Zo’s 8th birthday and baptism (another catch up)
Yes! I realize it is almost Zo’s 9th birthday, and so with horror, I remembered that I had never written about her birthday last year. How could I miss her baptism year?! Oh yeah, it’s because we were moving, and life was a bit crazy. I know, no excuse!
We had such a great time! It actually felt like we were celebrating for two weeks, starting with Thanksgiving week. The kids had the whole week off school, so since we had an idea that we might be moving again in the summer, Stephen decided to take the week off too and we made it a staycation. After all, we did live in vacation land. 1st we tried Disneyland. This was super fun, cuz the kids didn’t know anything about it. We told them that we were taking Daddy to work, but since they had the day off, I thought we’d go to the Great Park, or something, so they had to wear tennis shoes. When we passed work, they were starting to catch on, but didn’t figure it out until we got off the freeway on Disneyland Way, or whatever it’s called. When we got there, it wasn’t too bad. It was still early and not too many people were there. By noon, there were so many people, I had never seen it that crowded. We ate lunch in Downtown Disney and then just decided it wasn’t worth it to go back in. From 8-noon, we only rode 4 rides. One an hour is not good.
The next day we decided we’d try Sea World. I had bought the SoCal pass and wanted to use them. We left with some trepidation as to what we would find once we got there. It was AMAZING! No lines anywhere. I guess everyone had gone to Disneyland. We saw everything we could, and went on all the rides we could. When we left the girls had both decided that Sea World was way better than Disneyland. Kas said they didn’t have enough coasters, but other than that, it was great!
We took it easy on Wednesday. I got some things prepared for the next day’s dinner, and just enjoyed each other’s company. For Thanksgiving, our friend’s, the Shorrs had invited us for dinner. It was an incredible meal! A true feast, the food was to die for and the company was fantastic. They had also invited a couple other families, and it was a true party, full of thanks. Plus, since I had already bought a turkey, I cooked it as well, and was able to make Zo’s favorite: the traditional, day after Thanksgiving, turkey noodle soup.
That weekend we had a birthday party for the girl of honor. She wanted a winter candy land birthday, and living in CA we did the best we could. She had tons of friends come from both school and church. I think my favorite part was watching them all link together and roll down the hill.
On Zo’s actual birthday, November 29, I called the kids out of school and we celebrated Disney style. Unfortunately by then, Stephen was back to work, so it was just me and the kids. We still had 2 more days on our passes and Tuesday, during school, was going to be a much better time to go and get in all the fun we could. It was perfect! (Other than not having Steve with us) When we pulled into the parking lot Zo told the attendant that it was her birthday. The attendant then handed us 5 buttons. One that said,”It’s my birthday.” and 4 more that said celebrating. That set the tone for an incredible day. We hit up the whole park, both Disneyland and California Adventure. I even got Zo to go with us on Space Mountain. I’m not sure she forgave me for that, but the rest was so wonderful, she forgot about it and moved on.
On December 3, my beautiful little girl made the decision to get baptized into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She was so excited! She had her Popito, Aunt Merilee, Mason, and Sidney come and stay with us to celebrate with her. I think this was the most spiritual baptism I had ever been to. I know there were angels in the room with us the whole time. I couldn’t see them, but I could feel them. We had wonderful friends and family to share this with, and I’m still kicking myself for not inviting more. (I took this as a lesson. If you feel impressed to invite someone to a baptism, church meeting, or anywhere, follow that impression! I’m sad that it is my fault people missed out on the Spirit that was in that meeting.)
After the baptism we got to go to Follow the Star. That is a live nativity presentation that the Santa Margarita Stake puts on every year. It was amazing! Plus, our bishop’s daughter was playing Mary. She fit the role perfectly. After that we all went to Claim Jumper for dinner. Yum! Perfect ending to the day.
Zo is such an incredible young lady. I’m so humbled to be able to be her mom. She is inquisitive and intuitive. Her sensitivities will take her to adventures I can only dream for her. She loves anyone her family and friends dearly, and attaches to people quickly. A stranger she meets at the park could become her best friend for the day. This is why I like to keep such a close eye on her, but I also don’t want to smother that out of her. She has grown so much this past year. These pictures seem so long ago. I love watching her evolve into the woman she will become.
