A Couple of First

Today was a very eventful day. Riley gave his first talk in primary. He spoke on forgiveness. I believe he did a really good job. We were so proud of him. He stood up at the podium so well, and only fidgeted a little. It was a little hard to hear him because they don't have a mic in the primary room anymore, but he spoke very clearly. This is the basic text of his talk:

My talk today is on forgiveness.

In the Doctrine and Covenants 64:9, God says: "Wherefore, I say unto you, that ye ought to forgive one another." Forgiveness is part of repentance. WE can be forgiven, but we must also forgive others. If we really forgive someone, we will forget what he did and never talk about it. It is as though it never happened.

Jesus showed the best example of forgiveness when he was on the cross and said this about the people who were hurting him: "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do."

Like Jesus, we should all try to forgive others. If we learn to to forgive when we are little it is easier when we are bigger.

I know when I say I'm sorry to my little sister and I forgive her when we fight we have a happier home. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Allen's parents were able to come. Riley was so excited to see them. And we are so thrilled that they took the time and energy to support our little son. He was so cute last night. We asked him if he wanted to invite Grandma and Grandpa Leavitt. Riley started jumping up and down saying "yes! YES!" The timing was perfect that they were able to come. He also wanted to call them tonight and thank them for coming. Riley really LOVES family. We've been asking him what kind of birthday party he wants. Weither he wants to invite friends or just family. He always says family. He wants his cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents there. I think it's pretty cool.

The other first we had today came VERY early this morning. Emmaline woke, at some terribly early hour. I'm not sure the sun was up yet, but she was calling for her daddy... And so that's who she got. I kicked Allen out of bed to see what was wrong. He went in to check on her, checked her diaper (which is usually the cause of horribly early wake up calls) and discovered that she was dry. He asked her if she wanted to sit on the toilet, and she said yes. After a couple of minutes, Allen heard the sound of tinkling in the toilet! It was the first time she's gone in the toilet!!! She didn't do it the rest of the day, but still it's a start.

Another, less pleasurable first that has occured this week is that Emma has discovered how to bale out of her crib. Not such happy news for us. Now she can get free pretty much whenever she wants. But, what can you do? She waited quite a bit longer than Riley (Riley was bailing out around 15 months and Emma's almost 22) for which we are grateful.