BAPTISM

Last Weekend, I had the opportunity to visit my sister and her little family in Idaho Falls. My oldest niece, Emma, turned 8 years old on March 2nd, and was preparing for her baptism. Megan and I traveled up friday night, and joined my parents and Sarah at Amber's house.

I was also pleased to find that my parents brought along our dog, Annie (a poodle.. and yes, she does count as a dog). Walking through the doors, hands full carrying my stuff, Gracey (my 2nd niece) began making noise and I even heard her "say" my name. I placed quotation marks around say, because Gracey does not really make the k or ca sounds, so basically me name to her is "a-e." I am quite alright with that though, for she is only 2 years old in January. Back to the point; Baptisms. I will share with you pictures of Emma and pictures I have, thanks to Amber, of my own baptism and Sarah's.

Emma's father Weston, baptized her on March 06, 2010.

The service in the church went very nice, talks on Baptism and the Holy Ghost, along

with a lovely duet by two little girls. Emma was

first in being baptized in the font and after we preceded into the primary room to wait for confirmation blessings. I had Gracey duty while Amber was helping Emma change into her baptism, white, dress. Sadly, Gracey was feeling a little left out of the whole thing and only really wanted her parents, but we did alright together waiting for them to be ready. She sure has her own, strong personality. She knows the "no" tones set and they are used well. Watching Gracey following Emma, copying her in every way possible, just brought laughs to my heart. Emma may find her annoying at times, but I know that she loves her with her whole heart and takes very good care of Gracey.

After the blessing, Emma and her family talked to friends and family. After all was said, we returned to Amber's house where people came over for a light lunch and more talking in honor of Emma. After the food, we got some pictures of Emma with her grandparents, in her white dress.

Attending Emma's baptism was an experience I hope I will never forget.

That is a huge purpose of the blog, for my memories to be stored for continual visit. It is not about ratings, or being popular or entertaining, solely for a storage of my thoughts and experiences throughout this life, past, present, and future. I encourage everyone to do the same, perhaps not in a blog form, for then it can be traced and found on the web, unless thats what you want. I'm a blogger mainly for family and close friends, giving them the opportunity to understand me better or share with them my adventures here on this world. But I would rather them watch my other blog about nature, but that is still unfortunately under construction, I will probably not return to active duty with that one until spring, when I break from school for some time. Back to baptism.

Past. What I can remember about Sarah's baptism. I remember it took place in Ogden, Utah and Sarah had chosen Peter, our eldest brother to baptize her. I remember thinking that was odd, and almost unsure about it. I guess I was traditional and thought she should have had our father do it. I no longer question it, of course, being older and maybe wiser...


I remember all our cousins and extended family, along with a large array of family friends from Utah there. That is all I can remember of Sarah's baptism, fortunately we have some pictures.

Sarah and Peter will always
share that special bond.









Past.

What I can remember about my own baptism.. not a lot. I had chosen my father to baptize me in California. The service took place in August ( I have the precise date on the program back home in a little black box, but I do not need to trifle through that, the month is sufficient enough) in our Stake center. I did not have a lot of family like Sarahs, hers was in Ogden, where most of our family lives. I had turned 8 on June 21, but waited until August, because that is when it was the stake baptismal day. I remember the water was warm and I was cold and shaking after leaving the font. After changing into my white dress, we were seated in a bright room where we were confirmed and given a blessing. Only my siblings and parents attended for me, along with our two next door neighbors, Juliet and Weston White. who where Peter and Amber's best friends. They came along to watch and afterwards we all went to Red Robins to celebrate not only my baptism but also Weston's birthday. So Weston and I both got these extremely tall red drinks from Red Robin, and of course Weston also received some cake. That is all I can remember from my baptism. I know I felt very happy that day.