Madison's Baptism

Madison made the choice to be baptized yesterday! We are so proud of her. The baptism service was unlike any I'd been to. It was on a stake level, so there were 8 other children being baptized at the same time. They have a great system, though, and I was impressed at how smoothly and efficiently everything went. We all met in the chapel for talks on baptism and the Holy Ghost. The group was big enough for a full ward congregation! Then they broke the kids into 2 groups and took the first group and their family and friends to the room where the font is while the first group and their family and friends sang primary songs in the chapel. The baptisms of the first group of kids took place one after the other, then we went back into the chapel (after the first group moved into the font room) for confirmations. The whole thing only lasted a little over and hour. I've been to single person baptisms that lasted that long! It was a glorious day outside--the warmest since last September. The following loved ones were in attendance, besides our little family:
Great Grandpa and Grandma Kartchner (Don & Eleanore)
Grandpa and Grandma Kartchner (Denny & Patty)
Aunt Heidi, here all the way from Utah
Uncle Adam
Aunt Rachel and her 3 kids: Mary, Leah, and James
Great Uncle Lance and cousin Kylie



After the service we went back to our house for a luncheon. Aubrey and her 2 kids, and Brooke and her fiance Daron got to come to the luncheon, as they had just arrived in town that morning for Brooke's wedding later this week. It was great meeting Daron and just visiting, while eating some yummy food. I LOVE filling up our home with people, laughter and love!

Madison's Two-Wheeler!

A couple weeks ago JR took Madison out on her two-wheel bike to get a feel for how she'd do. Lo and behold, she picked it up immediately! I was so excited because I've been wanting him to teach her since last summer. What a big girl! Here she is in action:

Proud father, proud daughter:

We intended this to just be a posed shot (thus no helmet) . . .

But then she just took off!

Catch-up time

There's a lot to catch up on over the last month. Here goes: Easter was great - we always get two of each holiday because we celebrate with JR's family down in McMinnville a week or two before so we don't have to travel too much on actual holidays. I love this method, it's worked out awesome for our families. Here are some pix of our first Easter with JR's family:

These were taken right before we left:

The girls with Shelby, JR's nephew's daughter. I think that makes them 1st cousins once removed???

Madison and Shelby were saying "Best Friends Forever" and clinking their glasses in a toast - so cute!

The granddaughters (and a great-granddaughter) with Grammy: Chloe with her loot:

Also, for Easter, a neighboring stake puts on a huge "Life of Christ" exhibit with art and scenes from Christ's life, musical performances, and children's rooms where they can make crafts, dress up like women from Christ's time or angels, hear stories, etc. It is AWESOME and worth the drive to get up here! Here are some cute pictures from that:

There was a tent set up with grain and bowls kind of like a sandbox - the girls could have stayed in there for hours.

Chloe admiring herself in the mirror:

Aside from Easter, Madison had an interesting experience the other day. We and our neighbors, who have an 8- or 9-yr-old daughter over every other weekend or so, had a garage sale over the weekend. The three girls were playing most of the day outside while the dads were watching over the sales. It was great! But then, Saturday night after we'd gone inside and the sales were over, Madison told me that she had accidentally broken one of the neighbors' sale items while she and the neighbor girl were playing with a ball. So I explained to her that she should have told me sooner and that she needed to pay for what she broke with her money in her piggy bank (they get a small allowance each month for doing their daily chores). She had been nonchalant when telling me at first, but after I kind of scolded her, she got really remorseful, and almost started crying. That's typical for Madison - she'll frequently cry when she makes a bad choice, just out of feeling sorry. I'm grateful for this trait, which unfortunately has not developed in Chloe yet whatsoever! Anyway, instead of being nervous to go to the neighbors' and apologize, she reminded me a few times that we needed to go - she was excited to go! So we did - we went next door and I explained the situation and let Madison say sorry and that she'd like to pay for the item she broke. The neighbor gal was super sweet about it - the item had only cost a quarter, but I assured her that this was more about teaching Maddie a lesson than it was about money. What a great lesson on integrity for my little girl!

Madison's Birthday

On March 7th we had Madison's Popstar Birthday party. I had fun putting together a themed party that I read about in Family Fun Magazine. We made guitars and microphones: Opened presents:

And ate a guitar-shaped cake!

Here are all the girls together - fun!

The grown-up is my sister Rachel with her little girl Mary.L-R top row: Madison, Madilyn, Madisyn, Kylie, Ryland, Kyra.

L-R bottom row: Rachel, Mary, Chloe, Jadyn, Leah

Thanks for coming everyone! And for the generous gifts. The party was a great success.

First Day of School!

The mythical first day of Kindergarten has come and gone. It went pretty much as expected. Madison was excited (with a smidge of trepidation), as Daddy gave her a blessing before we (both girls and I) headed off for the 4-block walk to school. The weather was beautiful, and I was so glad I walked instead of lazily taking the car. We got there a couple minutes early and waited outside until the teachers opened the doors for the kids to enter (the kindergarten classroom doors lead directly outside, which brilliantly avoids little ones from having to navigate a large school to find their classroom). The second she walked into that door, I let out all the feelings I'd been hiding from her over the last couple weeks and cried half the way home. It wasn't all bad cry: it was a mix of sadness, hope, loss and pride. By the time I was home, I felt great, and the pride had won over the other emotions. Beyond being worried about what words she'll bring home, or how her classmates will treat her, I'm proud of my daughter's abilities and all that she has to bring to her new friends. We love you, Madison!