Baptism of Our First Born--White Dress #2

Saturday, April 10th--Wow, this day came too fast. I've spent the last couple of months just reflecting on the last 8 years. I've thought about all the "firsts" we've experienced with Elise. So many precious moments that are near and dear to my heart. Where has the time gone? It's gone too fast! Today was such a special day. I teared up many times. You really do think, "My baby, she's growing up so fast!" It's a whirlwind of a feeling and it's quite mind-boggling. I felt a lot of pride today--pride in Elise for making this momentous choice and pride in Nathan for being such a wonderful father, worthy of being able to baptize Elise. I remember my special baptism day and I hope Elise will remember hers too.

The "White Dress #2" reference is from a song I love immensely titled "What Heaven Sees In You". There are 3 verses, each one

describing the 3 important white dresses a girl will wear in her lifetime. The 1st is her blessing dress, the 2nd her baptism dress and the 3rd is her wedding/temple dress. (When you watch the YouTube video link, don't be

surprised if you get emotional. For as many times as I've watched it, I still tear up every single time. It's so incredibly touching, especially as a lucky and proud mother I feel I am)

We got Elise her very own set of scriptures, complete with her name in gold. They came with a scripture bag. She opened her scriptures up right away and started reading them. Awesome! The dress Elise wore to be baptized in is the same dress I wore when I was 8. This dress is almost 26 years old and still in great condition. My Aunt Gail made it for me and it's

been worn by a few other of our relatives since. It fit her perfectly. The dress was made back in 1983 so it does look rather 80's-ish. Fortunately, that didn't seem to bother Elise (phew!).

I asked my sister, Alishia, to come early and do a double french braid with Elise's hair so it would be easy to fix after she was baptized. It worked perfectly! While Nate was baptizing Elise, I had a smile from ear

to ear. So much happiness and joy, watching the two of them. It was fast but amazing. When it was all through Alishia and I rushed to the bathroom to get her all changed and hair done. I think we did it in record time!

A few months ago I took Elise to pick out her after-baptism dress. It is a gorgeous white dress that she picked out herself. It is the one we had professional photos taken in. Since we don't know if there will be another girl to add to our family, I decided to splurge and get something really nice. It wasn't cheap but something we'll be able to hold onto, just like the dress Elise and I were baptized in. Perhaps Elise will have a daughter someday and she'll be able to wear both dresses.

Much of the program was full of loved ones we wanted to include. We had grandpa Dan say the opening prayer. Elise and I picked the songs, "Baptism" and "Jesus Once Was a Little Child". Brady gave the closing prayer, with the help of Nana, and Papa gave a wonderful talk on the Holy Ghost.

After we were done we all headed back to our ward house for a huge spread of food. Some of us had gone earlier to set-up. I was so happy it went fast! There are some decorative stuff I've had for a while to decorate Elise's room with. We hope to get started on that big project in the next month. In the meantime, I thought they would be perfect as centerpieces for each table. They worked out beautifully and Elise was so happy they were used for her special day. Elise had some specific requests for the menu. She wanted white chocolate pumpkin cookies and pistachio nuts. Anything else was up in the air so we chose Costco. We got meat and cheese trays, veggie trays and rolls. Grandma Rosemary made a fruit salad. I made my famous Auddah-pasta salad. We got a Costco cake. There was plenty of food. My dear friends and neighbors offered some much-appreciated help by doing the yummy drinks and even providing some cute containers to hold them in. They also came to help us set-up. I am truly blessed to have some wonderful neighbors! Nate's brother, Dustin, took plenty of pics (none of which I have right now, so I don't have any to post, but I have been told I'll get a disk eventually). He also made Elise a beautiful baptism book full of the pictures of this day and some of when she was younger.

At the end of the luncheon we did a pinata. I lucked out with Easter being the week before so got much of the candy on discount after Easter. Elise picked a large pink unicorn and we filled that thing tight with candy and toys. It only took a few of the little ones to knock that thing down. All the kids went away with tons of candy. Sorry parents! ; )

When everyone left and all was cleaned up we went home to relax. I was incredibly tired but still so full of reflecting and love for my family. This was such a special day--more than I could have ever hoped for. Everything was perfect and wonderful. I love my special 8-year-old girl so much!