Luke's Baptism Weekend in Houston, Texas

Luke Thomas turned 8-years-old and he was getting baptized. Off we went to Houston to be there for the event. He just recently lost his two front teeth.

Natalie showed us her skills when we watched her cheer leading the night before during two basketball games. Now that's a lot of cheering!!

Natalie is the one on the far left.

Emma obediently posed for me as she was on her way out the door for school.

Sister pose is adorable!

Logan is now old enough to go to school...if he can be talked into leaving the television show that was holding him captive.

Claire typically likes Glen a lot more than me, but I won her over as we put together puzzle after puzzle after puzzle all morning after her siblings had gone to school.

Glen treated the day just like any other work day...by working all day.

He was perfectly happy being left to himself while Laurie, Claire and I went to lunch with Rebecca Billat. I still think it is so funny their family and Jacob's family ended up in the same area in Texas.

That wasn't all the fun we had that day. Laurie, Natalie, Emma and I had a girls' night out that evening.

The girls chose Olive Garden for us to have our dinner. We were seated way in the back of the restaurant. As we ate, we wondered where the boys would choose to go for their dinner. We couldn't all eat together because Jacob wasn't home by the time we needed to leave.

We sat there and ate and talked and laughed about how funny we thought it would be if the boys chose Olive Garden, too. Little did we know at the time...but the wall by our table (on Natalie's left side)...

...just so happened to be the only thing separating us and the boys. We discovered the boys and Claire sitting on the other side of the same wall (behind Jacob) as we were leaving the restaurant. It was HILARIOUS!!!!! 

Good thing we hadn't waited for the boys because they hadn't gotten their food yet. We had other things to do. We went to see a play. A pretty good-sized group of women from the ward had organized this play date with their daughters.

After the play, all the girls who were there from the ward got the chance to meet Cinderella in person and get their picture taken with her.

Despite being out late, Natalie was a super good sport and got up early the next morning to go with us to the temple. We have had a pile of family names that needed baptisms performed for them and Natalie said she would be willing to help us out with them.

Of course Natalie's favorite thing to do after going to the temple is getting a treat at Sonic. We couldn't disappoint her!

 I couldn't for the life of me figure out why she and Glen would order something as yucky looking as a blue slush with nerds in it.

Natalie was one happy girl!!

 Our next activity of the day was Luke's baptism.

 

The Rice Krispie treats were a big hit with everyone following the baptismal service.

These children left room in their tummies for dinner at Culver's as per Luke's choice.

Does this make it obvious why they love going to Culver's?

We were glad we got to go to church with Jacob's family on Sunday because Luke had the cutest grin on his face when he got called up to the front of the chapel as he got recognized for being baptized the day before. Here is the mad dash trying to get everyone out the door with the church bag packed and the shoes put on the children.

After church, the children had a great time entertaining themselves playing with kinetic sand while the food was being prepared.

Claire got so tuckered out she fell asleep on the couch.

Luke shared with us his homework assignment--to dress the turkey any way he wanted.

Emma and Luke showed us the posters they had prepared for school honoring a veteran. Natalie also completed the same assignment. They chose my dad--their great-grandfather--as their veteran to highlight and to give thanks.

Such cute kids! We enjoyed our time spent with them. We were very happy we got to spend Luke's baptism weekend in Houston, Texas with him and his family.

How I Celebrated My Birthday

Sarah had been going strong on planning and carrying out her Young Women In Excellence evening and invited me to attend the event. It just happened to be on my birthday. With Glen out of town as usual, I was happy to have someone anxious to spend time with me.

There was an airplane theme going on that evening. At the beginning of the year their New Beginnings program theme was nautical emphasizing the YW theme of embarking in the service of God. They went on journeys throughout the year filling up their passports with stamps with each thing they accomplished.

Half of the gym was set up to look like an airport terminal and this is where everyone gathered while waiting for the flight. Along the partitioned wall postcards were hung

In the far corner was a table with a framed picture of the temple for each girl to take home with her.

On one side was the baggage check area. There the girls had open suitcases displaying things that meant a lot to them and what they had been working on throughout the year. The displays were so impressive!

A voice came over the speaker announcing it was time to board the airplane for our flight. Look at this cute flight attendant waiting to greet us as we boarded the airplane.

The flight attendants came down the aisle with their refreshment cart passing out a beverage. 

The InFlight Magazine was the program for the evening. It was really cute how things were said and done to tie into the airplane theme. Several YW gave talks about the big activities held during the year.

An InFlight movie was shown which was a reporter (Sarah) giving a news report about the happenings going on with the YW in the Clinton Ward. She had done video recordings of each one of the YW in her ward and it was really sweet and spiritual listening to the things they had done and their feelings and the things they have learned. It was very well done and I enjoyed it so very much!

As the passengers were exiting the plane, Flight Attendant Sarah is standing by the windows of the aircraft.

All the YW leaders were so cute in their role as flight attendants. It has been fun listening to Sarah as she was planning and preparing for the evening.

She did an awesome job involving all the YW and all the YW leaders. It really was an evening of excellence in every way! Thanks again for the invite, Sarah. You are an excellent YW leader!!

Quotes of the Week

"Always have a sense of humor about life - you'll need it - but always be courteous to boot." 

 -- Peter Jennings 

"There is no better test of a man's integrity than his behavior when he is wrong." 

-- Marvin Williams 

"Today is a brand new day. A fresh start. Replace any negativity with positivity. Think happy thoughts. Exercise. Drink lots of water. Fill your body with fuel. Healthy is happy. Inspire yourself. Create. Laugh. Play. Love. Learn. Give someone a compliment. Make a new friend. Do a random act of kindness. It creates good karma. Take chances and finally start living life to its fullest. But no matter what's thrown at you today, smile and remember, tomorrow's always a fresh new start." 

 -- Author Unknown 

Quotes of the Week

"Happiness and personal fulfillment are the natural consequences of doing the right thing." 

-- Epictetus 

"Do you want to know who you are? Don't ask. Act! Action will delineate and define you." 

 -- Thomas Jefferson 

"Put your heart, mind, and soul into even your smallest acts. This is the secret of success." 

 -- Swami Sivananda 

"Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to take rank with those poor souls who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in the grey twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat." 

-- Theodore Roosevelt