aviaries, since I watched the movie "The Birds". I was putting on a happy face.

We saw a California Condor eat his lunch at another exhibit in the zoo. It was a rat. The kids were mortified to see it tear off the arms and then suck out the insides. We have 2 spoiled pet rats and 2 kids who will probably never take their rats outside again!

San Diego

At the San Diego Zoo, you can pay $8 to attach your kid to this "jumping tree" with bungee cords. The kids loved practicing flips and acting like monkeys.

So wonderful to be in sunny weather in January! I loved the cool trees. We have decided to plan a trip to sunny weather every January.

My creepy little bugs.

Grandma with all of her kids and her sweet husband.

San Diego

We had a fun family trip in January to see my little brother Scott's graduation from the Marines. It was so wonderful to see him after 3 months. We crammed in a day at the military base, a lunch served by the missionaries from the ward he attended (so kind of them!), wandered around Old Towne San Diego, 80th birthday party at a mexican restaraunt for Grandma Betty (family reunion with the Robinson side!), day at San Diego Zoo, swimming at the outdoor pool (in January! awesome..), Coronado and Imperial beach (The kids were amazed to see Tiajuana across the bay, and that's as close as we were going!), and San Diego Temple (at night! beautiful...Summer plans to get married there!).