Sophie's Baptism

A week after Sophie's birthday on August 3rd, 2019 Sophie was baptized.  We had Sophie's birthday party on Saturday, her actual birthday was Sunday, then we went up to Afton, Wyoming on Monday to close on our cabin and spent the whole week moving in and cleaning it.  We didn't get home until Friday afternoon.  So I only had a few hours to prepare for Sophie's baptism Saturday morning at 9am.  (And this is all with me being 3 or 4 weeks away from having a baby.  I was exhausted.)

As soon as we got home I took Sophie to Deseret Book to pick out a pair of scriptures.  She was so excited to have her name engraved on them.  She picked out a case that is solid gold, so now we call her scriptures "the gold plates".  And she picked out a CTR ring too.

Then we ran to the grocery store to get all the food for her brunch the next day.  We got muffins, cinnamon rolls, donut holes, and lots of fruit.  And Steve took some really cute baptism photos of Sophie too.

On the day of her baptism we went to the stake center.  They had 2 nice talks about baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost.  Then she was the 2nd kid to get baptized.  She was super nervous, but did great.  She wouldn't tell me exactly what she was nervous about.  Sophie told me one of her friends was scared the water would be cold, so I let her feel it before we met in the chapel.  And she was terrified to have her interview with our bishop.  But I was so proud of her for going out there in front of all her friends and family.

Then we changed her and she went to be confirmed.  Isaac blessed her with the "Gift of the Holy Ghost" instead of just saying "receive the Holy Ghost".  I asked him about it afterwards and he was snappy with me for wondering if he did it wrong.  But then the bishop called him and said he had to do it again to make sure he said it right.  Haha.  So the following Sunday we quickly stopped in the bishop's office and Isaac just said the first part of that blessing again.

We had a great time at the brunch, and it was great to have the support of so many family members and friends.  Sophie wanted to invite some of the neighborhood girls, and all but 1 of them came.  She even invited the new girl down the street who isn't a member, and she and her dad came.  What a great missionary opportunity.

Sophie is such a sweet girl.  Here are some things about Sophie now:

• Sophie loves playing with friends.  And she's so sweet and agreeable that everyone wants to be her friend.  And she and Aspen are really close, all the neighbors know they come as a packaged deal and always want to play with "Sophie and Aspen".
• Sophie is still super smart.  She has been working on multiplication this summer.  I didn't even really have to teach her how to do it, she's just been picking it up on her own.  But she still fights me every single day when I make her do her workbooks.  If she would just sit down and do it, she could be done in 5 minutes, but she fights me and it lasts forever.
• Sophie was taking flute lessons.  Her teacher just had a baby, so we are taking a break for a few months, but she was doing so great.  (Although again she would fight me about practicing every day.)
• I don't know what it is about kids this age, but all her friends seem to be going through the same thing, but Sophie has started crying all the time.  Maybe they think they are old now and are asserting their independence, but Sophie does not like when I tell or ask her to do anything.  I feel like we are having so many battles now.  Luke is whiny, but Sophie cries way more often than him.  We are trying to work through this, but it's been a tricky stage.
• Sophie is still really into arts and crafts.  And this summer she has really enjoyed building with Legos too.  But I love listening to her ideas when she uses her imagination.  The things she comes up with are so creative and funny.

Sophie is such a sweet and sensitive girl.  I'm so proud of her and the choices she is making.  I know she will be a good example for her siblings.  And we love her so much.