Ben's Baptism

Ben turned 8 a few weeks ago which meant he could be baptized and today was his big day.  This morning Ben became a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS.)  It was a very sweet day.  My parents flew in from Portland this morning and my grandparents, Grammy and Grandpa Call, picked them up from the airport and brought them to our house before the baptism.  On Jake's side we had his parents, all his siblings and their spouses, and 6 cousins.  Our great friends, Susi and Gordon Mabey came, even with Susi feeling under the weather.  My girlfriends, Amber and Meighan showed up, along with some of Ben's friends (Elliott, Spencer, and Brenley.)  We also had our Bishop, his wife and son, his first counselor and her wife, and two of the primary counselors.  Robin Thompson, Ben's old primary teacher, spotlighted Ben and told all about his favorite things, and about how special he is.  Sam Whiting, the Bishop's son and Ben's primary teacher, gave a wonderful talk on baptism.  Fred Thompson, a counselor in the Bishopric, gave a talk on the Holy Ghost and used Ben's blankie as an example of feeling warmth and comfort from the Holy Ghost.  After that, Jake baptized Ben and then confirmed him, giving him the Holy Ghost.  It was a very special day.

Ben is such a handsome, sweet boy and we are so lucky to have him in our family.  We are very proud of him.

Ben is a great big brother to Emma and Josh.

 Ben wanted to do a piggy back ride with both Emma and Josh on his back.  This was his first attempt, and it was successful... at least for a few seconds!

 After the piggy back ride, Emma chased Ben around the room, trying to give him a kiss.  Josh wanted in on the fun, so he chased Emma around, trying to kiss her.  It was pretty cute, although I'm not sure Ben thought it was. ;)

This morning, before Ben's baptism, I found him on the couch reading from Timothy in his scriptures to Josh.  I was amazed that Ben could get a 3 year old to sit still that long, especially reading from a book without pictures!  (Thanks to Grandma and Grandpa Call for the green scriptures.  They are exactly what he wanted!)

 Then Emma wanted in on the action.  So sweet.

And I had to throw this one in.  Ben got the game Mindflex for Christmas and was able to pull it out and use it for the first time yesterday.  It looks a little magical (and spooky) with him staring so intently at the ball, trying to get it to float higher.  He loves his game and can't wait to master the different levels.

 Ben with Grandma and Grandpa Schip.  They stopped by tonight to drop off some delicious cookies and some neat stickers to put in his scriptures.

 When Grandma and Grandpa Call are here, the kids can't get enough of them.  They constantly hang on them, ask them questions, want them to read books and play games.  They are in heaven.  So glad they could come out for Ben's special day!

 Emma loves doing hair, especially her own.  Her speciality are ponytails and pigtails.  She worked pretty hard on grandma until she got it just right.

 So proud of the end product.