Everly's Baptism

Everly woke up Saturday morning with a pep in her step! She skipped and hopped and did jazz hands, proclaiming to the world, "Today is the day!!! I'm getting bapTIZED!!" We laid out her dress and her towel that that the primary president brought over on her birthday. 

We wrestled the kids into the car and zipped over to the stake center so we could take a few photos with her on her special day! She was so excited to wear her new dress.

She is the fourth and final daughter to wear the dress that I was baptized in (and lots of aunts and cousins too!)

We kept things small. While Covid lingers, families are on their own to do baptisms. We invited the Flynns and Guenthers to come and zoomed in both sides of the family. It was short an d sweet!

We didn't get a good outdoor picture because it was raining and cold all day, but Kansas has a way of sprinkling unusually warm days just when you need them. We went back for a reshoot when the sun popped out a few days later. 

I love this beautiful girl!

Ethan...missionary fauxhawk

Ethan wants to serve a mission.

He also doesn't want to have missionary hair....not yet.

So this is his official missionary application photo.

And that is a mowhawk, oh-so-carefully combed to look like a missionary cut.

Lol, dude. Love that smile!

Anna's baptism day

The big day! Anna is eight and it's finally her turn to be baptized. She was nervous and excited all morning, but Mark helped her to practice and she new what to expect, so it calmed her fears.

We made it to the church with plenty of time to take photos and change clothes.

Anna and her dad.

It was sunny and chilly, but we couldn't resist getting a photo in the same spot as Laney and Megan. And in the same sweet baptism dress. She was so happy. It was hard to capture it in a photo. She seemed lit up from inside.

She was so lucky to share the day with her best friend, Rebecca Andersen. They make quite a little pair.

And we were so glad that Grandma Kathleen made the extra trip to come out and see Anna get baptized! And that she was able to get here even though she wasn't feeling well. Mark pointed out that Anna and her Grandma have the same smiling eyes! I love that so much!

The thing that I'll always remember about this day is that Anna was so happy! She was beaming and buzzing with anticipation. Ethan gave the prayer, Mathew gave the talk and all the girls sang "The Miracle" as the special musical number. I felt the spirit and it made me consider all the love and blessings we have in our family. So grateful for days like this!

Laney's Baptism

It was a beautiful morning for a baptism. 

And Laney was ready and excited. She's been waiting and talking about it months. 

And I don't think there is anything I can say about it beyond these pictures and that I love her and hope she will feel the strength of the atonement and Holy Spirit guiding her through her life.

A beautiful day.

Laney and her 8-year old buddies. 

L to R: Eliza Clarke, Laney, Kate Guenther, Ethan Terry

Megan's Baptism

I have a little confession.....

I forgot to invite the ward to Megan's baptism. 

The only reason that any non-family members ended up being there was that I asked a few of them to play the piano and lead the music. 

Oh yes. And the Bishop was there.

At first I felt pretty awful about my mistake, but once the program started and we were in the middle of singing "Joy to the World" (one of Megan's favorites), I really started to feel the Spirit. And I looked around me and I was grateful that we were just a small group and that we all knew each other and loved each other. 

Megan was so happy to stand with her Dad.

John and Shannon and their little kids were there to show their support. It's no small thing to travel 3 1/2 hours each way with little kids in the car. We felt the love.

Grandma Kathleen and Grandma and Grandpa Fields all traveled to be there for Megan on this special day.

She radiated happiness.

Megan wore the same dress that I was baptized in. Mom brought it all the way from Utah...on loan from Aunt Heidi. I hope that all my daughters will be able to wear it.

After the baptism and confirmation, we returned to our house for visiting and Pork Barbacoa....with the missionaries. I have never been awesome about checking my calendar before signing up to feed those fellows. :)

Laney also loaned out some of her dress ups to the Grandparents...who took it all perfectly in stride. 

Joe was sporting our old cowboy hat while Jean checked her plastic Cinderella purse for hidden treasures.

I got a kick out of the next few pictures:

My mom doesn't just wear the scarf...

She wears. that. scarf.

It was a beautiful day.

Forgiveness and a Baptism

I can tell you exactly why I haven't been blogging lately.

It's a combination of being ridiculously busy (moving....again....) and knowing that the next post was all about my sweet Mathew's baptism. It's hard for me to approach a subject like that without over analyzing because I want the "future Mathew" to know how much I love him and really get a sense for how important and happy this event was for our family.

So I keep putting it off.

But I promised my friend this morning (whoops...that promise was over a week ago...promises shmomises) that I would end the blog-fast tonight, so I'm sitting down with my trusty laptop and I'm ready to remember the love we all felt on Mathew's special day. And then I will give myself permission to move on to other matters. It's possible I will be skipping over things. Although not likely. I am nothing if not a born in the wool rule-following chronological blogger. Heaven help me.

First of all, I have to say how much I appreciated my mom and my sister driving from Utah to be there for Mathew. Mark's parents drove up from Arkansas and completed the circle of love for him. I am not exaggerating to say that he LOVED that you guys were there for him. You made it just perfect. Thank you!

Mathew chose me to give the talk on Baptism. It was short and slightly incoherent. There is a reason mothers aren't usually asked to do that. I was a bit of a mess. Luckily, he asked Grandma Kathleen to give the the talk on the Holy Ghost and she hit it out of the park. I loved it. It involved a great story about lying to my Grandmother until a few chickens died of starvation. Ask me sometime.

Playing piano with Grandma Jean

And even though we were still feeling pretty new in the ward and hadn't done the best job of announcing it to our fellow ward members, there were many awesome people who showed up and gave us lots of love and support. 

I spy with my little eye: the Sirois', the Gammons, the Flynns, the Clarkes,  the Guenthers, Julia McClauley and the Murphys. SALT OF THE EARTH.

Charlie, Meg and Addie. 

Mathew's primary teacher, Natalie Horspool came (she's the best) and showered him with love.  

And then he danced with the females in his primary class outside the font. One in each hand. That's m' boy.

And then it was time to head home. We said our goodbye's. My sweet friend, Brittany, showered me with love and does as she always does....made me feel like a million bucks and a better person. 

How do you like our mirror body language? I laughed when I saw this photo. 

I was so relieved that everything went okay, that I forgot to wait for my mom and sister to follow me home from the church. I left them in the dust. Thank heavens they have such good memories. 

That evening Mark and the boys hung out with Grandpa Joe and Grandma Jean and played a little guitar. 

The rest of us went for a walk down to Indian Creek Trail to see the magical fireflies. I think it's safe to say it was both HOT

and HUMID.

So, now I ask you all to forgive my absence. I will try to do better with my writing and recording the things that take place in our family. Mathew did get baptized and it was a wonderful day for all of us. We felt the spirit there and we felt the love and care of our families and our new friends.  I am grateful for the kindness of the Lord and for all his blessings.