Lily's Baptism Day

I've said it before and I'll say it again:  baptism days are some of the best days of parenthood.  Pay off days, as I like to call them.

Lily's big day was May the 4th, 2013.  She won't ever forget it, I'm sure, because it's Star Wars day (May the Fourth be with you -- haha!)!

Our stake holds baptisms at 9:00 in the morning, so we were especially thankful for the family and friends who sacrificed sleep to be there with Lily!

Only one other child in the stake had an April birthday, so Lil got to share it with just one other sweet little girl - Olivia H.  Her parents are friends of Stanton and mine, so that was a treat!

Sarah, Olivia's mom, gave such a fantastic talk about baptism.  She was engaging and had the girls involved in every part of the discussion.  She invited the Spirit in such a special way.

I got to speak on the Holy Ghost.  I was thankful for the opportunity to speak at Lily's baptism - I spoke on baptism at Chloe's, so this has been a fun, special tradition so far.  I was very appreciative of the opportunity to speak, as it forced me to think about more than getting the house clean enough for guests and what food to prepare, etc. I had to sit down and really ponder what it meant to have the gift of the Holy Ghost and how to live in such a way as to recognize his presence daily.  I loved preparing for it and was happy with the time spent speaking to those sweet girls.

I need to write down one experience I shared that I don't want to forget:

We have been reading the Book of Mormon as a family for a long time.  We have taken for.ev.er to get to 3rd Nephi.  I'm talking the "over a year" kind of forever.  Just last Thursday, we were finally at 3rd Nephi, chapter 11, my very favorite chapter of the Book of Mormon.  I have been anxiously awaiting this chapter for months!  It was later than usual Thursday night and we were all in a "mood."  Lily was goofing around with Henry, making him crazy.  Brigham was making weird noises and faces.  Chloe was off in the bathroom, and Cannon was crawling all over Stanton, who was looking at his phone.  And I was mad at everyone because they were ruining this lovely picture I had painted in my mind of how 3 Nephi 11 was going to happen in our home.
Two verses in, I asked everyone to kneel down and pray for the Spirit to be with us.  We asked for help to be reverent and to feel the truth of what we were about to read.
We still only made it about 9 verses into the chapter, but as I read aloud,

 3 And it came to pass that while they were thus conversing one with another, they heard a ^avoice as if it came out of heaven; and they cast their eyes round about, for they understood not the voice which they heard; and it was not a harsh voice, neither was it a loud voice; nevertheless, and notwithstanding it being a^bsmall voice it did ^cpierce them that did hear to the center, insomuch that there was no part of their frame that it did not cause to quake; yea, it did pierce them to the very soul, and did cause their hearts to burn.

 4 And it came to pass that again they heard the voice, and they^aunderstood it not.

 5 And again the third time they did hear the voice, and did ^aopentheir ears to hear it; and their eyes were towards the sound thereof; and they did look steadfastly towards heaven, from whence the sound came.

 6 And behold, the third time they did understand the voice which they heard; and it said unto them:

 7 Behold my ^aBeloved Son, ^bin whom I am well pleased, in whom I have glorified my name—hear ye him.

 8 And it came to pass, as they understood they cast their eyes up again towards heaven; and behold, they ^asaw a Man ^bdescendingout of heaven; and he was clothed in a white robe; and he came down and stood in the midst of them; and the eyes of the whole multitude were turned upon him, and they durst not open their mouths, even one to another, and wist not what it meant, for they thought it was an angel that had appeared unto them.

 9 And it came to pass that he stretched forth his hand and spake unto the people, saying:

 10 Behold, I am Jesus Christ, whom the prophets testified shall come into the world.

 11 And behold, I am the ^alight and the life of the world; and I have drunk out of that bitter ^bcup which the Father hath given me, and have glorified the Father in ^ctaking upon me the sins of the world, in the which I have suffered the ^dwill of the Father in all things from the beginning.

 12 And it came to pass that when Jesus had spoken these words the whole multitude ^afell to the earth; for they remembered that it had been ^bprophesied among them that Christ should ^cshowhimself unto them after his ascension into heaven.

 13 And it came to pass that the ^aLord spake unto them saying:

 14 Arise and come forth unto me, that ye may ^athrust your hands into my side, and also that ye may ^bfeel the prints of the nails in my hands and in my feet, that ye may know that I am the ^cGod of Israel, and the God of the whole ^dearth, and have been slain for the sins of the world.

- there was a Spirit like we haven't felt in our home before.  I was in tears, Brigham was absolutely engaged and feeling the Spirit like he never has.  It was amazing.  I felt a witness from the Holy Ghost that night saying, "Julie, this is true.  Jesus is real.  He lived then and He lives now.  He really visited those people.  This isn't just a story - it is history and it means something for your family."  I have thought back to that night many times over the last several days.  I am thankful for the gift of the Holy Ghost.

After the talks were given, we went back to the Relief Society room where our stake's new font is located!  Hooray!  Lily and Stanton entered the water and Lily made her first covenant with Heavenly Father.  She was radiant.  The Spirit was present.  It was absolutely beautiful.

After we got her dried off and into her beautiful white dress, we went to the Primary room where Stanton and I with our 5 kids sang, "Love is Spoken Here."  I say 5 because Henry was singing right along!  He was waving his arms like he was leading the music, too.  So sweet!

After our song, Stanton brought Lily to the front of the room where he confirmed her a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and gave her the gift of the Holy Ghost.  In the blessing, Lily was promised some beautiful things.  I can't remember all of them (oh, how I wish I had recorded it!), but one that has continued to stay in my mind was that he encouraged her to memorize many passages of scripture.  He promised her that those scriptures would be a guide and comfort to her as she grew up.  I'm not sure why that has stayed with me so deeply, but I know it was straight from Heavenly Father's mouth to Stanton's mind to Lily that day.

My dad bore his testimony to end the meeting, followed by a prayer from Stanton's dad.  They were both so wonderful and full of the Spirit.  It was a really, truly, special day.

 I love these darling cousins!  Porter, Brigham, Cannon, and Kaleb (with Regan, Kamryn, and my dad in the background).

 Seriously, Cannon is my sugar.  He melts my heart and gives me the giggles all at once.

 What a great example Lily is setting for these younger cousins and brothers!

 Lil and Henry with sweet Kami!

 Chloe and Jordyn.  I love these two girls who love each other!

 I love this picture so much!  Could Lil be any more excited?!

 And how blessed to have a father who loves her, who is faithful to his priesthood duties, and serves his family in love and righteousness.

 Wonderful grandparents to support her!

And a special gift from Aunt Rachel.  She does that calligraphy all by hand.  It is so beautiful.

We had the family over for crepes afterward.  What a FUN brunch menu!  It was so simple and delicious.
Of course, I only took a handful of pictures the night before and none on the actual day.  Well, none of the food...not a big deal!

 I borrowed Judy's and Rachel's crepe makers that I could have three stations going.  It only took about 40 minutes to make 85 crepes!  Tools, man.  They're what separate us from the monkeys!

Mmmmmmm......crepes...  (why do I always go back to food??)

This was such a special day.  I love sweet Lily so much.  She is a wonderful little girl.  I know she'll grow so much over the next year.  We are so proud of her!