Rachel's Baptism

Here is my girl. She is so beautiful and we are so proud of her. Rachel has always been a very obedient child and has always wanted to please others. She is usually a peacemaker in our home and she works really hard. She generally will perform any chore that is asked of her without complaint and tries to do things before being asked (her room is normally picked up and she practices her piano everyday without any nagging). Rachel is also an avid reader. She loves reading and we are always finding her curled up somewhere with her nose in a book. She read all of the church's readers for the scriptures on her own in just a manner of weeks and the last few weeks she has been saying that she can't wait until her birthday because she knew that her nana and papaw were going to give her her own set of scriptures. She also loves to read fiction- her latest has been Harry Potter which she can't put down. Rachel's favorite subject in school is science and we often find her reading Richard's large science text books. Sorry about all that bragging but Rachel is such a special girl and I want to remember her just as she is right now. She really looked forward to this special day and I'm so happy with how everything went. Her cousins Morgan and Grace said the opening and closing prayers and her primary teacher Sister Mojgan Lawson gave the talk on baptism and the Holy Ghost. We sang "I Like to Look for Rainbows" and "I belong to the Church of Jesus Christ" for her opening and closing songs. Rachel's piano teacher, Sister Aubrey Smith played the piano throughout the baptism and while she was changing her clothes. Her daddy baptized her and confirmed her. My favorite part was immediately after she was baptized when it was just me and her in the bathroom while I helped her get dried off and changed. I gave her a big kiss and hugs and told her how proud I was and I just loved seeing her so happy.

I have to admit I was a little picture happy and Rachel started to get the deer in the headlight look after awhile. Rachel and daddy chose her baptism dress online- she looked and felt like a princess I think. Her necklace and bracelet were gifts given to her from her aunt and uncle in England. They are all white and supposed to be a reminder of her baptism for her. They really finished off her look beautifully.

Rachel is such a great big sister. These pictures are just too precious. She is a really good example for her sisters and brother. Hannah and Jeremy have both been talking about when they will get baptized. They really look up to her.

Just before the baptism started we somehow managed to get the whole family together for a picture.