8 is GREAT

Seriously, where does time go? Carter turned 8 this past Saturday and I can hardly believe we have a child who is on the cusp of being baptized. The night before his birthday, we could not get him to go to sleep. I checked on him at about 11 p.m. and he said, "mom, I'm just so excited I don't think I can fall asleep." It was adorable. He did finally go to sleep but was up and ready to open presents at 5 a.m. We made him go back to bed until 7!

Before opening presents:

With his gifts:He got: Scout shirt/neckerchief/book from Allen's mom, new scriptures from G&G Baldwin, Scripture case/markers, hymn book, book about the Holy Ghost, new suit, HP Lego Burrow and HP Lego Wii game from mom and dad. He was absolutely thrilled about his scriptures and scouting stuff. We find him reading his Wolf book almost every night before bed.

After opening presents, we headed off to breakfast at IHOP. Carter LOVES breakfast so his one wish was to go somewhere for breakfast on his birthday.

He ate: 3 pancakes, 3 pieces of sausage, 2 pieces of bacon, 2 scrambled eggs, hashbrowns, hot chocolate and an ice cream sundae. He was thrilled to pieces when they brought out his icecream - nothing like dessert at 9 a.m!

Carter requested to go to Hoots (kind of like pump it up) for his birthday activity but they were booked for private parties for the day. I promised to take them on their next Friday off since we couldn't go that day. Carter decided to go ice skating for his activity that day. Makenna forgot her coat so we had to play musical coats that day but the kids had a great time. Allen was a total trooper and handled all the kiddos since I wasn't about to get on a pair of skates! The girls did great on their own too.

For dinner Carter requested broccoli chicken casserole, fruit salad and chocolate eclair cake

There are so many things to say about Carter and his personality. He is turning out to be such an interesting little person. A few things about Carter at 8

• Insatiable curiosity about just about everything. His interests are wide and varied


• Very competitive - he likes to win at everything and struggles when things don't go his way


• Driven/ambitious - Carter is unafraid to try new things. He believes he can do anything and I think this will take him a long way in life


• Lego obsessed - still his main love and where he spends much of his free time


• Great big brother - he sure likes to tease his sisters but he is the first to defend them when the need arises or be concerned about them if something is wrong


• Teases just like his dad


• Loves his nightly wrestling time with Allen and his nightly reading time


• Rule follower - Carter likes to make sure he is doing things right and is quick to put others in line when they aren't following the rules precisely


• Spiritual - Carter is quick to remove himself from a situation and go into his room to pray. He is quick to show concern for other people and offer up prayers for them too


• Athletic - one of his favorite things is playing football with Allen. They work on passing and plays for a couple hours every weekend. He is dad's buddy when it comes to watching sports too
• Sensitive Soul - Carter is very sensitive to the spirit and to the needs of those around him. Just this week he tried to give his lunch to a homeless man on the side of the street on his way to school.

What he is into right now: Harry Potter (!!!), Legos, playing Wii, playing football, coin collecting - especially foreign money and state quarters, trying to rope us into taking him on exotic vacations, the human body/functionality - makes for some interesting discussions, listening to his iPod (especially Micheal Jackson), making flip books, complaining about homework and piano practicing, playing with friends, reading his new scriptures, obsessing about how soon he can become an Eagle scout, riding bikes and needing very little sleep.

We feel very blessed to be Carter's parents. He was the easiest, most mellow baby and has turned into a very non-mellow child. We are grateful for his boundless energy, inquisitive mind and kind heart. Being parents of older children is sometimes a struggle as we learn and grow with them but we are so grateful for this boy in our lives and that we have been given the sacred responsibility to be his parents!