Poem for a Five-Year-Old

Rachel

By Janene Baadsgaard

Happy Birthday my sweet granddaughter. 

I hope you have a happy day! 

I love you with all my heart.

When Rachel starts to dance

All the world is a stage

Those who form the audience

Are of every age

They clap and smile

And wave a kiss

For Rachel’s dances

You don’t want to miss

When a hard day comes along

Don’t despair

Watch Rachel dance

Then all the world is fair

For Rachel is a joyous soul

With so much love to share

                                                                      She smiles and hugs and giggles

                                                                   Only light is there

                                                                    Rachel is a diamond

                                                                       That sparkles from all sides

                                                                    She gives us light and sunshine

                                                                   So peace and joy abide

Happy Birthday Alice

ALICE

Happy Third Birthday my precious granddaughter Alice.

I love you with all my heart.

Here is a moment we shared that I will remember forever.

When my mommy is busy with my baby brother,

I take the iPad and sneak upstairs.

I hide in the closet.

Then I Face-time Grandma.

“Shh,” I say when Grandma answers.

“This is Alice.

I’m hiding in my closet

So Mommy can’t see me.”

Grandma talks to me.

I talk to Grandma.

Then I grab my books, run to my bed, and climb under the covers.

I read Grandma a story.

Then I turn out the lights

And tuck the iPad in the covers.

Then Grandma sings to me

I like, “Allie Ballie Be” and "Sleep Tight.”

Then I say my prayers,

Hold the I Pad to my lips

And kiss Grandma Goodnight.

Happy Birthday Tessa

Dear Tessa,

     I was there when you were born. I saw you open your eyes to the light for the first time. I held you in my arms moments later when you were wrapped in flannel. I felt so happy I wanted to sing and dance but I gently rocked you in the rocking chair next to your mother’s bed in the hospital. I was so grateful that you were born safely and that you could breathe, see, hear, feel and snuggle.

You were an expert at snuggling right from the start. You liked it I snuggled you on my shoulder or placed you on your tummy across my knees while I rubbed your tiny back and sang lullabies to you. You like the song, “Sleep Tight”.

     You came into the world with a light in your eyes that radiated joy. Your parents lived in a small apartment and they didn’t have much money but they had the greatest treasure in the world – YOU! I watched you stretch and grow and saw your first smile, first word and first step.

Tessa you are a happy spirit who loves life. You make friends everywhere you go – on a foreign trip, a walk around the block, in your class at school or church, or in your extended family . . . you are always reaching out to others with warm friendship and acceptance.

     Tessa you are full of music. From the first moments when you calmed at the sound of my voice singing to you, you have found a way to make music a part of your life. You often dance to the music inside your soul and perform for all of us. You play the piano with so much feeling and rhythm. You like songs with a strong beat and happy words. You create your own fancy versions of the songs you learn at piano lessons.

     Tessa you are full of love. You give the best hugs ever and everyone who is so blessed to have you in their life is given the biggest hugs in the world. I love the pictures you draw for me with you and me together with hearts all around us. I feel a heart connection to you too.

Tessa you are curious and eager to learn. I have watched you quickly move from learning to read to reading piles of chapter books from the library. I’ve seen you quickly move through thick math books loving the magic of numbers.

     Tessa you are a fun friend. I love to be around you and spend time with you. I so enjoy your delightful personality and the way you express yourself in words. I always chuckle when I am with you because you are like a shiny yellow balloon – you lift everyone who holds onto you.

     Tessa you are my precious granddaughter. I will love you forever and always be your biggest fan. I look forward to watching you grow up and become a mature woman with a heart to love and hands to serve. You will be a light where ever you go.

I love you forever,

Grandma Baadsgaard  

Emma's Birthday

Dear Emma,

Happy birthday to my very special granddaughter. You are such a joy to me. I love to see your happy face and sparkly eyes. I love how you always give me a great big hug when you see me.

I have noticed so many good qualities in you:

You are kind. I notice how you notice other people and care about their feelings.

You have a great personality. I notice how you often have a happy smile on your face and something uplifting to say to those around you.

