Lizzy-- good news

Our Lizzy certainly has had a lot going on in her life the past several months. I am going to cover the good stuff in this post and Greg will cover the other in another post. There is a reason we saved her for the last sweeping post on the kids.

On March 4^th of this year our beautiful daughter turned 8 years old. In our church 8 is a special number. When you turn 8, we believe you have reached the age of accountability. In other words you can tell right from wrong. This is the age when our children our baptized. Lizzy celebrated her birthday with our family, and some extended family, and then the next day, she was baptized. We are so proud of her for making this choice. It was a lovely service. Her brother Adam spoke on baptism. Her great grandma spoke about receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost. Her Aunt, Uncle, and cousins sang a musical number. Her dad baptized and confirmed her a member of the church. Our good friends came from Bettendorf to be with her, and she even had her best friend from school attend. We also had a few friends from our ward come and support us. It was very enjoyable. It is something that will bless her throughout her life.

Here is Lizzy with her dad (we lovingly call him Papa). This is a special day for both of them.

The kids on Lizzy's baptism day.

Our family on Lizzy's baptism day.

Us and our extended family on Lizzy's baptism day.

Lizzy with her good friend from Bettendorf, Anne Marie.

Lizzy is full of energy and life. She has continued to enjoy gymnastics. She especially loves the bars and the trampoline. She would look forward to attending gymnastics each week. At the end of this school year her teacher wanted to skip her up two levels because she needed more of a challenge.

She is also a great friend and “mini-mom” to Jacob. She is so kind and helpful with him. They have a lot of fun together, but it sometimes does require a lot of patience on her part. I certainly appreciate how well she handles him. Sometimes she can convince him of things that I can’t. Really she has a good relationship with all of her siblings. She kind of serves as the bridge between the older two and the younger two. She is versatile in her play and in what each relationship requires. She would much rather be interacting with them than doing her chores!

Lizzy is successful in many ways. She does very well in school, earning the praise of her teacher for both academic skills and character traits. She loves to read and write. She has started to really enjoy historical fiction books. Greg is always amazed at her ability to really get to the heart of a problem and figure it right out. Lizzy has also done well in piano this year.

She is very strong and determined (OK, sometimes stubborn) and doesn’t like to fail. Her energy and enthusiasm are not just physical. We are so happy to have her as our daughter. We love you Lizzy Lou!

Here is Lizzy in her brand new head band. It was a gift from our dear friends the Jensens, in Bettendorf.

Lizzy on her birthday. She is enjoying her birthday meal of Pasta Alfredo and chocolate milk.

This is the group of girls that attended Lizzy's birthday party. They decorated aprons and cupcakes and had a lot of silly fun. Lizzy is third from the right.

Silly girls.

Jacob and Lizzy, the best of friends.