It's Great to Be 8 !!

Olivia Madeline
8 years old

Olivia turned 8 years old on Friday. Her birthday celebration began a little earlier in the week. She invited 5 friends over for a sleep over. The girls each created their own personal pizza, we baked cookies, had cake & ice cream, presents, watched a movie and were asleep by 11:40 PM. One friend felt a little homesick, so at midnight, she called home. In the morning, David made chocolate chip pancakes and then the girls did a little more baking (chocolate dipped pretzels). They played and laughed and really had a good time together. The boys did a good job being the "pesky little brothers", but overall it went well. I was very impressed with how well the girls all got along. It was a great party.

On Friday, she had the traditional birthday breakfast in bed and then we celebrated at home with our family and my parents. We had a steak dinner and more chocolate cake! Olivia opened the many cards she received, as well as some gifts. She got a new bike, a new yellow lab webkinz (she of course named Sophie), an easy bake oven and some boots that she hasn't really taken off yet. She couldn't wait to ride her new bike, so she bundled up and went out in the dark to try it out. It's a good thing we live in a court. She loved when the boys went to bed and she got to stay up a little later to play some Uno with her dad. It was a very nice birthday evening together.

So pretty in her baptism dress. David's dad (Papa) took some wonderful pictures of Olivia a few weeks before her baptism. These pictures are very special to us.

Dressed in the baptism jumpsuit...ready for her daddy to baptize her.

Saturday, was her special baptism day. It was a very special experience. She had invited lots of family to participate in the program (including a special song performed by her brothers, Hannah, Sydney & Kendall). Grammy & Papa shared very thoughtful words about baptism and the Holy Ghost. The spirit was very easily felt by all of us. I know that Olivia will remember this day with lots of love in her heart because of the efforts by everyone that participated in the program and who came to support her. One of the thoughts that continually ran through my mind during that great day was how blessed we are to have so much love and support shown to us by so many people. Truly a blessing.

Mommy & Livie right before her baptism program began.

This photo was taken after the baptism. Olivia had been so excited to wear her special white dress. She looked absolutely beautiful. David looked awfully handsome too.

Olivia picked out a chocolate cake with all white frosting for her special baptism day. After her baptism, we enjoyed cake together in the cultural hall.

Group shot of most of the kids! They were all so sweet and happy for Livie. I am so proud of Olivia and the example she sets for all these kids.

Livie & her brothers!

Nelson Family photo with our 8 year old daughter!

Here is Olivia opening cards and gifts that family & friends had brought for her. She received some very special things (scriptures, scripture bag, bracelets, bookmarks, journal, baptism keepsake book, stickers, pens & highlighters).

After a quick clean-up at the church, family joined up back at our house for some pizza, salad, and more visiting. It was really fun getting to spend some more time together. Mark & Becky, Steven, Bill & Helen all headed back to R.P. Thanks you guys for traveling and sharing this day with Olivia. It really meant a lot to her and to us.

Student of the Month

Olivia was selected as "Student of the Month" for February for being a good problem solver and for good decision making. We are proud of her. She went up in front of the whole school to receive her award. There have been times when she hasn't felt comfortable in front of audiences, but she did it without any problems! Way to go Olivia! Keep up the great work!!

Wet & Wild!

It was raining & pouring at our house Monday after school. It was raining so hard...we just had to go outside and enjoy it. Looking back, I have no idea why I had my kids get jackets and boots on. It would have made much more sense to put on swimsuits and flip flops! They got soaked and absolutely loved every minute of it! Derek and I watched from the dry garage. As I took pictures of the little wet maniacs, I felt grateful for this silly moment they were having together. I am grateful I get to be home with my kids and experience moments like this (even though there are days I don't feel so grateful for the opportunity).

Matty and Nathan just getting started out in the rainstorm.


Nathan loved splashing in the puddles with his new fireman rain boots and matching umbrella!

SPLISH, SPLASH!
Yes, Matty is using the princess umbrella (his BOY umbrella broke weeks ago)

They were trying to see who could make the biggest splash!

All wet and totally worth it!

(of course when we were finished, one of the kids...guess who...didn't take his clothes off in the garage and decided it was a good idea to walk through the house... leaving a small river in my hallway and living room!)

Girls' Night at the Movies!

Olivia and I had the chance to go and see "High School Musical 3" tonight. We have been looking forward to this for a couple of weeks. Tomorrow is a day off from school, so we planned a date. We got to go with some pretty great friends too! Sean & Lisa and two of their girls (Hannah & Sydney) picked us up and we all headed to the Lodi theater. The boys in my family went together in August to see "The Clone Wars" (Star Wars movie), so tonight was the girls' turn. Sean is the daddy of 3 super cute girls, and he was great about coming with us to this movie. Olivia and I enjoy getting to spend time together doing "girl things". I really like it when I get to spend one on one time with my kids. I know they really like it too. We were moving our feet to the music tonight and predicting what would happen to the different characters throughout the movie. We enjoyed it and had a fun time being girls! When the movie was over, Olivia, Hannah & Sydney danced around to the music underneath the giant movie screen...it was really cute. I am thankful Livie has these surrogate sisters to do fun and crazy things with. Good times!