Have a happy birthday, baby.

I know I'm late on this but....

After MUCH anticipation Alina finally turned 8. For a couple days she had been insisting that she wanted a Cookie Monster cake. So here it is. It was a rush job, too. One of these days I would like to get a minute and a couple of brain cells to rub together to not have everything be a rush job. She loved it, so I guess that is all that matters.


This is actually the second picture I took of her with her cake. The first one (below) is usually how she looks--she doesn't like her glasses much. (I need to do a post on the girls and their new glasses--- see comment on brain cells and minutes)

She got a bike earlier from Dad and I and on her birthday she opened a baby doll from Grandma Nielson and a Cinderella Barbie from Grandma J. She loves them both and they both go into the carrying case that you can half see in the picture. Sorry, Grandma J. I haven't gotten a picture of her with the Barbie, yet. Hopefully, I can get that soon.


As a side note-- she did not get baptized on August 1st as planned. She woke up and nothing went right. She got her white dress dirty, she couldn't find her sunday shoes, or a second pair of clean underwear (hey if it was it the wash it was cleaned, check your bedroom floor). Then it was her glasses that were lost. She finally just layed down in bed and said she wasn't going to be baptized. She (well all 4 of them, really) hasn't learned how to regulate her feelings with any consistency, yet. And I should have been prepared and set all that out the night before. I've got lots of excuses: Keith coming home from Israel after being gone 5 of the last 7 weeks, trying to keep garden produce from spoiling, and the general day to day care and maintenance of 8 children, a garden, some pets and a house. And Alina usually is the most easy going. But if I would have been smart and focussing on the baptism and it's importance I would have dropped all that (well, except Keith :) ) and planned ahead.

Anyway, she still insists that she wants to be baptized and, for now we are still planning on being sealed as a family on the 22nd. We'll have to see if we can piggyback onto a baptism from the missionaries.

Oh, and because of said braincells... and husband... or lack thereof, I haven't set up the lighting equipment and taken birthday pictures of either Alina or Anastasia. Maybe if I wait a couple weeks I can get Elijah as well. :)