Special Day

This past Saturday was a wonderful day for our family.  Will was baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  It was a day of small miracles, tender mercies, family, and so many other things.  I could say so much about the day, but here are some of the highlights:

Seeing Will and Bill together, dressed in white.  Not only am I grateful that Will made the decision to be baptized, but I am grateful that Bill is a worthy priesthood holder and was able to perform that ordinance.  Will definitely has a wonderful example to look up to.

This is kind of a random picture, but I wanted to mention the fact that so many of our friends from various wards came to support Will.  We are blessed to have a great ward and stake family, which really helps when we are so far away from our actual families.  One of the couples that was there even postponed their temple trip in order to come, which really touched me.

Another wonderful thing about the day was getting to spend so much time with these amazing people.  My cousin and her family moved from Arizona to Chicago just a few weeks ago.  She and I have grown up together, and I would consider her one of my very best friends.  She and I got to sing together during the baptism, then we all went out to celebrate afterwards.  We figured out that the last time we were all together was about 6 years ago, when we each only had one child.  Now we have 7 children between us, and it was so much fun to see everyone get along so well.

And of course, the star of the day.  I think I have dreamed of his baptism day since he was a baby, and I can't believe it finally happened.  He is such a unique little boy with an energetic personality, but he is also serious, thoughtful, and kind.  He bore his testimony during sacrament meeting on Sunday for the first time, and it made me so proud to see his knowledge of the gospel.

I have to mention one of the tender mercies that happened that day.  These wonderful pictures on this post would not have been possible if it weren't for some divine inspiration.  When we were getting ready to head over to the baptism, we were trying to find our camera.  We couldn't find the one we usually use so we just grabbed an old one and some batteries.  Unfortunately the camera didn't work, so that was a little frustrating.  When we got to the church, some of our friends were pulling up next to us.  So we got out and asked them if they had an Iphone or a camera phone or something.  They didn't have a phone, but then the wife holds up a camera bag.  She used to be a professional photographer, and that morning she just "happened" to grab her nice, professional camera and bring it with her.  We are sure that Heavenly Father was looking out for us that day and making sure we could capture the special moments we wanted to remember. 

Here are a few more of the wonderful pictures from the morning.  It was a fabulous day and something I hope none of us forget.