Eight is Great!

Look how handsome Ethan is in his new suit! Isn't he cute? Ethan has had this thing with suits since he was five when my Aunt Sheryl bought one at the DI (Deseret Industries thrift store). She sent up this little grey suit, straight from the eighties with pleats, shoulder pads, you know, the works. I have to admit, I didn't really want him to wear it, but Del thought the suit was awesome and Ethan wanted to wear it, so I relented. He did look pretty cute for a kid stuck in the eighties. However, he wore that thing faithfully every Sunday for like a year regardless of what other clothes I would beg him to wear that day. As the suit slowly became tighter (he had to suck in to button) and the cuffs became shorter, he still wouldn't wear anything else. Finally, one day in church, he really went to town with the markers, a green one to be exact, and marked his suit up and down. I DID try to get the markers out. I washed the suit a few times and then reluctantly took it to Goodwill. Alright fine, I didn't OxiClean it and I was a little excited for him to at last wear something else to church. But boy was I in trouble when Ethan found out that the suit was gone, GONE.

Ethan turned eight on February 1. And, guess what he wanted for his birthday? A new suit (surprise, surprise)! I found this new suit at Macy's during their winter clearance and paid $100 less than the original price. I was so excited, and then I realized I had to buy new shoes, a belt, and a shirt to go with his new suit. An expensive birthday to say the least.

I can't believe how fast time flies. I am not sure if I am ready to have an eight year old. So many things change as your children get older. I hope Del and I are doing our part to teach him the IMPORTANT things in life, the things that really matter. One day he is a little boy and the next he is accountable for his actions. I am not sure if I was ready for him to be baptized. I didn't feel like I taught him everything he needed to know to be baptized and confirmed a member of our church. Sure, we read about baptism, had FHE's (family home evenings) about it, talked about it and tried our best to make sure he was ready, but was he READY? Bishop Lind thought he was (we have an awesome bishop).

We decided to have Ethan baptized on his birthday so he would always remember he was baptized that day. It wasn't until I was at the gym two weeks before on the elliptical when I realized February 1st at 6:30 p.m. was right smack in the middle of the super bowl. I fretted until the day came. Would anyone come? Would the bishop come? Not that getting baptized isn't more important than a football game, but I really felt like I had jeopardized his baptism because I scheduled it during a HUGE sporting event. I was sooo wrong. The turn out was amazing.

We were so lucky to have my parents come up and attend his baptism. However, we wished Del's parents could have been there to be a part of it as well. We missed them. A lot of family friends attended as well as the missionaries, Ethan's primary teacher, two members of the primary presidency, and the Bishop. We are so blessed with amazing friends in our ward and community. Sean Cather (a family friend) and Grandpa Nichols gave talks and spoke directly to Ethan. His daddy performed the baptism and confirmation and then the bishop spoke to Ethan. Words cannot express what an amazing experience it was. I wish I could write exactly what the bishop said, but I can't (when he was talking, I sat there wishing I was writing it all down). He said something like this, "do you know what is happening right now? what millions of people are watching on TV tonight?" Ethan, of course, says, "no." (remember, Del is a team roper) And then he said, "They are watching the Super Bowl, the biggest football game of the year, maybe the biggest sporting event of the year. And do you know what God is watching right now? He is watching you. This is what matters." I just love that guy.

Look how handsome they are! It was cute, someone reminded them to take their socks off before going into the font. Dillon was quite the handful during the baptism because in two year old language, "I be baptized with Ethan."


Grandpa Nichols gave the talk on receiving the Holy Ghost and presented Ethan with a head lamp to symbolize the light and guidance the Holy Ghost can give you. Grandma Sue lead the music as she turned down Ethan when he said he wanted her to sing the musical number. If you know my family, you know we can't sing and if you know Del's family, you know they can. So my mom was not about to get up there and sing in front of Del.


The next week Ethan came home from school all worked up over something. He couldn't put his finger on it, but said he might have done something wrong and 'what if he doesn't know when he does something wrong.' A few days later, the same thing. He was really distraught this time almost to tears. When I finally got something out of him, he said, "I think I lost the Holy Ghost." I tried not to laugh....not a laughing moment for an eight year old. How sweet is that? I asked him what he did that made him think he lost the Holy Ghost. He was just so worried he would lose it. I promise, we didn't lay it on too thick. He is a very intelligent little boy and really thinks things through. Then he wanted to know how do you know if you have the Holy Ghost? I am very proud of him and HIS choice to be baptized. EIGHT really is GREAT!!