McKay is 8!

McKay's baptism - April 19, 2014

McKay has been looking forward to turning 8 for quite some time now! It's a big birthday - he chose to be baptized, he got to join Cub Scouts, he selected his favorite meals for the day, and he planned his birthday party! 

First things first, his baptism!

Ryan overheard the conversation between Morgan and McKay on the way to the baptism.

Morgan said, “We have to be good or the Easter Bunny won’t come tomorrow and bring us treats.”
McKay thought for a moment and then replied, “Well, I’m getting baptized today so my sins are washed clean. So I only have to be good for one day for the Easter Bunny to come.”

We let McKay choose whom he would invite which kept it very small and intimate. One of the members of the Bishopric was concerned at how small the gathering was because his previous wards held large baptisms where most of the ward showed up. For us, this is what worked this time around and I'm glad I didn't have to think hard about orchestrating refreshments for a big crowd. McKay asked the Pitkins, Caziers, Palfreymans, Woods, Bargatzes, and our neighbors the Serranos to be there. He asked Ryan and I to give the talks on Baptism and the Holy Ghost. He was baptized and confirmed by Ryan and it was a nice special day for our family. 

When the bishop had interviewed McKay for baptism, McKay replied he didn't really know about the Holy Ghost. We had a few weeks to teach and review. As I was making a dessert for the baptism, I asked McKay if he'd ever felt the Holy Ghost before. He said once he'd been lost in a store and got scared. He prayed and didn't feel scared anymore as he felt led to where I was. We're very proud of our little man choosing to follow the example of our Savior and take this first step to make and keep covenants with God. We often see him trying to be a good example among his friends and he is well liked as a buddy among his siblings.

THE BIRTHDAY - April 10

For McKay's birthday, he requested Cream of Wheat for breakfast, Indian food for dinner, and pumpkin pie with whip cream for dessert. Lucky for me, it was a baseball practice night so Ryan too felt like heading out to our favorite Indian restaurant was a good idea. YAY! We took along McKay's presents to open which was a lot of fun. Ryan got him a crossbow with nerf-like bullets and a remote control off-roading car. We also got him his scout uniform and book. Morgan had been hoping McKay would get some stuffed animals that he wouldn't want so he'd give them to her.

THE PARTY - April 16

McKay wanted to have 6 friends come to play games outside. About a month ago he made a 40 page booklet that said who he wanted to invite, what games they'd play, the food to eat, and he drew some comics of silly things that could happen at the party. He wanted to duplicate the games we'd done a couple years ago for his birthday party - the donut on a string game, an obstacle course, and some food challenges. Unfortunately, a few of McKay's friends couldn't make it but we had fun.

Easton and his best friend Henrique (Brazilian), Alexander (German),
Jake, Ritvij (Indian), Victor (German), McKay and Morgan.

We love this active, smart, caring boy of ours!