You are generous. I notice how you are quick to give to make those around you happy.

You are a loving sister. I notice how you know how to help Kate with a project or put Rachael to bed.

You are smart. I notice how you work hard to learn and find joy in school.

You are friendly. I notice how you easily find other people to be nice to and easily make friends.

You are beautiful. I notice how your loving spirit shines out through your eyes.

You are capable. I notice how you work hard to figure things out and apply yourself when something is difficult.

I hope you will always remember that you are deeply loved by your Grandma Baadsgaard and that you know what a precious daughter of God you are. As the oldest child in your family you will always be a leader showing your younger sisters the path to follow.

God loves you. Jesus Christ is your best friend. You are a treasure for everyone who knows you. I LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!! WITH ALL MY HEART!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Grandma Baadsgaard

Happy First Birthday Ellie

Elizabeth

by 

Grandma Baadsgaard

Happy first birthday my precious little Ellie.

You begin here

Breathe in, breathe out

New dwelling place

Gentle surprise

From darkness, into light

I end here

With me in you

Earthly vestige

Transformed

For where you are

There I am

I will go on

In you

Rebirth

Renewal

All is well

With me and Thee

Breathe In, breathe out

Awake, asleep

Goodnight

Happy Birthday Mitchell

Dear Mitchell,

Happy 12^th Birthday! This is a special birthday because you will receive the Aaronic priesthood. The priesthood is the power of God given to man to act in His name. Remember your authority comes through your ordination but your power comes through personal obedience and worthiness. The priesthood is a gift from God that blesses all His children. Your Heavenly Father now trusts you enough to give you the responsibility to help others.

Up until now your parents, extended family and church leaders have been taking care of you and helping you grow and learn. Now it is your turn. For example, this Sunday you will pass the sacrament for the first time. Isn’t it wonderful that God allows you to be part of this most sacred event? You will represent the Savior as you offer the emblems of the bread and water as a symbol of His great Atonement. The sacrament is the most important reason we go to church.

What a great blessing it is to hold the priesthood. I hope you take the time to go to a quiet private place and pray to your Heavenly Father and ask him how you can magnify your priesthood. Praying and asking questions has been a great way for God to send messages to you. In fact, did you know when the Prophet Joseph Smith was translating The Book of Mormon he found a part that mentioned baptism? On May 15, 1829, he and his scribe Oliver Cowdery went into the woods to ask God about baptism. As they prayed, a messenger from heaven descended in a cloud of light. This messenger was John the Baptist, the prophet who baptized Jesus Christ. John the Baptist, now a resurrected being, laid his hands on Joseph and Oliver and conferred upon each of them the Aaronic Priesthood, which had been taken from the earth during the Apostasy. With this authority, Joseph and Oliver were able to baptize one another. John the Baptist was chosen by Heavenly Father to prepare the way for the Savior and be the one to baptize him. John did this through the authority of the Priesthood of Aaron.

After baptism, a sacred opportunity comes to members of the Church each week as we partake of the sacrament, renew our covenants with our Father in Heaven, take upon us the name of his Son and promise to keep his commandments. Those holding the Aaronic Priesthood have the sacred privilege and honor of preparing, blessing, and passing these holy emblems of Jesus Christ’s body and blood. God wants us to repent, come to Him with a broken heart and a contrite spirit and partake of the sacrament. When we renew our baptismal covenants in this way, the Lord renews the cleansing effect of our baptism. In this way we are made clean and can have His Spirit to be with us. That is why it is so important to take the sacrament each week.

 As you know, the offices of the Aaronic Priesthood are bishop, priest, teacher, and deacon. With the authorization of the presiding priesthood leader, deacons pass the sacrament. They also help the bishop watch over Church members by giving service and assisting with temporal matters such as gathering fast offerings for the poor. Teachers perform all the duties of deacons and also receive other opportunities to serve. They prepare the sacramental bread and water and serve as home teachers. Priests may perform all the duties of deacons and teachers. With the authorization of the presiding priesthood leader, they may also bless the sacrament, baptize, and ordain others to the offices of priest, teacher, and deacon.

