Ella & Justine's Baptism

Early in October, Ella decided she wanted to be baptized again. She had already been baptized when she was 9, but she doesn't remember it. There were actually a bunch of youth age kids getting baptized...Justine included. He had been baptized before as well, but didn't remember it either. 

It just so happened on the Sunday they were getting baptized, October 13th, Justine and Ella were also on the worship team. I had to get Ella to church early in order to for her to practice. 

I was sitting in the sanctuary listening to them practice and I decided I wanted to get a picture of the team. 

Justine saw what I was doing so he kept turning away trying to make it so I couldn't get a picture of the front of his face. Ella kept looking at him like he was crazy because he just kept looking all around. 

Finally I was able to snag a picture of them both looking forward! Silly guy! 

During the last worship song Justine and Ella left so they could go change into their baptism clothes. The church provided each of the people being baptized with one of the burgundy shirts with the church logo on them. Then they just wore a pair of shorts or swim trunks. 

 

Yeaab, our church's Youth Pastor, was the one getting to baptize everyone which made it even more special. Justine was the second person to be baptized! 

It's so cool hearing these kids' hearts! 

Ella was the first girl to be baptized. She said she was really nervous, but I think she did great. She just wouldn't look out at the congregation! 

It was fun that Pa was there helping the kids out of the tank....he's in the background of almost every picture that day! 

Once they were baptized they hung out on the mats off to the side so they could watch the other people get baptized. 

So proud of these two and everyone that was baptized. It's so great to get a front row seat to their journey! 

Professional Family Pictures 2024!

On October 5th, we met Starr in downtown Tacoma at the Museum of Glass for our annual family pictures. We hadn't had pictures taken with Starr since 2022 since she had been battling a brain tumor. We are so thankful that she is finally on the other side of that battle and she's doing so much better. I loved getting to give her a big hug when I first saw her! 

 

I really wanted something more urban for our pictures this time around. Starr has taken pictures in this area with Logan's family so I thought it would be fun. It was fun, but it was also extremely bright that day. It was almost painful at times to try to keep our eyes open. In fact Starr would have us close our eyes and then count to 3 and we'd all open them at the same time. Amazingly she got some great pictures! 

I really loved our color scheme this time around. It's a bit Christmasy without feeling overly so.

Love this man of mine! 

I love this pictures of Ga-Ga & Pa! 

 

Pictures with our Ella Bean! 

Pictures with all these boys! 

I always love the individual grandkid pictures! Zeke is the only one that can still snuggle on Ga-Ga's chest. 

We moved away from the Glass Museum itself and over to the bridge with all the glass sculptures. This pictures was so so good, but Ga-Ga forgot that she was wearing her sunglass! Lol!! 

Once we were done on the bridge Ga-Ga & Pa had to get going. I saw that there was a brick building across the way and I asked Starr if we could go over there for some pictures. I love a good brick background. 

I love every single one of these pictures so much! These kids are such cuties! 

This picture right here is probably one of my favorite pictures of them since we had pictures taken here in Tacoma in 2016.

This picture from 2016 was taken in a different area of Tacoma, but it is still one of my favorite pictures of the kids. Since we were back in Tacoma I knew we need to try to recreate it. 

 

They are quite a bit older then they were and 3 of them now have glasses. 

The saddest thing happened though....I forgot my "Blessings" sign! I could not believe it! We have been taking pictures with that sign since I bought it in 2012! The reason I forgot it is because we have been doing all the construction in the house since the water pipe burst earlier this year and I did not want that sign to get broken so I put it away. Out of sight out of mind! Such a bummer though!