Carter's Baptism

  

Carter was baptized on Saturday and it was such a perfect event. I felt like there was so much planning and preparation put into this baptism. Not only for the program, but all the teaching and preparing. We really tried to make sure Carter understood what he was committing to and making sure he really was prepared. He was. Jefferson was asked to sit in on Carter's baptismal interview the Sunday before and he said Carter answered every question without hesitation. President Coffman also said that Carter was just bouncing and moving with excitement through the whole interview. I thought that Carter would be nervous for his interview and for his baptism, but he wasn't at all. He was beaming.  

 

Thankfully the day of, I wasn't as stressed out as I thought I would be. It was kind of nice not being responsible for anything in the program, I just got to sit back and let everybody else do their job, enjoy, and maybe be a little embarrassed at how poorly  my one and a half year old behaved throughout the whole thing.

 

 Carter handed out invitations to a lot of people and was so excited that one of his teachers attended his baptism. Mrs Leary is seriously such an amazing teacher and person and made Carter feel so special by being there.

When Carter came out in his white I started to cry. He was so excited and happy and ready and grown up. I just love this picture of Jefferson and Carter. Jefferson couldn't contain his emotions and Carter's face shows pure joy.

 

  I wish I could have recorded the whole event because it was perfect. The talks, the music, the special musical number, the prayers... seriously, so wonderful. My dad and brother were so good at directing their comments at Carter. Carter had a lot of little friends come up and sing with him too. The room was packed with people who came to support Carter and our family. We felt so loved.

 

 Some of Carter's church friends.

I really wish I could have taken a picture of all those in attendance. It was pretty special. Afterwards we had a table with a bunch of different kinds of cookies and pictures of Carter up on the table and a baptism subway art. I wish I would have grabbed a picture of it. It was nice and simple and everyone enjoyed lingering for a few minutes afterwards.

 We have been blessed with some of the most amazing elders in our branch. Due to the small size of our branch, we have the privilege of feeding the elders on an almost weekly basis. I cannot tell you how much we love having their presence and good example in our home. The lessons they leave with my family every week are so inspirational and provides extra reinforcement for my kids. We love our missionaries!

(Elder French, Hooker, Garcia, and Allen)

 

We feel so lucky to have such a supportive and loving set of grandparents for our kids. We wish Carter's other two sets of grandparents would have come, but felt their love and support from afar.

 

Carter & Gray

 We were feeling the love from my brother and his family for coming down from Salem.

 And Nic and Alli were there to support Carter as well!

 

Finally we got around to dinner at our place afterwards. The kids let loose and the adults sat around and enjoyed good food and good company.

 

 One baptism down and only four more to go!

We are so proud of you Carter and your choice to be baptized. We love your love of the gospel and the joy you find in sharing it. Thanks for being such an awesome example!