As you serve in your priesthood responsibilities, always remember that serving your own family is the most important because the most important exercise of the priesthood takes place in the home. Your parents and brothers need you to love them and serve them as only you can. Remember the best friend you will ever have is Jesus Christ. He will save you whenever you are in trouble or hurt.

You now stand at the beginning a life-time of service. As you serve in the Aaronic Priesthood, it will prepare you to receive the Melchizedek Priesthood, receive the blessings of the temple, serve a full-time mission, be a loving husband and father, and continue in lifelong service to the Lord. I love you so much Mitchell. I have so enjoyed watching you grow up and become such a wonderful young man. I will always be your biggest fan.  I am so lucky to have you for my grandson. I will love you forever.

Love,

Grandma Baadsgaard

Happy Birthday Matthew

Happy birthday Matthew,

It has been such a joy to watch you grow up. 

You have become such a fine and handsome young men. 

I notice how you excel at so many things. 

You are a fine student, musician and teacher. 

I hope you know that your grandmother loves you so much 

and that I will always be your biggest fan. 

You have so much to look forward to 

as you grow into manhood and learn to love and serve. 

You have such an amazing family to grow up in

 where you have been taught so well how to live after the manner of happiness. 

God bless you my precious grandson. I will love you forever.

Grandma Baadsgaard

Happy Birthday Griffin

Griffin

By 

Grandma Baadsgaard

Happy Birthday! I love you mighty Griffin

Griffin is a dragon with an awful great big roar

Whenever he sees Alice he fires her and more

He swings his mighty tail around and makes a horrid sound

Then Alice trembles with alarm and falls right to ground

Griffin has two mighty wings he spreads out far and wide

His heaving chest can wield a sword right next to his side.

He fights his nemesis Rylan with courage and with flair

For angry brothers cannot catch him so high up in the air.

Griffin spews out fire like a great big giant torch

And everything it touches suddenly is scorched

He shakes his head and peers around for anybody left

And finds his dear old mother bewildered and bereft

Then he looks for others he can frighten and confuse

And finds his dear old father who is definitely not amused

He growls and roars and makes loud obnoxious demands

But Dad just stands there smiling, his line drawn in the sand.

“Even dragons must go to bed,” his father says with glee

No matter how you struggle, dragons must mind me

For even bad guys have to sleep for a few hours each night

But don’t worry; when you wake you’re still a terrifying sight

So Griffin is swooped up in his father’s arms

And even if he wants to, there is no great alarm

For his eyes are drooping and big mouth yawns with sleep

And soon the mighty dragon is not making one small peep.

Happy 8th Birthday and baptism day Rylan

October 2018

Dear Rylan,

I’m so excited that you are turning eight years old because that means that you are old enough to choose to be baptized. I’m so happy you have made that choice.

I remember when I was baptized. I was baptized on my eight-year-old birthday on a Saturday night in a little white church across the street from my house in Union, Utah. My congregation had all the children being baptized sit on small wooden chairs and talked to us for a while. I don’t remember what they said, but I do remember what I felt.

I felt excited and a little scared before I was baptized. When I was baptized, the water was warm and I felt clean. After I was baptized and put my dry clothes back on, I walked out of the church into the cold January winter air. I remember looking up and seeing lacy white flakes of snow falling all around me.

Even though it was cold outside, I felt warm inside. I knew God loved me and was pleased I wanted to come home to heaven someday. I also knew that Jesus was my best friend and that if I tried to live like Him that I would be happy.

When I was your age, they waited until Sunday to confirm me at church and give me the gift of the Holy Ghost. I felt protected when the men with the priesthood made a circle around me and put their hands on my head as my father confirmed me.

What I didn't know was that the man I was going to marry someday was being baptized on the very same day, January 6^th (my birthday) in a little town called Spanish Fork, Utah. He was a little scared and excited too. Because we both wanted to be like Jesus, we found each other many years later. We recognized that we had the same dreams and plans for life.

