Sam's Baptism! ...(and other fun stuff)

We start off this post by reminding you all that Rachel is a NUT! This is her after she had a run-in with a blanket and generated a good amount of static electricity.

















This is Sam on his first day of CUB SCOUTS! Just the word SCOUTS makes me shudder--I have no idea what I'm doing! Hopefully Sam's enthusiasm will carry him through--he's really excited. He's already earned his "Bowling" pin and beltloop!














Sam's class participated in a really fun activity this week--they simulated Ellis Island. Each child was assigned the name of an immigrant (Sam was Olaf Wagner from Austria). The class boarded a ship and set sail for America. Here is Sam's group after they've just landed at Ellis Island. They were escorted past The Statue of Liberty (made of milk jugs and tin foil) and personally welcomed to the country.





Our immigrants stood in long lines as they were processed through Ellis Island. They had to answer questions about their country of origin, their intent to work and their health. If they gave bad answers, they were DEPORTED! (But they all got another chance!)








Thanks to some great moms who work in the medical and dental professions, each child's teeth, eyes and bodies were checked to make sure they were healthy enough to enter the country. Poor Olaf had to spend some time at the Specialist for an eye problem he had.









After taking a citizenship test (administered by a REALLY mean mom....ok, it was me) and an oath of citizenship, our little immigrant became a proud American! Way to go, Olaf!











The big day FINALLY arrived! Sam and Andy were all ready to go in their whites. They looked great!
Andy was asked to give the talk about baptism for the service. Since this was a Stake baptism, there were 2 other children also getting baptized today. Anyway, Andy used some rocks as an object lesson as part of the talk and asked Sam to help him out. I am told that I will laugh later about the show Sam put on in front of the entire congregation. (I'm not laughing yet!)


It was a WONDERFUL service--very touching, very spiritual. We were so blessed to share this happy day with so many friends and family members, including: Dan, Kris, Daniel, Sydney, Hannah, Leah, Grandma Day, Grandpa Day, Carrie, Brian, Jacob, and Karina. Not pictured are some good friends and ward members who came as well. Sam as surrounded with LOTS of love today!







Ok, everybody give snaps to Grandma (snap, snap, snap). This picture is a shout out to Jen's mom, Larri-Lea. Without her, this whole event would have been rather flat. She single-handedly provided the most amazing spread for all of us to feast on. What isn't pictured are the 11 (that's right, 11) Dominos Pizzas we ordered (as of right now, there is only half a pizza left!).











You know how some things don't turn out sometimes the way you have them pictured in your head? Well, here's a perfect example! The cake wasn't so bad, but I had to keep explaining WHY I made a rainbow cake! So here's my final explanation: I like to look for rainbows whenever there is rain!!! (If you still don't get it it's because you probably didn't sing this song about baptism in Primary).






This is a great picture of Jen's Dad; too bad his eyes are closed! Dad spent the bulk of the day in the basement taking portraits of everyone with his new lighting and camera equipment. Perhaps we'll share the fruits of his labor in a future blog post...stay tuned.









Ok, MORE snaps for Grandma (snap, snap, snap). Grandma made this white "Comforter" for Sam to remind him of the special Gift he recieved today. Needless to say, he LOVES it! (Almost as much as he loves his Grandma.)



















Nope, it isn't E.T.
















Jacob and Karina are illustrating how we all feel at the end of today!

We want to take this opportunity to thank everyone who helped make this a special day for Sam. We know that many of you got up early, drove a long way, took the day off from work, gave up study time and nap time, did lots of cooking and sewing, and blocked off an entire Saturday to support our son and our family for this great occasion. It's times like these that we're reminded how very blessed we are to belong to such a wonderful family and network of friends. And we also know that there are many of you reading this who weren't able to be with us today. To each and every one of you we have just one thing to say: WE LOVE YOU!!!!