On October 5th, Nicole was baptized and confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She has been anticipating this day for a long time and has felt nervous. Before we went to the church building that morning, she read letters of love and encouragement from some of her grandparents and uncles. When we got to the building, she told me she wasn't nervous at all anymore. And I could tell she wasn't. Even though being in front of a lot of people was something that had her worried before, she was totally relaxed and just ready for her special day. It was sweet to see how those letters and all the love of family supported her and helped her feel the Spirit.
It was so neat to have Marian (who conducted the music) and her family there, my cousin Greg and his family, as well as Kathryn (who said the closing prayer) there to support Nicole.
Our oldest child is baptized! Such an exciting day for our family.
She was sweet and beautiful in her white dress. She has shown more spiritual maturity since her baptism- more taking charge of her actions and trying harder to do what's right. She has such a good heart.
Each of these friends and family are so dear to us, it was a privilege to have their love and support for Nicole.
Kathryn stayed with us the next week as well and we went to the farmers market in Raleigh. I had never been and it was pretty cool to see everything they had.
Jim took Kathryn fishing and they had an epic day.
Here is their haul of fish they kept. They even caught a stingray! When they got home (Jim graciously cleaned the fish at the pier) they were eating fish for days.
We planted a dwarf golden delicious apple tree, 4 blueberry bushes, muscadine grapes, and blackberry bush. We're still waiting on our dwarf gala. We used prettymuch every inch of area that gets good sun, I hope the plants survive the weather and the kids.
Almost two weeks later and they are still standing!
Michael playing soccer!
I love watching Michael. Literally skipping around, racing after the ball with a huge grin on his face, totally loving every second of play time. I didn't get a pic at Nicole's game but she had her best game ever yesterday. She usually kicks the ball one or two times a game, so I encouraged her with the incentive that she'd get a cookie for every time she hit the ball. Not only did she kick the ball 6 times, she got into the game and one time even kicked the ball right on her laces to clear it away from her goal. It was the best kick I've ever seen her do in a game. With her non-aggressive personality it was a huge game for her and you should have seen her grin every time she turned to me and held up her fingers to show me how many times she'd kicked the ball so far in the game. All for cookies! She is definitely my daughter.
We had the Kofford kids over last night so Brandon could take Marian out for a birthday dinner. The kids had pizza and I made some cod chowder for Jim and me.
In sourdough bread bowls, this is a favorite meal of mine! We usually only have it Christmas Eve, so it felt like a special treat.
Diana and Evelyn enjoying their treats.
Marian watched the kids so Jim could take me to Phantom of the Opera at DPAC with tickets a friend gave us. The show had live gunshots, pyrotechnics, fire, and talented performers. I had the time of my life! The music was so amazing live and the sets were incredible. It didn't get over until 11pm and it was hilarious how Jim and I were so tired. My teenage self would have been appalled :)
The back porch is like an extension of the house during this time of year with mild weather and cool breezes. Katy plays out here too and it is so wonderful to have the screen so I never have to worry about bugs.
On General Conference Sunday, Conference doesn't start until noon, so we took a walk around a lake with the Koffords and Kathryn. The two mile hike was a great way for the kids to be outside and we had them take pictures and point out Heavenly Father's beautiful creations. The weather was amazing and the kids managed to not get run over by an bikes or frighten away any of the dogs. 10 kids is sure a lot to have on a walk!
Diana was all over the place- running ahead, lagging behind, checking out everything... whew!
Looking at the big leaves.
Nicole took a picture of some ducks in the pond. They saw lots of turtles too. We loved having Kathryn, Kelly and Sterling visit and spending time with cousins these past few weeks.
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