Michenna's Baptism Day

Michenna turned 8 this month. I'm not sure where all the time has gone between her birth and this very special birthday. She was baptized Tuesday evening at Sirena Beach. Grandma and Grandpa v.B. were able to fly out to Guam, and many wonderful people from the church were there. It was a beautiful experience.

Michenna's baptismal font - the Pacific Ocean

Sitting at the pavilion with Grandpa and Grandma.

Walking down to the beach

Carefully entering the water

A family picture just after the baptism

Spencer and Michenna

Three generations wait for Michenna's confirmation.

Happy birthday and congratulations, Michenna!

Girl Power

Michenna is at that age where she wants to make money, but she isn't quite old enough to babysit or mow lawns. She asked me to help her find a way to earn some money (okay, she actually asked for a raise in her allowance and I said no), and this was the solution:

Michenna's Power-Washing Service.

She gets $1 for every sidewalk square. The square must pass inspection before she gets paid. She has so much fun - and gets soaked every time.

She's a quirky kid. Today she was so excited because we hung up her poster of the periodic table. Before you get too concerned - about her or us - check out the website http://www.basherworld.com/. This is science on an amazingly fun, understandable level. Michenna has the periodic table book and the physics book, and wants the others as soon as we can get them!

A riddle

A Question That Has Plagued My Family for 5 Generations (and possibly longer - I don't know if Grandma Boswell's mom was also a voracious reader): How many books does it take to keep (some of) us occupied for an entire Christmas Break and then some?

Answer:

64 Nancy Drew books plus . . .

A box of books (including all the Boxcar Children books) on loan from our neighbor, a former 2nd grade teacher.

So far, I have finished the Nancy Drew books - but not before the end of Christmas Break - and have begun perusing the books in the box. Michenna has read several of the Boxcar Children books and 34 of the Nancy Drew books.

A solution has been found! This year at least . . .

Happy Christmas to All

We hope that everyone had a marvelous Christmas. We enjoyed a quiet day at home. Michenna was very excited to receive a seahorse (stuffed animal) in her stocking. She also received some video games from Santa - including Endless Ocean. (She had to ask Santa for Endless Ocean because Mommy and Daddy refused to buy it. We thought it would be a boring, pointless game. We were wrong. Thank goodness for Santa.)

Santa brought Spencer and me a grill. It was hidden in the empty storage shed next door. Santa left half of a map in my stocking and the other half in Spencer's stocking. We all had to work together to find the spot marked by the X.

We baked over 8 dozen cinnamon rolls over the past few weeks. Spencer rolls out the dough much better than I can, so I asked him to take on that chore.

Spencer also made rolls for our Christmas lunch. They were absolutely beautiful - lightly browned and fluffy. Unfortunately, he forgot the salt, so they didn't taste very good and we had to throw them away.

Happy Holidays to our families and friends. May 2009 bring you joy, prosperity and unexpected blessings.