BAPTISM

Poor Janey's tummy was pretty upset, she was so nervous.  But they both did beautifully!

Jason suggested in the morning of the baptism that we try to relax.  We wanted the day to be fun and happy.  It was an emotional wonderful day.  Jason gave a talk on baptism that made me tear up and I got to do a spotlight on the girls.  Here are some of the things I said:

Elizabeth Marilynn:  Is named after my grandmothers.  She is very dependable and has a silly giggle that gets others laughing.  She is good at the wii and can beat anyone in bowling.  She loves to ride her bike, make books, and play with friends.  She is a good singer, is super smart, takes good care of Janey, and is good at art.

Jane Catherine:  Is named after my aunt and her grandma.  Jane used to entertain us all with the funny things she would say.  She now is very creative at making up stories and likes to write them down.  She is turning into a bookworm, to my delight, and likes to read anything that is a chapter book.  She is very empathetic and sensitive to others needs and feelings.

Their dad confirmed them after the blessing.  In the circle were:  both Grandpas, Richard, Ron, David T, and James,and Great Grandp T.  We were so grateful to all who made an effort to be there!

Don't mind Natalie's hair.  That's what it looks like if I leave it alone.  Obviously, her hair was WAY down on the priority list that morning.

I was so glad that Jason took these snapshots of all the kids before we left.  And yes, that is our newly tilled backyard behind the kids.

Jane and Liz spent a lot of time later in the day writing their feelings and experiences down in their new journals (thanks Ron and Kristen!) They enjoyed that more birthday gifts were brought and LOVED having so many of their favorite people in the same place. We are SO PROUD of them and what beautiful girls -inside and out-they are becoming.

*This post dedicated to KEWS CAMERA.  Thank you, Thank you, THANK YOU for having great customer service, staying open late so I could still pick up my camera, and getting it done early so that I could have it for the baptism.  There would be no pictures with out your expertise and incredible attitudes.

IT'S GREAT TO BE 8

 Jane and Liz are 8!  We have LOVED having each of them a part of our family.  They are both such good examples and take good care of each other.  I can't believe how much they have matured this year.  I have really enjoyed having them at home with me so I could watch their progress in school and in spiritual things.

 We had a really fun day which started off with a scavenger hunt in the morning.  Jason and I hid their presents all around the house with clues.  The girls had fun running around screaming as they found each new package.  (I made the mistake of hiding one in the drawer where the wii remotes and games go.  They found that one before they should have.)  Daddy was able to stay a little late that morning and have breakfast with us.  Then we pulled out the video we took of the girls when they were newborns in the hospital.  There's about an hour of footage and I couldn't stop watching it, even though I got a serious headache and nauseous stomach from the moving camera.  They were such pretty little babies!  We always enjoy pulling out the video on their birthday. 

Grandma Tregaskis came over and took the girls to lunch.  When they got home, they decided to play with friends for a few hours.  We then packed everyone up (after a traditional birthday meltdown accompanied by our two toddlers screaming accompaniments-this particular meltdown was because of birthday cake) and headed to the BYU games center for bowling. 

The first 5 frames were perfect family bliss.  Seriously, you could have taken a snapshot at any moment and gone, "Awwwww.  How SWEET.  Aren't they just perfect?"  Then, they ran around the center pretending to play the arcade games.  We called them as their turns came up.  By the ninth frame, however, the golden moments were completely gone.  Eli was hungry and MAD.  He had a HOLE IN HIS SOCK.  And he wanted to shoot the guns in an arcade game that some guy was playing.  Time to go.

I took the first four who were done out to the car but had to wait for Jason because he had the keys.  Lige screamed the entire 5 minutes that we waited. All the BYU students looked at the kids with pity and at me with confusion.  I was very happy to see Jason coming down those steps with the key.  Inside the car we had a binky and MOVIES.   On the way home we stopped for a birthday cake from Harmons and pizza.  It was a glorious day.  More on why I love my girls SO MUCH in their baptism post.

Natalie loves bowling.

Birthday girl.

NOTHER one birthday girl.

Right after this picture he fist pumped and yelled "I got a STRIKE!"

Someone eat me please.

The rule was to stay behind the silver line if it wasn't your turn to bowl.

Sweet sisters

I think the girls were trying to get one of each color of balls.

The winner.  (But I must say that Jas and I shared our turns with Natalie and Eli.  We'll see you in the rematch, Ben)

Waiting for Daddy and Ben to finish their games.  While I took this, several co-eds walked by and seemed horrified that I was completely ignoring the screaming baby sitting next to the 3 kids in the photo.  One even stopped and asked if I wanted her to take a picture so we could ALL be in it.  I already got one of the crying kid, thanks.   See:

No one likes to leave the BYU games center. 

Our hero!