This morning my sweet boy got baptized and joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day saints. I'm so proud of him and his choices. He's such a good boy.
We took these pictures to use for his baptism announcement and to display at his baptism. I kind of love how they turned out and I love this boy.
I seriously can't handle this kid and his smiles.
So we printed a bunch of those pictures and used this morning at his baptism.
Now onto the actual baptism. I can't begin to describe what a special day it was.
Because we couldn't baptize Tanner on the stake appointed day (because the stake day is always the first weekend of the month and Chris has drill on the first weekend) we got to have Tanner's baptism all on his own. The whole program was catered to Tanner and he got to pick the speakers.
There was such a sweet spirit present and I was basically a crying mess the whole morning.
I'm so grateful for my husband and the fact that he is a worthy priesthood holder. I'm so grateful he was able to baptize Tanner.
Papa gave the opening prayer and then we sang "When Jesus Christ was Baptized".
Then Nanny spoke about Baptism. She let Tanner read a scripture and then asked him questions. It was so cute that he was so involved in the talk.
Then Tanner was baptized. Chris was softly crying the whole time and it was precious and tender.
After the baptism I was helping Tanner get ready and Chris was tying his tie and Tanner looked up at his dad and asked "Dad, why were you sniffling the whole time? Are you sick?" and Chris looked back at him and said "no son, I was crying. They were happy tears because we are so proud of you."
It was a sweet moment that helped Tanner realize what a great thing he had just done.
After the baptism, Mimi spoke about the Holy Ghost. She told lots of stories about her experiences with the holy spirit and it really seemed to speak to Tanner. He was listening so intently and being so reverent. It was so special.
Then Chris confirmed him and gave him the gift of the holy spirit. It was so special.
Chris was so annoyed with himself because he was weeping a lot, but the tenderness is something that I treasure and I love him even more for it.
After the confirmation, Aunt Sarah and I sang "Gethsemane" as a special musical number.
When Tanner told me he wanted a musical number, I asked him what song he wanted and he asked for Gethsemane and then he said he wanted me and his Aunt Sarah to sing it. Sarah and I don't sing in front of people. But when Tanner asked, we couldn't say no. So we sang and it wasn't terrible. lol.
Then Sis. Katie Castaldi welcomed Tanner to primary and talked about faith in God. She gave him a bag of skittles and talked about rainbows and a clean slate. It was sweet. Then Bro. Berndt, the bishopric member from our ward, welcome Tanner to the ward as the newest member. He gave him a bag of popcorn. He talked about how kernels of corn change and become better just like Tanner changed when he was baptized.
We sang "I love to see the Temple" for a closing song and then Grandpa Herb gave the prayer.
It was seriously so special and sweet and an amazing morning.
It was so sweet to see the love and support he had.
Uncle Joseph and his family, Aaron Lanoy and his family and Aunt Sarah and her family were there and both sets of Grandparents were there. So much family support.
Then the rest of the room was filled with friends. It was so special to see all the love others hold for my sweet boy.
Here are some pictures of the decorations.
This was the entry table. We had a small photo book for everyone to sign and write a message/testimony to Tanner. And the programs were there for people to take.
Oh and this little white suit was the suit Tanner was blessed in as a baby. I can't believe he was ever that small.
This was the dessert table. Tanner loved the set up and was so sweet and grateful!
We served these adorable CTR shields and number 8 cookies and glazed donuts.
My friend Tracie made the cookies for me and they were amazing.
We also had little bottles of water.
Then while cheddar popcorn and oreo truffle pops.
Aunt Sarah made the truffle pops and they tasted so good.
I love this boy and desire to be good. He's such a sweet tender soul.
I'm so proud of Tanner. He wanted to invite some non-member friends to his baptism. He was so cute. He just wanted to share his special day with his friends and wasn't scared at all to ask them.
This sweet boy is our neighbor, Judah Halbrook. Tanner took an invitation over to their house and the immediately accepted. They wanted to be there to support Tanner.
I wish I could be a good missionary like that. So fearless.
It was also a special day because Tanner's best friend Cooper got baptized an hour after him.
It was special that they got to share their day together.
Oh and here is a picture of some of the kids who were at Tanner's baptism to support him.
(back row): Clark Drake, Daniel Castaldi, Caleb Lott, Brody Quale, Tanner, Beckham Quale and Preston Braithwaite.
(front row): Blake Lanoy, Addi Caresia, Chloe Caresia, Bailey, Karina Fuhriman, Danny Drake and Max Allred.
Oh and we took some family pictures outside as a family. We didn't get them taken with the Aunts and Uncles but we were able to snag the grandparents.
Both sets of Grandparents and our family.
Love these boys.
After the baptism, we had a luncheon at our house for all our family. There were 21 one of us and it was crazy. But I love the crazy loving life we have.
We had a sandwich bar and then we opened birthday presents with Tanner.
As you can tell in this picture, it was chaos.
But it was a great day.
We are so happy with Tanner's decision to be baptized.
He's a great example to our family and we love him so much!
