Big Days for Chet

Chet is still a very big Harry Potter fan and knew he wanted a Harry Potter Birthday Party. My parents were here and my mom helped a lot with the cake. Chet wanted it just like the cake Hagrid made for Harry and had fun helping decorate it. He piped most of the writing and insisted on smashing it to make it as accurate as possible. 

He decided he wanted a mint chocolate cake. I never like to do the same recipe twice so I didn't recreate Austin's peppermint chocolate cake. I followed a recipe that called for peppermint extract but I only had peppermint oil. Which I now know are not the same thing. Boy did that cake pack a punch. It tasted like you were eating mouthwash...But the "snitches" falling out of the cake were a hit. And some people claimed they liked it. Still not sure if they were just saying that to make me feel better. 

The kids were so creative in planning this party. Mariah brought out her old witches hat and after showing the guests a clip from Harry Potter with the sorting hat, all the kids were "sorted" into a house. We then decorated "wands" using big pretzel sticks, chocolate and sprinkles. After that we went outside and attempted to play muggle quidditch. I decided a bunch of kids probably shouldn't be running around with sticks between their legs so we left those out. It was a lot more fun than I thought it would be and we're definitely going to have to do it again sometime. 

Chet has some great friends 

Chet has been looking forward to turning 8 for a long, long time. Years ago, I told him that he would get a suit when he was baptized and so he would often say that he was excited to get baptized so he could wear a suit and have his own fancy scriptures and case. As he got nearer to his Baptism, he started to understand the importance of the ordinance itself. A couple weeks before his Birthday, Chet came to me and said he was feeling guilty for the way he had been treating his brother but that he prayed and asked for forgiveness and felt so happy and full of peace. He was so overcome with the Spirit and it was so special for me to be a witness to that. He was ready. 

Auntie Em made these invitations for Chet to share with people. He wanted to invite all his friends. 

We are so grateful for Brother Caldwell putting a program together and handing the programs out to people. He even had some people write special notes for Chet on the back of their programs. I was so grateful for his thoughtfulness.

Pretty sure Chet has been telling the Havards about his Baptism since we moved here so he was thrilled to have them there. Our Homeschool supervisor Miss Robin came as well and he was so happy to see her. The Hilton's drove half the day to get there and the cousins even sang with our kids for a special musical number. 

Such a great group of people who love Chet

We are so proud of Chet and his decision to be baptized into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. It is such an important step on his journey back to his Heavenly Parents.