When I Am Baptized

On January 7, 2012, darling Madison was baptized. What a special day that was for all of us. She chose the song, "When I Am Baptized" to sing as a solo, and I was blessed to accompany her on the piano. She also asked me to speak about the Gift of the Holy Ghost on that day and her daddy, Eddie, spoke on baptism. The spirit of the Lord was very strong with us that day. Madison was ready to be baptized, and she was excited. I took her shopping at Nordstrom's the night before to pick out two dresses - one for her baptism day, and the second one to wear on Sunday as she sat next to the bishop on the stand. There's nothing better than a day like this.

My mom, me and Madison

Madison's special baptism day brought back memories of my own children's baptism - and even my own. I was baptized in the Salt Lake City historic Tabernacle. I can still remember turning 8, wearing white and being baptized and confirmed by my dad. That special feeling I had that day, I can still remember.  I have reflected upon my own children's being baptized, where, when and who performed those sacred ordinances. How beautiful are those memories.  Here are a few pictures on baptism day of Adelaide, Nolan and Calvin. We were able to be at all of them in Virginia and Pennsylvania. I sang and spoke and Adelaide's and Nolan's. And due to a bronchitis, I couldn't sing at Calvin's, so he volunteered and walk right up front and sang "I Am a Child of God" A'Capella. It was beautiful and very, very special.

Adelaide's Special Day

Nolan's Baptism Day

Calvin's Baptism Day

Those Yummy Blue Cookies

It's been an exciting two months since the new year began, and I wasn't sure which event to blog on first. But then I decided to hold off on talking about Madison's wonderful baptism day on January 7th until I can round up my "memory lane" of baptism pictures of the five grandchildren who have already been blessed with that event. So, let's talk about those blue heart-shaped cookies. :-)


It's no secret that I absolutely adore my sixteen grandchildren - beyond words. They are my heart, and thanking Heavenly Father everyday for the joy they have brought us happens both morning and night - and sometimes when blessing the food before eating. Yes, if I did nothing but visit those fabulous kids in Utah, Pennsylvania or Puerto Rico (latest place Chris is playing basketball), I would be content. I love watching them sing, play, scream (little girls do non-stop screaming), playing the piano (we won't talk about the piano in PA that needs to be tuned or burned), do puzzles, play with Barbies, paper dolls, and terrorize Scooter non-stop while they are visiting, and feeding those coy fish, duck, geese and turtles off of my deck. Pure heaven for me. So when I am told that I have another grandbaby coming - boy or girl - I'm ecstatic!


This past week was spent in Utah with most of the family. Chris left for Puerto Rico to play basketball on February 10th, so we wanted to fly up there to see he and his family before he left. We, of course, all met up at CPK there at the Gateway Mall in Salt Lake City, laughed, ate, and hugged. The cousins also adore each other, and can't wait to sit next to each other, chat and giggle non-stop. It's a beautiful thing, and warms my heart. After eating we all headed to Chris' home to continue the family fun. 

As soon as we got there handsome 5 year old Chamberlain snuggled close to me on the couch downstairs and said casually, "I'm going to have a baby brother." I inquired, "when?" He answered, "as soon as Siri is bigger." Ok ... well maybe mom and dad have been discussing the possibility of another baby with him, I thought. He then repeated it, so I asked Josh and he shrugged and said, "he's imagining things," and blew it off. Ok, so that was that. 


Then once we started playing the nutty game called Curses in the kitchen, (that's another post entirely, but needs pictures of those involved for visual impact), Ashleigh came to us at the table with a large box. As she began to open the box, Joshua announced that they were expecting a new baby in June! And to give us a hint as to what they were having, the box was opened, and the cookies were blue = a boy. Exciting! So...Chamberlain was telling the truth here and not just imagining. How cute was he, and how special the time always is when announcing to the world that you are expecting another baby!


Takes me back to all of the kids and their unique ways of telling me about the new baby coming. Some have done it with a wrapped framed announcement, others have called me at 4am from Poland saying just, "it's a boy! But don't say anything to anybody...even dad." While others just blurt it out when I'm least expecting to hear such incredible news. I love it. So...June we will once again (yea) be blessed with a special gift from Heavenly Father, and he'll carry his father's name of Joshua. We aren't sure yet what the first name will be, but that middle name carries on the Burgess name. And that is incredible. (I'm smiling from ear to ear as I write this post.)