It must be great to be 8!

Before you can read this, I have a message from me, the terrible delinquent mother. I try my best to keep this blog up-to-date, and post things as quickly as they happen. But life gets in the way sometimes, and makes that impossible. So know this - I wrote this post a week ago, but due to technical difficulties, memory lapses, fried chickens on I-85, and just an all around lack of enough time in the day, I am finally posting Colin's birthday. Please forgive me for my delinquency, as I dislike tardiness as much as anyone. But I am only one mom, and without me, we wouldn't even have a blog. So I do my best.

And now, the long-awaited post:


My seond born child, my first son, my BOY, turned eight years old on Saturday, June 20th.

How is that possible?

Something must be wrong, because it seems like just yesterday they were laying all 9 pounds of him in my arms after my early morning c-section. I remember thinking he looked a little weird, but probably because they had made me take out my contacts, and I didn't have glasses to wear, and he had that goopy stuff in his eyes.

But I will never forget the overwhelming feeling of responsibility I felt for that boy. I had a son. He would some day be a Man. What did I know about turning boys into Men? The task ahead of me seemed daunting. Then I looked around the room, and watched as he was passed from me, to his father, to my mother, to my father, and to my grandmother, and I knew I wasn't alone. I knew that together, we were going to help this boy grow into someone special.

And once I finally got to put my eyes back in, I could see that he was the cutest baby boy ever gifted to a mother. And he was hungry!

The next eight years seem like a blur, and now we are here, at one of his most special birthdays he will ever celebrate.

Eight years old.


Still a boy, but taking his first big step forward. Baptism.

Colin was lucky like me to be baptized on his birthday, a day he will always remember. It was a beautiful baptism, and Colin looked so grown up. It's amazing how you can put white on a kid, even one as tan as he is, and they just seem to glow.

Enjoy some family pictures for a moment:












Colin was baptized by his father. I am so grateful my children are being raised by a righteous father. Ross, Colin's favorite uncle, gave the talk on baptism, and Miriam gave the talk on the Holy Ghost. They did GREAT! Thanks, guys! Addison, Madilyn and Anna Reese sang a song. And Colin got dunked good! The water was deep in the font. It was chest high water, and Donny put him all the way down in the water. I had told him to swuish Colin around a little to make sure he got good and clean, but he didn't think that sounded like a good idea.

Needless to say, my son is now accountable. Scary!

But seriously, Colin is a good boy. He is growing up a lot, and I can tell that he tries to be good and do what is right. I am proud of him for making the choice to be baptized. He is a lucky boy and has a great family and so many blessings. Not to mention, that is super good-looking! (He got that from me!) We love you Colin!