           When he returned from his mission to Samoa, we were married in the SLC temple. We made special promises to God. We were sealed for eternity. Pretty soon your mother was born. Then she grew up and married your daddy in the temple and then pretty soon, you were born.

Being baptized was the beginning of everything wonderful in my life. Being baptized is such a tender and beautiful time because we are able to participate in our first saving ordinance and make our Heavenly Father our first official promise. You are a son of God, Rylan, and your Heavenly parents love you very much. They want you to be happy so they have made a plan of happiness for you to follow so you can return to them someday. 

Up until now, you have been a child who is learning, growing and maturing. You have made some mistakes; everybody makes mistakes. That is how we learn and grow. Now that you are eight, God thinks you are wise enough to know the difference between right and wrong choices. Heavenly Father knows that some of the choices we make will not be wise. Because He loves us, He wants us to know how to change so we will not be trapped by our mistakes and bad choices. So He invites us to make a promise to Him and then He makes a promise right back to us. When we make a special promise to God and He makes one right back to us, it is called a covenant. Heavenly Father never breaks a promise.

The promise you make to God is that you will remember Jesus, follow Him and keep His commandments. Heavenly Father promises you that He will forgive you if you make a mistake or do something that you know is wrong if you feel sorry and repent. He also promises you eternal life. He also gives you the gift of the Holy Ghost to help, guide, protect, warn and comfort you.

When you choose to be baptized you tell Heavenly Father that:

*You want to be a follower of Jesus Christ

*You will serve your fellowmen

*You will stand as a witness of God all the time

*You will obey the commandments of God

 God promises you that:

*You are accepted as a member of Christ’s church

*You can be forgiven of your sin if you repent

*You can receive the gift of the Holy Ghost

*You can live in the kingdom of God

          Everybody makes mistakes after they are baptized so Heavenly Father gave us the sacrament every week on Sunday. That is when we remember the covenant we made when we were baptized. We think about our week, repent of our mistakes and decide how to be better during the coming week. We think about our Savior Jesus Christ and how He atoned for all our sins, pains, disappointment and grief. We also think about Christ’s resurrection and that we can be resurrected too someday.

I hope you will write about how you feel in your journal after you are baptized. Never forget that you are a child of God and that you can inherit the eternal life God has planned for you. And never forget that your grandma loves you with all her heart.

Love, 

Grandma Baadsgaard.   

Happy Birthday Christian!

Christian

By Grandma Baadsgaard

Happy 2^nd birthday!

I love you with all my heart.

When you’re two

There’s so much work to do

Fly through the air

Doing all that you dare

Climb up the trees

To find what’s to see

Throw tons the rocks

Lose all of your socks

So much food to smear

With absolutely no fear

Jelly down your chin

Makes a sticky grin

Tight hugs around the neck

Brother says, “What the heck?”

“Don’t chuck that toy at me

Or flattened I will be.”

Mom says, “Oh my!”

Dad breathes a sigh

But when it’s time for bed

And all the prayers are said

There is an angel sleeping there

For all the day’s cares

Float into the air

You are our angel fair

Christian is our treasure

Who we love without measure

He is our pride and joy

Such a remarkable little boy

Our greatest gift we say

Forever and a day

Kate's Song

KATE’S SONG

by

Grandma Baadsgaard

Happy Birthday to my amazing granddaughter Kate.

Do you know that you make me smile inside?

Once there was a girl named Kate. While most grown-ups don’t believe in fairies, Kate does. Kate knows you have to be careful and quiet with fairies because they are easily frightened.

Kate likes to create fairy villages to entice wee ones to come to her house. She makes fairy bowls from acorn hats at her grandma’s house. She sews dresses from hollyhock pedals and lilac leaves with a long pine needle. She wraps sticks together to make tables, chairs and beds. Kate also knows fairies like sparkly things so she collects colorful bits of glass and jewelry. Kate knows fairies don’t come out when human are about but Kate can tell when they’ve been to her village because she can see crumbs strewn about or a colorful flower pedal left just so.

