I Can't Wait Until I'm Eight....

For Then I'll Be Baptized You See!

Hunter has been looking forward to his eighth birthday for quite awhile...years actually!

I think ever since Kiersten got baptized he has really been counting down the birthdays til he was eight! I made some invitations and Hunter got dressed up in his new black suit and hand delivered most of the invitations to family and friends. Even doing this was exciting to him he said. I really love this picture....... my two sweet hearts! I tell you what Hunter is going to make a phenomenal missionary one day. And he actually does a great job right now. He asks his Grampie Boswell many times why he doesn't go to church and tells him that Jesus still loves him! Hunter is a good example to us! There were quite a number of non member friends that Hunter wanted to take invitations to. He had no hesitation inviting the non members.......I could learn a lesson from that! Isn't he handsome! We love having the temple here just minutes away! What a great blessing this is!

This was the covers I designed for Hunter's Baptism Programs.

We were all so happy and excited for Hunter's special day!

No one could have wiped the smile off of Hunter's face....

Hunter was able to be baptized on his actual birthday, September 3rd, 2011.

Not very many people have that chance and it just added to his excitement.

I was lucky enough to be baptized on my birthday and it's kind of cool to know that you know the exact date you were baptized. Kinda fun!

The baptism services were great. It was a beautiful program with such a sweet spirit.

Some of the people who participated were:

Grampie Cluff giving the Baptism Talk

Uncle Chris Brogan giving the Talk on the Holy Ghost

Of course Justin was able to baptize and confirm Hunter

Kiersten played a beautiful solo on her violin of "When I Am Baptized"

She did a wonderful job!!!

We also played a nice video of Hunter's life, made by our friend, Terry Williams. I always think it's nice to have something for everyone to watch while you wait for the two baptism participants to change.

Grandma Boswell and Uncle Quincy said the prayers. Uncle Quincy's prayer really made me get choked up because he was getting choked up. It was the sweetest thing!

Uncle Brad and Uncle Chris were the witnesses

Friends and Family that attended were:

Grandpa and Grandma Boswell

Brad and Cheryl Boswell

Quincy, Gloria, Avry, & Lola Boswell

Grampie Cluff, Gramie Cluff & Spencer

Chris, Melissa & Tyler Brogan

Dustin, Amy, Jacob, Katelynn, Ashley, Jacob, Jordon & Erin Curtis

Matthew, Kristen, Maliya & Maddie Player

Mrs. Kim Skinner

Steph, Jeremy, Aiden, & Katie Bingham

Stacy, Kaden, Kendall & Brinner Moore

Jason, Tressie, Chase, Maranda, Ashley and Melanie Smith

Calvin James (Our favorite Lifeguard)

Mary, Josh & Ryan Biggs

Wendy, Shelby, Tasia, Hallie, Ryker & Carsyn Shupe

Sister Bryce, Hunter's Primary Teacher

Brother Nelson & family

Bishop Beus and Sister Bues

The Larson's, the sweet couple that organizes the baptisms in our ward

Our good friend Mac Pryor

It was a wonderful service and we are so proud of Hunter. We are grateful he made the decision to be baptized and follow the teachings of Jesus. Hunter is an amazing kid and will make an outstanding Man some day.

After the baptism and luncheon was over and we got home I had Hunter go in my room where it was nice and quiet. I wanted him to record how he felt after being baptized. This is from his new journal that his Gramie Cluff gave him during her wonderful talk.

It says, "When I got Baptized I felt pure righteousness. I could feel the Holy Ghost. It was Awesome."

Following the baptism we had a family luncheon in Casa's banquet room. Our tradition is to have a small luncheon at one of our favorite restaurants for just our families following our kids baptism. It might not be as intimate or as easy to visit with everyone compared to a luncheon at our house but it sure simplifies the baptism day for me. It relieves me of the stress of making food, putting on a huge gathering, games, keeping all the kids busy, and any clean up! :) It also helps put the main focus on the baptism itself for our kids and not on the party that follows. We usually just all "go Dutch" and everyone pays for thier own dinner and we treat them to a yummy dessert, so it's even cheap and everyone loves an excuse to eat out....LOL! Not that there is a right way to do things like this BY ANY MEANS, but I am grateful for the traditions we have started in our little family.

Hunter said while we were changing out of our church clothes, following his baptism,

"Mom I wish I could turn eight EVERY YEAR!!!"

Hunter was thrilled to have the ladies at Casa sing to him.

And the Fried Ice Cream and picking a gift from the Casa bag didn't hurt either!

We had delicious cupcakes that my friend Krista Hancock made. They were so good and had yummy fillings and everything! She is the best!

Hunter did get some presents from Grammies and of course his mom and dad.

Looks like he has lots of Legos to start putting together!

Congratulations Hunter on finally turning eight and for making the decision to be

BAPTIZED!

Flagstaff with the Chicago Gang

The last weekend that the Hoyt cousins were here we decided to rent a house in Flagstaff.

We ended up renting it for 4 night because that was the minimum stay. Which meant that we had the house starting Wednesday night. I did not want to just waste a night even though our kids had school on Thursday........plus it was just the first week of school how much can they be learning yet right. And on top of the Hunter had been missing the whole week anyway so I decide playing hookie was just what we needed!

Marla had other obligations on Wednesday so she couldn't leave then and of course Justin couldn't get away that soon.

Sooooo me being the CRAZY person that I am......decided to take my 4 kids plus 3 of Marla's with me in the Yukon and make the trip to Flagstaff! Yeap that's right me and 7 kids........CRAZY!

I checked Logan and Kiersten out of school a little early to get a head start on the long trip.

