"It's Great to be Eight"

Jack's birthday at Alta

Ready to go to the church A partial family picture after the baptism Jack and Miss Saadeh Jackson and Jon before the baptism Jackson's baptism announcement that my cute friend Niki made

Our little guy turned 8 in February. About 6 months or so ago it really hit me that this birthday was going to be different from Jack's previous birthdays. In the past birthdays have been about the party and presents, but 8 is different. I realized as a parent that I had more responsibility this year. I had to teach Jack about baptism and give him the awsome choice to become a member of our church. I was a little nervous about this responsibility. Parenting seems to be getting more and more serious. However, the closer to Jack's birthday we got, I realized that he was completely ready and willing to be baptised. He knew what it meant and it was his choice to do it. He is such a bright little boy, I couldn't be more proud.

A year or so ago we decided that we would only do big birthday parties every other year. Purposefully I planned it so that the small family party would fall on his 8-yr-old birthday. I wanted this year to be about his baptism and this first real covenent that Jack would make with his Heavenly Father. It worked out great. On Jackson's actual birthday Jon and I checked him out of school early and took him skiing. It was so fun for him. He told us over and over how much he appreciated it. Closer to he baptism Jon and I took him out and bought him his first pair of really nice slacks as well as a shirt, tie and shoes. We spent a special night with him, just Jon, Jack and I , going to the mall and to dinner.

On his baptism day we planned a little get-together at our home after the baptism. We had Jack's favorite dinner, pizza, as well as homemade salad and breadsticks. I think it was a pretty special night for Jack. He said the highlight was having his wonderful teacher, Miss Saadeh come to see him be baptised. She also took time to come to our house afterward. That really made him feel special. The next week after his baptism, we took Jack and his best friend, Luke to dinner and a movie. A quiet little night of fun for the boys. Jack is looking forward to a "Great" 8-yr-old year!!