Ella’s baptism was wonderful. I am so proud of Ella’s decision to obey our Heavenly Father. The spirit today definitely testified to me again that this is what we need to be doing.
The day started off with a small breakfast and fast showers. Once everyone was ready, Ella’s primary teacher, Rachel Shipp, came to the house to do her hair. The braids looked great on Ella. We then drove to the church house. We arrived a little before 9:30 am. Luckily one of the members of the bishopric had already set up the room and filled the font. I just added a few finishing touches (i.e. table cloth, programs, guest sign in sheet, digital photo frame of pictures of Ella from birth ‘til now and set up the refreshment table.) Ella was so excited; therefore we also quickly got her dressed in her baptismal clothing so she could greet her guests.
The service was held in the Relief Society room because we were expecting about 40 people to attend. It was nice to see the room filled with so many of our family and friends. Everyone who participated did a marvelous job especially Nia who sang, “I am a Child of God” all by herself. Aunt Jenna conducted the opening and closing songs. Ella’s Grandmas gave the opening and closing prayers. Aunt Danna gave a talk on Baptism. Ella’s Grandpas were the witnesses of the baptism. Uncle Jacob gave a talk on The Holy Ghost. Those who were in the confirmation circle included: Great Uncle Mark, Great Uncle Merrill, Uncle Eric, Uncle Jacob, Grandpa Cody, and Grandpa Baird. And of course I am honored to have such a worthy husband to be able to perform the ordinances today. Ella chose all the participants and their role. It was nice to have so many of our family members contribute. Thanks to Brother Jones for playing the piano. I was scared that I might have too.
Afterwards we visited and celebrated with cookies that I had made. They were sugar cookies with almond flavored icing. Yummy! Each one had CTR written on them. CTR is an LDS motto and it stands for “Choose The Right”.
All the family joined us for lunch at Pei Wei, which needless to say was really good. The rest of the day consisted of playing games, resting and getting ready for the family dinner that night. We had taco salad with a lot of fixings plus leftover CTR cookies. It was nice that we were able to eat and play outside. We are finally getting a few glimpses of fall weather. But of course the bugs eventually found us and we moved inside. Once the kids were put to bed, all the adults spent the evening playing the game of “Scum”. We also had some Blue Bell ice cream that the guests from Utah bought for all of us to enjoy. They are deprived of the best ice cream in the country where they live.
