Today was a very big day for Austin. He was baptized! In our faith, we believe that children should not be baptized before they have reached an age where they understand the difference between right and wrong, and can therefore be held accountable for the choices they make. So age 8 is designated by our church as the age at which children should be baptized. Over the past few weeks, we have been focusing on the topics of Baptism and the Holy Ghost in order to help Austin (and the girls) understand what it means to make this commitment. Austin has been very mature about it. We've discussed it with him and feel happy that he chose to be a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. He understands that he is making a promise to God, that he must follow His commandments, and try his hardest to be a faithful member of His church.
It was a beautiful, snowy day today. We headed to the church about 9:30 am and got everything ready. We sang "When Jesus Christ was Baptized" for the opening song (Mom lead the music) and I tried my best to give the prayer without getting too emotional (difficult). My dad gave a short talk about baptism then the Primary Stake President gave the kids a picture of Jesus with the children to remind them that they are following Jesus by making this choice today. We then witnessed the baptism. We sang some Primary songs while we waited for Jared and Austin to change clothing. After that, Bella did a great job playing "I'm Trying to be like Jesus" on her violin, and Jared gave a talk about the Holy Ghost, after which Austin was given the Gift of the Holy Ghost and confirmed a member of the church. Lori gave the closing prayer. It seemed like it was over so quickly. I really wanted a photo of everyone there- his Primary teachers, friends, etc, but people were walking out and I didn't get the chance. I got this cute one of all the cousins, at least.
Austin- the man of the hour
We went back to the house and had a nice lunch. We had chicken salad on croissants, spinach salad, veggies and dip, apples and caramel, cheese ball and crackers, also some chips, Snickerdoodles and Chocolate Chip cookies, and yogurt pretzels (those last 3 were Austin's requests- I said no to pizza!) And Lori brought the Lemon Cake she made the other night too. It was a nice lunch and good to be with family again. Surprisingly I am not sick of them, even though we're barely through the holidays (Sure love ya, Family!)
After eating and chatting everyone started cleaning up and Mom walked into the room with her sleeves taped up. We couldn't figure out what she was doing but she explained that her sleeves were long and loose and she had to tape them in order to do the dishes. We found it hilarious! I would never have thought of that...
Austin already wrote in the journal that Jill and her family gave him. He said the day was very "exciting" and wrote how all his cousins came. I hope that he remembers what a special day it was and how he was surrounded by his family. We're so blessed that he is such a great boy and that he wants to follow the example of his Savior.
10 comments:
What a special day for you and your family!
Congrats Austin for making a great decision to get baptized!
Your Mon is so cute and funny! Oh, she's very smart too! I would never have thoght of that either...
Congratulations!! What a great experience to see your kids get baptized- so emotional and exciting. So great to see that they really understand the covenants they are making and can recognize the Holy Ghost bearing witness to them of the truthfulness of the gospel.
Great pictures. Your mom is too cute!
Oh that is such a nice picture of Austin. I'm surprised you made it through the prayer, I would have been blubbering! I was almost crying as I was reading about you saying the opening prayer at Austin's baptism. What an exciting day! What a good idea of your sister's to give him a journal so he can record this special day.
congrats to Austin...what a special day for him and the rest of the family. Boy, you have had an extra busy December!
Congratulations Austin! We are so happy for you and so proud of you!
It looks like you had a great time and some good food. What a special day!
P.S. Your mom is so funny! And very cute!
Congratulations Austin!!! What a special day. It's wonderful to see your child taking important steps within their faith.
Congrats to you and your family for providing such a great example to Austin and all the children in the family!!!
Congratulations to Austin! You did such a great job of documenting the day. I felt like I was there!
It looks like you had a great time (as usual) with your family. Your mom is very creative! :)
It was definitely a special day and I am so glad we live close enough to be able to attend.
I must say your mom's tape was definitely a highlight. She comes up with the craziest contraptions sometimes, but you have admit, it totally works and I more than once have been mad about my sleeves getting in the way.
When I saw the photo of all the kids together all I could think was one day they will be in that exact pose, but as teenagers. Makes me a little sad.
sounds like the perfect day--I can't believe Austin is 8. Sometimes I wonder if those 8-year-olds "get it" but you can tell that Austin totally does. I can just see him as a missionary in that "man of the hour" picture--does that freak you out?
What an exciting day. Congratulations to Austin.
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