~Day 319: Special Day. Blessed Day.

Today was a very special day.  BrookLynn was baptized and confirmed a member of the church, and baby JJ was blessed.  We were surrounded by many people who made the day that much more special.  Mike and Jocelyn were down from Idaho.  Chris and Jim are living down here to escape the snow.  Bart and Stephanie braved our crazy family.  It was  wonderful day.

We even got a visit from Nathan and Erica, and their new baby Sophie!  In hindsight, I wish I would have gotten a picture with the parents as well, and not just the adorable, new, TINY baby.  She is so sweet and so small!!  She is barely 5 lbs now.  She is not quite 2 weeks old (I think) and we were so grateful that the new mom and dad came out with her!  (I hid for the first 12 months of our new babies)

Brookie was able to go with her dad and have her own photo shoot this morning.  She loved it!  She is quite the little poser and loves the camera.  I wish I could post all the pictures here... but I'll just have to go visit his website to view them all.  

What a special day for these two babies.  Nick baptized Brookie and Mike (her grandpa) confirmed her.  And then Mike blessed JJ.  Not many people can say they can share this day with their cousin. 

I still can't believe she is old enough to be baptized.  Of course I cried.  She told me tonight that she felt so good after she was baptized.  I'm glad she recognizes that feeling and hope she continues to feel it throughout her life.

She is so funny.  I love her cute personality.  I'm so glad Nick is a worthy priesthood holder and could perform this ordinance for her.  She sure loves her daddy.  And I know he loves her, too.

After we were done with pictures, we went out to lunch with everyone.  We went to Cheddar's.  The kids were excited to be able to go to a 'big restaurant.' They did pretty good, but I know they were getting antsy.  You can't tell that at all by looking at BrookLynn.

When we got home from lunch, I had the kids lay down for at least an hour.  They needed the rest.  They all said they weren't tired.  Uh huh.  Brookie fell asleep with her thumb in her book.  And Cailee created a tent with her blanket, and fell asleep (you can see the triangle shape of her large book holding up her blanket)  You can also see her hair just above the blanket.  Ashton didn't fall asleep... but he was very quiet as he read his book.  The girls slept for nearly two hours.  Then they were wired for the rest of the night.

JJ came to visit this afternoon with grandma.  Cailee, of course, was thrilled to see him.  She loves her little cousin.  I hope these kiddos become good friends.

BrookLynn and grandma were looking at Ashton's scriptures together.  We were going to go get her a set later, and they were discussing them.  We got her a nice set with her name engraved on them and a purple scripture case to carry them in.  Cailee decided she needed a case for her scriptures, too.  I found her a case (happened to be pink!) and she couldn't be more thrilled.  

After we picked up the scriptures, we had to go show grandma what we bought.  Grandma was babysitting JJ, so we walked down to see her.  Ashton and BrookLynn love playing with Edward, the dog.  And Cailee likes to avoid the dogs.

BrookLynn received a special gift from our home teacher, Brother Dave Sorenson.  He asked me what her favorite color is, and then brought her this cute gift.  She was all smiles and can't wait to drink her Grape Crush.  

What a great day this was! 

Cailee also had a special activity today.  Her primary teacher, Sister Finlayson, is going to a different ward.  So she hosted a pancake breakfast party for her class.  What a bunch of cuties they are!  Cailee loves her teacher, and is sad to see her go.  She will be missed!