Zach's Baptism

On Saturday, April 8th, Zach was baptized and confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  It was such a special day for him, and for us, and I'm so thankful for the many people who supported him and made it so memorable. 

I sent these announcements out to family and friends before the baptism, and Zach passed some out at school to his friends and teacher. 

We organized his program to involve as many family members as possible, and Zach picked his favorite Primary songs to sing-- Army of Helaman is his favorite. 

Here he is, looking pretty cute in his white jumpsuit with Dad. 

He was supposed to be baptized along with two other boys from the ward, but that particular morning didn't work out with their schedules, so it ended up just being Zach's special day. It was kind of nice to have the focus solely on him, and to get to plan the program ourselves!

Lizzie hogging Taylor's attention while Zach was off doing other things, ha ha. I'm so thankful Taylor could come participate in the baptism, and I know it really meant a lot to Zach to have him there.

Here's the little display table we had as people entered the room, with pictures, the programs, some Kit Kat bars with the 4th Article of Faith attached (not pictured) for the kids to take, and the baptism quilt Grandma Joanie made. 

It's a tradition for my mom to make each of her grandkids a "baptism" quilt, starting with Lucy's. I love it, and it's such a special treasure to help them each remember their baptism day!

Many thanks to Grandma and Grandpa Cardon for being there to support Zach in his choice to be baptized. He loves his grandparents SO much! And thanks to Grandpa for giving such a wonderful talk about the Holy Ghost, and comparing it to a compass that will always keep him straight and true.

The Cardon side. It's so fun living nearby cousins so they can come to these special events too.

Many thanks to Grandma and Grandpa Morris for coming to the baptism! We loved Grandpa's talk about baptism, and how Zach is now on Christ's team with lots of people to support him along the way. He is lucky to have such great grandparents on both sides.

The Morris side

After the baptism we had a big brunch at our house with everyone over. Grandma Joanie made crepes, and we had lots of toppings to fill them with, and we also had granola for yogurt and fruit parfaits, and donuts from Walton's Bakery. I think just about every last morsel got eaten by this crew. Zach is eating the HUGE chocolate bunny he got from our home teacher who also came to the baptism. Mr. Bunny was gone in 24 hours.

Lucy is a good missionary and invited her neighbor friend Colette to the baptism. It's the first church thing Colette has ever been to, and after the special musical number (that Lucy also sang in) Colette was crying, and when Lucy asked why, she said,"it just feels really special in here." Awesome!

Cute Mr. Bud eating some strawberries and chocolate sauce. 

Baby Lizzie chowing down on some donuts and bananas. Yum! It was such a nice morning for everyone involved, and things went as smoothly as can be expected with lots of little kids, and I'm so thankful, and proud of Zach for his decision to be baptized. Congratulations and way to go, Zacho!

April Birthday Boys

Baby Zach, age 6 months

Happiest of birthdays to our AMAZING April birthday boys!! Zach and Jon share back to back April birthdays, on the 6th and 7th respectively, which always makes for a jam-packed, whirlwind couple of days as we help them celebrate being one year older (and wiser too).

This birthday was a big one for Zach-- 8 years old, which is a huge right of passage in our church as it is the age children get baptized and confirmed with the Holy Ghost. Zach has been looking forward to this for months! He woke up early Thursday morning to a table full of presents. Not a bad start to the day! 

He got a new set of scriptures with his name embossed on the front, a huge Hulk lego set, Pokemon cards, and lots of birthday cards, money, and other presents from Grandmas and Grandpas near and far. Lucky boy!

He chose BACON for breakfast, along with a Hershey's chocolate bar, and a side of toaster strudels. Yum! And so healthy too, right? 

He just had 2 weeks off for Spring Break or I'd probably have let him skip school, but second best is getting to be the birthday kid who brings the whole class Krispy Kreme donuts! He was pretty excited to take his birthday treat to school to share. As it worked out, Jon had the morning off and ended up picking him up at about 12 and taking him to lunch at the Cheesecake Factory for a little "mans" date.

That evening, Taylor, Grandma Joanie, and Grandpa Tom Tom flew in to bring the PAR-TAY here to Colorado (and obviously attend the baptism on Saturday)! Zach was so thrilled about Taylor coming. He idolizes him and wouldn't stop talking his ear off throughout his birthday dinner at Maggiano's (or using Taylor's shirt as a napkin to wipe his greasy fingers on, ha ha). 

The waitress brought Zach some cookies to share with everyone, and we got to sing "Happy Birthday" so he could blow out the candles. He is so funny anytime he gets lots of attention put on him-- he tries so hard not to smile, and bites his tongue and cheeks to keep from smiling. He has to look cool, you know.

Zach requested a special Flash birthday cake and I was happy to oblige!

Poor little dude had a swollen eyelid all day for pictures, and we can't figure out where it came from, but thankfully by the baptism it had cleared up.

Eight candles for a special 8th birthday!

Working on putting together his Hulk lego set like a champ. He had it mostly assembled by the time he went to bed that night. I love birthdays, and I love this little guy, and I hope he had an amazing day and felt as special as we think he is! Being the only boy in the family, I'm sure glad we get to have the super hero legos, and basketballs all over the house, and smelly socks, and Wii remote controllers that are never put away, and funny little cartoon drawings in every notebook I own. He is funny and kind and has boundless energy (he'll be perfect for Cub Scouts), and best of all he really does love his sisters, and they love him just as much. One of my favorite things is how he'll come straight home from school and just play with Lizzie so sweetly. We are SO happy to have you in our family Zachoman!!

Baby Zach, 4 months

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Bright and early the next morning it was Jon's turn to celebrate his 35th birthday! Holy smokes, we're getting old.... He had to leave for work by 6:40 a.m., so I made him a yogurt parfait with homemade granola to take with him, and set out his presents on the kitchen table. The one and only thing I could conceivably think of to spend money on (that would be approved by him) would be to get his new truck windows tinted before summer. Woohoo!

We picked him up that afternoon for lunch at Jersey Mike's. Lizzie was sure happy to share a sandwich with her dad! We love any chance we get to meet him for lunch, especially if it's his birthday!  

That night we picked him back up and headed over to Cafe Rio for his birthday dinner, and met everyone there including Jeremy and his kids, Grandma and Grandpa Cardon, and my parents and Taylor. We took up two big tables with all of us!

This picture totally cracks me up. Lizzie just loved Taylor-- and she's throwing some shade at Zach for cramping her style and getting a little too close. They fought for his undivided attention all weekend.

After dinner we headed over to Boondocks because Zach had really wanted to go there with everyone for his birthday. We basically just played arcade games, and Zach just happens to rock at skee ball. Here he is battling Grandpa Tom Tom.

Lucy watching Uncle Taylor get the high score at shooting baskets. Oh yeah!

After games we headed back to the house to have Jon's birthday cake of choice, which is usually cheesecake and strawberries, but he changed it up and picked banana cream pie. There's so many candles on that cake it looks like it's on fire. 

Blowing out the candles (with a little help from Wee Wees). We sure love this guy who works SO hard to provide for our family, is an amazing dad and husband, and keeps things interesting with his jokes and teasing and silly antics with the kids. He is a GREAT example, and we are so proud of him and all he has accomplished!! Happy Birthday Jonathan!!

Now that's the face of one happy April birthday boy!

Daddy and Zachy, October 2009 

The April Birthday Boys!