Eliza's Baptism

Eliza's baptism was beautiful.  We're so proud of our lovely little girl and so grateful to be her parents.


I love that dads get to baptize their children in our church.  There's something truly beautiful about seeing your husband do something so important for your child - something you can't do - something that's special just for him.  Moms get to do the beautiful and enormous acts of pregnancy and childbirth and nursing - special things that only they can do for their children.  It's great that dads have their exclusive roles as well through the priesthood - they get to give their children priesthood blessings, baptize them, confirm them members of the church and give them the gift of the Holy Ghost through a priesthood blessing.  I love the symmetry involved in mothers' and fathers' roles thanks to the exclusive physical roles that moms get to do and the exclusive spiritual roles that belong to dads.

I loved being the one to stand there with a towel at the edge of the baptismal font, ready to receive Eliza out of the waters of baptism.  I loved hugging her to me, all warm and wet, and feeling something of the joy I felt when I first held this warm wet little girl in the delivery room.  Baptism is such a beautiful symbol of rebirth and starting a new life - a life where there is now understanding and accountability.

We took a minute in the dressing room to savor the moment and take a photo before getting her dry and dressed for her confirmation.  She was positively glowing.  I'm so proud of her for all she's learned about the gospel and for her decision to make a serious covenant with the Lord to always remember Him and to keep His commandments.

I love the linking of generations, the building of relationships with family and friends, and the chance to focus on each child individually that is built into rites of passage like baptism.  I loved seeing Eliza's delight at seeing her dear grandma, her many cousins and aunts and uncles and lots of good friends sitting there in that chapel as we walked in for the baptism.  We're so blessed to have such occasions to bring us all together and so blessed to have so many dear people who love us and love our children. 

Here are all the family members, friends and ward members who came to support Eliza for her baptism.  She was so excited to have several great people from our new neighborhood, ward and primary there plus some dear friends from St George and some good family friends who came up from Alpine.

Here are all the family members plus some of Eliza's best friends (Shai, Lucy, Rachel and Hattie).  We were so glad to have Jared's mom, Jared's brothers Aaron, Joel and Brian come with their families (Eliza loves them and their kids SO much!) plus my aunt and uncle, Karen and Rawlin were there to hold up the Eyre side of things.  My parents had to be in Canada for a speech, sadly, and would be gone for the baptism dates the next couple months so we had to go ahead without them.  But they visited a couple days ago and Liza put on her baptism dress for them and she had a special time with them in honor of her baptism.

We fed about 50 people a soup buffet at our house after the baptism - quite a party!

Liza was thrilled with the cute "baptism girl" cookies Grandma and Aunt Michelle brought and was so excited about all the kind gifts and cards from so many good people who love her so much.

We're so grateful for all these great cousins and friends!