Josh’s Baptism

The party never stops around here!  Two days after Thanksgiving Josh was baptized.  It was such a special day, filled with the love of our family and friends.  Everything went really smoothly at the baptism and Josh loved being the center of attention on his special day.  I made him a little lap quilt out of his baby clothes just like I did for Halle and he just loved it.  His favorite part was a glow in the dark skull from a Halloween shirt.  I love looking at the quilt and remembering him as a sweet, snuggly, alert, and happy baby.  And I love looking at the 8 year old under the quilt and I am so proud of the boy he is.  He is smart, thoughtful, thankful, deliberate, and cute as a button.
His baptism program was just perfect.  The missionaries had arrived early and set up all the chairs and filled the font. As all our friends and family arrived, I caught this precious moment. This is absolutely my favorite picture of the day.  Josh hugging his best friend, Ezra. It is priceless!
Grandma Cornell gave the baptism talk.  She held up a picture of a kit kat bar and said that it may look like an ordinary candy bar, but it was actually a "Kit" to help him remember his baptismal covenants.  K-Keep his commandments A-Always remember him T-Take his name upon you.  She had a little basket of kit kat bars and a handout for all the kids to take at the end of the service.  All the kids thought that was pretty neat. 
Then Josh was baptized by Rusty.  He was so smiley and excited.  Everything went perfectly and when he came out of the water he was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints!

All the cousins sang "When I am baptized" and it couldn't have been any more sweet.  I love the sweet faith and innocence of children.

Grandma Banks gave her now infamous talk on the Holy Ghost.  Josh had been looking forward to this being a part of his baptism for quite some time.  This time all the baptized grandkids helped her with a part of the talk.  They told how the Holy Ghost is like a flashlight, compass, danger sign and Josh's favorite, a comforter.  He got to keep all the props in a special box that included a warm flannel basketball blanket.

Then Rusty confirmed Josh.  He didn't get all the words just right, and so after everyone had left he did a quick little "redo" with all the correct wording.  I said that means Josh will just have double influence from the Holy Ghost.

After about a million pictures everyone loaded up and headed back to our house for soup and hot chocolate.  The hot chocolate bar was a hit! I loved seeing all the creative, and sometimes gross hot chocolate concoctions that the kids came up with. I had so much fun planning this party for Josh and might have gone a bit overboard—per usual.  I practically forced Rusty to go to the Panera in Boulder and beg for some of their cute kraft brown bowls that went perfectly with my theme :) We had for different soups: Chicken noodle, chicken and veggie, beef stew and cheese and broccoli. We had delicious Lion House rolls with raspberry butter. For dessert we had Josh’s favorite peanut butter chocolate bars and my favorite toffee. I’m sure Josh didn’t even notice all the small details, but I wanted him to feel so special and so loved.  And I think he did.  


Josh, we are so proud of the decision you made today to follow Jesus Christ, take his name upon you, always remember him and keep his commandments.  I know that doing so will bring peace to your life, and also make you an influence for good in the lives of others.  I love you so very much!
When I asked Josh if he wanted to say anything about his baptism for the blog he said, “It was amazing!”  My favorite part was the luncheon.  All the food was so good and playing with my friends was so fun.”