You will never believe it but I promise this is the absolute truth.........we only stopped ONCE yes you read that right....ONE time! Me and 7 kids for a 6 1/2 hour trip stopped ONCE!! We stopped in Anthem to eat dinner. The kids had traveled so good for me I found a Chick-a-fila for them and let them have a good hour of play time. We made it the rest of the way without a glitch.........it was amazing to say the least!

Marla made it up late Thursday night. Then Justin and Rieley made it up late afternoon on Friday. The main reason we went up there was to ride quads and dirtbikes at the Cinders, outside of Flagstaff. We didn't do that until Saturday and Troy made it up about mid-day Saturday.

These pictures are in no particular order so bare with me!

Mr. Grant grew impatient waiting for me to get him a yogurt so he found out he could get one himself. And he knows better then anyone that hands work better then a fork any day! Logie Bear riding at the Cinders...........he was a little bummed that we didn't get his quad fixed in time but he does good on the 80. Troy's friend Warren came up Saturday when we went to the Cinders. He is always so nice to give the kids rides...........he is a CRAZY driver and the kids LOVE IT!

Rieley taking Kiersten on a fun razor ride. The kids love the new razor!

See Rieley way up at the top?

That's where we found the Geocach.

Mr. Grant was very happy with his Geocach find............the kids picked out a yo-yo for him!

Carson actually did good this year and could ride the quad all on his own.

He just had a great time! He wasn't too fond of taking turns though!

Aubrey and Kiersten were so nice to let Mr. Grant tag along on one of their rides.

He was in heaven!

This is Rieley's new ride!

He won't be sixteen til November and he already has a jeep............spoiled!!

My dad found it and it was just what Troy and Rileley wanted. So my dad fixed it up and got it painted just in time for them to drive it back to Chicago.

Good luck!

Marla and Me

I just love my sister so much! I hate that she lives so far away. So anytime we get to see each other is just a treasure to me! We had so much fun in Flagstaff!

Love you Marla!

It was great to have Rieley here this summer working for Justin. He was such a hard working and we had so much fun with him here. Justin even had him come hoe my weeds, or trees, as Rieley called them, one day. Man was I excited about that..........so was Justin I think!

Garrett is such a fun boy!

All the little boys had fun pushing the trucks down the trailer ramp. Then the bigger boys started riding down in the dump trucks. They just had so much fun!

Justin and Hunter going on a ride together.

Hunter just treasures any time he gets to spend with his dad. I know Justin feels the same way about Hunter! It is so nice to have a family hobby that everyone enjoys and can participate in. Me, Hunter and Kiersten enjoyed a ride together. I just love spending time out riding with my kids! Mr. Grant thought he was coming with us and boy was he made when he found out otherwise!

Aubrey, Me, and Kiersten

Nothing like taking a girls ride!

Hunter and his dad

Hunter showing off his coolness!

I just love Aubrey. I am pretty sure Kiersten and I both wish she lived with us!

She has the funniest sense of humor and man does she do a awesome India Indian impersonation! So hilarious!

Such good cousins!

Logan and Nolan

Mr. Grant loves going for rides in the Razor. Kiersten was sweet enough to take him on a long ride! The kids all had a wonderful time out riding quads, dirt bikes and the razor. It was great weather most of the weekend. On Sunday when we were getting the quads and bikes all loaded up it had a complete down fall of hard rain. The kids just danced away on the trailer loving the rain. We decided to take cover in the Yukon after getting pretty wet ourselves. But we were meeting a realtor in Show Low so we had to get moving. We ended up soaked to the bone after loading everything up in the rain. It made quite the memory!!!

Hunter really wanted his turn for a "Rieley Ride" in the razor.

While I had all seven kids by myself I decided to take them to Peter Piper Pizza for some fun!

Mr. Grant really spent all his time on this little ride!

Kiersten, Aubrey, Logan and Carson

Hunter had a blast with the coin toss game..........as you can see!

There was a game where you used a claw to get a ball. Well Aubrey taught everyone how to do it, apparently it's not too hard because even the little boys could do it. This just made their day!

Yep.........still there! I bet he sat in this car for a good 45 minutes at least! As long as someone would put a coin in for him he was good. And he didn't get out to talk someone into doing that for him. I am pretty sure even strangers put coins in for him because they thought he was so cute. He LOVED it!

Yes more balls......

Hunter was the top ticket winner!

Look at my group of kids!

I got some funny looks with all seven kids! I felt like saying I am a foster mom or something........LOL!

Notice ALL the plastic balls the kids won. It was crazy getting all those to the car.......they would drop some every few steps. It was comical to say the least! The boys of course couldn't just play at the park the had to climb trees. These two wanted to show off their battle wounds.

Get your good glasses on and find Hunter?

Here's the clue.........he is somewhere in the tree.

When Hunter yelled, "Mom Look At ME!!"

And I turned and finally saw where he was I just had to hold my breathe. He didn't want to get down until I had taken a picture so I hurried over and took a picture. Then held my breathe the whole time he was climbing down. Boys just have no fear...........at least mine don't! I love how adventurous they are and boy was I happy when he was down safe!

These two girls were pretty adventurous as well. They talked me into letting them hang out on the roof. They actually read thier scriptures out there so I couldn't argue with that. Having Aubrey around has just been heaven for Kiersten. Even though they are 4 years apart, they have a blast together!

Pretty happy girls!

It was a great trip! We ate good food, went to the movies.....Justin was kind enough to take the little boys (minus Mr. Grant and Garrette....Rieley babysat them at the rental house) to see "The Smurf's." Justin even said it was good. While us girls all went to see "The Help." It was super good and made me cry.

The whole weekend was fun and we made some great memories!

I was just sad to see it end because that meant Marla and her family were headed back to Chicago. I always hate saying goodbye to them!