Annibella's Baby Blessing

August 7th: Annibella was given her baby blessing at church today. My good friend Heather made this beautiful dress. Brien said she was super wiggly and happy during the blessing, but ready to get down and play. We blessed Josh when he was 4 weeks, so it was a lot easier. After the blessing Brien held her up so everyone could see her. She smiled at everyone in the congregation. It was adorable. Both sides of our family were all there. It was a really special day:)

I found a good definition of what a baby blessing is in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Here is an explanation:

A baby blessing is an ordinance or sacred act performed by a man who holds the Melchizedek priesthood in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormon church). In most cases, the baby’s father performs the blessing as long as he holds the priesthood and is worthy to bless the baby. The purposes of a baby blessing are to name and bless the infant; a baby blessing is not a baptismal ceremony.

There are specific requirements for naming and blessing children. The father giving the blessing and any other invited priesthood holders (often family and friends) form a circle and hold the infant in the center. The father then gives the baby a name and blesses the child. Now the child is officially a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. The name the baby is blessed with is the name he will be known by on the church records.

During the blessing, the father bestows certain blessings on the infant. Baby blessings are different for each child because the Holy Spirit directs the father on what to say. In general though, most babies are blessed with good health, a strong mind, good judgment, a strong testimony of the gospel, to be a good example to others, to be happy, to be obedient,to have righteous desires, to be baptized, to get married in the temple, to serve others, etc.

Generally, a baby is blessed within the first few months after being born. The baby wears white: girls in blessing dresses or blessing gowns and boys in blessing suits or blessing rompers. A baby blessing is a sacred and joyous event for the family and oftentimes extended family and friends will travel to be a part of the momentous occasion. Source:

http://blessinggowns.storeblogs.com/2010/06/01/what-is-an-lds-baby-blessing

Beach fun

August 1st, 2011: We love going to Lake Goodwin on Sunny days. All the cousins went and Uncle Spence who is home from college. Bella loved the feel of the rocks in her hands and she loved being in the water. So many good times and pictures.

Highway 20 stop

July 21st, 2011: We took Hwy20 home and stopped in Winthrop for lunch and walked around the town. We then stopped at this gorgeous waterfall and took a little hike. I can't remember the name of it, but is was beautiful. We found out Bella loves piggy back rides.

How josh and bella are in the morning

July 21st, 2011: Bella is always the early riser in our family. She had the best sleep camping and was ready to play at 6am. I took her out of the crib and tried to get her to lay by me, but she always gravitates to Josh. She always wants to wake him up to play. This is how every morning usually is around the house. Josh loves it when she wakes him up. The pictures are in order of how it happens. I wake up most mornings with Bella and Josh laughing at each other. Also, at night time, they like to feed of each other and I hear them laugh and laugh. There isn't a way to get upset about it because we are laughing in our room as we hear them interact. We know they will eventually go to bed!

Steamboat Rock Camping

July 20th, 2011: We actually got a camping spot at steamboat rock, it is a gorgeous campground. Josh and Dad set up our new tent and Bella had so much fun climbing around in the port a crib

Grand Coulee Dam

July 20th: Brien really wanted to see the Dam, so we decided to go camping and taking the tour. We had so much fun.

Adorable

July 20th: While Brien and Josh went wake boarding with my cousins, Bella and I played on the dock and then in the car. She loves keys and cannot wait to drive. Look at those 2 teeth.

Breakfast at Great Grandma Jerry's

July 20th, 2011: This is the famous high chair we all sat in as kids at grandma's house. Now we have great grandkids in the high chair. She loved it. She also LOVES food, especially spinach???

First time at theme park

July 19th: After a day of swimming we headed to Silverwood and went on the rides. Bella loved it. 3 hours into having fun, it starting pouring and then the thunder and lightening came so they closed the rides and our day ended at the park. We will for sure go back soon!

Family Fun in the SUN

July 18th: We went to my Grandma Jerry's for a few days and swam in her pool and played with cousins. Bella and Josh loved the water and the sun. It was a great time. Dad pushed Bella around on a float and she thought that was SO much fun.

YEAH!

July 16th, 2011: Thanks for visiting Jelly and Karen. Bella had a great time and LOVES the key chain. I just think these pictures are beautiful.

July 4th!

July 4th: Fun roasting marshmallows with cousins at grandma and grandpa's.

Army Crawl

June 27th, 2011: Bella has just started to show interest in crawling. This is one of the first times she has ever done this. The video is a little dark, but it is cute. What a big step!

Bug Eyes

August 3rd, 2011: Bella with cousins Maddy and Sam. Using the Uncle's Mac computer with the bug eye feature!

Our new computer will be arriving tomorrow!! almost 2 months without a computer, that was hard. I will have to spend about a week just uploading videos and pictures. This will have to do for now.

Thanks for the patience!