Baptism Day

Today our Leo was baptized by his dad. My amazing brother was there to document the entire thing for us, which I was so grateful for. He has a lot of talent as a photographer. 

He even captured this little moment during our family photographs. 

Can you just hear the thoughts in her head, 

"Please there is no need to say that you are grateful to be standing in my presence. 

A look is simply enough. I know that you love me. Now stand here and be silent and 

don't steal the shot from me."

My mom suggested this shot and I love it. Speaking of my parents I am so grateful they were able to be there and the support that they show our family. At the end of the baptism I handed them our house key and when we got home all of the food was set up when we walked in the door. Amazing. 

The sibling shots are some of my favorite ones, especially this last one. 

Maddy sang the solo "I Feel my Savior's Love" she also learned how to play the song on the violin.

Ken gave the baptism talk, my father Steve Leishman gave the Holy Ghost talk 

and Bishop Richardson had a few words for Leo at the end. 

Afterwards we had a reception back at the house. 

He was really excited to open his presents. 

We got him his own set of scriptures with his name on them, and my parents 

bought him a scripture case with gum "chews the right" (this gift was from Maddy), 

marking pencils, and articles of faith cards. 

We also gave him a journal that we had started years before. Ken and I have written several entries in it for him and now it is his to fill with his thoughts. 

These are the fun candid shots Patch took that I love. 

I made this movie for my little guy. I hope he knows how much we love him.

Getting Ready for the Big Day

Somehow I closed my eyes for a second to just take a little nap and my little guy grew up. I swear I was just changing his diapers and pulling bibs off of him only a short time ago. 

I never gave this one permission to grow up. I distinctly remember whispering in his ear when he was sleeping, "No more growing. Just stay this little." This is just another example of my kids not listening to me. Close the door, eat your veggies before dessert, and stop growing so fast. I really don't think I am asking too much here. But they aren't listening. So in honor of him turning 8 and his decision to be baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ we decided to do a little photo shoot. 

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This was his favorite so we used it on his baptism announcements. 

Earlier this week Ken and I were able to take him to the Portland Temple. 

He insisted that his older sister come along to. He said just mom and dad are boring. I have mentioned before the special bond he has with his sister. They are so close and share so many things together. 

I was able to get a lot of great shots of the two of them and use it in a movie 

I showed at his Open House after his baptism. 

We then took them to the new visitor's center. Then to Desert Book 

and then their favorite part lunch of hamburgers and milkshakes. 

Hershey Track Meet

My oldest got invited to participate in the Hershey State Track meet in the 800 meters. In case you didn't know that is 2 laps around the track. It is a difficult race to run because you can't sprint and use up all your energy, but you also don't want to just sit back and coast. 

Our girl has tremendous anxiety before races. She is extremely talented, but she gets very nervous. If she finds out she is racing that day she will refuse to eat and she gets very sensitive about things. Because I have learned this from experience I got a friend to watch our other 3 so we could just focus on Midge and calming her down. 

She was excited to be running on the same track as the Olympic Trials. 

It is a strange thing to see your baby down on a track being cheered on by hundreds of people. You want to be down there with her, but goodness knows that my running abilities wouldn't assist her in any way. When I watch her run it takes my breath away. She still is learning a lot about herself and strategies, but she has a gift and she did a great job considering she is running against 11 and 12 year olds and she is still 10.