Luke's Blessing

Last weekend we had quite the family gathering here in Boise, ID. Our closest family is about a four and a half hour drive south of here in Utah, so we are used to being out and away from everyone. It was such a treat to have so many people visit-- more than I ever anticipated! If Luke knew what was going on he would be so honored to know so many people came to support him for his baby blessing! So that you can get a sense for how full our pews were on Sunday, here is the rundown on our guest list: my parents (coming from Maryland), sister Tammy (Utah) and her daughter, sister Stacey (Utah) and three of her boys, sister Hailey (Colorado), sister Lindsay (Pennsylvania) and her husband and two girls, Bryan's dad (California), his brother Mike (Utah), his mom (Utah), his sister Shelley (Utah) and her husband and two kids, our friend Jilleun and Kelvin (Utah) and then from in town our friends Lee and Suzanne and their baby, friends Loren and Erica and their daughter, two of my mom's friends and their husbands and her two cousins. Phew! There was alsoanother baby blessing and family in town for two baptisms! Our ward was packed!

Anyway, I love having visitors and hosting things so it was a lot of craziness but a lot of fun all the same. Five out of six of my sisters were there-- Natalie lives overseas in Qatar so that was quite impossible but we missed her so much! I really enjoyed showing off Boise and our new house and, above all, my precious baby.

As to the blessing itself, it was very beautiful. Apparently Luke started crying during it but I didn't hear it at all. I was hastily jotting down notes on the back of the program to remember what Bryan had said. One thing I will mention here on the worldwide web is that Bryan blessed him to have a love of studying and learning. That really stood out to me because that is so Bryan himself! He loves to learn and share what he has learned. It made my heart swell to think of my little boy looking up to his dad and being like him. It also makes me think he'll have an inquisitive personality, which is fun to imagine.

Lindsay snapped a few pictures of us in the pews just after the blessing, singing the hymn. 

After the block we hosted an open house in our home with a lot of delicious food. Of course chicken salad sandwiches from Costco were on the menu. No party is complete without them, in my opinion. The funny thing is that the three of us were gone for a good portion of the open house-- me pumping, Luke being fed and Bryan bring me food and such. When we were all done we got to talk to people some but then Luke needed a nap, etc. Life with a baby is crazy. 

Here we are with the Jaspersons (or Jasps, as I like to call them) before they headed home.

Tammy and Stacey had left by this point but I got a picture with Hailey and Lindsay.

Later that night, almost as an afterthought, we took a family picture.

This is a little out of order but here is one Lindsay snapped of the two of us. Somehow Lindsay's iPhone seems to take the best pictures of me rather than a normal camera. 

As soon as they had arrived, everyone was gone. Except for my parents, that is. They stayed a couple extra days and that was nice and relaxing. Especially the part where my mom rocked with Luke for two super long naps while I, in turn, also got a nap. That was wonderful. We also went and got some pictures taken of Luke is his blessing outfit and a few others. The photographer was very talented, very nice and seemed to have a magic touch with babies! I felt like we were good friends by the end of it. It was a great experience.

Well anyway, we are so lucky to have so many loved ones who care about us and our sweet boy.Thank you to all who came! We love you!