Last Friday morning, Alan and I drove to Utah so we could be there for our granddaughter Olivia's baptism on Saturday morning.
The drive went well. It was the maiden voyage of our new Honda Odyssey. The big test was whether Alan would get motion sick or not. He decided to give it a true test by not taking any Dramamine prior to the trip. In our Lexus 300, Alan would consistently get car sick...along with other members of the family who rode in it. They affectionately named my car "Ralph" because of that. However, the Odyssey passed the motion sickness test with flying colors. Alan didn't get sick at all - even when he wasn't the driver.
On Friday evening, the first thing we did was go see Alan's mom. She is a resident at Legacy House, an Assisted Living establishment in Taylorsville, UT. She will be 96 years old on the 24th of this month (Thanksgiving Day). She has either dementia or Alzheimer's (not sure which) so we never know whether she will recognize us or not. We were pleased to see her sitting there in the common area as soon as we entered the Cottage. She immediately saw us and I saw her face light up and a big smile come upon her face and she said "I didn't know you were coming!" She recognized us right away. We were very happy about that. We were able to have a great conversation with her and loved the time we spent there.
After that little visit, we met Ryan at Chuck-A-Rama for some dinner. It was nice to be able to spend some time with him. Eric and his family had other plans for the evening, so we didn't see them until the next day.
After dinner, Alan and I decided to go to Scheels - an Outdoor/Sporting Goods store. It is huge and it is amazing. I have been wanting to go inside for a long time, so I'm glad that I got that opportunity. It was only about 1/2 mile or so from the hotel we stayed in.
Inside the store, there is a Ferris Wheel, aquarium tank, and lots of stuffed wild life.
This was definitely a fun store!
On Saturday morning, we went to Eric's house until it was time to go to the baptism. They really go all out for baptisms in Utah. They even had this sign outside the R.S. Room announcing who was getting baptized from their Ward.
As the time for the baptism approached, it was apparent that not everyone would be able to fit in the R. S. Room, so we were moved to the chapel. Alan gave a great talk on baptism and the Holy Ghost in that room using lots of pictures to make it more appealing to the children getting baptized.
Here is a picture of Eric & Olivia just prior to the baptism
A little boy named Crew was baptized as well, so the assignments for the baptism were split between the two families. Sharon Beesley (grandmother) got to introduce Olivia, Alan gave the talk, Eric baptized Olivia, Rulon Beesley (grandfather) did the confirmation, and I gave the closing prayer. The members of the other family gave the opening prayer, introduced Crew, performed a musical number, and made the programs. Everything turned out just perfect.
Here are some pictures taken after the baptism. Olivia looked so cute in her beautiful white dress.
Eric, Nicole, Ethan, Ella, and Olivia
Ryan & Olivia
Alan and I with Olivia
Rulon and Sharon Beesley with Olivia
After the baptism, we (except for Ryan, who had to go to work) went out to eat lunch. We actually ate breakfast because Olivia chose iHop as the restaurant. It was delicious.
For fun, we (except the Grandpa's who wanted to take a nap instead) went and played some mini-golf at Mulligan's. We had a great time. Sharon and Ethan each got 2 holes-in-one. In spite of that, I had the best score overall, beating Sharon by only one stroke. Eric was close behind.
Later, Alan and I started our journey back home. We made it as far as St. George, where we found a hotel, then continued our journey home the next morning. Since we got an early start, we were able to make it home in time to attend Sacrament Meeting. That was an added bonus to the day.
It was a whirlwind of a trip, but well worth it. We love any time we can spend with family, especially for special events like this.
Congratulations, Olivia, on making the choice to be baptized. You did the right thing! May you always make good choices that will keep you close to your Heavenly Father and allow you to find your way back to Him.
