Hannah's Baptism

Yesterday was Hannah's Big Day. She was baptized. For those that don't know, we are Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. In our Church, one must be 8 years of age before they are eligible to be baptized. Hannah turned 8 at the end of February and has been waiting for this day for a very long time.

We had so many people that came to Hannah's Baptism on Saturday. We had well over 100 people in attendance. We decided that 1/3 were people we knew from Church. But 2/3 were people we knew from Gardner's Work or from our little Village we live in. Hannah has so many friends and they all showed up with their families to celebrate with Hannah on her special day.

After the Baptism was finished, we celebrated at the Church. As usual, I planned too much food and came home with more than half of what I took. Times like these, I realize I am an over-acheiver. On each table, I had a small colored vase with a tulip in it. Hannah gave one to each friend to take home as they left. Something special to remember her day by.

Another thing that was re-affirmed to us. Here in Germany, it is customary for one to bring a gift to such an event. In America, it doesn't happen like it does here. You can see part of Hannah's stash of gifts at the end of the post. This was seriously bigger than her birthday and Christmas combined for 3 years. She got so much money along with the gifts. It was amazing.

We had a great time and it was so fun to have so many people here to share this great experience with Hannah.

I have a few funny moments from yesterday.

First off, I was in the Kitchen getting food ready. We were at the church more than 3 hours early to set everything up and to fill the baptismal font with water. After the Font was filled, Hannah came into me and said, "there are bugs in the water. I don't want to go in there." It was cute how she said it. And then, she had to show me the bug, which we determined was a small spider.

Second thing, The water was freezing. She was shivering so bad afterwards. We didn't realize how long it would take to fill the Font with water. And ended up starting it a bit too early. It should of been warm for her. But unfortunately, it wasn't.

In School on Mondays, the kids sit in a circle and talk about what they did over the weekend. As I was getting Hannah changed out of her wet clothes, she was very excited and exclaimed, "I know what I am going to talk about in Circle Time on Monday!"

Saturday Morning, Hannah knew that Gardner was out picking up a surprise for her. She had gotten a few gifts up to this point, and so a gift is what was in her mind. Gardner returned and Hannah was playing the Play Station. Gardner had gone to the Train Station to pick up Adrian, our former Exchange Student who lives in Berlin. We told Hannah that her Surprise was here. He was standing right behind her and she didn't realize it. And without turning away from the play station, she asked....Is it wrapped? We all broke out in laughter and made her pause her game. She was very happy to see him, as we all were. It is always nice to see him. To think it has been 4 years since he lived with us. Adrian is a huge part of our family still and we all love him very much!

Oh, there are so many more things I could say that happened. I am grateful for all the help I got during the Festivities. I had people who took over with the food once the Baptism started and also did all the clean up, including washing dishes. It was nice to be able to be with my family and friends instead of in the Kitchen the whole time. I thank each and every one of you for your help!

Oh, one last note.....This afternoon, the doorbell rang. I thought it was Grandpa with Ian and Emma. He took them on a walk. I was very busy so opened the door without looking and started to walk away. Then I noticed it wasn't him. Hannah's School Teacher was here. She was supposed to show up for the baptism and never did. I knew something must of happened, as we had just discussed it on two days before. Come to find out, she thought the baptism was today. She even went to the church to find out she missed it. She felt terrible. We felt terrible. Hannah was happy to see her though. It was very nice of her to stop by.

Here are some pictures from the Baptism: