Lots to say

On Saturday, we were able to have lots of family around for Emma's baptism. It was such a wonderful experience. She was so excited! I wish I could post pictures, but the film isn't developed yet. She spent a lot of time in the months previous thinking about what it means to be baptized. She struggled with the idea that maybe she wasn't good enough. We taught her that the Lord doesn't expect us to be perfect. We just have to do our best to make the right decisions, and He will bless us. We can repent when we make a mistake, and the Lord will forgive us. She understands the principles that are associated with baptism. The other kids were also very excited for Emma, and happy to see her take these important steps. It was really a special experience.

Anna is planning for her future. She has planned her wedding. She doesn't know who she will marry, since she now thinks that MacGyver will be too old for her. But she does know that her dress will look like Cinderella's ball gown, and Granny will make it. She wants Granny to make it now and save it for her. She and I will go shopping for high heels, and Aunt Cami will make the cake. We had to email Cami and ask her to put us in the calendar. Cami was kind enough to send back samples of wedding cakes for Anna to choose from. Anna decided that this is her favorite.

Ryan keeps us laughing with his knock-knock jokes. He does it all himself, so we don't have to answer. He uses a weird voice to ask the questions, and his normal voice to answer. Some of our favorites:

(This one was told after Megan called us. ) "Knock, knock. Who's there? Megan. Megan who? Megan Woooooooooods!"

Yeah, it doesn't seem that funny unless you get his funny voices along with it. Ryan also loves soccer. Every week at the game, he is disappointed that he can't play on the field with the big kids. But, he seems to handle it well when after the game he exclaims, "That was a really awesome game I played!" or "I winned!"

Tyler has come to love a couple of different shows on TV. One of them is The Biggest Loser. I got into this show to help motivate me to lose weight. I didn't expect the kids to love it so much. Tyler knows all of the contestants, even ones who were voted off in the beginning. He finds the challenges fascinating, and plans his Tuesdays around the show. He has invented a game that he calls (big surprise) "The Biggest Loser Game." They go down to his room and do different games for exercise. They do pull-ups on the bunkbeds. They take turns "encouraging" each other like the trainers on the show.

The other show he loves is Food Network's Challenge "Last Cake Standing." He thinks it is amazing what people can create with cakes. He began designing and drawing out his own cakes. They are really quite remarkable. Now if he can create it with cake and fondant. . .

Sophie is 8 months old! I can't believe how fast time flies. She is still a baby, though. She loves to be held, and I love the way she reaches out for me when I come near. She loves books and baby dolls and her tongue. She twists her tongue around in her mouth, and chews it, and sticks it out when she's happy. I love it when she sticks it out to the side of her mouth. She is a social baby. She loves to see other babies and reaches out to them as well. She smiles at them and holds their hands and pats their heads. Sophie has also become quite loud. She loves to sing when she hears music, she shouts when she's happy, and jabbers when she's content. She still doesn't crawl or even roll around much. She likes to be sitting up where she can see all that's going on around her. I know she's a little slow to get mobile, but it makes it easy to keep track of her.

Well, there's an update on the kids for ya'll. Hopefully soon I'll have more pictures to post. I love pictures. I would really like a digital camera.