KASEN'S BAPTISM & DALLIN'S BLESSING

Back on April 30th I had Kasen's baptism pictures taken.  A photographer in our ward had offered to do some baby pictures for us and she said if we committed to those she would do Kasen's baptism pictures for free.  We decided to go just up the road to the Meridian temple site because it will be our temple.  It is amazing it is less than a mile away from our house.  Kasen was pretty excited and it was his first time wearing his new birthday suit.  He was such a handsome boy.  His sweet spirit just radiated out during the session and there was more than one time when I had to blink back some tears.  Kasen is such a good boy and is beyond excited to get baptized.  He truly wants and tries to do what is right. It reminds me of the scriptures that teach that we need to become like a little child to inherit the kingdom of God, and Kasen makes it easy to see why Heavenly Father would want us that way.

On June 4th Kasen was baptized.  We also blessed Dallin the same day.  Dallin was only 3 weeks old and originally we had tried to talk Kasen into waiting for a few weeks/month to get baptized so Dallin would be a little older.  Plus my kids' last day of school was just the day before! However, Kasen knew that anyone with a birthday in May should be be baptized on June 4th in our stake so he was dead set on that was the day he was supposed to be baptized.  As nice as it would have been to wait a little while we were also proud of how committed he was to get baptized.  Kasen has turned out to be very much a rule follower and obedient kid.  Ava has set a good example for him in this capacity.  It was a pretty great day for our little family.  I am so proud of my little family and love them so much.

The circle of life was very evident.  You have your time and then you put all your time into your kids so that one day they will grow up and do the same.  I was pretty blown away by how fast the last 8 years have gone by.  I also felt touched by the significance of Dallin just experiencing birth and Kasen experiencing a "rebirth." I also felt an overwhelming gratitude to my Heavenly Father for the gift of the priesthood and that it has been restored on the earth in the latter days.  I caught a glimpse of how magnificent a power it is and how it truly allows us to gain a knowledge of who we are.

We were so blessed and thankful for how many family members came over for the weekend.  It was really exciting for Kasen.  Here he is with all his 8 yr old cousins and his two closest boy cousins.

Here are the Ericksons!  Such a great support system for our two boys.  It is funny to me how grown up all these grandkids are now.  When Jed and I married John & Coleen's grandkid picture looked like my parents picture.  Again the circle of life.  John and Coleen are now at an even 30 grandchildren.  Dallin is the youngest.

Now my parents have all the young kids!  We were also touched by the support from my family.  It is always tough to travel with kids, but especially when they are this little.  Sydnee even came with her four kids by herself!  Very thankful.  My dad had stake conference meetings that night so my parents drove home right after the baptism - another big sacrifice!  My parents are now at 11 grandkids.  Dallin is also the youngest! (I don't think he'll keep that title with the Foster cousins though.)

Kasen also had two friends come to his baptism: Drake & Elianna.  It was very nice of their families to come and support him that way.  I'm not sure why I didn't get Drake in this picture though... After Kasen was confirmed then Jed performed the blessing for Dallin.  I asked him later if there were any things that he felt in particular while doing this ordinances.  He said he felt like it would be very important for Kasen to spend a lot of time with family/extended family to help influence and guide him.  He also felt that Kasen choosing good friends would be important.  He also said he felt Heavenly Father's strong love for Kasen and his kind nature and that Kasen was a very special and tenderhearted boy.  During Dallin's blessing Jed said he felt strongly that Dallin would have a lot of responsibility he would have to bear in his life.  He felt prompted to bless him with the ability to balance all that would be required of him.  He also felt that Dallin was a very special boy and that it was Heavenly Father's plan that he was born at this time.  Both boys were blessed to have a special ability to listen and respond to the Holy Ghost, serve missions, marry in the temple, and magnify their priesthood throughout their lives.  It was very touching to me as their mother.  My testimony was strengthened on the great blessing the priesthood power is and God's love for us and desire for his children to return to Him.  I was also deeply grateful for Jed and the wonderful person he is.  I don't think their is a greater gift a father can give to his children than helping them know what their relationship is with their Heavenly Father.  Through priesthood blessings, ordinances, setting aparts, etc. a person can truly know of God's love for them through word and feelings.  I asked Kasen how he felt during his baptism and during his confirmation.  He said that he felt really warm and happy.

Due to the size of our numbers we reserved the church and had lunch there rather than our house.  We ordered the giant pizzas from Johnny's pizza and had salad, fruit, and cookies.  It was simple but tasty.  The kids were able to run and be loud, people played basketball, the little girls danced on the stage, and the adults were able to visit.  It was really nice for me not feeling so overwhelmed and that I needed to entertain everyone.  We were at the church for a few hours and then a group went out to a hotel people were staying at and swam.  Some went shopping.  Later in the evening we loaded up the leftover food and went over to Tresa's house to hang out outside.  I'm not sure how it started, but pretty soon all the kids were riding Jeff's sheep.  We had some smores and visited.  It was really great. 

Here are my two babies getting some snuggles.  I love that I can still always say that Kinsley is my girl baby (I think she likes it too.)  Most everyone left early Sunday morning, but a few people stopped by that afternoon.  Dallin got so many snuggles and hugs over the weekend.  He and Mason were spoiled by everyone.  

Friday night my family came into town.  Some of them stayed at a nearby hotel so we went over that night and swam.  All the cousins had so much fun.  Afterward Grandma and Grandpa treated everyone to blizzards.  Pretty much the perfect combo for a kid (and adult :))

Sunday afternoon everyone was so exhausted!  It is crazy to look back and realize that Dallin was only 3 WEEKS OLD!  I can't believe I survived really.  I was still pumping every three hours and getting up 2/3 times a night.  So I was very tired, but my kids and Jed were also exhausted.  Ava never takes a nap and she was zonked Sunday afternoon.  (I also had to include a picture of how high she climbed a tree at Tresa's house during a game of hide and seek!)  We were so happy to have had such a great weekend though and it seemed like a great kick start to our summer!!