February wraps up kids' birthday season. It's good times...and these girls had big birthdays this year!
Sheridan got to celebrate turning 12 with several friends. She finally got her late night party and was feeling quite grown up.
In our church, turning 12 also means the chance to go inside our temples and do some service for people who have died without being baptized, We believe that if we perform baptisms as proxy for those who have passed that they will get to choose if they want that baptism or not. And it feels good to give people that choice. And it feels peaceful and a little closer to Christ in the temple. It was such a blessing to take Sheridan.
Of course, it also felt good to make this cute girl a cake of her favorite animal (llama!) and sing happy birthday. A different kind of good than the temple, but definitely still good!
This girl is getting too old!
Sheridan's favorite color is purple.
She loves llamas and cats and sloths.
Sheridan wants to be an actress when she grows up. Or President. Or a famous author. Or a pediatrician. Or...really, she has LOTS of ideas of what she could do for a living!
Sheridan is responsible and a determined go-getter.
She is a smart and funny and loves dancing and singing.
She is feisty and isn't going to let the world tell her what to do. Sheridan will make her own paths (while not stepping on the grass or breaking rules).
The next day, of course, is Amelia's birthday!
Amelia chose a decadent lemon cake with lemon curd, cream cheese frosting, and fresh blackberries. It was delicious.
Amelia is super into spies. So a spy party was a must!
Everyone got disguises--mustaches and sunglasses made them unrecognizable. Throw in a dab for good measure.
Walkie talkies, just what every spy needs!
Amelia wanted to play "pin the mustache on the spy". We also came up with code names and they tried not to explode a bomb cake!
Amelia's favorite color is black. Her favorite animals are chicks and bunnies.
She wants to be a ninja.
Amelia is friendly and kind. She is also very, very fierce. She has never-ending energy.
Amelia adores the Harry Potter series. She has read the entire series 6 times!
I have no idea what they are eating or doing, but they're sure cute doing it!
Look at these cute faces!
Oh, at the beginning of the year, I was asked to be a Cub Scout Den Leader. Dude, I was not thrilled with this opportunity to serve (right during dinner hour, yay). BUT GUYS! I love these eight year olds I get to work with. They are crazy and silly and loud and really fun. We had our Blue and Gold banquet in February and ate cereal and got excited for the coming year. And they Jack took the mountain mural I painted and hung it up in his room
At the end of the month, we had family come into town for Amelia's baptism. Since we'd had such an awesome time at the Butterfly Biosphere the month previous, we dragged Tyler's parents and sister along.
And they loved it! And the kids loved it with them!
This one butterfly loved Tyler's hat--I guess it was a Phillies fan, too? Or it recognized handsomeness when it saw it!
Pop's hat caught a butterfly as well! You aren't supposed to touch or pick up butterflies, but if they land on YOU then you can at least admire them up close and feel like you're sweet.
Cousins are the best!
Rebecca also attracted a butterfly. It blended in really when when it's wings were closed, but they were a vibrant blue when open. Seriously, you feel so special when a butterfly chooses you! Or if you're Henry, you feel really silly...
More posing for pictures where it's warm and humid and butterfly-filled!
We may not have caught butterflies, but we sure caught some cute kiddos!
This seems like a natural place to segue into Amelia's baptism...
Eight is a very big birthday in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints because eight is the age at which a child can be baptized. We want to make sure our kiddos have enough knowledge to choose if they want to be baptized. And Amelia did choose to be baptized when she turned 8.
My awesome friend took her over to the Provo City Center Temple to get some beautiful shots of Amelia in her white dress.
Lucky girl that Amelia is, my awesome friend is her BFF's mama. So they also got some great shots of BFFs.
The big day came and Amelia was so excited! And so ready to make some covenants with the Lord: the keep His commandments and to always remember Him.
Of course, besties get in on the action!
And honestly? They wouldn't be besties if they weren't also super-silly!
We were so grateful for all the friends and family who joined us for Amelia's big day. Grammy and Pop came out from New Jersey, and Grandpa and Grandma Carla came out from Washington. Tyler's sister and family came down from Salt Lake. We LOVE spending time with family and are grateful for every chance to make memories.
That night, it was crazy--because the power went out! Grandpa and Grandma were good sports--they helped keep kiddos calm (Tyler was gone to the temple with our niece in SLC), helped deal with beeping smoke detectors, played piano in the dark, sang songs, and just helped keep everything ok for me and the kids! Definitely a visit when we created some memories!
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