Jayden's Eighth birthday

Jayden's birthday was quite an event this year. Disneyland has been offering free tickets on your birthday this year and for those of us with season passes, they will give you a gift card for the amount of a ticket if you attend the park on your actual birthday. Kelsey and I both went on our birthday (Jordan and Allen's were in the summer durning the blackout period so they didn't go for their birthdays) and we had planned since spring to go on Jayden's birthday. Our ward then planned the annual trunk or treat party on Jayden's birthday and he REALLY wanted to go to that was well.

(Picture we used for Jayden's baptism program)

Well, for those of you who know me well, I am often up to a challenge like that, and I was determined to do both. Shortly into our drive, we encountered really bad traffic. It took my an hour to get through Burbank, and the only reason it didn't take longer was because I had Allen navigate us through the mess on surface streets. Needless to say, I was pretty disappointed that this was the day to encounter that traffic on our way to the Happiest Place on Earth. The last thing I wanted was to lose one of the few hours we had at the park. But that did not stop us.... we persisted on and had a great day at Disneyland! The park was closing unusually early (5 p.m.) so the park guests were made up of mostly season pass holders with small children and birthday guests. We basically walked right onto Indiana Jones ride and the longest ride we waited for was Finding Nemo Submarine ride that was 20 min. instead of the usual hour plus. We were there from about 11 a.m. till 3:30 p.m. and this is what we did:

1. Indiana Jones
2. Jungle cruise
3. Tom Swayers Island
4. Winnie the Pooh
5. Shopped for the three webkins and mickey mouse pen that Jayden bought with his gift card. (Splash Mountain was only a 2 min. wait but Kelsey and Jayden didn't want to go on that ride.)
6. Big Thunder Mountain twice in a row with a 5-10 min. wait each time.
7. Ate a quick lunch
8. Mr. Toads Wild Ride
9. Walked through Sleeping Beauty's Castle, which was a first for my kids. (Well to be exact, Kelsey had been when she was two when Natalie and I went through it, but I think they have remodeled it, so it was a first that way.)
10. Nemo ride
11. Last but not least was Autopia which also had about a 20 min. wait.

I thought it was funny that Jayden's top of the list ride to go on was Space Mountain, but once we got there, he changed his mind. I think it is because he remembered that they added spooky ghosts to the ride for Halloween time. He didn't appreciate the addition!

We then had just enough time to come home for a quick bite to eat, help Mardee pick out an outfit of Kelsey's for Jaimee to wear, then head off to the church for more fun. It was nice of the ward to plan Jayden's party for me, wasn't it? They did recognize his special eighth birthday by standing him on the stage and singing Happy Birthday to him.

The next day, I finally painted our upstairs hallway that had not been painted since before we moved in and the years of fingerprints were just too much. I was glad that I had only had a half day at Disneyland at that point, so I had the energy to paint the next day. My hallway looks so much better in the taupe color instead of the fingerprinted white that had been there. I must admite, though that painting the walls had made my molding look really bad and that will be my next adventure. Since we were getting ready for a after baptism/Halloween party on Saturday, the trim just had to wait.

I had the wonderful help from my husband who took a day off and helped my clean and declutter my house. What a good man! It is a good thing he did, too, because the painting was the last straw my body could handle that week and I was TIRED!!

All that cleaning and food prep was sure worth it, however, because not only did we have a fantastic party, but I now have my whole house clean!!!

Jayden had a busy day on Saturday. Luckily he had the morning to relax and play Legos, because he a baseball game on Saturday afternoon just before he had to get ready for his Baptism.

He was so cute at his baptism! He listened intently to the talks given by Kelsey and his Grandma. He was so tuned into every word they spoke to him! Another highlight for Jayden and our family was that Todd Paxman brought his kids out to be with us. He was so excited to see Tyler there! He hadn't seen him in almost a year!

We met back at my house after the baptism for some food, visiting, and fun. After we ate, I gave the kids each a ball of string and let them make a kid sized spider web using our stripped down swing set and the posts to our new deck. This activity is a hit! The kids worked on it for over an hour and I had a hard time encouraging a few of them to stop to go trick or treating. I highly suggest this activity for your kids next party! Easy clean up with a pair of scissors and a trash bag. ( my kids are planning to continue the building, so I haven't actually done the clean up yet. I will have to post pictures of their final creation later.)

I am proud to announce that we successfully trick or treated with all 4 of my brother's kids, 3 Paxman kids (Mike stayed back with his friends, so we didn't see him), Consuallo's 3 kids, 6 of my sister's kids, our neighbor Daniel, and two of my kids- Kelsey and Jayden and we didn't even loose one of them. I think that must break some kind of record! My cousin even joined us with her two kids for part of the time.

As you can see, we have all had quite a busy and exciting week and are looking forward to taking it easy next week! I am so greatful that Jayden had such a wonderful, supportive group of people to make him feel so loved on his special day! This experience of getting him ready for his baptism has been a blessing for our whole family! We have each strengthened our testimonies as we have taught Jayden and helped him prepare to follow the Savior's example and be baptized. It is bitter sweet that we have closed that chapter in our lives and now have all of our children baptized members of the church!