Ethan is 8. Now What?

So Ethan is 8. Along with this big number comes many fun activities!

How about have a Transformers 2 party and invite all your immediate family and still end up with 35 guests!!

Ethan LOVED having all of his local grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins (and his cousins from Arizona TOO! Woo hoo!) over for cake and ice cream and pinata fun.

I found out something new about pinatas. You know those cute ribbons hanging down from the bottom? Well, I guess hitting a pinata is too violent, so the ribbons are designed for kids to pull on and then one lucky person pulls the ribbon that sends all the goodies flying.

We chose the violent option. Come on people!!!!

Everyone took their turn whacking the Tank shaped pinata and then Ethan finished it off! We are so violent! But what fun!!!

A special thanks to everyone who came to celebrate Ethan's birthday. We love you!!

After turning 8, another great thing happens. You get to go to Cub Scouts! Ethan has been talking about going to scouts for a while now. He was so excited to go to his first den meeting. At his first pack meeting, they sang Happy Birthday (Cub Scout style, which is just yelling and screaming) and he got to be in his first skit. He LOVED every minute of it. He is looking forward to going to Cub Country with Spencer in July. I am looking forward to earning yet another Bobcat and Wolf this year, along with my Webelos and Religious Knot. Did I say me? Oh, I mean Spencer and Ethan.

And now the greatest part about turning 8; being able to be baptized. Ethan was baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints on June 27th. It was an AWESOME day.

I asked Ethan immediately following the baptism how it felt and he said, "Mom, it felt really, really good." He was beaming the entire day. We're so proud of Ethan! And a HUGE thanks to all the family and friends who came to support Ethan. Ethan chose the entire program and selected his two Grandma's to give talks; his Aunt Larena to sing a solo; his cousins to sing I am a Child of God; and Uncle Joe and Aunt Brittany to give prayers. Everyone brought TONS of great food for our huge lunch after, so a big thanks! Ethan's Aunt Jaclyn and cousin Abby even made a special trip from Wyoming just to attend. What awesome family and friends we have...thanks!!!

Speaking of Abby...she, Avery and Sadie were so cute at the lunch. Here they are in all their cuteness.

Sadie thought it would be fun to give the little girls wagon rides. SOOOO cute.

After a HUGE lunch, we cleaned up, had a 20 minute power nap, and then it was off to the next big event...that only happens when you turn 8. It's tradition at our house that the day of your baptism you get to dress up and go with Mom and Dad to the Garden Restaurant on the top floor of the Joseph Smith Memorial Building.

Even if you just order fries and a hot dog, it's still really fun.

The view of the temple is unbeatable. Ethan LOVED every minute of the experience.
After eating, we headed downstairs to tour more of the JSMB. We got to go in the "President's Room". This is where oil paintings of every prophet are hanging on the walls. Ethan loved going around the room and reciting all the prophets.

We also got to see an original picture of what the ballroom looked like before they made it into a chapel.

Ethan liked sitting in the super huge chair and making his mom happy by posing for a few pictures. I can always count on Ethan to pose for the camera!

Matt also realized that 165 years earlier on this exact day, marked the martyrdom of Joseph Smith. Another neat reason to be visiting the Joseph Smith Memorial Building today!

After touring the building, we headed outside for some photos on Temple Square.

And then it started to get late, so we headed home. The sunset was amazing. It was the perfect end to a perfect day.