Ben's BIG DAY

I suppose I have lots of things to share, but I'm starting with this weekend.

Ben is in a I don't want to smile phase, in case you couldn't tell from this year's family pictures.  He ends up looking like a boy from those Old West photos...living a hard life, homesteading it, but that's okay.  It will bring back fond memories someday.  On April 8, 2017, Ben was baptized as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  He made promises with his Heavenly Father to remember Jesus always and to keep His commandments, trying to be more like Him every day.  It's a tall order for a little boy, but he was confirmed with the gift of the Holy Ghost too, which has been a huge a blessing in my life and will help him along the way too.

I remember thinking once I made a mistake after being baptized it was all over, so I emphasize to my kids again and again that we have the opportunity to renew our baptismal covenants (promises) every week when we sincerely and conscientiously take the sacrament.  Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ want us to succeed more than anything.

One of my favorite quotes of all time, and it applies to every single human on earth who has a sincere heart:

“Our Heavenly Father did not put us on earth to fail but to succeed gloriously.”—Elder Richard G. Scott

It was a great day, a holy day, and took a few extra months than I would've liked, but it was worth the wait.  Mom and Dad wanted to make sure our resident class clown knew what he was doing and that this is serious business.  We had the missionaries come over just for him and teach him several lessons.  Yes, he knew most of the answers, but I think it got him thinking and realizing this is a big deal, not just something I'm doing because everybody else is doing it.

 We were very happy to have my dad and the ever-trusty Aunty Ja come for the big day.  My dad is a super reliable fellow, and I love him for that.  Life has few certainties - a father who is always there when he says he'll be and who has never made an empty promise is pretty fantastic.  Ja just jumps right into the madness and helps and it makes my heart very happy and our home a nicer place too.  She is well loved and seems to handle the hyper pretty well.

Lily graciously agreed to lead last minute even though she had no idea what she was doing.  Love that girl's Will-Try/Can-Do attitude.  Ben asked if Matt would give a talk, which was kind of a huge step if you consider it wasn't just our friends and family but 2 other kids were getting baptized and Matt has never done a talk beyond the walls of the primary room.  He learned about feeling the spirit as you put effort into writing a talk, and Matt ended up really being happy he had the experience.

I included the picture of Daphne because she was singing and *reading* the words intently as Lily led "I am a Child of God".  During the video with some songs and some sweet testimonies she sat with her knees up to her chest just drinking it all in.  Needless to say my heart was full of love for our whole family on this most important of days.

We invited the people who came to the baptism over afterward for lunch and visiting (and for the kids to run around and scream apparently), and it was just a great day, one for the history books.  Incidentally, in church the next day, a lot of people felt bad because last week was Gen Conf and so Ben's baptism date didn't get announced.  I was told I should have texted reminders to all, but, um, I guess I would have felt embarrassed, and we know we are loved anyway, so no worries there.  All that really mattered is that IT HAPPENED.  I love Ben and even though more than any of my other kids he likes to tease his mom to no end, all straight-faced as can be, he will always be well loved and worried about, prayed for and looked after in our family.

And now for your viewing pleasure, my 2 (only) blue-eyed boys with a few irreverent selfies before the meeting started.