I Can't Wait until I'm Eight!

Henry was baptized this past Saturday, September 24th. It was awesome! I can't believe how anxious I was about the whole thing. I think I made up for Henry's lack of anxiety. Here's how not-nervous Henry was:

Saturday morning we decided to go out to breakfast at Henry's favorite pancake house, City Limits Diner, in celebration of his big day. (Seriously, yum. If you ever make it to Saline, you've got to try this place.) So Henry was in the shower getting ready when I walked into the bathroom. "Henry, are you excited?!" Henry was clearly excited and immediately replied, "Uh, yeah Mom. Those pancakes are so good!" I snapped back, "Not for the pancakes, weirdo! I'm talking about your baptism!" Henry says, "Oh yeah," and in the same breath, "I'm going to get the chocolate chip pancakes!" Not that chocolate chip pancakes from City Limits isn't something to get excited about, but come on, Henry. Really?

The baptism was really was neat. I've seen a lot of kids go under that water, but watching Henry was quite an experience. There were so many emotions smashed into one little moment. I was grateful to witness it; grateful that Maren was there to witness it; grateful that Randy was able to perform it; grateful for my baptism several years ago; grateful for my Mom and Dad who encouraged me to make that decision; grateful for the restored priesthood that makes it possible for us to be baptized. I was so proud of Henry for wanting to be baptized and I knew that Heavenly Father was too. That brought on a sense of humility, remembering to whom Henry really belongs. I was a little surprised at the sense of relief that I felt as I walked away from the font, back to my seat. I was able to mentally check that off my parental to-do list. I commented to someone, "One down, one to go!"

Mom gave a great talk on the Holy Ghost despite my best efforts to thwart her. Just as we sat in our seats, Mom opened up the program and much to her surprise, (and a touch of horror) the program read that she was to give the talk on the Holy Ghost, rather than on the topic she had prepared for-- baptism. I felt terrible that the lines had some how crossed, but she kept her cool and did a great job on the fly.

Overall, just a great day. If you haven't already, I highly recommend having your children baptized. Here a few pics:





There was a girl who got baptized on Saturday as well. Her mom is a genius and suggested we serve ice cream sundaes for refreshments. Henry clearly agreed...

...until maybe towards the end of his second generous helping.