Baptism

Eleven years ago today, Garth was baptized. Two days ago he baptized our son. Watching my oldest child get baptized was an emotional experience in itself, but having it happen on the anniversary weekend of Garth's baptism made it even more special. It was so neat for me to reflect on how far Garth has come and what an amazing father he is to our four children. Carter was on cloud 9 all day. He was so excited to be baptized and was so ready to do it. He answered people's questions so articulately and really understood what he was choosing to do. At the end he bore his testimony of baptism and the Holy Ghost and I was so proud of him!

I am so pleased with the great example he is being to his younger siblings. They look up to him so much and I know they are looking forward to their turn to be baptized because of his example.
We are so grateful for the support we had from both friends and family. I am grateful for my brothers who drove all the way here to support Carter. I am grateful for the friends and family who don't belong to our church who put aside feelings of awkwardness or discomfort from attending someone else's church and came to show Carter they love him. It was a day I will remember forever. UPDATE: The Sunday after his baptism was fast Sunday. It was also the Sunday Garth and I were in Costa Rica. He went to church with the neighbors and bore his testimony in Sacrament meeting. Since he thought we would've liked to hear it, he wrote it down for me. I was told that the delivery was very sweet and sincere.

He Can't Wait

Until he's eight!

Self-Manager

At the first Laker Assembly for the year, Sydney was awarded a Self-manager award. It was for exemplifying the qualities of a self-manager throughout the month. Notice the name on the certificate (please excuse the crooked picture). Talk about living in your brother's shadow!

Yes, We Can!

Canning is always more fun with a friend. Sure, you end up cutting way more fruit and processing for HOURS, but it is so nice to have someone to talk to while canning 50+ jars of peaches and 40+ jars of pears. My friend Julie swore she would never can. She thought it was too hard and too time consuming. Last year I talked her into doing some fruit with me and guess what? She's hooked. Anyone who cans must have one of these. Okay, I don't actually own a steam canner, I just borrow the one I bought for Ele for Christmas a couple of years ago. Steam canners make the process of canning so much quicker. I can't believe I used to wait for all that water to boil in my old canner.

The Best Part of Fall Skiing. . .

. . .the post ski soak in our new hot tub!

THANKS DAD!

2010 Ski Stats

The boat is out of the canal, it has been cleaned, covered, winterized and is resting til the spring. I thought I'd do a quick summary of the great improvements we made in the water this year.

Sydney:

Actually asked to go skiing a couple of times! She got pretty nervous once she was in the water but said "hit it." Her skis planed and technically she was up but never totally in control.

Carter:

Was the first one to get in the water in May and skied all the way into October. He is not afraid of the cold. He volunteered himself to be part of the rotation every time we were out. He can now put his own skis on and get himself off the platform and into the water without help. From his first time out, he crossed the wake a bunch and was really trying hard.

Halfway through the summer, after watching a lot of slalom skiers, he decided to start letting go. It was so adorable how he would cut out, let go, then really cut back. I was impressed at how much speed he would have crossing the wake. He bit it a few times but was very tough and thought it was really cool when he'd fall hard enough that the zipper on his life jacket would unzip to the buckles.

He also decided he wanted to be the youngest slalom skier in the family. Since I started at age 11, he had plenty of time but he asked Grandpa Doug to bring the "Shark" ski that I learned on.

Look how close he got! His ski started to plane but he kept getting pulled over the front. Maybe Santa will bring him a new ski and he will be the first 8 year old slalom skier in our family!

Garth:

Invited some customers, Scott and Judy out skiing. Check out these cool long boards that Scott makes. He turns old wooden skis into amazing skateboards.

Scott also got his hands on an air chair and decided he and Garth should give it a go. There were moments of shock, hilarity, and pure entertainment watching these two. Garth will not be taking up the air chair any time soon!
Garth also got a new ski this year. He got me a ski to demo and grabbed this one just because. I hated the one I tried (the one that was on major sale), and Garth fell in love with his. We think the 80's graphics are wicked awesome. I must admit that Garth reached a new level of skiing this year. I wish I had pictures, but I was always driving.
Kacey:

Got to ski all summer! No pregnancies, No nursing, nothing to stop me. I enjoyed this summer immensely! My favorite line of the summer was one day at Porcupine bay with my family. I skied one of my best runs ever and I was feeling pretty good about myself when I got in the boat. My brother Bryan said, "You know, if you put on 50 pounds your spray would be a lot more impressive!" I think I'll pass.

It's Officail

One week after I posted about Olivia's limited walking, she really took off. She walks forward, backward, and sideways. She will stop mid walk to pick something up and can even walk with big items in her arms. She will turn in a circle and catch her balance before falling. I'd say she is officially a walker. Does that mean I have to start putting shoes on her when we leave the house?