Great to be 8

Emily turned 8 today and she was baptized! The kids woke up to a festive scene with ribbon spiraling down from the ceiling (I find ribbon much easier to deal with than streamer crepe paper and it looks so much better...does anyone use streamer crepe paper anymore??? If you do, you must be a lot better at working with it than I am!) Eleanor thought the house looked so pretty.

Emily opened her gifts from her grandma and grandpa before church. She received a beautiful CTR necklace with her birthstone gem on it, which Emily loves, and she received her very own pocket-sized hymn book with her name on it. Very nice! She also received this beautiful dress that she wore after her baptism and she was still wearing it when I left to come here to my parents' house to blog, and she is wondering when she can wear it again.

It IS a beautiful dress.

Emily has been nervous about her baptism all week, possibly longer. One reason could be that Matt has been asking her how long she can hold her breath. Another reason could be that Zoe had a dream about a baptism where the bottom of the floor came open in the font. She told Emily about this dream repeatedly. Fear of the unknown played a part, I'm sure.

After church, Emily opened a package from my Aunt Tonia. It was her baptism towels. Both of the towels are white with her full name and her baptism date embroidered on them. I forgot to take a picture of them. Emily was asking me last night if I thought she would get baptism towels like Zoe did, so she was excited when she got her answer before her baptism. Emily changed into her jumpsuit for the baptism...

and then she went into the kitchen to get something to eat with the rest of the branch members. My wonderful mother made finger sandwiches and brought some chips and vegetables and dip, and a few of the members contributed some other snacks and desserts.

The baptism went very well. President Dauk conducted, Courtney Wilson conducted the music, and Jae Lee played the piano. My mom gave the talk on baptism. I was holding Kate when it was time for Emily to be baptized. Emily descended into the water and Kate and I were standing near the steps. Kate started to freak out a bit because she thought she was heading for the water too, but she calmed down after I convinced her it was only her daddy and Emily who would be in the water. I think Matt held Emily under a second or 2 too long, but when Emily came up out of the water, she was very happy. As she was changing, she proudly announced, "I did it!" The primary children sang while Emily and Matt changed. From what I heard, they did such a great job! I gave the talk on the Holy Ghost. It was neat that Emily felt the Spirit as I talked about the Holy Ghost and she had tears in her eyes. Matt confirmed her a member of the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and she received the gift of the Holy Ghost. Matt gave her a very nice blessing. President Dauk gave Emily a very nice welcome to the branch. We are so blessed to be a part of the Ellsworth Branch and to have so many friends with us during these special occasions.

We are so proud of you, Emily!


I love this picture of Emily. It captures how happy she was after her baptism.



When we got home and my parents and grandmother had arrived, the birthday celebration began. Emily was ready to open her presents!

Nail polish!


A face painting kit which she asked for and was so happy she received!

Emily starts Farm League on Tuesday.

A new Nintendo game for the kids to fight over, I mean for Emily to enjoy, and new birthstone earrings, which go perfectly with her necklace.


Emily went against the norm and requested a white cake with chocolate frosting...the same kind of cake that I always requested as a kid.

Emily blowing out her candles with her arm stretched out toward Eleanor to keep Eleanor away from her cake!

This was a very special day for Emily and I think she had a great day. It is great to be 8!