Ethan's 8!

Ethan celebrated his 8th birthday! 

The weekend before, Ryan took him and his friend Ayden to Urban Air. 

Afterwards, they went to Wendy's for lunch. They got burgers and Frostys. Then Ayden came over to the house to play with the Laser Tag set he'd gotten him. 

The following week, on his real birthday, we went to Sonic between his and Kate's soccer games. We had chocolate cake from HEB with Cookies Over Texas ice cream for dinner. He opened his present from us - two pop-its (one Pikachu & 1 Steve) and a new Lego set, Mandalorian. Our ministering brother, Bro Roming, got him a X-Wing Lego set. 

A month later - Thanksgiving weekend - Ethan was baptized. 

Nana & Papa flew in from Boise, and Grandpa & Grandma flew in from St George. 

Nana played a piano-duet with Collin with Ryan on the violin and gave a talk on the Holy Ghost. Grandma gave a talk on baptism. Grandpa & Papa were the witnesses. I led the music, and Brennan & Katelyn said the prayers. It was quite the family affair!

Ethan's baptism was amazing! I felt the Spirit so strongly. We were mildly concerned that Ethan would - in an effort to curb anxiety - act wild and not take anything seriously. Much to my joy, he was super calm and mild, and I think he had a great experience too. Everything was simple and beautiful! 

Afterwards, we had Chick-fila catering (wraps and nuggets), fruit salad, lettuce salad, chips, and Texas sheet cake while we watched the OSU v Michigan football game. 

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Ethan has changed a lot this last year. He is doing better and better with going to the bathroom when he needs to, even though he still sometimes doesn't and then lies about it. He is now in the Gifted & Talented Program because his math skills are out-of-this-world. On the other hand, his reading fluency and comprehension are still below grade-level, so he gets pull-out help for that as well. He's read a lot the Flat Stanley books, and he likes to listen to books by Andrew Clements. 

He spends much of any free time he might have either playing Minecraft or watching YouTube. He can be quite the screen-zombie. He still loves Lego, and when I tell him to get off his tablet, he heads upstairs to build a teeny, tiny flying contraption. 

We like to call him our Snack Elf. He still loves Nutella, and he'll dip just about anything in it - goldfish, Cheez-its, pretzels, etc. - much to his siblings' disgust. 

He is no longer the easy-going, flexible man he once was. I think he got tired of everyone - especially Kate - telling him what to do, and he regularly argues with most of the family. He used to always tell us that everything was "the best ever," but he definitely isn't the "always happy" boy he once was. I guess that's just part of growing up. 

Happy 8th, E!