Baptism and Blessing

Last weekend I had the privilege to fly to Utah to attend the baptism of my oldest nephew, Joshua, and the blessing of my youngest niece, Noelle. The baptism and blessing were both so beautiful. I was glad I was able to come and be a part of this special time in my family's life.

It was also the first time I met my newest niece, Victoria Noelle. Noelle is such a small little thing, but very beautiful. My brother and sister-in-law have some of the cutest children on this planet (but I am not biased or anything). It's amazing how all seven children are so different in looks and personalities. They were so much fun to play with this weekend. I really miss them now that they live in Utah and I am in southern Arizona.

Since it was Joshua's day, I want to tell you a little about my buddy. Joshua is such a sweet boy. He always has a smile and lightens the room when he walks in. He was SO EXCITED to be baptized and receive the Holy Ghost. When he came out of the water, he just beamed, even more than he already does naturally. Joshua is now anticipating the day when he will receive the Aaronic Priesthood. He is already practicing passing the sacrament as much as he can. For church the day after the baptism, I sat a little away from my family during sacrament meeting so I could interpret the meeting for my sister who is deaf. We were sitting kind of in the middle of the room off to the side and my back was to the pulpit. As the sacrament was being passed, I was skipped and I had to ask my sister to hand me the bread. Joshua noticed this, so when the water came around, he personally took the water tray to me so I could partake of that part of the sacrament. It was really cute to see him carefully walking the water to me. I just flash-fowarded (is that a word?) four years when he will be doing that for real. How time is flying so fast now, those four years will be over before we know it.

I could go on about Joshua, but I'll end there. He is a very good boy and I am grateful to be his aunt.