Beautiful Day for a Baptism

Emily turned 8 on Thursday and was lucky enough to be baptized  2 days later.  The day was gorgeous just like Emily who wore the special white dress Pauline made for her.  

Emily requested this photo be taken.  I hope she always emulates the Savior just like this picture

Max gave Emily the sweetest note.  Ever since Max was baptized they've been talking about what it would be like for Emily to be baptized.  In the dressing room right after the baptism Emily,who was all smiles, said "Max was right that was fun"

The bright side

In our house we like this book "It Could have Been Worse."  It's basically about a mouse who is on his journey home and runs into a series of mishaps, getting bruised, soaked and covered in prickles.  What he doesn't realize is all of his mishaps saved him from predators that were after him.    One time when Bart was going through a hard time he said "I keep thinking about how it's like that book "It could be worse".  

Well I had one of those weeks last week.  

1.  I dyed my hair back to blonde and in the process it's progressively gone a weird shade of orange.  It's a good think I have brutally honest sisters who tell me how bad it looks and a niece Bentley who said "Collette did you dye your hair blondish orange".  Apparently that happens sometimes but it could have been worse, it's fixable and all of my hair could have fallen out.

2.  Jane being the wonderful daughter dusted my steps.  In the process she used a little too much wood polish which dripped on the the floors and caused my wood floors to turn into an ice skating rink.  I discovered this as I took a hard fall.  My bum was a little bruised for a few days but what was more devastating was my phone took the fall with me and cracked the screen pretty bad.   It could have been worse my phone still works, although visibility is poor, and there were no trips to the hospital.

3.  While I was putting my keys in my purse my key to the Pilot snapped in half.    Yeah for the replacement being over a hundred dollars.  It could have been worse because luckily I was driving the civic at the time and wasn't stranded at the SLP staff meeting.

4.  I got deathly ill on the drive home from that same staff meeting.  As soon as I got home I spend a lot of time "praying to the porcelain god".   I was so blessed that Bart arrived home a couple hours later and took over chasing our 18 month old terrorizer around.    As I was lying in bed with my stomach turning I ironically felt this overwhelming sense of gratitude.  First that it could have been worse and it was Monday morning and I'd be home by myself still having to chase Aaron around.  Second that it could have been worse and  it would have struck the next weekend and would have put a damper on Emily's baptism.  Lastly I knew it would go away in a day or two and it could have been worse and I was pregnant feeling this way for the next 4 months.  

Anyone for a Chocolate Kiss?

Forget lipstick.  Jane prefers left over chocolate icing for her fashion statement. 

Date with my Emily to the Conference Center

Nona was in charge of her stake's dinner social that they held right before the General Women's meeting for the church.   Since the age was expanded to 8 and up, She invited Emily and I to go (shh.. don't tell that Emily is still only 7 for a couple more weeks).   Emily was so excited that Nona invited her to a party.  She got even more excited when I told her we would ride Trax up to downtown.   It was so wonderful to get to spend a few hours giving my full attention to Emily.  Emily taught me a finger game on the train ride up that was totally new to me and which Emily smoked me every time.  We then hurried over to Nona's stake center that was right behind the conference center and had a lovely dinner.  Emily was wide eyed that the dessert table that had the biggest variety of treats she had ever seen.  As we were eating dinner I had this thought that since we were so close to the Conference Center we should go stand in the standby line and see if we could get in.   We hurried across the street and as I stopped to ask an usher where the standby line was a lady walked by and offered us 2 extra tickets that she had.  We gladly accepted and shuffled in.  Emily was amazed at the awesomeness of the building.  She stood in awe at the big wall size painting of Christ in America.


It was a very special moment when the 1st speaker had all the 8-10 year olds stand and sing the 1st verse of "Teach me to Walk".  Emily was all smiles and whispered "This is my favorite song".     I absolutely loved hearing so many women's voices join in and sing the 2nd verse.  After the meeting I was talking to Emily about how she felt and mentioned how I really felt the spirit when they sang that song.  Emily said "I felt it too then but then it got really boring".     I guess she is only 8 after all.

When the meeting was over we walked around temple square and worked our way into Deseret Book to pick out what type of Scripture's Emily wanted for her baptism.  We then went to Godiva's Chocolates and picked out some truffles to  share with everyone in our family, boarded the train and sped home. 

I hope the church keeps this meeting the same and we can make it a tradition that will soon include Jane.