Ty's baptism

There was a big to-do surrounding Ty last month with his baptism.  The focus being, as it was, on Ty and baptism and those two things jumbled into one made for a very sweet day.    

With the exception of Grandma and Grandpa Johnson, we were lucky enough to attract the same crowd that came to Jaden's baptism almost 4 years ago.  We missed Grandma and Grandpa who stayed in St. Louis to be with Grandma Rowe as she made her exit from this world, in fact, it was the day after Ty's baptism that she passed.  

Jaden played a lovely tribute on piano to both Ty and Grandma Johnson.  Mom rewrote a simpler version of Paul Cardall's song called Baptism, this is the song that Mom played at Jaden's baptism.  Jaden worked her tail off practicing for this song.  She was in tears on more than one occasion trying to work her way through that song.  There was no pressure by Kyle, myself or my mom for her to play this song but Jaden was determined and her perseverance paid off.  

As always, Pat gave a lovely talk on the Holy Ghost, while simultaneously wrapping Ty in a literal and figurative comforter, handmade by Mary, who is Kirk's mother.  Speaking of Kirk, as you can see, Ty hand selected him to baptize him. We are so grateful to Kirk for making the trip and for his willingness to perform the ordinance.  I think it will be a very sweet memory for the two of them to share.  Thanks Kirk!  Also, thanks to Nick and Katy for making the drive to Houston with their brand-new baby girl, Stella.  We are so glad you came and so upset that you didn't leave Stella and Sutton when you left. : ) You two are troopers. 

 This is Ty with his good friend, Samantha Tonini.  She was also baptized that day. What a sweet pic that is!  This is the only shot I got before I made the mistake of asking them put their arms around each other -- after that we couldn't get them closer than 10 feet apart.  Ty and Samy have grown up together (two days apart), sharing birthday parties, attending the same grade school, classrooms, primary, etc.  So it seemed very fitting for the two of them to share this big day as well.  And then there's Samy's mom, Nicole, I've had the privilige of growing up with her for these last 10 years that we've lived along side each other, here in Texas.  I'm very lucky to be able to call her friend!  We love you Samy and Nicole.

Sutton took to carrying around this polly pocket.  During the baptism he woke, in a stupor, asking where his princess was.

We had an abundance of good friends who were able to make Ty's baptism.  Thank you for coming to support him on his special day!  I can't believe I didn't get a better shot up there of Ty and his bestest buddies in the whole world!  What great friends they are, Holden and Jake.  These boys can get lost in each other for hours upon hours.  I absolutely love them like they were my own.  They are such good, sweet boys.

 These are our good friends, The Kalani's.  Ty attends school with Rohan and we carpool like it's going out of style as much as we can with them.  Ty and Rohan love playing any sport together.  As well, Reese gets some good play in with little Janvi.

 Here's Ty with our next door neighbor, JJ.  And there we all are below with JJ's parents, Andrea and Marcus.  We love having them as neighbors and we are so glad they made the baptism after Kyle ran into them doing yard work out front.  He clarified that the baptism was, in fact, today and not the following day like they were planning on.  They went from buttery sweaty to church-dress-ready and they pulled it off nicely.  : ) Thanks for making it Hamilton's!

And our good friends, the Yesland family!  We love us some Yesland . . . can't you tell by the way we are all gravitating to them in that picture?!  They crack us up.  The day I run into that lady, Dana Yesland, without a smile on her face, I'll be sure the world is coming to an end.  Such a great family!

And here's a final shot of our group with Stella and Sutton alive and kicking!