Hayden's Cedar Chest

As soon as Hayden decided he wanted to be baptized, I began to start thinking about a gift we could give him that he wouldn't outgrow and he could keep forever.  My parents gave me a gold cross necklace when I made the decision to get baptized and I remember being so surprised by the gift and loving it.  I wanted him to feel the same way, but jewelry didn't seem like the right way to go.  I remembered how much I wanted a cedar chest when I was growing up, and that's what sparked this project.  The idea grew into a plan and I recruited some of the best woodworkers around (Kevin, my dad, and a family friend named Steve) and my vision became a beautiful, hand crafted, labor of love, reality. 

These are the 9 cedar boards that were picked out of a lumber yard by my dad.  They don't look like much right there!

When the wood was purchased, I'm not going to lie, it wasn't what I expected it to look like.  Steve told me the wood needed sanded.  That made sense.  I thought I was going to the shop to help finalize plans, but I got lucky enough to help start the sanding process!  The before and after pictures of the wood were amazing to me!

These were the plans that were drawn up... and Allie signed off on them :)

Kevin and my dad and Steve spent two solid days building this.  The craftsmen ship is really something for them to be so proud of!  Kevin kept sending me picture updates!

This was the end of day 1.  It was really coming together!

The last day of work, Kevin and Steven put finishing touches on it.  Kevin added the 7dark button holes on top so he could remember he got it when he was 7.  :)  The pictures don't do it justice.  It's so much prettier in person!

We kept it a secret from Hayden the whole time it was being built!

He says it's his favorite gift ever!  He wants a lock on it so he can put special things in there and "the babies won't get it".  Guess that's typical big brother thoughts!  We have a few more little things to do to it, but I'm so pleased with how it turned out!