Preston's Baptism!

I figured I should post about Preston's baptism before it's Christmas and I have a whole new round of things to blog about.  Preston's baptism was on Saturday, December 10th.  Got this super cute announcement made from someone on Etsy, easy and then just printed a handful at Sam's Club for cheap. Love how it turned out.  This is definitely not the easiest time of year for a big family event like this.  We felt bad for our families to have to travel with it being more expensive and iffy weather.  We are so grateful for those who made quite the effort to be a apart of his big day.

Preston has been so excited for his baptism.  We had been counting down the days and happy to have it here.  We were a part of the stake baptisms and there were so many kids that were getting baptized that they split it into two sessions, 9am and 11am.. and thankfully we were the 11am one which helped with getting us all ready to go and having to get there a half hour early.  The weather that day was AWFUL.  Rainy, snowy, windy and slushy so just yuck.  We were grateful that everyone was able to drive safely in it.

In attendance we had: my mom and dad (Mike and Holly Urbancic who came from Phoenix, AZ), Steve's mom and day (John and Elaine Wilker), his sister and our nephew (Angie and Tyson Wilker who all traveled from Nebraska), Steve's uncle, aunt and cousins (Lewis, Susan, Nicole, Cody, Hayley and Hannah who came from Pocatello, ID), Steve Aunt Bev (also from Pocatello, ID), my aunt and uncle (Lisa and Rees who came from Salt Lake City), Steve's cousin and her family (Sarah, Trent, Jackson, Max, Caden), and then some ward members including the primary president and her daughter and Preston's primary teacher, Chase Hansen.  We felt blessed to have so many here to show their support and love for him and our family.

One of my favorite parts of the day (there were a lot!) was seeing Steve and Preston dressed in white.  They were both beaming and it definitely choked me up.  I gave a talk on baptism (as if the weekend hadn't been stressful enough, right?!) so I had to sit on the stand.  My talk was short and sweet and I had put together "baptism bags" with little things to remind them about there baptism.  I loved to look down at 6 sweet kids and their dad/brother sitting by them.  My heart was just so full!

My aunt took this pic... she said she knew she shouldn't have but was grateful she did.  I am too!

Preston was the third one to be baptized.  He was nervous at all like I thought he might be.  I loved that Steve got choked up in the baptismal prayer.  What a reminder of how special the priesthood is?! And that Steve is a worthy priesthood holder.  Yes, I cried.  The spirit was strong.

We got moved to another room and waited for the boys to get changed.  Both before Preston's baptism and confirmation Bishop McArthur, who is was also our neighbor for almost 6 years and who consider to be a good friend, said some very sweet words about Preston... that he had come very prepared for his interview and knew all of the right answers and that was a true example of love and service and he witnessed him shoveling snow for our neighbors and us.  It was very nice.

The confirmation was very nice and once again the spirit was so strong and I couldn't wait to hug my sweet boy.  (When did I give him permission to grow up?!)  We followed up with lots and lots of pictures in the foyer of the stake center.

I'm so glad I snagged this pic!

My sweet kids.  Oh my goodness, I can't even handle it.  I decided just a couple days before that I wanted to get Abby and Kaley some new dresses for this that would also be their Christmas dresses.  It had been a long time since I have gotten them new dresses, especially really dressy ones.  My mom had gotten the twins these adorable dresses last time she visited.  They all looked great!

Best buds!

We all headed over to our house for a luncheon.  We wanted to serve something that PReston really likes which limits us to cereal, cheesy shells, and turkey sandwiches.  So turkey sandwiches it was!  We had roll sandwiches, funeral potatoes, chips, fruit salad, lemonade, sugar cookies and a cake from Sams Club.  We of course ended up with way more food than we needed but we enjoyed the afternoon chatting, laughing, and enjoying spending time together.

Preston made a sign (on the far left) that said that everyone had to have their sandwiches just like he does with nothing on it but bread and turkey.  Haha!

This cake was so awesome.  We have never ordered a cake before so this seemed like a good time to do something a little different and fancy.  It turned out so great and tasted good!

It was a truly wonderful day.  Big days/events like this definitely stress me out and fill me with anxiety but I was grateful that I was able to enjoy the day and take it all in.  It was a big success for our boy and we are so proud of him for making this big decision.