Bishop Howe

A surprise came to the whole family when Dave was called as bishop of our ward near the end of October. He had been serving as the EQ President, and we figured his new calling would likely be a counselor, so bishop came as a bit of a shock. Our ward is small and everyone is needed, but this was still not on our radar! We know the ensuing years will be full of many challenges and blessings related to this new role, but as a family we are ready to answer the call. 

Reference photo so we can see how many grey hairs this gives him over the next 5 years

Dave's parents came down for the weekend to witness Dave get called and sustained as bishop. We were so grateful for their support! The night before our Big Sunday we went to the WT football game, which turned out to be extremely boring. It was 5-0 at the half, so we didn't feel bad leaving early. 

Sophie somehow snuck a paper doll kit into the game, which kept her very entertained

Sophie's Baptism Day

Sophie was baptized on March 27th, the week after she turned 8. We are proud of the choices she has made and the strong, smart, beautiful girl she has become. Her baby days feel like they just happened, and yet here she is looking all grown up. She is an amazing helper and example to her younger brothers, has a generous heart, is a great friend to those around her, and always tries to choose the right. We are excited to see the great things she will do with her life

Our beautiful girl

Sophie has been reading the Book of Mormon with Dave every night for the last couple years

Both of her grandma's gave a short talk and her grandpa Howe and Liz gave the prayers. The bishop did not show up, so Dave (as the EQ president) conducted in his place. I played the piano, and we let Emery conduct the music.

Dave and Sophie also sang "A Child's Prayer" together for the special musical number. Sophie usually gets a little stage fright so I was proud of her for being brave enough to perform.

A covid baptism, complete with extra masks just in case anyone forgot theirs

Our whole family is so proud of Sophie!

Liz was on Griffin duty and did an excellent job keeping this little guy happy during what should have been his morning nap. 

We were so blessed to have both the Howes, Liz, and Grandmari able to travel to Amarillo for the event. We do not live in the most accessible part of the country so we are always grateful for the time and effort people make to come see us!

In addition to family, Sophie had her primary teacher, the primary president, our neighbor, her friend Ethan and his mom, my friend Erika, and Emery and Tayson there to support her

These two are the very best of friends and never get tired of being silly together

I did my best to make the refreshments covid friendly. Everything was in it's own container so there was no cross-contamination. We had a few no shows, so there was extra food, but the kids did not complain one bit about having to eat some additional brownies at home that night!

Grandmari spoke about the "Three Bears of Baptism" so for our favor we had little bags of gummy bears with a card attached to remind everyone about the covenants we make at baptism

Sophie with flowers Grandmari got for the entry table

Christmas Day in Dallas

We were in Dallas for Christmas this year visiting Grandma and Grandpa Howe. This marks our 14th consecutive Christmas that we have traveled, and while it gets a little more chaotic to pack up our family with each passing year, we love being able to spend the holidays with family!!

This year we left Amarillo a week before Christmas and came home the day after New Year's. We had a lot of fun with cousins and friends during our stay (separate post), but the highlight of our trip was definitely Christmas day. The kids are at such fun ages right now, and look forward to this day so much and it was so fun to see their excitement as dreams came true. 

All dressed up for Christmas Sunday

I always regret that we never remember to take a picture of the kids with their grandparents after visiting, but this time we did!!

And one of Charlie because he was just too cute in his Christmas sweater

Davey faithfully watched this Santa tracker for a few hours. He was so excited even though it said Santa was still 9 hours away from Texas

We didn't have a Christmas plate for Santa's cookies so Sophie made one herself

All ready with their stocking and Christmas pajamas!

Santa came and brought way too much stuff. I guess they were extra good this year.

The kids were in a downstairs bedroom right off the family room, while the rest of us were sleeping upstairs. I thought they might be tempted to sneak out and peek, so I put up a reminder barrier on the door. It did no good, haha. Davey broke right through and I found the both out looking at presents at 5:30 am. After chasing them back into their rooms, I heard Davey behind the door chanting "I got a Batman! I got a Batman!"

Davey and his Remote Control Batmobile

Sophie with her new camera and jump rope

Charlie with a choo choo track

I bought this Hotwheels "pinewood derby" track back in spring for Davey during a sale at Target because I thought he would love it and he did!

More choo choos for Charlie

Passed out after a busy Christmas

Primary Program Sunday

Our ward Primary Program was the last Sunday in September. This was Sophie's second time participating, and she knew all the verses of all the songs by heart. She even got to join some of the older girls when they sang "A Child's Prayer." Memorizing lyrics is definitely one of her strengths! She wanted to look extra nice for the program so she chose the fanciest dress in her closet, which happened to be a flower girl dress that her cousin Anne wore to my brother's wedding. She did look beautiful!

Sophie is normally very outgoing and confident, but lately she has been experiencing some social anxiety when put in situations outside her normal routine, such as the primary program. When it was her turn, our girl who normally speaks on volume 10, could barely whisper and wanted the primary president to help her with her lines. I'm not exactly sure what her part was, but it was something about kindness and school. Next year we will help her prepare better and I'm sure she will do great!

Headed into church

Charlie normally likes a snack during Sacrament Meeting, but this time I didn't want to take him out since it was the Primary Program. He was very angry come second hour, so we just hung out in the mother's lounge, where he eventually took a nap in my arms. 

And this is not the greatest photo of me, but Charlie had on our Seahawks gear that afternoon in support of Seattle, and they won!

Charlie Goes to Church

We like to keep our new babies home for a short time before bringing them to church, partly because we know too many kids that have ended up in the hospital with RSV, and because just I like having some one-on-one time with my baby while they are still tiny. At six weeks, though, Charlie made his church debut and he was a hit! Our ward has had very few babies born in the last year and there was no shortage of people willing/wanting to hold him. And who wouldn't want him?? Charlie is so squishy and cute :) I think over the entire month I've only held him for a few minutes of each sacrament meeting, and during our trips to the mother's lounge.

Unfortunately our going back to church also coincided with Dave being called as the new Elder's Quorum President, which has made getting ready to leave a bit chaotic since I now have a newborn, and no help getting everybody bathed and dressed for church in the morning. Thank goodness we are on the 11:00 schedule right now instead of 9:00, or we would be late every week!

The boys in their Sunday sweaters

Charlie all dressed up for his first three Sundays

Ward Halloween Party and the Fish Costume

This week was our ward Halloween party. It was supposed to be a trunk-or-treat, but rain moved the activity indoors. Families each claimed a small space of the gym and the kids walked around to gather candy. Since Sophie is now old enough to understand Halloween, I let her choose her own costume (she finally settled on a fish), and then Dave and I were a fishing pole and fisherman to match.

And the big surprise this year is that I made Sophie's costume! When I started looking for a fish costume online all I could find was Nemo from the Disney store (not that cute for the price) and one from Pottery Barn (very cute, but also ridiculously expensive), so I decided to make one. I found some pictures online for inspiration and got to work. 

My original plan was to just glue things together, but I have a sewing machine from my grandma that she gave me and thought, how hard could it be?! Let just say I saved a lot of money (total cost for this costume was $5), but it took me probably 15-20 hours to finish. I know nothing about sewing.... one time it took me two hours of bunched thread and jammed fabric because I didn't realize the needle was in backwards. Definitely a learning experience, but I'm proud of how it turned out!

My cute little fish

Her costume from the back - she really loved her fin and tail

Dave got some gummy worms to go with his costume. They weren't supposed to be for eating, but Sophie really wanted one and Dave decided to let her try to bite it off the hook. She was successful and the other kids at the party noticed... they started calling him "worm guy" and followed him around hoping for a tasty treat .