April 2024: Gabe's Birthday

As I mentioned, Gabe turned 8 in April, and he was very excited that he got to have a birthday party this year. I told him to get phone numbers from the kids in his class that he wanted to invite, and this is what he presented me with. (These slips of paper are hanging out on my Kindle, meaning they were tiny scraps). 

Sending out a message to these moms was really funny. "Hi, this is random, but do you have a little person attending school with my son Gabe?" The moms all laughed, but there was one number that I got one of the digits incorrect. The person responded with, "Lose the number." Maybe he/she laughed before sending out their harsh response. Like I want to communicate with some random person I don't know. Goodness! 

The day before his birthday, we had a family dinner, and I convinced Shayne to draw a dinosaur on Gabe's lemon cake. 

It looked AMAZING!!

Obviously, we sang "Happy Birthday" Saville style, hence Skyler covering his ears in the background. 

Here's my last selfie with one of my seven-year-old children. Goodbye, 7-year-old Gabe. We will miss you! 

I guess this is actually our last seven-year-old selfie. 

Hello Eight-year-old Gabe!! 

I went to his class to tell them all about Gabe. 

Fascinating facts about Gabe, as told by Gabe: 

He's 8 years old. He lives in Highland. He's in second grad. His teacher is Mrs. Jacobs. He goes to school in the car. His family members are Mom, Dad, Michel, Rachel and [Gabe].  When he grows up, he wants to be a mansion builder. 

He shows others he cares by helping them. 

His favorite color is green. His favorite animal is the shark. His favorite food is Navajo Tacos. His favorite book is Harry Potter. His favorite sport is soccer. His favorite thing to do is Art. His favorite thing to do at home is the Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.

He's a star because he shows others he cares. 

For his actual birthday, we HAD to get Costa Vida. 

Gabe doesn't love toys. He thinks he does, but he doesn't really play with them after the first day or two. So, we got him 

a Kindle! I don't think he was super excited initially, but he absolutely loves it and uses it every day. 

For his party, he wanted to go to Airborne Trampoline Park again, which we were very okay with. 

Karder and Rixton came (our former backyard neighbors. Rixton is Gabe's best friend.)

Skyler came, but he mostly hung with Rachel. 

They jumped. 

They ate pizza. 

Gabe opened presents. 

We had donuts instead of cake. 

And Brian and I enjoyed a stressless party. 

Here are a couple of his birthday cards. 

 We love our Gabe. Has there ever been so much personality packed into one little body? He has the sweetest heart, but he doesn't like to be messed with. He still loves to help, especially if it involves the washing machine. He gives the best hugs, and he just sees the world in different ways and thinks deeply about most things. He's constantly trying to make sense of everything. We love you, Gabe! Thanks for being our Baby!

April 2024: Gabe's Baptism Photoshoot

Eight is a big birthday in our faith because it's when children are considered old enough to make the decision about whether to be baptized or not. I know there are many that would argue that they really don't understand what they are getting themselves into at that age, and that 8 is very young to make such a big decision. I recently had a chance to reflect on this while I was talking with my neighbor who was taking our missionary lessons. Her son is just a year or two younger than Gabe, and she was surprised at how young we let children get baptized in our Church. In answer to this concern, words came out of my mouth that I had for sure thought before, but never articulated in such a way before.  I said, in essence, this world is a scary place filled with all kinds of dangers, and sometimes it's hard for us as moms to send our sweet babies out into it. As part of their baptism, our children receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, and are promised that as they keep their promises to the Lord that they make at baptism, that the Holy Ghost will be there constant companion. I'm so grateful that when I send out my kids into the world without me, they have a member of the Godhead to go with them, to warn them when there is danger. To comfort them when they need a hug. To reassure them when they aren't feeling confident. To help them do the right thing, even if their friends are not doing the right thing.  As a mom, I'm so grateful that the Lord gives them this gift at this age. 

2024 was a big year for our family, because Gabe turned 8 in April, and he made the decision to be baptized and confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. To prepare for his big day, we went to the temple for his baptism photo shoot on the 10th of April. The blossoms on the tree were in bloom, and the flowers were beautiful! 

A big part of me cringed at seeing these red socks, but I think they just fit his personality so much that I wouldn't trade them. 

I always have a hard time narrowing down photos of my kids because of all their expressions, and Gabe has never had a shortage of expressions. 

Not pictured is his lack of enthusiasm for this shoot. I thought he'd love having a shoot all about him, but he was not excited about this. He was really good at giving me a good smile when it was time, but he couldn't quite keep his displeasure off his face for the whole shoot. 

He really wanted a picture inside these doors. There is a small atrium that is not quite in the temple, but also not quite outside of them temple. This picture is him in that space, as the sun was starting to go down and shining right into the entrance of the temple. 

After we were "done" he wanted me to take one more picture in this spot. 

I made him take a selfie with me when we were all done. 

It was really hard picking just one photo for his baptism announcement, but we finally settled on this one. 

We sure love our Gabe, and we're so proud of him!