Birthday, Blessing, Baptism Part 2

Let's back up a bit to start my "Senior" moment #2. During church, a couple of the children made the Primary Presidency some cute mice made from different foods (the body was a half of a pear, the eyes were raisins, the tail was a piece of licorice...). They were really cute and I wanted to get a picture of them before we ate them, so I went to get my camera...where's my camera?...I looked in my church bag, Kate's carseat, another bag...no camera, this is not a good day to lose my camera! At this point of the day, I am starting to feel like the people in the Book of Mormon who hide their possessions and treasures and never find them again. When I went to feed Kate in the Mother's room a little while later, I looked in the diaper bag...and found my camera. Yay! "Senior moment" # 2 complete. When I went back later to take a picture of the mice, they were gone.
As I go over the events of yesterday in my mind, I realize that I had way too much stuff to keep track of!

Zoe's baptism went very well. I put my Mom and the Primary President in charge of the light snacks provided after church/before the baptism. So people munched in the kitchen while Zoe and Matt changed their clothes and we took some pictures.



I had Zoe unwrap a gift from my Aunt Tonia that she made for Zoe. They were 2 white towels for Zoe to use after her baptism. One towel had "CTR" written on it and the other towel had Zoe's name and baptism date on it. Zoe loved them! She couldn't believe that my Aunt Tonia had found a towel with her name on it!!
I also put the bracelet that she wore on her blessing day in her hair to wear on her baptism day.


Other last minute details were done after church like setting up chairs in front of the font where we had the baptism, moving the piano near the font, setting up the tv to show a short video while Matt and Zoe changed after her baptism, and handing out programs. We showed the video of President Hinckley doing a Sharing Time with children and it was perfect. The timing was right and the message fit.
Zoe was more excited than nervous about her baptism. She was ready. Matt's Mom gave a great talk on baptism, which Zoe commented on later. She said it was long, good, and the best part was when Matt's Mom asked her some questions and she answered them right!
After her baptism, Zoe was excited to wear her new dress, slip, sweater, and necklace from Matt's parents that she had unwrapped in the morning before church.
Here she is with one of her best friends.

And her siblings.(not as cooperative)

And her family.

And here she is with Matt's parents and Kate.


What a special day for Zoe. I think because she was born and has been raised in the same branch of the church her baptism day was even more special. Everyone who participated in her program has known her for a long time. It was very personal and sweet. Matt's Dad confirmed her a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and gave her the ability to receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
I hope Zoe remembers this day always and I hope she has the opportunity to see her own children get baptized. What a great experience! As my Dad pointed out yesterday, we will now have a baptism in our family every 2 years. I look forward to that and Emily is already anxious for her big day :-)
To be continued...