Great to be 8

This past week Skyler turned 8 years old(I know, I still can't believe it either). Turning 8 is a big birthday in our religion, so we wanted to try and make sure Skyler remembered turning 8. We decided to give her a gift or two for 8 days leading up to her birthday (kind of like her own little Hanukkah). Here's a recap:

Day 1

Skyler got a High School Musical golf cart and Sharpay Evans doll.

She then performed in her class play as a swallow.

Day 2

She got some flamingo eating utensils and a pink recycle bag.

Day 3

She had been asking for new roller skates for a while, so we upgraded her to roller blades.

Day 4

Sara gave Skyler a Willow Tree keepsake box. As a special treat, Sara also spoke in church that day.

Day 5

She opened up a couple more High School Musical dolls and High School Musical 3.

It was the last week of school and the kids were getting out early, so we decided to take advantage of our last two days before being blocked out from Disneyland. Surprisingly, Bodie wasn't affected by the giant, blue monster that was standing right by him. He even waved goodbye to him.

The plan was to go to California Adventure one day and then to Disneyland the next. It was as crowded as we have seen it, and we didn't get on to many rides.

But the kids were still satisfied.

Day 6

We gave Skyler the crappiest pool that ever existed. I can say that, because we have already returned it. You'll notice the picture on the box. You would expect the pool to resemble what is shown in the picture. Not so much. In fact, after blowing it up by mouth and getting major balloon cheeks Bodie barely fit in it. I was so irritated that I didn't bother fully deflating it before bringing it back to Target. They took it back without even asking any questions. I was very satisfied with that, so no need for a boycott.

As planned, we went to Disneyland. When we got to the parking structure there was quite a bit of traffic. We expected it to be majorly crowded again. In fact, we were told more than once that Disneyland was closed. Sara asked what we were going to do if they didn't let us in. I told her that we were getting into Disneyland and that she need not worry. Sure enough, we walked right in to Disneyland. It actually wasn't nearly as crowded as they were making it seem. The kids got on a bunch of rides and we all had a good time.

Day 7

Skyler got a huge Fancy Nancy sticker book and some nail polish.

Day 8 Happy Birthday Skyler!

She started off the day with our family tradition of birthday donuts.

Then she got some doll that she has been wanting that drinks bottles and gets wet diapers. It is what she wanted most.

It was the last day of school, and we had a few of her classmates over for a small celebration.

They did crafts, hit Hannah Montana with a bat (the pinata version that is), sang songs and did other things that girls do.

Warning: If you ever get this look from Maddie, step away slowly. She is not scared of anything, and you don't want to get her angry. In this picture she is contemplating whether or not to fight a girl 10 times her size over the seat she wanted to sit in.

Skyler had a good time.

This is the look you want to see on Maddie's face.

The girls all wanted to eat Hannah Montana's face.

She got some pretty good gifts.

We finished off the day with the dinner of her choice. She chose Panda Express. I still don't understand why they call it that, if I can't order panda.

The reason that turning 8 is such a big deal is that you are then old enough to get baptized. Skyler had been looking forward to this day for quite a while.

She even got a new dress out of the deal.

When I was a missionary I would tell people after they had made the decision to get baptized that it wouldn't be a smooth road getting to their baptism day. Satan knows what is going on and he is going to try and throw a few monkey wrench's into the system. And Heavenly Father is going to let us be tested. So, it wasn't too surprising when things didn't go exactly as planned the closer we got to her baptism day. The baptism was planned for Saturday. On Friday Sara got very ill and spent the day in bed. I ended up needing to change the brakes on my car and it seemed like there was still so much to get done before the baptism. Friday was also the day that I wasted time blowing up that horrible pool. On Saturday morning I went to the church, vacuumed and dusted, set up a ton of chairs, cleaned the baptismal font, and set up everything at the church for the baptism. Sara felt better and was able to get the other stuff taken care of. Everything fell into place and we got things done just in time.
I had baptized quite a few people before, but I have never been as nervous as I was with Skyler. It had been a while, and I hadn't performed a baptism as important as this one. In my nervous state I guess I rushed it and didn't give the little kids time to come up and watch. But, I didn't have to dunk Skyler more than once. So, that was good. We have made it a point to tape record important ordinances and planned on recording the confirmation. I had the tape recorder in my pocket and all I had to do was hit record before getting up. Apparently, that was too difficult of a task for me. I realized what I had done immediately after finishing the confirmation. When I get my flux capacitor repaired, I will go back and hit record. Everyone else did a fantastic job.

Our whole family decided to attend.

We had quite a few people involved in the confirmation.

Both of Skyler's grandmother's gave prayers.

Her cousin gave one of the talks. My brother, Kyle, gave the other talk. My cousin, Sara(h), also sang a wonderful song. All in all, it was a great day. I have learned that the first-born is the one who we sort of figure stuff out with. The kids that follow benefit from the mistakes we make with the first. So, I imagine that I will do a better job with Geronimo.

We were even in a good enough mood to allow Dodger fans to attend. Thanks to everyone who came and helped out. It made it a very memorable day for Skyler.