Makenna's Baptism

On Saturday May 4, 2013 Makenna choose to be baptized into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  This was one of those crowning moments as a mother.  I felt so much love and happiness my heart could have burst.  Makenna has a been such a wonderful joy and treasure in our home since the day she was born.  She is such a sweet girl and always wants to please and do what she knows to be right.  In preparation for her baptism I could see her striving very hard to be better and do better.  She had more thoughtful prayers and expressed her excitement to be baptized.  She was kinder to her younger siblings and also more helpful to me.  The day of the baptism came and we had a lot of family show up.  My grandmother Carrie Archibald arrived with my mother,  Uncle Billy flew in and also my Dad.  Uncle Tom and Aunt Sarah happened to be in town from MN and came over to witness it, as well as Uncle Steven and cousin Mia and Grandma Debbie.  This baptism was also a special experience because Makenna was baptized with her two cousins Lindsay and Allie Jorgensen.  The day of the baptism my Grandma Archibald opened with a beautiful prayer of love and gratitude.  It brought in the spirit so strong and I feel it was so strong because it was a family baptism.  Jon then performed the ordinance of baptism and the confirmation then Makenna chose to bare her testimony.  She told me she felt the spirit and is so happy to have the Holy Ghost.  As a mother it is not very often that you see the true results of your efforts, but this day was a rewarding day as I have strived to teach Truth in our home.  Love you so much Makenna.  We are so proud of you for choosing to be baptized into the Lord's Church.  I know he is very pleased with you.

Kingwood Texas, the experience...

 I took this picture of Jon for his profile picture for Baker Hughs The next one of his on the job.  Yes he is loving all the big mechanical machinery.  Right now he is in the Explorer's group and they are placing him here in Houston.  So that means we get to stay here for the next 3 to 5 years to forever... He is really enjoying all the classes he is taking to learn his career and the other employees that were hired along with him are all great.  We went to a pool party and I got to know them. They are quite fun and they told me they learn something new about Jon every time they talk.  Jon has a lot of experiences under his belt, even if they are Random facts :)

 Since we arrived it has been very difficult to seperate the kids from there cousins.  They are having a blast and Dean is especially loving his BOY time.  Now he has Jace and Austin to teach him more boy tricks... Oh Dear!  Wendy has a pool and so of course the kids are jumping in every chance they get.  We had a wonderful St. Patricks Day and Easter.  First on St. Patricks the Leprachauns left a few sneaky treats.  They even left a costume and my kids sure make good looking leprechauns.

 Wendy took us to the zoo.  The first outing was quite fun with the boys and lily.

 For Easter I found out that one of the church's hosts a big easter egg hunt at the High School.  They put out 23,000 eggs for the kids to snatch.  Wowzers was it crazy and of course big.  The kids had a blast with the festivities.

 For Makenna and the twins birthday we booked the American Girl Store Cafe.  We got to have lunch and shop at the mall.  The girls were spoiled and it was a darling experience.

Autumn is on the Salt Lake Polar Bears.  I signed her up for Soccer at the YMCA and she has been loving the experience.  She is such a joy and even her couch discovered her unique spirit as she went to kick the ball into the goal at practice and she announced, "Everybody move back I need to kick the ball!" 

Jon and I enjoying Utah before we take off to become Texans....

Jon and I got away once Debbie came in as she always does to help us move.  Gotta say it's nice to have a live in Nanny while you are packing up!  However, before we totally succumbed to the reality Jon and I took off to St. George where we had a couples retreat.  However, I didn't have a bike??? So we had to stop and buy me one before of course.  We enjoyed biking for two days on the beautiful red rock and just taking a break before his grueling new job begins.  Then for our last date night once we got back up north Jon and I went into Salt Lake to enjoy a wonderful temple session and dinner at the roof.  It really is magical and there is no place on earth like the Salt lake Temple and Utah.  While packing up I shed many tears and it pains me to sell our house and move away.  It took a large truck U-haul and 2 smaller U-haul trailers to bring our living stuff to Kingwood, TX.  Once packed in the car we jotted off to enjoy Paguitch Lake for the weekend.  It was wonderful to see the cabin and take a deep breath of fresh air before we arrived in the Big City!  And so our Journey to the "REAL" job begins.  This has been a very long awaited opportunity and we fill so blessed to have our prayers answered.  Jon can't wait to start as an "oil man"  He is starts a 6 month grueling training program where he will learn what it takes 4 years for an engineer to learn.  He will do a lot of hands on experience and they will invest a lot into him so that he can become a sales consultant and sell the oil products and services to Oil companies.  It's a great a opportunity.  

And so it begins.....

The kids enjoying Morgan for the last few weeks

Just before we left they had Dr. Seuss Day.  Autumn dressed up as Think 1 and Thing 2 ....

 Dean got to go to the annual car show with Jon and My Dad.  Of course the Jeep was his favorite

My dad wanted to take Dean to the train expo at Union Station so of course we all ended up going with him.  It was packed full of people and a little crazy, but we had a good time with my Dad. 

The day we were packing up to move Makenna had her end of the year performance.  Her 2nd grade class was so cute.  Makenna loves Mrs. Dent and I know she will be greatly missed.  It was really touching to see how much she has grown into a little lady.  

 Dean of course has found his mischievous self.  His favorite thing to do is to throw all the cushions off the couch and if he is lucky I make a fort for him to lay and watch t.v. on the iPad....  Spoiled a little!

 Ok so I wanted to relax one night so the kids thought it would be fun to take me to the spa.... There way!  It was quite an experience :)

 Lily has found the joy of climbing on the counter and of Course.  OREOS and Milk a family favorite.

 Jon calls this one.  The little queen of Narnia.  We just might miss the cold weather.  Maybe

 And of course how could we leave without visiting Chuck E' Cheese.   Another Family favorite.