Church

Today, Zachary had his baptism interview with the Bishop.  He is so excited to get baptized!  We also dressed him up and took pictures for his announcement.

We also got a call from Brittany this morning and she said she met this “really hot” guy down at EFY and she said his name was Baxter.  I about fell of my chair and she was really freaked out as to why!  Turns out that “her” Baxter is Baxter Bruner, the son of some friends of ours who used to be in our ward WAY back when in Naperville!  We used to babysit him and Sarah and him would play together (or what playing 2 year old toddlers can do).  🙂  That really freaked her out that we knew the kid.  🙂  Small world!  When his mom and dad found out that from him, they thought it was pretty funny as well.  They live up in Kenosha Wisconsin now.  🙂  Sounds like Brittany’s having a blast!  🙂

Brittany met Baxter Bruner.

Today, Brittany went off to EFY in Normal, IL.  She is SO excited!  Initially we weren’t going to let her go because she is saving money for her Florida road-trip with the Marching Band during Christmas Break, but we gave in and decided to let her go.  She comes back acting so nice and has such a spiritual lift about her.  We hope that this year will be the same and she will have a great and spiritually strong experience!   Good luck Britt!

Over the last 2 days, Brittany has been participating in our Stake Youth Conference.  She really enjoyed it.  It’s weird now that Sarah “too grown up” for that kind of thing.  Having only 1 daughter attend is strange.  Next year, Kirstyn will be able to go.  This year, Youth Conference was centered around a Book of Mormon theme with “Book of Mormon families” created.  They had a lot of great lessons, activities, and of course, Brittany enjoyed the dance.  She also talked a lot about the testimony meeting which built her up and made her happy!  It’s so wonderful that our youth have programs like this!  Where else can they be spiritually built up, hang out and have fun with a whole bunch of kids that have their same standards and morals, and talk about “religious stuff” openly without being poked fun at!

Today, Sarah had her first “Adult Talk” in church!  🙂  We had all the seniors take 10 minutes and talk on specific topics.  Sarah’s was on “The Glory of God is Intelligence” and she knocked it out of the park!  What a fine young woman she has grown up to be.  We were very impressed!

To add to that, we all went to Seminary Graduation tonight and both Brittany and Sarah were honored.

Brittany got her certificate and Stake President’s Award (for reading, scripture mastery memorization, attendance, and such).  She also led the music for the graduation which she was VERY nervous for, but did an outstanding job!  🙂

Sarah graduated from Seminary with her 4 year certificate and also received the Stake President’s Award.  She also received the very prestigious “Anchor Award” for having received the Stake President’s Award all 4 years.  What an outstanding achievement!

We are so proud of the girls for their dedication to Seminary.  They never complained about going to Seminary, although there were a few mornings where they complained about getting up!  🙂  They always said that having Seminary in the morning helped them have a better day.  As parents, we love to hear that!  🙂

Great job Sarah and Brittany!  You guys are awesome!

Tonight we had a “I’m a Mormon” fireside activity at the church for a ward activity.  It was very well put together.  We had a wonderful presentation in the chapel, and then afterwards, we had refreshments and booths/displays about all facets of the church in a “trade show” format around the outside walls of the gym.  This was kind-of a “dry run” for a larger one we will be doing later on this summer or early fall where we will all invite our friends and neighbors to participate.

Today we took all the youth 12 and up to the temple to do baptisms.  It was a great experience and it was nice to have all three of my daughters up there.  This was Sarah’s last trip as a youth and she was kind-of sad that her time is almost up.  🙁