matt's baptism weekend

Matthew got baptized! He had been looking forward to this day for a long time and was so excited to become a member of Christ's church and to choose to follow him. We had a wonderful weekend of family and friends. I know that Matt felt very loved with all the family and friends that were there for him on his big day.

And though I did get a few pictures of him and our family, I was so busy visiting and hosting the rest of the weekend I took hardly any other pictures.

His baptism was on Saturday morning. Grandma and Grandpa Garvin came as well as the Whitman family, Gabe and Tiffany and family, Dan and Melanie and family, the Levanger family, and the Booth family (Matt's birth mom). While we were waiting in the chapel, all of us that were there for Matt's baptism were sitting toward the back of the chapel while Matt and Steve were at the front. I watched Matt turn around and look at all the people there just for him and his face just glowed with love and excitement.

Before his baptism Steve practiced several times with Matt so that he made sure he held his hands correctly and got everything just right. Steve would always practice the baptism prayer in French or Spanish. So as Steve and Matt stepped into the font for the actual baptism and got ready for the ordinance to take place Matt whispered to Steve - "In English!"

Just before Matt was dipped down you could see the pure delight and excitement on his face and really through his whole being as he was nearly jumping with joy and anticipation. It was such a special moment to be his mom! I was so proud of him and so grateful for the amazing Spirit and feeling of love that was there.

As we drove home later Matt couldn't stop saying 'I feel so great! Oh, I just feel so great!" I know that he was feeling the love our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ and that really is a great feeling!

We had a big family lunch after the service. It was a beautiful day and cool enough to enjoy being outside even. Which was a huge blessing. I am not sure how I would have fit 30 people in my house to eat!

Grandma and Grandpa Garvin spent the weekend with us and we loved having them all to our self.We also got to spend the weekend with Matt's birth mom, Angie and her family who came all the way from Montana to spend the weekend with us. Matt was so excited to have Angie here! We had a blast with them on the fourth of July watching the fireworks and playing games. They are so much fun we wished we lived closer!What a blessing the gospel is in our lives to bring all together for such a great event!