Benson's Baptism

 Today my sweet baby got baptized. I am still in shock that Benson is eight years old, but watching him get baptized today made it more real. 

Benson's baptism was such a sweet experience. Our Bishop, Chris Blankenship and his first counselor, Taylor Bull, both attended, as did our primary president and his primary teacher. In addition to all that support from our ward, multiple friends from church came as well. Not to mention, Uncle Joseph and his family drove over from Texas, Nanny and Papa came over from Mtn. Home and Mimi & Grandpa flew in from Oregon. Then Uncle David, Aunt Michelle, Aunt Laura and the Allreds all were able to zoom in for the baptism. 

Benson had so much love and support and we felt so much love. The Stake RS president I serve with also came and she helped me clean up afterwards. We seriously felt so supported and loved. It was amazing. 

Benson asked Tanner to give the talk on baptism and Tanner did a great job. It was adorable and I was so proud of him. Benson also asked Papa to talk about the Holy Spirit. Papa sat down right in front of Benson and spoke one -on- one with him and it was the sweetest interaction.

Chris performed the actual baptism ordinance and because my sweet Benson asked me, I sang for him. I did ask my friend Jessie Lott to sing with me, because I don't have a strong enough voice to sing alone. Thankfully, Jessie agreed and we sang "My Own Sacred Grove". 

Our bishop also spoke and said some really kind words and then the primary president spoke shortly. It really was such a sweet day and I'm incredibly grateful for some many people who came to share it with us. 

After the baptism we had some refreshments. Benson loves soft pretzels and he asked that we have those after his baptism.. So naturally, I had to theme the refreshment table around baptism and pretzels. The theme was "Like pretzels twisted strong and tight, I'm bound to Christ in truth and light". We had soft pretzels with cheese sauce, "dots pretzels" and fruit cups. My friend Melissa also made the most beautiful cookies. I don't know that I've ever seen more beautiful baptism cookies. They were amazing. 

We had a great time visiting afterwards with everyone while we all ate and enjoyed the food. After everyone had left, we walked over to the temple to take a family picture. Again, I was just so happy to have so much family here to celebrate this day with us.  Happy baptism day little Benson, I hope you always remember this day, what you felt and what the spirit taught you. We sure love you!

Last day of School!

 We just celebrated our last day of school and we are so excited. Every year it feels like it can't come soon enough and this year was no exception. On Friday I had lunch with Benson to celebrate his birthday and then I checked him out of school. This year for his birthday lunch he asked for poke bowl. He enjoyed it so much. Then we decided to go ahead and check Tucker out early too and then we ran across town to pickup Bailey a little early. Tanner was already home because he had already finished his finals, so we decided to celebrate a little early and we all went to Sonic to get yummy drinks.

Then there was no school yesterday because it was memorial day and after our long weekend, we decided we didn't feel like going to our last day of official school so we skipped. 

This was completely fine with me because I hate early mornings and I was more than ready for summer vacation to start. 

I did take the kids last day of school pics. I feel like Tanner grew alot this year. He doesn't think he did, but his jeans from the fall are getting to small, so that seems like a good indicator to me. I just love all these kids. 

So instead of getting kids off to school, I decided to set up a fun end of school party for us. I themed the whole party around the pool and called it "Good-bye School, Hello Pool".  We had a lemonade bar and jell-o cups. It was bright and colorful and it made me so excited for all the summer fun this year. 

So here's to long summer days spent in the sunshine, at the pool and playing outside. I seriously can't wait. Happy Summer everyone!

Benson's Birthday Party

 Today we had an epic birthday party for our favorite Benson boy. I can hardly believe my baby is 8 years old. 

Benson helped me plan this party and we invited 7 little friends to join him in an awesome laser gun battle. We reserved the church gym and decorated it with obstacles and things to hide behind, then we dimmed the lights and let the kids go crazy. And they did go crazy, it was complete chaos but they loved it.  I made each kid a laser tag shirt and Benson helped me put together favor boxes for all his friends. It was pretty fun. 

For the food, Benson asked for a chocolate Bundt cake, root beer floats, white cheddar popcorn, Popsicles and Gatorade. We also had water bottles at everyone's table setting, along with a rock candy sucker. It was all very cute and I love how it turned out. 

Benson had a blast with all his friends. They played endless rounds of laser tag and they were pretty exhausted afterwards. I was grateful all the kids were obliging enough to put the shirts i made on for the party. 

 

 

We did take a break at one point to open presents, eat food and cut the cake and sing to Benson. Everyone enjoyed the cake- it's a favorite at our house, but not as much fun to decorate since it's not frosted. Honestly, Benson isn't a big cake fan, so I was surprised he even wanted cake. But he does like this chocolate Bundt cake.  We love our Benson Boy and we loved getting to celebrate him.