Makenna's Baptism

Makenna was baptized last weekend and we enjoyed a lovely day together! I am so happy with the way things came together although there were a few glitches along the way. We arrived at the church very early so we could take a bunch of pictures. In the end I'm SO glad we decided to arrive early because when we got there the baptismal font was EMPTY with no sign of anyone there to help get it filled. We were so lucky that Allen had been helping with seminary security during the week and had a key that would open every door in the building. We were able to get the font started while we took a bunch of pictures (another ward had a baptism before ours but they forgot to leave the font full!)

 We were also blessed to have lots of family in town to help us celebrate. My sister came with her family and my parents and Allen's mom were there to help our gorgeous girl celebrate.

We did have to start the service about 15 minutes late while we waited for the font to finish filling but all things considered, it wasn't too bad. The service itself was so special. Both of the grandmas bore their testimonies (our stake does this instead of talks) and our family sang a musical number. Makenna was nervous about the baptism but it went perfectly. Allen, my dad, brother-in-law Jon and several friends confirmed Makenna a member of the church. She was so happy and truly radiant all day long. She took her baptism very seriously and spent a lot of time thinking about the promises she was making Heavenly Father. We are so proud that Makenna chose to be baptized! 

After the baptism we had an party at our home for friends and family.  I decided to go with a rainbow theme for her party after I found the print in the picture below. It plays off of the primary song "When I am Baptized" that starts with the phrase "I like to look for rainbows..." Makenna loves this song so it was a perfect theme.

Some of the decorations:

We had a candy bar with little bags that the kids could fill and take home with them:

 I made this fun fabric banner and strung it up in the kitchen. It took me ages to make (You can't tell from this picture but it is really long). I'm planning to use it with my St. Patrick's day stuff in the future. It is was such a fun pop of color!

For food we did a lot of fun things with the theme. We had rainbow fruit kabobs:

 I slaved over mini rainbow jello cups. These seriously took me HOURS but they turned out so cute that they were totally worth it! They got lots of oohs and aaahs by party goers and even tasted really good!

 Allen made rainbow rice krispie treats using Fruity Pebbles and they were surprisingly good (and very sweet).

 We also served chicken salad on croissants, veggies and different varieties of chips. It was a fun spread and a super fun party for me to put together. We had several friends come that we know from our first time living in Seattle 6 years ago and we really appreciated their love and support for our family. We also had lots of new friends join our celebrating which we are equally grateful for. We mostly loved getting to spend so much time with our families celebrating Makenna's first ordinance and the beauty of the gospel!

In the next couple of weeks I'll show you the baptism scrapbooks that Allen and I have put together for Carter and Makenna's baptisms. They have turned out so beautifully and are a real keepsake for our kiddos.