January 16th

I never blogged about January 16th. It was a very special day for out family. First of all, it was Macie's 4th birthday. Here she is at church with Grandpa John that morning.



We also dedicated Ellie at church that morning. Because we attend a Baptist church, we dedicate our babies. We are making a commitment to raise our kids in church and teach them about Jesus so they can come to accept Him as Savior.



It was also they day that Carson was baptized. When Carson was in Kindergarten, he told us that he had asked Jesus into his heart. We have talked to him about his decision a lot. Carson did a class at church for kids who are new believers or who have questions about faith. We were convinced that he was ready. He understand what it means to put your faith in Jesus. He was ready to make the public profession of faith.



I am just going to post a bunch of pictures from the service. We had many people there to support us that day. In addition to our family, the Macdonalds and the Morrows came to church with us. It as also very special to have our long time church family. We really appreciated to families who had moved churches or out of town who came to support us that day.







Our family before the service.





These are from the dedication part of the service. Carson was ready to go upstairs for his baptism. We didn't dress him in a white gown!











I really love the last two of the kids praying. It was such a precious day.

Wii had fun

Yesterday Carson was officially 7 1/2. He is a stickler for dates, so he will not say he is 1/2 until September 8th. In order to celebrate, I thought I would go back and make a post about his birthday back in March.

First this is at school when I took treats for his class. This was also the day before he lost his first tooth!



On his birthday, he had swim team and then baseball practice. We went to eat Mexican between the two. They sang Happy Birthday and brought him dessert.



His birthday party was the next day. He wanted to have a Mario party. So the kids played Wii.



Several of the kids went outside to play. But, these three stuck with the games the entire time.



I made cupcakes. The are suppose to be the mushrooms from the Mario game.



With the candles.



Apparently, at 7, the kids sing really loud. Carson did not love it.



Carson always closes his eyes before he makes a wish and blows out his candles. (And in most of his birthday pictures Connor is standing behind him)



And then blowing out the candles.



He had a fun day even if it takes me 6 months for me to talk about it.

Summer Swim Team

One of our favorite summer activities is our neighborhood swim team. I am so glad that we got it up and running. The kids love it and it is fun for the parents. We all get to meet new people and be part of our community.



Carson moved up to the 8 and under division this summer. Macie also got to participate. They can not officially compete until they turn 5, but she got to practice and swim in a few meets.



Since Carson swam all year, he got off to a good start. He got 5 first place ribbons in his first meet. He had to swim butterfly and breast stroke a lot because he knew how to do them. They are not at all his best strokes. As the other kids got use to it, he did not get as many first place finishes. But, he kept improving his time. Every event he swam was in the fastest heat. Even though he did not get a lot of first place finishes, he would have if he had been swimming in all of the other heats!



Back stroke is his favorite. We think if he continues to swim he will be really good at it. Right now, he is a lot smaller than the kids he competes against. Many of them outweigh him by 25 pounds!



Carson finished out the year at the district swim meet. At this point we just had to sign him up and pick his events. He did the 25 free style and 25 back. He placed 6th in back stroke out of 20. We were really proud of him.



Macie liked to pretend that she could not swim. She had several of out young coaches convinced she needed help getting across the pool. Her first meet was a little rough.



She thought she was only swimming back stroke. But, when we got the meet they had found a lane for her and put her in free style. The only problem was she was swimming against the boys. She was not having anything to do with being on the boys team!



They ended up adding a heat of girls. I moved her into that heat. But, the damage was done! She was crying and saying she did not want to do it. I of course made her. She got across with a little help from a coach.



When it was time for back stroke, she did great. Of course, I was on the other end of the pool holding a nerds rope. I promised her she could have it when she finished the race!



The rest of the season she never had a problem. Our biggest concern was she was not placing 6th. She really wanted the pink ribbon. But, you have to finish last to get it! (She was not swimming in the fast heats) The very last meet she was put in a relay with all 4 year old girls. She was very excited that her team finished last and she got her pink ribbon!



I think the kids would tell you the best thing about swim team is hanging out with friends and eating a lot of junk. Really what more could a kid want?



We finished the season 4-1 or 5-0. We lost the last meet by one point. But, there was a question about one kid (who happen to be swimming against Carson). He should have been disqualified but was not when counting the points. So, they went back and looked at it and gave us the win. We now get to move up a division next summer. We will be there swimming as fast as we can!

(The pictures are just randomly placed. If I ever want to get caught up, I have to make it easy on myself!)

Way Behind!

This picture was taken on July 26th. I went in to check in Macie before I went to bed and found her asleep in her Santa hat. She is such a silly girl! The books beside her head are always there. She loves to fall asleep "reading." Jeff says she is just like her mommy.

The picture also shows how far behind I am on blogging. I really want this to be my scrap book, but I am failing. I am going to try to go back and update on everything that has been happening.