Charlie's baptism

I know, I know.  It has been a long time since all seven of you have heard from me.  Well, my excuse is that we were in UT for the entire month of June and I was absolutely and completely enjoying myself and relaxed like I've never been before.  It was fantastic!!  But now I'm back and have sooooooo many photos to go through and edit and I started with Charlie's baptism which just so happened to be the start of our trip.  We thought it would be cool to do something a little different since we would have a bishop in tow and wouldn't have to inconvenience someone else's bishop.  So Charlie was going to get baptized in my parents hot tub nestled in the beautiful mountains of Alpine.  Well, the hot tub broke so Charlie opted for my brother's heated pool which ended up being so ideal.  Thanks so much Nick and Deb!!

 The Utah fam started to pile in.  (We missed the Henrie's and Pepper's and know that they would've been there if they could).

 Charlie was so excited to be baptized and it was truly his choice.  He wanted to speak at his baptism and told everyone why he was making this decision.  He told us that a couple of years ago he didn't want to be baptized, he didn't want to be a mormon, he wanted to be a nice person that wasn't a mormon.  He informed us that it was mainly because he didn't want to have to go to church.  A while later Paul was teaching a family home evening lesson on the celestial kingdom and on eternal families.  Charlie felt something and knew he wanted to be with his family forever.  He told his dad that he wanted to make sure he was with his family forever and Paul made sure he understood that in order for that to happen he needed to be baptized.  He looked at me, his mom, and said with conviction, "Mom, I changed my mind, I want to be baptized."  And he hasn't wavered since.  I was so proud of him.

 Ruby sang a musical number accapella called "Gethsemene" which was beautiful,  Uncle Nick gave a great talk on the Holy Ghost,  the weather was fantastic (first warm day of the season, we lucked out), the pool was beautiful, Anna made sure that everyone was singing, we were surrounded by family and most importantly, the spirit was there and it was strong.  I have no doubt that Charlie made the right decision and I know he felt it too.

Thanks to everyone that was there and took part.  We love our family!  Unfortunately this is the only group shot and I have no idea why I was making that face.  You'd think I'd know better.