Baptism Day

We had many celebrations for Ian's special birthday this year.

Thursday was his actual birthday and we got up early

and spent the day at Cedar Point (pics of that later!).

But the most memorable celebration was his baptism day

on Friday, July 20th.

Even though Ian doesn't always show it,

he was really excited about getting baptized.

I can always tell because he tries not to smile -

we call it his "half-smile".

I talked to him earlier that day about not being shy when people

wanted to congratulate him,

and I'm happy to report that he looked people in the eye

and told them "thank you" - which is a HUGE thing for Ian!

 The program was in the chapel

and he asked Grammy to lead the music,

Riley to play the piano, and Grandma Day to say the Opening Prayer.

Way back in the spring when we started to talk about the details of his baptism day, Ian said that he wanted both Jeff and I to speak, but since Jeff was performing the baptismal ordinance

I gave the talk on "Baptism" and Papa gave the talk on "The Holy Ghost".

I've never had to speak at any of the other kids' baptisms, 

so I knew this would be hard.

But I did it, with some tears, and tried to just focus on Ian's

little face.  Once I did that, I kept my emotions in check. :)

For the musical number,

all of the kids sang "Baptism" while Riley accompanied

them on the guitar.

They gave me a hard time about it 

and getting them to practice was like pulling teeth, but it turned out great 

and I loved seeing all of my kids on the stand working together.

Scott and Grandpa Day were witnesses for the baptism

and Leslie gave the closing prayer.

I wish I would have taken more pictures,

but Ben & Erin and lots of our friends came to support

us and celebrate with us.

The night ended with a "chocolate" theme for the refreshments - Ian's favorite!

We love Ian and all that he adds to our family.

Happy Birthday, Buddy!