Eli's Baptism Day (play-by-play)

Saturday was an extra special, great day. Eli had been waiting patiently for weeks and FINALLY the big day arrived. Two grandma's and a grandpa, a cousin, and a great aunt came from afar for the big day. The whole weekend was fun just spending time with family that we don't get to see very much.
The baptism didn't start until 1:00 so we had some time in the morning to prepare. Emma and her cousin Savannah put on an original puppet show about the true meaning of Christmas and taught a lizard about the Gospel. Very appropriate for the day.
As you can see, it was quite cute and enjoyable.
Then Eli got a badly needed "baptism haircut" from grandpa.

Even though we had tons of time, we still found ourselves rushing in the end to get there in time. I was feeling kinda stressed, but then as soon as we walked in the church, my heart started pounding realizing what a special thing was about to happen. We took a few pictures in front of the font and then the boys changed into their whites.

Then we went into the chapel for the brief program. The children getting baptized, plus a few siblings, sang "If the Savior Stood Beside Me". I surprised myself at how much I was already crying. It was so sweet. Another little girl in our ward, Mary, has the same birthday as Eli so they were both getting baptized. Our 2 families flowed into the R.S. room and Mary went first. The little kids got to go up to the front to see better. When Eli and Dana stepped into the font, I was trying to see through my tears. My 2 boys just looked so sweet and were both beaming. Eli kept looking right at me with a huge smile. He had to go twice because his toe came up. Uncle Dan and Grandpa were the witnesses.

The Confirmations were directly afterward. The bishop commented on how reverent everyone was and how strong he felt the Spirit. But then Sadie started crying during Mary's and I had to take her out. She was super tired not getting enough sleep with too much fun happening lately. When it was Eli's turn my sweet neighbor Camille came out with her and I went back in. Again I sobbed and then the Bishop asked the mom's to bear testimonies and then I really sobbed. I did my best through my tears and kept it pretty short. I was so overcome by gratitude. After that the Bishop got up and bore his testimony with tears too. He is so awesome and it was easy to see how much he loves those kids and our ward.

So last, we went outside and took some pictures of our group. They gave Eli a little bottle of water from the font with a note attached. He really liked that. I just LOVE this picture for so many reasons.
When I first saw this picture I was struck by how close Emma's head is getting to mine and Dana's, and how my 3 year old "baby" just doesn't look so babyish anymore, and how the other 2 are looking older. Sometimes it takes a picture to really make you notice.

Later in the day we gave Eli his gifts. He had already used the white embroidered baptism towel from my mom. We gave him his own scriptures with a scripture case and a baptism journal. Dana's mom and dad gave gave him $8 to spend when he goes with them to Catalina (they take all their grandchildren on a trip the year they turn 8).

The Bishop asked Eli and Mary to promise to write down their feelings from getting baptized and confirmed. Eli wrote that when he got confirmed he felt a "swoosh" go inside him.

He really impressed me by how he handled this big step in his life and how I could see he really felt the Spirit. There was something so special about seeing my only boy be baptized and confirmed by his daddy (aka my eternal companion). The Bishop said to compare big steps like these in your life to baseball game and they just hit first base. He told Eli to think of his mission as second base and to continually ask himself- 'what do I need to do to get there'. I thought that was a great analogy. Love you Eli and am so proud of you!