On May 25, 2013, Ashlynn was baptized. It was such an amazing and special day. Preparing for this day as a mother can be very nerve racking and emotional. At least it was for me:). A couple weeks before I was already tearing up each time I thought about today. I couldn't help it. I couldn't believe that Ashlynn was already 8. She has always had a special spirit and been very sensitive to recognizing it. She knows what the Holy Ghost feels like. She's a special girl and daughter of our Father in Heaven.
We chose to have her baptism in the afternoon and I was so glad about that. I had so much to finish up that morning and it seemed like the whole day went so smoothly until we had to leave. It was so nice. We had a packed room full of family and friends. We are very blessed to have such wonderful people in our lives that love and support our family. I remember looking around the room and seeing people from every stage of our married life. We had friends from Utah, friends from Iowa and family/friends from Arizona. It was overwhelming.
It was a perfect afternoon. Ashlynn asked both her Grandpa's to talk about Baptism and The Holy Ghost. My dad spoke on baptism and had Ashlynn sit on a stool and he sat in a chair. He sat there and talked right to her. He looked at her in her eyes and told her that he knew that the Gospel was true and that he knew that Jesus lives. He bore his testimony to her and was very emotional and tender. He talked about how he was baptized at the age of 17 and described what he remembered about that day. He brought out my baptism book and showed pictures of me with my parents. He read my testimony at 8 years old. It was a wonderful talk. I love my dad so much. Then Dave's stepdad gave a talk on The Holy Ghost. I was worried about Ashlynn asking him because he is in the middle of cancer treatments right now. I wasn't sure if it was the right thing to ask of him now. But Ashlynn wanted to. I'm so glad that she did. He also sat her down and talked right to her. It was also a special talk from a Grandpa to a Granddaughter.
After the confirmation Dave decided to stay standing at the front with Ashlynn and say a few thoughts. He talked about the feelings of the Spirit and that Ashlynn knew what they were. He talked about how special she was. He was crying. I looked at Ashlynn and her sweet little face started to break down and ball. That's all it took and the whole room was crying. I had to get up and give her something from the Primary which was a horrible idea. I was so emotional I couldn't even think straight. But I got through it. It was such a special day. I was so grateful for every part of it. I'm so grateful for the blessings of the gospel and the blessings of family and friends.
After the baptism we all headed over to our home to eat and continue visiting. I don't think we could have fit another person in our house!! It was packed. But it was fun and we had some delicious grub. It was a perfect day!
