Tree Lighting

 Red Fish had her first French choir concert of the year at the city tree lighting ceremony so we all went to support her and enjoy the festivities! Aunt Lee Lee came with Nixie and Pixie.

MeMine and Pop Pops came too. We were freezing our bums off but we still had a great time. We made sure to hit the hay rides for an up close view of the lights.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving with my side of the family at the Lake House this year. I feel so blessed to be able to spend time with these people.

Truly Outrageous

 When I was growing up in the eighties JEM was my favorite show. Flash forward and now New Fish has discovered JEM on Netflix. So she was Jem last year for Halloween and she talks about her all the time. When the new Jem And The Holograms movie came out we knew we needed to see it together with New Fish's best Jem loving friends and their moms and sisters. We decided to dress up and attend at the dollar theater. The movie was awful and we were nearly the only ones in the theatre but who could resist dressing up and dancing our hearts out? This might be my favorite adventure ever with my girls.

This is the same hair clip that Red Fish wore when her father blessed her as a baby.

Red Fish's Baptism

The dress my Mom made for Red Fish

 Today my oldest daughter chose to be baptized as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. It was a powerful and emotional day for all of us as she took this huge step in her life. It was the first of many decisions that she will face in her life. She wore the same dress that I wore when I was baptized which made for a special tie between us. My Mom sewed her a dress to be confirmed in.

We had a lot of support from family and friends. It was such a great day to share with the people that we love. We had a gathering at our house after the baptism.

Her paternal great grandparents were too ill to attend but they sent a set of scriptures for Red Fish that I know will be treasured always.

The Book Of Mormon

Tonight we finished reading through the Book Of Mormon as a family for the first time. Red Fish made a goal to read it before she was baptized. Her oldest cousin E read it before her baptism and all of her siblings did it as well so Red Fish was inspired. We started on January 1st and finished just in the nick of time. She will be baptized in the morning. It wasn't always pretty but we made it. Red Fish read much of it aloud and she has drug the rest of us along on this goal with her and set an amazing example for her little sister.

Family Pictures

Red Fish's 8th Birthday

 On Red Fish's 8th Birthday we celebrated at home. One of her BFF's brought over a cake she had made for Red Fish. We also had an ice cream cake as requested by the birthday girl so there was more than enough cake to last us for quite awhile.

2nd grade has been going very well for Red Fish. She is definitely a very smart girl. She is very good at math and very interested in science and how things work. She LOVES National Geographic kids books. She is still doing the french immersion program and it seems to be going well. She likes both of her teachers. Actually Red Fish likes just about every one. She is friends with kids of every age, both boys and girls in our neighborhood and just seems to naturally make people love her. She has a lot of friends at school and makes new friends every place we go. Ten minutes at the park and she has made new friends. She is more shy around adults and takes awhile to warm up. She is very sweet tempered and exceptionally kind but she won’t put up with crap from anyone. I’m glad that she won’t let people walk on her or push her around. I used to worry that she was so kind that she would get walked on but being seven has really brought out a new side to her. If anyone tries to pick on her or her friends she is a force to be reckoned with. 

Red Fish is getting so big. I can’t believe she will be baptized this year. My Mom is in the middle of sewing her baptism dress. Red Fish has been working on reading the Book of Mormon before she gets baptized. We have been doing it all together as a family. It is a big goal but I think she is going to make it. She is in Mormon right now. I’m not sure how much she understands but we are trying to follow each few chapters up with a children’s version of the Book of Mormon to help explain everything. She is a great reader and is also reading the third book of Harry Potter right now- pretty big stuff for a 2nd grader. She does very well in school.

She has been dealing with some tough things medically this year. I felt like the shape of her feet was changing this summer so I took her in to see a specialist for a consultation and we ended up walking out with two leg casts and a plan for serial casting over the next six weeks. She is now in ankle and foot braces that she will use for a few months. Her ankle cords were too tight and needed to be stretched and now it looks like she has skeletal bunions. We are hoping to avoid bunion surgery by have surgery on her growth plates in six months to a year. These challenges combined with some stomach issues have made things difficult. These things are never easy to deal with but Asia is so resilient and takes it mostly in stride. She knows that she can do really hard things and she is definitely a silver lining kind of girl. She is able to see the good in everything, even when I can’t sometimes. On the upside I think we are almost done with speech therapy for good. She has worked SO HARD for so long. Most people can’t hear anything off when they talk to her. The stuff they are working on in therapy is incredibly nit picky at this point. She goes to an amazing therapist who lives right around the corner from us and the therapist has all of these fun games and Red Fish loves her so much. We have been really lucky! 

Red Fish is still playing the piano and she has gotten pretty good. She is moving along very quickly and she really has a feel for the music. She missed the fall soccer season because of her casts but she wants to play again in the Spring. She should be fine to ski this year and she is really looking forward to that. She has been taking a little hip hop dance class that she thinks is really fun. It’s the first time she ever showed any interest in dance and I was dubious but it has been great because they still let her dance in her casts. She wants to take horse riding lessons really bad so we are looking into that. The kid has too many hobbies and interests!  It’s hard to keep up with and still make sure she gets plenty of time to play with friends. I think it is important to have plenty of time to just run around outside and be a kid. She has a list of everything she still wants to do including karate, violin, horse riding, more gymnastics, more dance, more art, rock climbing classes etc. I don’t mind if she wants to try different things as long as she sticks with piano and tries the other things one or two at a time. She is definitely not boring! Her mind is going all the time and she wants to try everything and do everything. She is always up for adventure and trying something new.

This morning Two Fish and I were waiting outside of her room waiting for her alarm clock to go off and we ran in and jumped on her bed to wish her a happy birthday. We had pancakes with whipped cream and candles and she got to wear a new outfit from her MeMine to school. I always ride to school with the girls and their friends. Red Fish rides her bike because it is easier in her braces. New Fish and I ride scooters because New Fish is still nervous on her bike with all of the big hills and I have the dog on a leash. We are quite a sight heading to school. Red Fish is a sweetheart and always walks New Fish in to kindergarten and makes a big deal about telling her goodbye. It makes New Fish feel really loved and Red Fish is always good about that. 

Red Fish wanted me to bring her burritos and come eat lunch with her at school today and bring a treat for her class. Then we had to have fettucini alfredo for dinner. She is getting an American Girl doll for her birthday. We have a big family gathering planned for after her baptism. It should be a good birthday.