Baptism Day for Hayden

The family hold the baptism candle together.
Hayden with his Godmother.
Hayden being fed by his Godmother
He has just been kissed by angels!
Doesn't that face just have trouble written all over it!

A child is a precious gift from God

And baptism is God's gift wrapping

~Traditional

“There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling;
One Lord, one faith, one baptism,
One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.”


Hayden was baptized this last Sunday. We are so fortunate to have so many friends and family join us in celebrating his new birth. The baptism was held at our new church. He was the first baptism since the church was dedicated on the 8th of June. Hayden was the only one being baptized and so the atmosphere was very intimate with all that attended. We are honored to have Joe’s sister Eileen as Hayden’s godmother. She held him during the baptism on the blanket that my Dad bought for Hannah’s baptism. It is a frilly blanket, but we wanted to use it so he was represented.
A baptism is a wonderful event. Renewing your own baptism vows is powerful. I felt the overwhelming love that God has for all his children and I feel there is a strong purpose for Hayden.
Our little Elainea was full of energy (as usual). She has a hard time sitting down for Mass that lasts for one hour. To expect her to sit for an additional half hour after is too much. She started running around the periphery of the church and fell and got a huge rug burn on her head. She knew that she was not supposed to be running and so she stood up and put on the bravest face she could, but you could tell that she wanted to break out in tears. I love my brave girl.
Hannah continues to grow up and her wisdom amazes me. She has a way of understanding things that most six-year-olds do not. She was so excited for Hayden to have his big day. Instead of being jealous, she was very gracious and simply stated, “this is a day that will only happen once for Hayden and so we need to make it special”.
After the baptism friends and family joined us for a reception at our house. It was such a good time for all. It was an honor to have my Uncle Ken and Aunt Lorraine there to represent my Dad’s family. Eileen took the day off work to be there for her God-son. Pam’s sister LeAnn (and family) drove up from Sandy. It is times like this that you really find out how much family and friends mean to you. They remind you that life is full of these moments that you should never take for granted. You should never just go through the motions, make every moment and encounter mean something. Everyone should notice who and what blessings they have in their life, and if the relationships are not life-giving or you are not able to see the blessings that God has given you, then change something. My life is so full. I can not imagine changing anything. I hope this feeling of rejuvenation that I received today from renewing my baptism promises lasts throughout my lifetime. Moreover, I hope to give my children the example so they can feel it as well.

Father's Day in Torrey

Blessed indeed is the man who hears many gentle voices call him father!
~ Lydia M. Child

It matters not that Time has shed
His thawless snow upon your head,
For he maintains, with wondrous art,
Perpetual summer in your heart.
~ William Hamilton Hayne

As a celebration of Father’s Day we took a spontaneous trip to Torrey to visit Joe’s Dad. It is the first time we have been able to get to visit since Hayden was born. It was important that he be able to see his newest grandchild and not be alone on Father’s Day. The trip was short and sweet. It was so nice to see Dad Rockwell and he really enjoyed seeing his grandchildren. This posting will be short as we are busy getting ready for Hayden’s baptism on Sunday. We will be sure to post again

Where Does the Time Go?

Elainea loves her brother "Too Much"

Impromptu performance before the graduation ceremony.

Hannah during the performance with friends Kylie and McKenna.

The tassel's worth the hassle!
Hannah and her teacher Miss Shelley.

Hannah and her little brother.

The future lies before you Like a field of driven snow,
Be careful how you tread it, For every step will show.~Author Unknown

You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself in any direction you choose. You're on your own. And you know what you know. You are the guy who'll decide where to go.~Dr. Seuss

It is really pathetic when you look at how much faster time goes by as you get older. Wow Hayden is two months old and Hannah graduated from Kindergarten. Do not get me wrong. Life is so wonderful, but it is just going by too fast.
I remember when I was a young girl how Christmas would take forever to come again. Now it is the exact opposite, before you know it you are knee deep in snow and holiday commitments and you look around and the only testament for the year going by is the children are visibly larger and mature.
Hannah had a little Kindergarten graduation program on Wednesday, May 31, 2008. The program was very well put together and Hannah was so excited to get the chance to perform for everyone. We went to celebrate by going out to dinner after her program. She was so happy and excited until after the last day of school on the 30th. She came home very sad as she realized that things would change, she would never spend her days with Miss Shelley. She was very distraught at the thought of it. She felt much better after I told her that she has Miss Shelley’s contact information so it is not a permanent good-bye.
Hayden is two-months old and growing like a weed. He is over 11 pounds. We tease him that if he were a turkey he would be sweating it out right now. He started experiencing some feeding problems at about six weeks. I could not sustain my milk supply so he is exclusively on formula now. He started showing signs of a milk allergy with a horrible rash all over his face, chest, back and arms. I remembered what it looked like when Hannah went through the same allergy so we immediately put him on a soy-based formula, and that is when the colic symptoms started. For two days he would cry for hours on end with no consolation. On the third day when he refused to eat is when I realized it was a reaction to the soy formula that was causing the distress. Long story short we now have to feed him the most expensive formula available. It is a good thing he is so cute!
Elainea is doing really well. Her speech improves with each passing day. She loves being like her big sister Hannah. She loves dressing fancy, watching Barbie movies and figuring out how things work. We have to be cautious about what we leave placed around the house, because if she gets to it she will immediately try taking it apart. She is still very affectionate and tells me “I love Hayden too much!” She loves being a big sister and is flourishing.
The FBI called me the other day and need to set an appointment to serve me a summons to appear as a witness. This goes back to October of 2006 when Hannah and I were in a bank when a man fired a gun and proceeded to rob the bank at gun-point. I really did not get a good look at him and would not make a very good witness. My biggest concern was keeping Hannah safe. The entire time we were looking into each other’s eyes. So much time has passed since the event that I really take offense to reliving it again now. It is kicking up dust that settled long ago. Court was supposed to begin the second week of June, but has been postponed until September. Go figure!
Joe is doing really well at work. He comes home and works really hard trying to get the swing set installed. After he comes in from that he is busy helping me bathe and put the kids to bed. What an awesome husband I have!I returned back to work and to no surprise my job waited for me. Now instead of being two-weeks behind I am five weeks behind. It is all good. I would rather have too much to do than not enough. That is all the time I have to write for now. We love you all and take care!