It's Great To Be Eight!

Kensie was baptized on May 30th. It was such a special day! Kensie was so excited that morning, and could not wait to put on her special dress.

We all headed down to the stake center & Kensie and Matt got into their baptismal clothing {much cuter than when I was baptized, by the way}.

There were four children from our ward getting baptized that day so the program was split between the four families. My brother and sister-in-law {Spencer & Andrea} played an amazing piano/guitar duet of "I Feel My Savior's Love", which made me cry of course! The Richards' family, who were in charge of the talk on the Holy Ghost, presented each child with a comforter. Amazing! It was so neat to see Kensie sitting in the front row with her daddy. They were both so excited.

Kensie was the first to be baptized. I watched from the side stairs & had a perfect view. When she came up out of the water she started to cry {I was already bawling, naturally}. I think part of it was because she was nervous, but as we went back into the changing room she said "I don't know why I'm crying. I feel so happy inside". I explained to her that she was feeling the Spirit and that Heavenly Father was so proud of her. For the rest of the day she just couldn't stop taking about her baptism! She said things like, "I just know I made the right choice.", "I am so happy", "I felt the Spirit so strong. I felt so warm inside". She would also randomly have tears in her eyes & tell me "I was just remembering when I got baptized".

It was amazing to see the Spirit radiating from her. It was a testimony-building experience for her and for me!

Her confirmation was just as special. Matt gave her a beautiful blessing & I was reminded how grateful I am to have a worthy priesthood holder in our home. Kensie cried again during it, and also told me that she thought her head was going to fall off with all those hands on it!

Everyone came up to our house afterward for some lunch & a birthday celebration for Jackson. It was so great to have so many family members there to celebrate Kensie {and Jackson's} special day. In attendance were:

Great Grandma & Grandpa May
Grandma & Grandpa Young

Grandma & Grandpa Holbrook

Uncle Danny & Aunt Leah

Uncle Spencer & Aunt Andrea

Aunt Alayna

Great Uncle Joe, Aunt Anita, Sam & Mary Hallman

Great Uncle John & Aunt Ilse

Kensie with Great Grandpa & Grandma May

From Kensie's Journal