Baptism Day

Jessica's baptism day was a special event for sure.      She got baptized on Feb 28th which also conveniently happened to be MOVING DAY for John and I!  

(The Ridley's were enroute home from their mission and John and I were spending that weekend trying to get our things out of their house before they arrived.)  We tried really hard though to hide our busyness so that Jess would feel like this weekend really was "all about her!" ;)

Luckily we had lots of family around us that weekend who helped make Jess feel special.   

On Saturday morning, we recruited the help of Johns and my Brothers/in laws to move our piano.  It's a heavy beast of a thing, but it is literally the one possession that we own that we truly love.    I felt bad for everyone who had to be a part of that effort, but I felt so grateful to know it was finally (and safely) situated in our new home.   

After that, my siblings helped put together a great family luncheon consisting of pulled pork sandwiches, baked beans, salads, veggies and squares.    

Jessica's baptism was a darling event.   She'd spent weeks (even MONTHS) preparing for it and she knew exactly how she wanted it to go down!  haha

I was really so excited to get to pause for a bit and spend time with my family and I was super proud of Jess.  She WANTED to do this, not just because John and I have always taught her that being baptized is what she should do either - she really wanted to be!!

Her program consisted of a talk by her favorite missionaries EVER (Elder Palmer and Elder Clark),  a talk by Auntie Jewel, Grandpa Hardy and Ella both said prayers and Ava and Mya helped with music.   Everyone was so willing to assist in any way and they all made it such a great little hour!

Jess has really been missing her Saturday visits with these two!

Jess' best friend came as well with her Dad who is our Bishop, and it was fun for Jess to see some of her primary teachers/friends from class there as well.

When all was said and done, and once everyone had gone home, John and I (once again) resumed the work of packing and hauling boxes to the new house.  

 But it was nice, for a few brief hours to get to spend time with family and friends, focusing on the things that really do matter most!