What A Whirlwind

It was an exciting month for us. Some of the highlights were having family in town for the Christmas and New Years holidays. It has been a long time since all of the Harding cousins have been together all at once and so it was crazy but a lot of fun.

The most exciting thing for us was that Koby (child #2) was baptized as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on January 3rd. After turning eight (the minimal age for baptism) a week before Christmas, Koby had been waiting anxiously for this day. Chad and I believe strongly in letting our children decide for themselves whether or not they want to join the church. We teach them what we feel is write and encourage them to think and pray for their own confirmation of whether or not they agree with the teachings of Jesus Christ and want to dedicate their lives to him. Koby took this challenge very seriously and had some concerns and doubts of his own, but after much thought and prayer he came to us a few months ago and said, "Mom and Dad, I had an answer and I want to be baptized when I turn eight." We were very excited not only at his decision to join the church but at the maturity with which he came to that decision. He is a special kid and has great things ahead of him.

Another highlight was that we took all of our kids to the Draper Temple open house, where we all got to go into the temple and tour the sacred building ( which, after dedication, is only available to older adults who are living a code of worthiness who get to enter). The kids were on their very best behavior and told us how much they liked the peace and special spirit they felt there. In fact they behaved so well that after they got out it was like they had to expend all of that pent up energy that they had held back that all chaos broke out. It is now funny looking back but at the moment I was about to get the duct tape out and tie them down. It was a neat experience.

We have decided that Sage is one of the happiest kids we have ever had. She loves to smile and keep us laughing and she is only 5 months old. I wonder if she will turn out to be the biggest Conrad ham. I say Conrad because us Hardings don't have a spark of ham in us. So any goofyness comes directly from Chad. Her newest discovery is to shake her head back and forth until she or us are dizzy. We are having a lot of fun with her and that kids all fight for her attention, although I am not sure that is a good thing.

Until next time.