last blogger on the block: it's great to be 8

Hudson was baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints today. It was such a happy and exciting day for him and one I hope he remembers for the rest of his life.

First things first... a new suit and tie for his photoshoot with mom. We used this picture for his baptism announcement/invitation. It was FREEZING cold outside so our photoshoot lasted about 10 minutes!...

Eight is Great Countdown. For the past eight nights we counted down the days before Hudson's baptism with a gift each night to help remind him of this special time in his life and the covenants he is making with his Heavenly Father. He was very excited to finally get one of these special bath towels. Sugar embroidered this towel for Hudson with his name, baptism date, and the letters CTR, which stands for Choose The Right. The towel is to remind him to always Choose the Right throughout his life. He used this special towel to dry off when he came out of the baptismal font...

This night we talked about the importance of good uplifting books, movies, TV shows, games, and other media types. There is so much good and bad out there when it comes to technology and media... we hope he will remember to always choose the good and put away or turn off the bad. To help him remember, we got him this Pig the Pug book set (which is funny because I didn't realize the books were about a mean, selfish pug named Pig... which totally goes against what we're trying to teach... but thank goodness there's a good lesson to be learned at the end of each book.)

Another night Hudson got a compass and learned that Heavenly Father will always give us direction in life if we stay on the straight and narrow path that leads back to Him. He can guide us in the decisions we make if we pray and ask for help...

Another gift Hudson has been waiting eight years to receive... his own set of scriptures! We talked about the importance of the scriptures and how we can find answers and guidance in them. We can also learn about Christ and how we should be living our lives based on his perfect example...

Hudson also received (although I forgot to snap pictures) a blanket to remind him of the warmth and comfort the Holy Ghost can bring into our lives when we need it most. A journal to record all of the good and bad that happens in his life so he can remember the special moments in his life and learn from the bad.

Some other fun gifts Hudson received from friends and family were a tie, CTR tie tac, books, cards and money....

Clark and Christy joined us for Hudson's baptism along with Bishop Ware and Sister Jahnelle Wengler, a member of our Primary presidency and really good friend!...

Since there were only ten of us allowed in the building, we held Hudson's baptism in the Relief Society room... and had to wear masks the whole time...

So, technology is wonderful sometimes, and thankfully, because of Zoom, all of our family and friends who weren't able to be at the baptism in person were still able to watch Hudson get baptized and share this special day with us. HOWEVER... we had some major technical difficulties that caused me some major stress and embarrassment. I'm still trying to let those struggles go but it's hard for me because I wanted the day to be perfect for Hudson. I have to keep reminding myself that's it's over and there's nothing more we can do about it now. Thankfully, the most important parts were both seen and heard by all we love!

My amazing sister-in-law sent me these pictures she took while watching the baptism from her living room. I loved seeing how the baptism looked from the other side of the camera. Brooklyn gave a great talk on the Holy Ghost...

I gave a talk on Baptism...

And Clark and Christy gave the opening and closing prayers. We played musics and video from General Conference for the opening and closing hymns (although the audio did not come through to those watching for some reason). We also showed a photo slideshow that Ella put together while Hudson and Ryan were dressing (again, no audio).

When friends and family logged on to the Zoom call, this is what they saw on their screens until we started the program...