Erin's Baptism

Erin got baptized on June 30th. I got her a pretty white dress and we took some pictures at the Mt. Timpanogos Temple to remember the occasion. It was really sunny and really hot and we were kind of in a hurry. And I forgot the stroller in the car, meaning I was a hot, pregnant lady carrying a crying two year old while trying to take pictures. These are the best we got.

 Such a pretty temple and a pretty girl.

 These were the only pictures we got of her on her baptism day, which was also kind of a crazy day.

 Erin and Daddy together before getting baptized.

The family shot, plus one. Erin was so lucky to have her best friend, Clara, at her baptism. She just happened to be visiting from Florida that week (she flew in before her family did). I was so glad that she got to see her again after a year. They picked up like they had never been apart. She got to stay with us for a few days after this too.

Our family shot. Alex and Marissa both look so goofy, I'm not sure why. Marissa also put a band-aid on her chin for some unexplainable and unnecessary reason. And Connor's just a crankster. Gotta love family pictures!

I'm not sure if it's better or worse getting baptized in Utah vs. Florida. In Florida, she would have had her own special service, which would have been cool, but we would have had to plan everything. Here, there were so many kids in our stake getting baptized in June alone that they had to divide it into two different services. There were four from our ward alone. (I bet the water was pretty dirty with all those sins!) They planned everything, gave the talks, provided the musical number and pretty much just told us when to be there. That was nice. It was a little long because we had to wait for the font to be available, and then the confirmations were in the chapel but with no microphone so we couldn't hear a thing. I'm pretty sure it was a good blessing though. Erin was the only one from our ward that didn't have to get dunked twice. Way to go!

Even though it was a huge event, it was still such a wonderful time. I felt emotional as I heard the talks and music. It reaffirmed my testimony about the simple ordinances of the gospel. Christ was baptized to be obedient, and so should we. I'm so thankful that Erin made the decision to get baptized. Her grandma got her a baptism book and she wrote about how she felt on that day. The words she wrote were happy, excited, nerves and scared.

Afterwards, we had a family barbeque at our house. I think there were 32 people there. We were so glad that so many people could come and support her. That wouldn't have been possible in Florida. The next day she got to go up to the stand so that the bishop could introduce the newest members of the ward. It was cool to see all the girls standing up there all wearing white dresses (good thing I got one, right?) I hope it'll be a day she always remembers and that her testimony will continue to grow as she does what is right in the future.