Kate’s most ardent wish is that a fairy will come out where she could see them. One day she thought of a plan. Kate sat at her piano and used her fingers to create fairy songs. She wrote the music notes down on paper and gave her songs titles such as: Fairy Lullaby and Elf Mischief. She took her songbook to her grandma’s house and walked out to the back pasture. Then she sat on a wooden fence and opened her book.

Kate sang softly so she wouldn’t frighten the wee people. As she sang she saw the pasture grass rustle in the wind. She almost thought she saw a fairy dart behind a rock. Then she   found a tiny dandelion crown in the grass.

“There are here,” Kate whispered to herself. “I hope they feel safe with me.”

Every day Kate brought a tiny blanket out to the pasture and left crumbs of food and all the tiny dishes and furniture she made for her wee friends. She left bits of glass and jewelry for them to carry away. Each day when she returned, the tiny objects were gone.

Kate searched and searched in the pasture but she couldn’t find their home. She explored in the plum trees back by the irrigation ditch. She lay in the grass and listened to insects in the grass or watched the clouds float across the blue sky.

Then she sang her fairy song . . .

As the moon rises over the mountain

And children have gone to bed,

wee ones come out to play and dance

and all their mysteries are said.

For fairies are real to children

wee ones fly about their dreams

so all the precious nippers

learn that nothing is as it seems.

So close your eyes and imagine

fairies are flying all about

and when you feel alone

 jump from your bed and shout.

Come home my winged friends

and find your rest with me

let my arms cradle you

Like the big blue China sea

            “Grandma,” Kate asked one day, “do you believe in fairies?”

“Yes,” Grandma answered. “I saw one once by a lilac bush in my back yard when I was just your age. My sisters tried to convince me that it was a dragon fly but I knew and I’ve always known. Don’t ever stop believing Kate. Just because we can’t see something doesn’t mean it is not real. You can’t see the wind but you can see the way the leaves move and the trees sway. You can’t see love but you can feel it deep inside.”

“ I love you grandma,” Kate said.

“I love you too,” Grandma answered. 

Birthday Story For Rachel

Rachel – Ray of Sunshine

by

Grandma Baadsgaard

Happy Birthday 4^th birthday Ray-Ray. I sure do love you!

            Once upon a time in the deep dark woods where no sun could shine, there lived a tiny seedling covered with rich brown earth.

            “Oh how I want to grow,” said the seedling to the root growing next to her.

            “Then you need two things,” the root said. “Rain and sunshine.”

            “How do I make the rain come and the sun shine?” the seedling asked.

            “You can’t make them come,” the root answered. “You can only wait and never stop hoping.”

            So the seedling waited and waited. But the earth remained dry and hard and all the tall trees in the woods blocked the sunlight. Every day the seedling hoped the rain would come and the light from the sun would penetrate the dark forest. Every day, for a long time, nothing happened.

            Just when the seedling had almost given up hope, a low rumbling sound rolled through the forest and grew louder and closer. Soon thunder clouds crashed with explosive light and sound illuminating the forest. Then a sudden downpour of rain penetrated the dry earth reaching the tiny seedling. All the heavy rain bent the limbs of the trees low and after the rain storm passed, a huge ray of sunshine penetrated the forest reaching the damp earth where the seedling was patiently waiting.

            The warmth of the earth around the seedling embraced her and the smell of the damp earth enfolded her. Then slowly, day by day, the seedling felt something stirring within her as if she might burst with joy. Then the hard outside layer of the seedling became soft and a tiny new stem grew up toward the sun from the heart of the seed. Soon the earth swelled and the seedling burst through her prison as a small leaf curling upward toward the ray of light.

            In time the tiny seedling grew into a mighty tree, tall enough to catch all the rays of the sun from her lofty perch in the top of the forest canopy. But the seedling inside the mighty tree never forgot her beginning when it was the waiting time – the time when the seedling never stopped hoping.

            And that my little Ray Ray is how your light will help others grow to become the full measure of their creation. Never quit shining and never quit warming the lives of all those you love. I will always be your grandma and I will always love you.