Portia got baptized

In our church, children can decide at the age of eight if they want to be baptized. Portia had been looking forward to it for a while. There was a lot of build-up to it (dress buying, professional photos, food planning, party planning—sort of like a mini wedding).

My mom (who's made a vow to be at every one of her grandchildren's baptism) and Susannah (who flew out unexpectedly at the last minute-yay!) came several days before and were awesome emotional support, as I don't handle stressful gatherings all that well. We did some fun stuff together even before the baptism, like see the Utah Symphony and shopping. Susannah even went to Time Out for Women at BYU. We ate at Bruges (a Belgian waffle and frites restaurant) twice during the weekend.

The day of the baptism was absolutely beautiful.  As Portia said, "It was a perfect day." And it really was. We had our own program, including a duet of Portia on cello and Bianca on viola playing "A Child's Prayer" and Portia's cello teacher Richard Hoyt came to play a cello duet of "We'll Bring the World Its Truth." My mom and Susannah both gave talks, and it really was a very spiritual, beautiful program. Eric baptized Portia and everything went as planned.And I felt so loved, as many of my friends and neighbors showed up for the baptism. Although I didn't really get many good pictures from the baptism day. Sadly.

We had our luncheon afterward. We had croissant sandwiches, veggies and fruit, and cupcakes. Some of Portia's little friends came, and several of Bianca's friends came to be with her as well.

I was crazy, busy trying to make sure everything was set up and I tried to thank everyone for coming. But it really was an amazing day. I hope Portia remembers it.

Portia's baptism present was leather-bound scriptures with her name inscribed on the cover. Here she is the next morning before church, starting to read her scriptures. She's such a sweetheart!