#7 Favorite Memory From Fall 2008

#7 Sarah's Baptism

I am kind of just doing these in order of the events, this would definitely rank at #1 for the most special memory this fall.

The first few pictures we took at the Portland Temple about a month ago in her baptism dress.

The purple color of the flower makes me think of the Young Women's value of Integrity (each of the values have colors)

This was my absolute favorite of Sarah - she is so beautiful.

Sarah's baptism day was so special and sweet. We were so grateful to have both my parents and Clovis'** parents there with us. (o: It would not have been the same without them. Besides the fact that there were 7 other children being baptized and the program went kind of long, it was a wonderful day. Grandpa P. gave a talk in the program (He was an amazing sport about the misunderstanding that this was not just a baptism for Sarah, but 7 other families too. That would have been way better, but not the way our stake does it.) There was an interesting musical number where one of the little boys getting baptized played the violin with a piano duet. It was cute, but he played one note through the whole thing and it was very squeaky. I had to try so hard not to laugh when Angela immediately covered her ears and told me, "Dat hurt my ears!" and "I don't like dat sound!" I bit my tongue and tried to say that it was neat he is learning to play violin. "But I don't like that!"

One of the nicest things about the day was seeing the friends that came to see Sarah baptized. Many of Sarah's friends like Taylor and Akiva - both of whom she has known since she was a baby. She also had her best friend Monica there - who isn't LDS, but she loves Sarah so much she wanted to come. Her mom had to make special arrangements with her other children to be there and I was so grateful for that sweet gesture. It meant so much to us. Sarah was also so excited to see her friend Mallory from school and Alyssa and Ashley from our old ward. A nice surprise was finding out that Sarah knew two of the other children getting baptized that day. One was Logan - a friend from preschool days and our old ward and another girl that Sarah goes to school with.

At our open house Sarah was so excited to see Allie - who moved to the other side of town this summer, and her school teacher Mrs. B. It was so sweet of her to come on Sarah 's special day! We just love Mrs. B.! She even brought flowers and a stuffed animal for her. It was so sweet how excited she was for Sarah even though she isn't LDS. She appreciated the importance of the event and made Sarah feel so special. We also had wonderful friends from our ward who were there and came to celebrate. We are so blessed to be surrounded by such loving friends and family.

I am hoping the slideshow of Sarah was enjoyable to those who came to celebrate. I had it playing in the background through the open house. It was an hour long, filled with pictures of Sarah since she was born and set to primary songs. I am so insane. I thought of this idea the day before her baptism - Halloween - when we had a bazillion things going on already. So needless to say, I hit my pillow that next morning at 5:30 a.m. for a "nap". I seriously think I may be obsessive compulsive sometimes. In my defense, it was very sweet going through all her pictures growing up and remembering so many wonderful memories with my sweet baby girl. It just got me even more teary and sentimental about the day - which I think was good. I love my sweet Sarah and I'm so proud of her.