Miriam Turns Eight!

Miriam turned 8 on Saturday!  She was so unbelievably excited about her birthday and getting baptized.  It was a really big deal to this little girl.  Everyone helped get the house ready on Friday and Saturday.  Daddy left around 2:30 to get to the stake center early enough to fill the font while I finished getting everyone ready at home.  Unfortunately, he called at 3:00 to let me know that the building was all locked up!  It was also stake temple day, so there were a lot of people (with keys) that were out of town for the day.  I called the missionaries and then texted a friend who I hoped would know someone with a key.  It turns out that her son (who lives in another ward in our stake) had a key, so she sent him over.  Thank goodness!  He didn't get there until 3:30, when I got there with the girls.  There wasn't enough time to wait for the hot water, so they just filled it with the cold and a little bit of hot at the end.  Thanks to grandparents and friends, we were able to get everything set up and take a few pictures and were ready to start at 4:00.

The baptism service was so very nice.  We had friends from the ward, neighbors, and family there to support Miriam in her decision.  Papa conducted the service, Jule led the music and Terri Bell played the piano.  Grandpa Bob gave a nice opening prayer and then Grandma B gave the talk on baptism.  She talked about the blessings from the Sermon on the Mount and how in the Book of Mormon, it says that those blessings are predicated upon our entering the waters of baptism.  Miriam really followed along and understood a lot of what was said.  Then she was baptized by her dad.  The water was warm on the steps, but then cold when she got in it!  We got her changed while Liz played "I Am a Child of God" and then we showed a short video.  It was just the right amount of time.

The girls sang, "I Like to Look for Rainbows" and Miriam had a solo part.  They did a great job and sang in their sweet head voices.  Rachel had the hiccups, but wasn't too distracting.  Nana gave the talk on the Holy Ghost and the Spirit was very strong.  Then she was confirmed by her dad and given a blessing.  Afterward, Papa gave her a big, white, warm, fuzzy blanket.  She had really been looking forward to getting her white blanket.  The bishop welcomed her to the ward and commented on how well she understood the covenants and things they talked about during their interview.  Rick gave the closing prayer and then everyone stayed for a bit and had refreshments.  I ordered these cookies from my friend and they turned out super cute!!!  Grandma and Grandpa had also brought brownies with peanut butter frosting.  It was good to visit with the friends that had come to the baptism.

(These are the leftovers and I didn't even get to take a picture of the refreshment table!  But it was cute...and green.)

We cleaned up and then headed back to our house with the grandparents, Jules and Rick, and Miriam's friends Christina and Kayla.  Miriam wanted pizza for her birthday dinner, so Jim picked it up on his way back.  I also made up a salad and we had bread sticks and root beer.  Miriam had fun eating with her friends.  Then we let her open her presents.  She received so many lovely gifts from everyone!  She loved her big girl scriptures and was a big fan of the pink sparkly scripture bag.

We had ice cream cake that was a little soft (oops!) and sang to the birthday girl.

After the family headed home, Miriam got to play with her friends for awhile and then watch her new movie, "Teen Beach Movie."  I think she had a fun birthday!!

On Sunday, so many people commented on how nice the baptism was.  There were so many little experiences that happened from the baptism with different people who attended.  Tender mercies.  We're so proud of Miriam and her choice to be baptized and to keep the commandments.