Hayley's Baptism - 4/18/09

Hayley's baptism day was wonderful! Once we arrived at the church, I loved that I was able to sit back, enjoy myself and just soak in the experience. Hayley looked beautiful in the white dress she had chosen. She was so excited to be baptized and had prepared herself for the big day.

She shared her baptism day with Jaren & Sierra from the ward - pictured here with Bishop Hales.

Grandma Lamoreaux gave the talk on the Holy Ghost and all of the children (siblings included) sang the musical number. We were lucky to have so many family members and friends attend! My mom's brother (Uncle John & Aunt Sherri) were visiting from Utah and we were so grateful that they were able to stay an extra day to attend her baptism.

Great Grandpa Foster - sweetest man in the world!
Grandpa & Grandma Foster

Cousin Sandee - Do you think they love each other?

As Hayley was being baptized I had an overwhelming feeling of how important this step is in life. I wish I could just freeze this moment in time - when Hayley is 8 and trying so hard to do what is right. It scares me to think of what lies ahead for her (i.e. junior high and high school). She is still so naive and I wish she could stay this pure and innocent forever. I don't want her to have to experience heartbreak or peer pressure or mean friends or consequences from bad choices. As much as I would love to be able to protect her from all that lies ahead and control her future, I realize that plan is similar to the exact one we fought against in the pre-existence. And if Heavenly Father can trust all of us to make decisions and use our free agency, then I'm going to have to do the same for my children as they grow older - hard as it may be! For now, I'll just learn to appreciate the present and the stage that my children are in right now. I am so blessed to have Hayley as a daughter. She is amazing. When she was about 6 years old, she asked why we called each other Brother & Sister in the church. I explained it was because we are all children of Heavenly Father and we were all brothers and sisters up in heaven. She said, "So you weren't my mom in heaven? You were my sister?" "Yep." "So you and I are really SISTERS?" It blew her mind. I know she was a special spirit before she came to earth and now seems wise beyond her years. She has so much potential and I hope as her mother I can set her on the right course and help her accomplish what she is meant to do here on earth. Great things, I'm sure.

Head Above Water

It's been one of those months. One where you feel like your life is on fast forward and there is no slowing down. One where every day and night is packed with appointments, meetings or activities. Fun things, good things, but busy. I wrote out my to do list the other day and filled up a page in a steno notebook. I was sad to realize I only crossed off 4 items that day because I was too busy doing things not on my list. Don't get me wrong. I love to be busy. I like having things to do - people to see - and places to be. But I've been overwhelmed the past few days with it all. Feeling like I can barely keep my head above water. Feeling frustrated that my house looks like it's falling apart and there are loads of laundry piling up. Frustrated that I am not able to get more things done each day because of my schedule. Frustrated that I couldn't remember the last time I read a book to my 1 year old. Brent has been working 12-16 hour days and I feel like some days I only see him for literally a matter of minutes. So sad.

I left my house at 9:00 this morning knowing that I wouldn't be home until 9:00 tonight. I said a prayer asking Heavenly Father to help me out today because I didn't know how I was going to get it all done. And I know that he answered my prayer. My friends are angels and always seem to step in when I need them to. So grateful for them. Babysitters were miraculously able to tend for me today. And as I sat in a church meeting I had grumbled about going to, I was overwhelmed with a sense of peace that I was where I needed to be. That He was aware of my sacrifice to be there. That everything would be ok. And I realized that I'm grateful that I CAN be busy. That I have my health and am able to get around to do things. How lucky I am.

My friend and I joke about "tender mercies" but I felt them today.

When I got home at 9 after dropping the babysitter off, I tucked the kids in and Kate started to cry. She usually goes right down, and after hearing her fuss for about 5 minutes, I realized that maybe she just needed some mommy time. So I got her out of bed, got her a drink and sat down just to rock her and talk to her. We read a book. She just snuggled and smiled. And again it made me count my blessings. We visited for about 15 minutes and she was content when I laid her down again.

Our schedules won't be slowing down for awhile, so for now I'll just keep moving and doggie paddling and trying to keep my head above water, praying that I don't forget anything important along the way . . . and realizing that I am blessed beyond measure and that Heavenly Father will help me find a way to get the important things done.

