One Dae at a Time: Happy New Year! Plus a Baptism. And a Plague. And Grandparents!

Sunday, January 1, 2023

Happy New Year! Plus a Baptism. And a Plague. And Grandparents!

Happy New Year!

I love a new year. Reallllly love it. We have been so sick over here, though, so the resolutions will come next week I think :) My parents came Monday to beat the storms in the forecast and make sure they were here for Westin's baptism on Saturday. So sweet of them to make the trip out here early to be more than sure they wouldn't miss it. Unfortunately we are not at our healthiest and I think they're starting to share the joy AND the germs around here despite our best efforts :( I have never had a cold like what's been going around this winter. But, we are trying to hit back however we can and forging on!

Westin's baptism on Saturday was really wonderful! He's such a sweet boy. This is what I posted about it:

Sweet Westin. He was baptized today, and I had such overwhelming feelings of how much this boy is loved — by family and friends with us now, those not with us anymore, and by his Heavenly Parents. 

In my heart, today wasn’t necessarily washing him clean of anything. He didn’t need that and no child does. But what it was to me was a willingness to do what Christ has done, with a willingness to keep doing what Christ would do. 

Westin is a wonderful brother, a critical thinker, a loving friend, an enthusiastic learner, a wise soul, and well-mannered in a very distinct way. I am proud of the person he is and who he’s becoming, and I’m doing my best to teach him not only what I know, but be open about what I don’t know, too. And I just want us both to figure things out together with love. Today was special and so is this boy. It’s truly a privilege to be his mom.

My dad gave a great talk about baptism, I talked about the Holy Ghost. Our families were able to watch on Zoom even though weather kept my brother and sister from being able to make the trip out like they'd planned. Our sweet neighbor came, plus lots of wonderful people in our ward. It was really sweet to see all the support for Westin.
One hectic moment this week was when I was having one of the many miserable mornings I've had during this cold, and my mom ducked in my room and asked what time Asher's allergist appointment was. I told her it was tomorrow, and got in the shower. Then as I was in the shower, I remembered that I was living in Wednesday and not Tuesday and his appointment was right that moment just like she'd thought. I was in the shower at 8:22 and in the doctor's office with Asher in tow at 8:32. Not my smoothest morning :) He's definitely allergic to eggs, which we've consistently seen, but he luckily can have them in baked goods which makes life much easier to manage and also indicates that he has a greater chance of growing out of the allergy.
I'm so grateful my parents are here. I feel so bad my dad has come down hard with what's going around our family, hopefully we can all kick this soon. But even with being sick, we have so much fun being together. Lots of games of Cover Your Assets, lots of appetizers for dinner on New Year's Eve, lots of good Christmas break movie watching (The Greatest Showman, Matilda, Swiss Family Robinson, Night at the Museum, Enola Holmes 1 and 2), lots of hot chocolate and just enjoying each other. I'm not ready for the boys to go back to school this coming week... they're such a help with the dog! And I just love having them around. But they're excited to go back, too.
There are lots of storms ahead so we'll see how long that lets me keep my parents here :) :) I feel like Elsa, just wanting the storm to rage on so I can keep them as long as possible! That's not very fair, is it. It's all out of love.