Baptism

One of the things we were hoping for was to have Amelia baptized at the church where John and I both grew up. John and I were married at the church and William was baptized here as well. We considered having Amelia baptized at our new church here in Missouri, but then most of our family wouldn't have been able to be there. So, Rochester it was!

One of the reasons we needed to schedule a baptism is this dress (the lines on the window were making me so mad! I just wanted the dress! Argh!). This dress was purchased by my Great Grandma Myrtle for my mom's (Kim) baptism. We'll go ahead and say that was a few years ago. She wore the dress and I also wore the dress when I was baptized roughly 30 years ago. My sister and girl cousins all wore this dress as well. It was very special for Amelia to wear this dress on her baptism day for my family - which means we needed to hurry up and do it before she grew!

William has three godparents (Aunt Kaye, Jessica&Chris Gaedke, so we selected three godparents for Amelia as well: Joe & Cathy Moore (John's sister and husband) and Jeff Conderman (our very good friend and my former coworker). I don't think we could have come up with better godparents - words can't fully express how much we admire and respect Joe, Cathy and Jeff. We were so thrilled that all three of them were able to make the trip to Rochester with just a few weeks notice (Jeff from St Louis, Cathy & Joe from Chicago). It made Amelia's day so special to have all three of them there with her.

In addition to her godparents, all four of Amelia's Great Grandparents from North Dakota were able to attend as well as Great Aunt Kaye, Great Uncle Kevin, Kelly's siblings and parents. We were lucky enough to have high school friends Jessica(with baby Cana) and Jesse there as well as one of our mentors from high school youth group, Randy in attendance. A lot of people drove a lot of miles to be with our family and Amelia. For such a busy holiday weekend without much notice, we had quite the crowd! It really was a very special day for our family to be surrounded by our family and friends.

Amelia's name on the bapitismal wall hanging (left side)
It was a little chaotic because there were 2 other baptisms during the service
It's dark, but it's the best one we have of everyone during the baptism
Handing her over to the pastor...she had been sleeping very peacefully
The baptism itself was pretty quick...
Which was good because Amelia was NOT happy about being woken up with the water. She was SCREAMING. And if you've heard her cry, you know that Amelia has a very big voice.
Lighting the baptismal candle. Amelia is still unhappy...

Mama and Mia

Daddy, Mama and Mia

Us with our daughter

Amelia and her sponsors (L-R): Jeff Conderman, Daddy, Mama, Amelia, Joe Moore, Cathy Moore.

The godparents: Jeff Conderman, Cathy Moore, Joe Moore

Same picture, Cathy holding Amelia
The same picture, a little clearer and a little darker

Cathy and Joe with Amelia. Amelia LOVED Cathy. She was all smiles in Cathy's arms and even laughed out loud! It was just smile after smile after smile! Very cute! I am pretty sure in this picture she is charming the pants off both of these two.
Jeff and Amelia

Our family! William would NOT put down the snack trap
It is fun to try and get a picture with a wiggly two year old!
Our family! William, John, Kelly, Amelia. Finally let go of the orange cup for the big red Bible
Jeff admiring his goddaughter

John and his sister, Cathy

After the baptism, my parents generously put together a lunch for everyone. It was WONDERFUL and I didn't have to do anything! I got to enjoy our family and friends without worrying about the food, kitchen or anything work related. Thanks Mom and Dad!

Amelia's cake (just turn your head, sorry!)
Grandma Kim (aka Baby Hog) does what she does best
The McGarry Kids (L-R): Mike, Kelly, Megan
William coloring with GranGerry

It also got to be Daddy's birthday for a few mintues on Sunday! Thank you Grangerry and Grandpa Tom
A nice picture of Amelia and Grandma Kim. Note Amelia's pretty pink outfit. This outfit was a gift from the Gravdahl's when I was born. According to my mom, I wore this outfit when I was 6 months old. It just barely fits Amelia right now (8 weeks) because she is SO TALL. Crazy! Now, watch, she will be 5'1''.