And for now the laundry and the house cleaning will have to wait yet another day . . .

"Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest"

The Birthday That Keeps On Going . . .

Who knew that the 8th birthday festivities would continue all month long? They've been fun but keeping us busy!

Hayley turned 8 on April 4th. Seems like yesterday we were driving her home as a newborn. Brent drove about 25 mph because of the precious cargo of our firstborn! As a newborn, she cried a LOT and rarely slept. We were lucky if she slept for more than 30 minutes at nap time, and she was up every 2 hours at night for months. She had colic and cried every night for hours. But then when she reached about 5 months, she changed into the perfect baby. She fell into a routine and I finally got some sleep! Even as a baby, she always seemed to have a look in her eye like she knew exactly what was going on. When she turned one, I wrote a list of the 25 words she was already saying. (I thought that was normal until my other kiddos came along . . .) She talked very early and hasn't stopped since. We've played the Quiet Game on several occasions (especially in the car) just to keep myself sane and gain some peace & quiet if only for a few minutes. Hayley has always been so responsible and helpful. She is a very rulesy kid and therefore pretty obedient (of course we sometimes get the rolling of the eyes, but she always ends up doing what's asked). I can't imagine my life without Hayley in it.

For her actual birthday, we did the traditional date without any of her siblings. She finally got to get her ears pierced! She's been dying to get her ears pierced for years now and complained that we were making her wait. So needless to say - this was one of the most exciting things she was anticipating for her birthday. She was very brave and didn't even flinch when it happened.

As for dinner, she chose (surprise, surprise) Red Robin. I think she has chosen this restaurant for the past 3 years. But I'm not complaining. The Chicken Whiskey River burger is my fav.

One of the favorite gifts she received this year was a little sewing machine from Aunt Tori. My mom has just started teaching her how to sew. So she was sooo excited to get this. She has it in her mind that she's going to learn how to sew American Girl doll clothes so she doesn't have to buy them. I haven't sewed anything since Junior High Home Ec class (a monkey pillow and a pair of capris) so I'm hoping my mom has some time to spend with her :)

She got to go to Activity Days this week and LOVED it. She came home with her Faith in God booklet and said she wants to read it all before she gets baptized. And because they give charms for each Article of Faith, she's anxious to memorize the last 8! She was wondering if it would be possible to do in one week. Not for me, but she just might be able . . .

Now on to the baptism next week . . .

If I can get through that, I'll finally be able to breathe a sigh of relief. May is looking like a breeze . . .

A Rockin' Party!

I don't know who gets more excited for the birthday parties each year - me or the kids. I really enjoy planning them and the older the kids get, the more fun they are! This year I made Hayley limit the group to just 8 (in years past it's been 16 and I just couldn't take that again). She is a big fan of Hannah Montana, so she chose a Hannah Concert themed party. Here were the admission ticket / invites:

We had a very easy dinner - pizza from Costco and fresh fruit! While the kids ate they worked on a Hannah Trivia game and then it was time to get glammed up. We sprayed glitter spray on their hair. They could also choose a little color streak if they wanted. And of course we needed glitter for the eyes and cheeks.

Now that they looked like rock stars it was time for the show. Blake was in charge of the concession stand where they could buy treats with the money he had given each of them.

The girls all took their seats with their treats and then each girl got a chance to sing for the crowd.

At first everyone was pretty calm (ok, boring) as they watched.

But pretty quickly they warmed up and were on their feet dancing. Soo cute!

After the concert and photo shoot, we had a little dress-up relay:

We ended the evening with dessert. Hayley isn't a fan of birthday cake, so I let her pick her favorite treat and she chose ice cream sandwich cake. (Very easy - layer sandwiches in 9x 13. Pour half a jar of caramel over them, top with whip cream and toffee bits, repeat a second layer and that's it!). So much easier than decorating a cake - and the kids all ate it!


Lastly, we handed out thank you's which consisted of a Hannah diary, pencil case, a Hannah mix cd of Hayley's favorite songs and Pop Rock candy:
Here are the pop stars of the evening :





The group:


Such a fun night. Hayley just kept saying "This is the best night ever." She has such a great group of friends and they were all so easy to entertain. More to post on Hayley's actual birthday festivities later . . .