{LOTS of big things happening around here}

FIRST...on Saturday Gavin had pinewood derby. He designed his own car and painted it all by himself. He didn't do too hot in the races, BUT for his first car and designing it all by himself, i think it did really good against the other cars where the dad's did it all. :)  He was disappointed, and next year he wants dad to help. :) Have you see the movie, Down and Derby? It's funny and describes the Pinewood Derby perfectly. It was my first Pinewood Derby i have ever been to. I thought it was tons of fun and its so fun watching all the boys with their cars.

 Sunday, the 27th, we baptized Gavin in the East China Sea. It was beautiful. I LOVED every second of it. I felt like a proud mommy and a proud wife.  Gavin asked me to speak about the Holy Ghost. I made it simple and quick. We have talked a lot about the Holy Ghost already, so i didn't feel like i needed to go on for too long. Here are my two boys.  This is before everyone arrived. Right behind them is the exact spot where he was baptized. The water was perfect this day. The waves werent crashing, and it was still and silent for the most part. :) AND just deep enough to get him under.

 All four of my boys.  They are all so handsome. I love them.

We had a great turnout for his baptism. We felt really loved and right at home. There was great support and we are so grateful for that. I have more pictures of the baptism that i will post later. I had a couple people taking pictures for me so as soon as i get those i will post them. :)

We asked Gavin what his favorite parts were about his baptism and his feelings about it. He said his favorite part was coming out of the water because he felt the Holy Ghost. After he came out i remembered noticing how handsome and glowing he looked. I just kept wanting to stare at him. And he had a big smile the whole time. He is such a handsome kid. I bought him a special white towel for his baptism. It was big enough to keep him warm until he could change. :) He is such a special boy.

Later that night he was showing maturity with a certain response he gave me.  I told the boys i've been trying to make a decision about something, and that i am not sure what to do about it. I told them that i have fasted and prayed and felt confused because i wasn't getting a sure answer. I thought i received an answer, but was confused on the way i was feeling about it. I told them i shouldn't be confused.  I fasted again on his baptism day and finally felt peace the whole day that we could make whatever decision we wanted. It was up to us. That is what my original answer was, but i think for some reason i wasn't satisfied with the answer. haha...He must be really tired of me. It wasn't the answer i was looking for, quite frankly. I just wanted a YES or a NO. :)  BUT i feel peace knowing that whatever the decision is that i make is right and that i won't be choosing the wrong decision either way. That feels really good to know. Man i was stewing and stewing about it for weeks. I finally got in the right frame of mind yesterday, i had faith that i would receive peace about what to choose and it happened. Sometimes receiving inspiration is a difficult process. But as one of the General Authority said, its one of the most important skills you can learn in your life...learning how to receive inspiration and knowing when you are receiving it. Something like that. So, i told them now i have to choose which one. Tanner starts telling me what i should do. Gavin pipes in and says, "NO, Tanner, leave the decision up to the Holy Ghost, mom, Jesus and Heavenly Father. Let them decide."
I love the things they say and i love moments like this where i can see them understanding and learning and growing. It's special.

EXCITING MOMENTS!!!: We have a general authority coming to have a special 2 hour meeting with our district in March. We aren't sure the reasoning , but we are excited. :) We just had one of the seventy here to speak with us for the Groundbreaking of our new church building in Okinawa. That was an awesome experience. It was Elder Ringwood. He was a tall man. Such exciting things going on here!
PLUS, we are having a fun Superbowl party here with some friends. Superbowl here starts at 8:30 a.m. on Monday morning. They give the guys the day off for it. We are getting a bouncy house for the kids to play in while all the adults watch Superbowl and chow on breakfast foods. :) THEN THREE days later those same friend, minus our kids, are heading to THAILAND for a FUN 6 day vacation. We cannot wait! I will definitely be posting pictures for you.

OTHER EVENTS: Shane and i both cancelled our facebook accounts. Just so you know. I know a lot of people have asked about it. You should try it. I found that i don't miss it one bit. :)