Noah's big day finally arrived! After years of waiting, months of preparing, weeks of baptism class with Mom and Dad, and an interview with the bishop, Noah was ready to be baptized on his 8th birthday!
He has watched his brother and sisters go through this, and he knew exactly what he wanted- "8 is Great" baptism donuts!
Between that and a hope for warm water, he was calm and ready for his big day. Look at that happy, excited birthday boy!
Look at that sweet smile!
With the support of all of his siblings!
Everyone was excited for Noah's big day.
Adam bravely gave the talk on baptism and the 3 bears, Grammy Q (who was able to join us in person!) gave the talk on the Holy Ghost, and Leah, Emma and I performed a Baptism/When I Am Baptized duet. Emma, who has only had a cello in her hands for a month now, totally rocked it!
Grandma and Grandpa were there too- thanks to technology! It wasn't exactly the same as having them here to hug and celebrate with us, but still so sweet to hear their voices and see their faces and share this day with them.
Bishop Davis conducted the baptism, the open prayer was offered by Noah's Primary teacher, the closing prayer by our ministering brother, the piano played by the sweetest sister missionary and the music conducted by our 5th cousin and friend Sister Gale. She had as hard a time as I did when Noah wiped a few tears from his eyes during the closing song- he assured me that he was just yawning. The blessing that Daddy gave Noah was sweet and the spirit there was strong. It was such a wonderful day!
Plus- donuts!
We were surrounded by friends and family and felt the love and importance of this special day! Noah is ready to be a committed member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints!
Noah's birthday celebration was a fantastic one!! First up- breakfast in bed with his favorite- quiche!
It's official- Noah is "accutable"- 8 years old means you are officially in charge of cutting up your own food.
Noah's birthday was on a Saturday, and that means he was baptized on his birthday! But that will be a post of it's own- this post is all about the partying, and boy was there a lot of it! In addition to our epic trip to the Mall of America, Noah had a birthday party with some of of his favorite new friends.
He went with a Minecraft theme, (who am I as a mother anymore, I don't even know. Adam will tell you that that wouldn't have even been an option for any of his birthdays), which required a quick learning curve for me but turned out so fun!
We just had to wait for the friends to arrive...
And when they did it was a blast! There was running around the yard, jumping on the trampoline, mine crafting, and lots of treats!
It was an epic party- Noah is growing into his own awesome person and it was so fun to celebrate him! But the fun didn't stop there- we had to go out for our traditional birth-date with Mom and Dad on his birthday. He chose The Chicken, but first, some birthday pictures!
Ooh I just love this little buddy so much!
Then off to dinner!
Noah couldn't decide between the hamburger and the grilled cheese sandwich- ha!
The Chicken is a super loud sports bar, so it surprised me that he wanted to go here- he doesn't usually like loud sounds. It made for a slightly less than ideal place to have our traditional birthday conversation about bodies and babies, but we still had a good talk and started the first of many conversations that the kids have all started to slightly dread as part of their birthday dinner date with Mom and Dad.
And back at home, Noah received another birthday surprise from our sweet neighbors- he had a weekend full of fun and games and lots and lots of Legos!
And a much needed upgrade for his favorite DogMan shirt from Grandma-
That's better!
Holy smokes it's hard to believe that our little buddy boo is 8! Noah is absolutely the baby of the family- sometimes the big kids get assignments and Noah's assignment is just to 'be cute', which he does so well. He's always up for a snuggle, still gets into our bed far too often- the current deal is that he can get in once a week and boy was he delighted when he recently realized that he could do a Saturday night and a Sunday night back to back.
He is in a science club and loves it, except that everyone doesn't seem to want to be there as much as he does. He's doing great in second grade, although his teacher often punishes the whole class for things he didn't do, and that hurts his justice loving heart. He's ready to take on some harder studies too- he didn't even learn division last year! He loves reading, loves Legos, and loves his brother, his pup, and brushing his sisters' hair during scriptures every night.
He has mastered riding his bike and would probably love to live back in Ankeny where we had sidewalks and a quick route to school that he could ride on. He loves riding the bus though, and is (almost) always happy to get up and going to school in the mornings.
He has a natural talent at the piano, which makes listening to his practice delightful, and he has created an entire book's worth of origami characters that he stores in boxes in his room.
His favorite school friend is Jack, he always wants to play with our neighbor Diego, and, like the rest of us, he melts at the cuteness that is Laney, although he doesn't like when she jumps onto his bed and tramples and licks all over him in the morning.
He also was not happy about this little treat she left in his room after a long day home alone- but I sure do love hearing his voice and seeing his face!
He is reading the Book of Mormon by himself every night, followed by plenty of Origami Yoda or Jedi Academy.
Noah is just as sweet and sensitive as ever, tearing up when he hears about the injustices of the world and offering lots of hugs and kisses and "I love you, Mommy" whenever we part. He has a quick smile and a kind heart, is a sweet friend, a funny boy, and the best little brother and baby that this family could ask for!
We are trying to keep up with our goal of attending the temple every month- a task that has become slightly more difficult because our temple is closing for the next two months!
But Leah, Adam and I were able to squeeze into the Winter Quarters Temple the day before they closed. It required a quick exit from school and a long 4 hours in the car (there and back), but we made it!
And, like always, it was beautiful, peaceful, wonderful.
Until we get our temple in Des Moines, we will be happy to make the trip to whichever temple we can as often as we can!
(And of course we stopped by Zestos on the way home- burgers and fries and ice cream are just part of the deal, espeically when you're an always hungry and always growing 12-year-old boy!)
Another fungus found in the woods- 
we found this one while the young women from 2 wards in our stake were camping out in the backyard- 
