And baby makes 7!!!!

7

must be our lucky number. Stevie said a long time ago it was his favorite number and now we know why. It takes 7 different, unique individuals to make our own wonderful family. Baby Eli fills in the gap that for a long, long time we didn't even know was missing from our family circle. So to celebrate his completing role in our famly, we had a PARTY in his honor. He was given a name and sweet blessing by his dad. Eli, it was was no easy task to come up with a name for you. This time around we had a really difficult time coming up with a name. Before, it was much easier for Daddy and I to agree on a name but now there are 4 other people with definate opinions on names. When we found out that you were a boy-- the kids immediately nick named you "Sven." We wanted a good strong Scandinavian name to honor our Sweedish and Norwegian heritage. From the very beginning we knew your middle name would be Jennings after your great-grandpa Elmer Jennings Hartvigsen. We definately wanted a family name but it was tough to find one that would work in 21st century. Horace, Elmer, Adolf, Junior, Ebenezer were just not going to work. Dad lobbied hard for Ebenezer and call you "Ben" but Eli, I had your back. No Way! Dad started pushing hard for "Driver" (after the Packer player Donald Driver and of course he does love his golf.) Nope! Then what about "Packer" after Elder Packer he said. Like anyone would believe that! Sorry Dad! So for months we went the rounds trying to all agree upon a name. At one point mom thought we had all agreed upon "Bennett," but then everyone backed off that name too. Mom was starting to panic, we need a name for this baby! Since the middle name was already decided to be Jennings, we thought it would be fun to come up with a non Elmer "E" name, so you could be called EJ after your grandpa Hartvigsen. Mom liked Erik-- a strong scandinavian name. But Dad thought that was just too ordinary. Then Brooke suggested Eli. Hmmm.......???? everyone paused. Yes, what about Eli? All of a sudden it just seemed to work. And with that our baby "Sven" became Baby Eli. One of our sweet Sunbeams was little Eli Nokes, we loved him and we loved the name. We asked grandpa Jay where the Jennings came from in his Dad's name. He seemed to think that his Grandma and Grandpa chose it after the poet and politician William Jennings Bryan. And so we all could finally agree on Eli Jennings Ferguson- EJ for short.

On the first Sunday of the new decade --January 3 2010 baby Sven officially became Eli Jennings Ferguson. Lots of people who loved you Eli came to help us celebrate. Here is a list of who came:Dad, Mom, Brooke, TJ, Madi, Stevie, Grandma Great (Helen) Ferguson, Grandpa Jay, Grandma Liz, Grandpa Ike, Grandma Gloria, Great Uncle Glenn and Aunt Marilyn Goodrich, Great Uncle Bill and Aunt Carol Burton, Joe, Sandi, Molly and Morgan Hartvigsen, Boyd, Julie, Karl, Ashley, Katie, John and Tricia Webb, Greg, Jill, Alex, Tyler, Janice and Abbey Hartvigsen. Our good friends the Funks Bishop Phil, Jenny, Kaleb, Hannah, Hailey and David and the Edelmans Rocky, Shannon, Rachel, Raegan, Rocky III and Russell were also there too.

Alex made the trip up from Cedar City to be here with Eli on his special day.




Bishop Funk holding the little guy!

"Ferguson to Edelman" Future BYU football stars. Daddy and Rocky Edelman are already planning the atheletic future of these two buddies.

Grandma Great held and patted Eli's back all afternoon saying " shh, shh, shh." She called the next day to see how Eli's "little cold in his eye" was doing.

Grandma Gloria wrote down some of the blessing that dad gave you.

The Blessing of Eli Jennings Ferguson, by his father Shawn Isaac Ferguson, January 3, 2010

Our Father in Heaven, in the name of thy Son Jesus Christ, and by the power of the holy Melcheizdek Priesthood, we take this infant in our arms to give him a name and a blessing. The name we have chosen, by which he will be know upon the records of the church during his mortal life is Eli Jennings Ferguson.

Eli, at this time we would like to give you a blessing. We bless you with a strong body. And that your mind will quickly obtain a testimony of this beautiful gospel.

We bless you to become an important family member and to enjoy your life.
We bless you that your body will be strong and we bless you search the scriptures.

Pray and listen to your mom and day who love you dearly. Many people love you. They are excited you are here. We bless you to build strong friendships with these people.

We bless you that one day you will go on a mission and gain a stronger testimony.
When the time comes, we bless you to find a beautiful woman and be sealed together.

Eli, we are so grateful you are here. we bless you with health and strength.

We give you this blessing in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Of course in following with mormon tradition, we gathered for a delicious luncheon afterward. There was a delicious deli platter and chicken salad to go with the yummy croissants with a varity of salads and deserts completing the menu.

We all had a great time visiting and loving our new " Lucky Number 7"