8 Years Old!

Alexa turned 8 on March 16th. I can hardly believe she is that old! Her birthday happened to fall during Spring Break, so we celebrated on her birthday as a family, had a party with her friends the following week, and had her baptism on April 9th. What a lucky girl to celebrate so many times!
We started the day at IHOP with Grandma and PopPop. I'm not sure where Andrew and Quinten were when this picture was taken, but we were all there. Lucky for us, on a Wednesday morning IHOP is not crowded and breakfast was great.

Later that evening we had dinner and opened presents. This was her gift from Aunt Andrea- The Lost Hero (which she has read twice since then... and can't wait for the next book to come out) and a cookbook. Alexa had this long list of things she wanted for her birthday this year. We tried to accomodate as many of them as we could. Some were just plain ridiculous and were probably written down in the heat of the moment... such as, "a family who is nice to me." We also did not honor the "any kind of pet" request. Sorry. I just can't make every dream come true. We went the weekend before her birthday and got her ears pierced, which was a big one for her. She has been waiting forever because "all her friends have their ears pierced already." Cry me a river, Lex... I am not everyone's mother, just yours. :)

Grandma gave her a jewelry box to keep all her new earrings in.

We had cake with Grandma and PopPop.

And, this is my favorite picture. Alexa specifically told everyone to stay away and not blow on her candles... Callie is hilarious.

These were the girls who came to Alexa's party. We took nine girls to see Gnomeo and Juliet. Wow. Let's talk about hyper. They came to our house, we opened presents and then left for the movie. My good friend, Melissa, is a saint and came along with me. We filled them with popcorn, soda and candy and then dropped each of them at their houses on our way home. They were a fun bunch of girls, I think they had a great time, and I loved that there was no chaos at my house while I tried to entertain them. Best birthday party ever. :)

We were lucky enough to hit a theatre that had the official Gnomeo and Juliet poster. :)

This birthday is a special one, of course, because Alexa was baptized. Our stake held the baptism on April 9th. There were 15 other kids being baptized, so it was a big one. We were lucky enough to be one of the first on the list, which was nice because we didn't have to sit in the chapel for an hour to wait our turn. We were told they estimated about 600 people being there! It's the joys of living in an area with lots of families. :) Grandma Judie, Grandpa George and Uncle Damon came down from Washington. Aunt Siri and her boys came down from Salt Lake, as well. Andrew's familiy was all there, except for Aunt Andrea and Uncle Mike. It was a good day. If Alexa was nervous, she didn't show it. I'm hoping she was more excited than anything. I'm so proud of her for making the decision to be baptized. She is an amazing example to her younger sisters and brother. I know it is a decision that will affect the rest of her life in a positive way. My hope for her is that wherever she goes and whatever she does, she will remember the covenants she made with the Lord on this day; that she will live her life in a way that will make others question what makes her different and what gives her that light in her eyes, and that those people will want to ask her why. I hope when they ask, she will have the courage to tell them about the gospel and how important it is to her. I love Alexa so much. I'm so grateful I was given the chance to be her mom.

Andrew and Alexa getting ready to head to the font.

We got home from the baptism and Alexa changed her clothes so fast, I never got a chance to get any pictures with her. This picture was taken the next day after church.