Baptism Day

Saturday was a big day!  When Sophie made the decision to be baptized {in our church we believe children reach the age of accountability when they turn 8, and THAT is when they can be baptized if they so choose}, we realized we had the opportunity to make it even sweeter by scheduling the service for February 28th.  Not only was it my birthday, but it was also the date I got baptized when I turned 8, and it was the date my mom got baptized as a 19 year old convert, a couple of years before I was born.  I honestly don't remember much about my own baptism day ALL those many years ago,  BUT,  I do vividly remember at some point in the day hearing my mom  say that it was the 10 year anniversary of her own baptism, too.  And I always thought that was so cool.  :) 

Last week was a SUPER busy week leading up to the big day, but we managed to get everything done in time, and were fortunate enough to have Scott's parents join us, along with Kristin and Hannah and Jonah.  The baptism didn't start until the afternoon, so it gave me plenty of time to finish up the last minute things that we needed for the service.  Such as writing talks on Baptism and The Gift of the Holy Ghost, for Grace and Ethan respectively to give at the church.  And even though I wrote them, I have to say that I was super impressed and touched by what a wonderful job they did while delivering them later that day.  I thought for sure Grace would get too nervous at the last minute to do it, but with Hannah's help for a couple of object lessons, she knocked it out of the park!  :)  Ethan also did an amazing job and, as silly as it sounds, I actually think that doing Magic Club and learning how to perform in front of a crowd has really helped him to be confident and calm while speaking in front of others. 

Setting everything up and getting prepared. 

I think they were both kind of excited.  :)

Sophie looked absolutely adorable in her jumpsuit, and I think the third time really is the charm, because this was the first time I actually remembered to get a picture.  I also remembered to snap a picture of just me and the baptism kid this time around.   Of course, I didn't want to leave Scott out, so I got a picture of just him and Sophie as well.  :)

Kristin and Hannah helped her to put a braid and a bun on the side of her hair.

I felt the Spirit so strongly throughout her baptismal service, and really the only thing that marred it was the little Lover Boy who was so tired and punch drunk from being up so late with the kids the night before, that he wouldn't stop flopping all around, climbing in my lap, trying to talk to me, trying to LICK my arm, and messing with my Fitbit.  And necklace.  And proclaiming that this was taking FOREVER.  And when could we have the cookies?  Hahahaha.  Oh Alex.  What are we going to do with you??

After the service was over, we headed to the kitchen area for refreshments.  Of course, we couldn't do without the infamous CTR sugar cookies, so our vegan recipe came in handy once again!  {And once again, my friend Rachel came to the rescue by MAKING all the cookies, so I wouldn't have one more (aggravating) thing to do.  Because as we all know, rolling out sugar cookies is pretty much my least favorite baking task.  Decorating them, however, is actually really kind of fun.  And I have to say, I always really enjoying icing up those green CTR shields.  :) }  Rounding things out, we included some regular Oreos -- a standard Sophie treat -- and some lemon flavored Oreos, which were a new try, but I have to say were REALLY good. 

(I think this is one of my favorite pictures of her.)

(The glace icing was made with 3 TBS vanilla soy milk and 3 TBS light corn syrup, a tsp. of vanilla, and enough powdered sugar to make it thick but still viscous --maybe half a bag of a 2 lbs bag of powdered sugar.  Wilton brand "Leaf Green" food coloring was then used to get the right color.  The white icing was made to be a little thicker than the green, so that it would set up faster, and I piped around each shield to start, before "flooding" the center with the green icing.  I actually let the icing set up over night, before piping on the "CTR" letters with the white icing the next morning.  These are always a hit.  :) Recipe adapted for allergy purposes from Our Best Bites.)

My friend, Linsey, managed to snap some family group shots for us before we left that came out surprisingly well, considering all of the kids were REALLY ready to go and no one wanted to pose for the pictures.  Just check out Alex in all of the pictures.  Hahaha.  (He was so tired that he actually fell asleep in the car with 3 minutes left in our drive home.)

The whole crew!

After rounding everybody and everything up, we headed on home to get changed and ready to go out to dinner.   We needed to celebrate my birthday at least a little bit that day, right??  :)  Haha.  Scott's mom was really great in making sure that I was not forgotten in the midst of Sophie's celebration.  Even though we told her we were fine with focusing on Sophie this weekend, and celebrating my birthday next weekend, she still made some birthday magic happen.  Dinner was so good, and we finished the evening off at the candy store!  Who doesn't love that??  :)  All in all it was a day to remember!

 Heading to the restaurant.

 Waiting to be seated.  That cat nap really refreshed him!  Hahaha.

 Trying to decide what to get at the candy store.

 And very pleased with his purchase at the candy store. :)

And of course, I couldn't let the day go by without getting a picture with my half birthday twin!  Haha. 

And there you have it!  Sophie's baptism day was a hit.  :)  And just if anyone wants to take a walk down memory lane, here are links to both Ethan's and Grace's baptism days.