Baby gets baptized.

Mason turned 8 in May and was scheduled to be baptized the first Saturday in June. This was an exciting time for him as he prepared for & looked forward to his big day.

To compound the excitement (and the stress....) we found out that his cousin Grayson was also being baptized the same day in Heber City. We breathed a sigh of relief when we discovered that the baptisms were a couple hours apart. It was pretty special to feel the support of Mark's brother's family as they came down from Heber to come to Mason's baptism and then to offer ours as shortly after Mason's baptism we headed up the canyon to attend Graysons' baptism.

My extended family that came was patient and waited for us to do all that before we fed & visited with them. I worried they would feel abandoned but my sister, Christy, said "we're all grownups. We can figure out something to do until you get back!"

Grandma Carla, Auntie Christy, Mason, Uncle David, Auntie Jena, Papa

Thank you family!

Because of the rush of getting to the 2nd baptism we didnt' get pictures of Mark's side of the family who attended but we are grateful you came and supported us:

Matt, Abby, Katrina, Mallorie, Ava, Grayson, Grahm, Callie, Kei, Ademir, Betze, Grandma Donna.

It's a little strange to think my little family is getting so grown up that all of us are now baptized members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Mason was very excited about that part. He commented many times before and since that with his baptism we were all part of the same special group. I am glad of that. One step closer to being an eternal family. There are so many steps along the way; some big, some small.

As we've encouraged and taught and helped and prayed and hoped our children into the waters of baptism; I see the temple spires rising in my mind's eye as the next step we will encourage and teach and pray and hope our children towards.

I hear 3 of them upstairs giggling and talking. They are supposed to be in bed drifting off to dreamland..... They are not.

It makes me smile to hear them loving each other and laughing together. It makes me happy to know that they can be there for one another throughout their lives to offer support and encouragement the way my brothers and sisters are there for me.

I have had occasion over the last few months to feel especially grateful for the love, kindness and support of each of my brothers and sisters and from my incredibly loving mom and dad. This has come in the form of thoughtful gifts, out of the way visits, listening ears, good ideas, & generous help in ways I couldn't help myself and can never express enough gratitude for.

They are generous and kind and loving and special special people. I am so blessed to be part of a family that cares for each other, is generous with one another, fights and makes up because hello! sometimes we are opinionated & we are definitely not perfect but we love each other anyway and are willing to forgive and we still want to be an eternal family.

All this oozing happy love includes the amazing family I married into. They are people I love being with. They are fun to be around and I consistently learn to be a better person from watching their examples.

Heavenly Father knew what he was doing when he created families. They are hard sometimes. They have the power to bring pain & misery but when combined with the true principles of the gospel, families have the power to bring infinite Joy.

We grow and learn to love and be better people through them.

I am grateful for all of mine.