Wow! What a crazy couple of weeks we've had since December started! We celebrated Lucy's 8th birthday on December 4th with a BANG, when both sets of grandparents flew in from the West coast for her baptism. But we'll get to that in a minute-- first things first:
A happy newly turned 8 year-old girl on her birthday morn, all dressed up and ready for school!
I think she really wanted to stay home from school and play with Grandma and Grandpa Morris who'd flown in super late (or super early depending on the time zone) the day before, but since we'd missed a whole week in October due to Disney World, we decided she'd better go. We sweetened the day up by bringing her lunch from Subway, and her favorite red velvet cupcake from C Cups. She was sure cute to watch interacting with her classmates!
That evening we gathered everyone together for dinner at her favorite place ever-- Olive Garden, and enjoyed catching up with Grandpa Tom Tom who'd been golfing earlier that afternoon.
Cute little birthday girl got pasta and a free piece of cheesecake.
Once we got back home, we had to wait for Jon to get home from Scouts before she could open her presents, and the anticipation was killing her! He finally made it around 7:45 p.m., so she opened her big present of brand new scriptures with her name embossed, and a hot pink scripture case to put them in.
More presents from Grandma and Grandpa Morris-- a pearl necklace and a tithing bank. She was pretty happy with her haul, so it was time to move on to the birthday cupcakes.
She helped me pick a recipe off of Pinterest for some Harry Potter-style Butter Beer cupcakes that were amazing! They were made with cream soda in the batter, and had a butterscotch ganache in the center and some really yummy butterscotch frosting. They tasted just like the liquid stuff we'd had in October!
Lucy really wanted me to decorate them like I'd done Leah's Frozen ones, so we printed off pictures of the whole gang-- Harry, Ron, and Hermione-- and topped each cake with one. It was a birthday treat fit only for a true fan!
Singing Happy Birthday to the Lu!
Oh our Dear Lucy! We love you SOOOOOO much! She is such a special girl, and has so many people that love her. She recently got accepted into the AIG program here (Academically Intelligent and Gifted), so she gets pulled out twice a week to go work with a specialist. They did her her reading assessment, and tested her at an 8th grade reading level. Thank you, Harry Potter!
That night Grandma and Grandpa Cardon took a red-eye from Seattle and arrived early Friday morning. Luckily the kids had a half-day, so while I made Jon, and my mom and dad take my Body Pump class at the gym, they were able to pick the kids up from school. That afternoon the guys went golfing at Foxfire, and my mom and I took Lucy and Zach to go see "Big Hero 6" while Grandma C stayed at home with a sleeping Leah. We met everyone after the movie at Brixx for some delicious pizzas and even better company!
Saturday morning we woke up to cartoons and pancakes, and ran our errands to get ready for Lucy's baptism that afternoon. Grandma and Grandpa Cardon brought Zach two new Star Wars costumes to dress-up with and he had a BLAST playing with them and using Jon's light saber!
My friend Nicole made this darling invitation for Lucy's baptism. Lucy handed it out to all of her teachers at school (K-2nd) and some of her friends as well. Unfortunately none of them could make it, but I was SO proud of her for inviting them.
We made these little goody bags to hand out at the baptism to the kids who came.
Miss Lucy, dressed and ready for her baptism! She looked beautiful and SO grown up.
Lucy with her Grandma and Grandpa Morris, who came from Idaho to be a part of it. So thankful they could make it!
Lucy with Grandma and Grandpa Cardon, who flew in from Washington state. They were only here for 2 1/2 days which felt like the blink of an eye, but we are so very grateful they sacrificed and traveled such a loooong way to be here! Lucy will always remember that her grandparents were here for her North Carolina baptism, and that both Grandpas were able to help confirm her.
For her program, we had Grandpa Cardon give a short talk on Baptism, and then Lucy was baptized. Then Grandma Joanie gave a talk on the Holy Ghost, and Lucy was confirmed. It was such a special baptism because it was just Lucy-- so all the attention got to be focused solely on her. The Joyners, Winkley's, Bassett's, and Lyken's from our ward were able to attend as well. After the baptism we got to go to dinner all together, which was so fun for us to not only have visitors, but to also show Lucy lots of support on such an important decision in her life. It was a really special weekend she will remember forever!
EIGHT THINGS THAT ARE GREAT ABOUT LUCY:
1. Her smile. It lights up a room!
2. She's kind. She treats everyone the way she'd like to be treated.
3. Her passion. From Harry Potter, to crafts, to school, she does it all with gusto!
4. She's helpful. Her younger brother and sister adore her because she'd do anything for them.
5. Those big brown eyes! They've had Jon wrapped around her little finger since birth.
6. She's fun! Lucy's always been our party girl and loves to socialize!
7. She's smart. Just ask her about history, mummies, or science.
8. She has a heart of gold and strives to be like Jesus!
Baby Lucy, 4 days old
