Nate's new do

 BEFORE:

  

AFTER:

 

I had to add this pile of hair to show how much we had cut off. it was a lot of hair. He has really thick hair.

 So, I think he looks very handsome with his new cut. Looked like a totally different kid. He was rather upset with me cause he thinks I cut it too short. Too him it was shorter than we had agreed upon- it wasn't. He only agreed to cut it because Grandma was willing to pay him. She started out with $10 for the cut. That was a no go. Then she bumped it up to $15 and that was enough to make him consider it. That being said it took him like a week to decide to make the commitment. He got it cut and immediately said he was growing it out again. That's fine with us. But he only has until he turns 12. He knows that when he gets the priesthood he has to have a short cut again. Not really sure why he likes it long but it's his way of controlling something. For now, it's not that big of a battle that we want to fight.

Our Cubscouts

This was taken a few months back. Here are my two cub scouts. This is Josh's first night for his den meeting. He has now earned his bobcat and is working on his wolf requirements. Nate is a Webelo. He has a ton of belt loops, more than any boy in his pack. You can't really see how many but there are a lot. People have commented that they enjoy seeing him in his uniform because he's so decked out. He only has one thins left to do, I think Art requirement and he'll have earned his Arrow of Light. He has worked really hard and we're really proud of him.

 Josh may look bare for now but we'll get him all decked out too. He'll earn just as much as Nate. Seeing them both in their uniforms made me a proud mom. I think they look really awesome! Very proud of both of them!

Side note, I kind of think Josh ends up looking like Leave it to Beaver in his uniform. And I forgot how long Nate's hair was before we cut it!

Josh's baptism

Our Josh was baptized this year. Wahoo! It was on April 19, 2014. It was a really good meeting. He had a lot of friends and family there to support him. Grandma and Grandpa Howell were there. Grandpa Fritz and Mari came out as well to be there. Jason, Tilisa, Sofie, Wiatt and Gracee also traveled all this way to support him. 

He chose to have Grandpa Howell and his mom to give the talks on baptism and the Holy Ghost. I felt like my talk was all over the place. For his songs he chose, The Golden Plates and Book of Mormon Stories. Both songs were very short. He's not a singer. In fact a few Sunday's ago they were having a small group of kids sing, Love is spoken here, in sacrament meeting. Nate surprisingly was one to volunteer. Well, they had plenty of girls but were needing some more boys to sing. I happened to ask Josh if he'd go be apart of the group. He didn't even stop what he was doing when he just simply said, "Mommy, I'm just not a singer!" It cracked me up. His interest is definitely not singing!

After his baptism the family came back to the house and had a luncheon of pulled pork and salads and the yummy pudding dessert. Some of us had naps afterwards then headed to Jesse James Park in Kearney. It was a really nice day. I hope he's able to always remember the special feelings he had on his baptism day!

Josh and Daddy prior to him being baptised. Danny was the one to baptise and confirm him a member of the church. Josh is a spitting image of his father and has so many of his same personality traits. It's rather scary!

Do not like this picture of me at all. But this is one of the few pictures we got of the three of us. We are very proud of Josh's decision to be baptized.

And well, this is after the whole program. This kind of speaks for itself. Audrey wanted her Grandpa Howell to keep holding her. She was being the biggest stinker and kept refusing to get in our family picture. She can be so stubborn!!

This was the cute little table display we had for his programs and treats. There were also a bunch of big pictures of him inside the Relief Society room on display during the program. For dessert we  stuck 2 white powder donuts on a stick for it to create an 8. And printed out a sticker on them saying something like: It's great to be 8. (I kind of forgot what I put on them.)

I am so glad the he is finally baptized. Prior to both, Nate and Josh being baptized their 7th year of life is so miserable on all of us. They are so argumentative, emotional, irrational, angry, mean, etc during this stage of life.Honestly, their not really likable at this age. I totally maintain that Satan is at their heels pressuring them with bad decisions so that they will not be baptized.He knows that being baptized will bring true happiness and means that they are one step closer to their Heavenly Father. He knows their potential to do so much good and he wants to stop them. This is just my personal opinion. But for us after they've been baptized they seem to mellow out and become likable again. They start making better decisions because they now possess the Holy Ghost. So, it was awesome to have him baptized and confirmed. Josh is a great boy! He's got so much good inside of him. One of his great strengths is that he's a protector. He gets worried and tries to protect all his siblings if he senses there is danger. I actually trust Josh above Nate to watch Audrey at public places. When we're at parks, I've had Josh watch Audrey and he is very vigilant and follows her everywhere. He forgets about entertaining himself he puts her needs first. While on the other hand, Nate will end up forgetting that he was even in charge of her. And it's amazing how much Josh has blossomed since his baptism. His prayers have really became heartfelt and his understanding of the scriptures have also become better. We are so proud of our Josh!