The Baptism

Tomorrow it will have been a week since my girls were baptized! 

I am usually religiously crazy about blogging and yet I still haven't blogged about one of the biggest days ever! That is because I honestly can not think of the words to accurately describe the day! It was  lovely. It was stressful. It was beautiful. It was amazing! 

It was one of the best days of my life and definitely one of the very best of the girls lives too! 

It started off rough, because things can't ever be TOO easy. A long morning followed by a mix up with the Elders that left the baptism font not filled! That meant I was panicked and worried we were going to have to cancel the whole thing as Todd and I furiously made phone calls looking for a very elusive key to turn the water on! The Elders did show up very late and miraculously (literally!) the font filled up way faster then it normally does! Thank you Lord! 

After the stress of that, everything else was perfect! Our planning paid off! The girls had decided on the program themselves. Emily McArthur played the piano, Kennedy conducted the music, and Stu Brown conducted the meeting. The opening song was "When I am Baptized" and the girls dad gave the opening prayer. Sa gave such a cute talk on Baptism and then Todd baptized the girls. Keagan went first and did great. Riley got a little scared being in the water with everyone watching and started to cry right before Todd submerged her under water. But then she was fine. While Lisa and I changed the girls, Taryn and Nikki passed out small cards for everyone to write the most incredible and sweet messages to the girls. Then Kellie, Addie, Kennedy, Kari, Taryn, Reagan, Grama Linda, and Grandma Debbie all sang "Come Follow Me." Sami was sure missed then and the whole time! Afterwards I gave a talk on the Holy Ghost and Uncle Kirk did a beautiful job when he confirmed the girls and gave them the gift of the Holy Ghost by the power of the priesthood. Finally Keagan, Riley and Campbell sang "I Love to See the Temple" as Riley conducted instead of sang for the closing song and Nana gave the closing prayer. 

I was not at all expecting very many people to come and it ended up being standing room only with 74 people there! The Fosters, French's, Ginn's, Dibble's, Nana, their dad, Grandma Debbie, the Sundwall boys, the Blacks, the Leckys, Renee Jahnke, Benita Garcia from Brill, Christy Evans, Pam Curtis, Nadine Rolfson, the Stoles, Rachel White, Joanne Hernandez, Gayleen Little, Dr Reed, the Riesbergers, the Scharkopfs, the McArthurs, the Nickles, Shannon Oleson, Kathy Pagano,  the Brewster's, the Becketts, the Petersons, the Blackhursts, the Allreds, the Morales, were all there to fill that room with SO much love!! It really was amazing! 

All three of us were truly  overwhelmed with love! I know the girls felt it as strongly as I did! Two people actually commented to me about how afterwards Keagan really worked the room like an adult thanking people and taking pictures! And others commented to me on how strong the Spirit was there! It was awesome! There were lots of tears! Especially during the actual baptism and when Kirk was blessing both girls. I for one was ugly crying as Kirk confirmed that there are constantly angels around Riley and that she learns from them how to be an angel and bless everyone's life around her! So beautiful! 

The girls looked beautiful as well. We have had their baptism dresses for quite some time but I had to have sleeves put on them. They had each picked out special shoes for the day and it was Keagans first pair of heels! On their wrists they wore very special bracelets! I had the sweet pearl bracelets they wore on their blessing day as babies taken apart and I added a little bit larger pearl every other one for the baptism day. On their wedding day I will add even larger ones. They also wore beautiful haku leis on their heads and tuberose leis around their neck that flew in from Hawaii with their dad and grandma.

Originally I had big plans for refreshments and decorations at the church for after the baptism. I am SO thankful the Lord corrected me weeks ago to just focus on the ordinances! That lead me to what ended up being the perfect dinner! We were joined by Nana, the Fosters, the Ginns, the French's, the Dibble's, the Sharkopfs, the Brewster's, the girls dad and grandma Debbie at Valley Ranch. We were in a side room alone, at one long table where everyone laughed and chatted long after the BBQ was eaten. It was a beautiful close to a beautiful day with people that we really, really love! 

I can not believe my girls are old enough to be baptized! I'm really not quite sure how we got to this point! But I absolutely do know that it was the right, the righteous, the sacred thing to do. I do know that not only was the Spirit there so strong but so was my dad! I know that the girls were washed completely clean that day. I know that they now belong to the true church and have been given one of the greatest gifts our Heavenly Father can give us, the gift of the Holy Ghost. And without question I know I loved Keagan and Riley's baptism day and I sure love them! 

Happy baptism day girls! It truly was the best! And we just may have a thousand pictures to prove it!