Ava's Christening

On August 28th, Ava had her Christening at St, Mark's Lutheran Church in Jacksonville - the same church where Tam and I got married nearly five years ago. It was a small ceremony held on a Saturday, rather than incorporating it into the regular Sunday service, and Tam and I were amazed to see how many people came to show their love for our little girl. Of course Tam and I were there, along with Grandma and Granddaddy, her Great-Grand Goggie, and Aunt Jen. Auntie Em came, along with Vonna and Josh. Her godfather Colin was there, along with Stacey and Diane, and so were Jake and Becca, Amy, Mike and Andrea, Rita, George and Martha, and Kristi.



Aunt Jen and Vonna helped Tam get Ava dressed in her pretty white Christening gown, which Ava loved shopping for a few weeks earlier. It was a very long gown, and Ava seemed to enjoy playing peek-a-boo with it. The time came for the ceremony, and Pastor Dow brought us into the nave for the ceremony, where we all committed to helping Ava along the path of Christianity. She was enthralled during the whole ceremony, from the moment it started to the moment Pastor Dow held her and Baptized her. I think she knew that everybody was there for her, and she certainly loves to be the focus of attention.




We certainly did not expect for people to bring her gifts, but she received many thoughtful and beautiful gifts from many wonderful people. We are truly blessed not only with our baby Ava, but also with such an amazing network of friends and family.

I should also mention that the night before the Christening, our friends Debbie and Jordan threw a birthday for Goggie - I won't say what number it was, but it was a festive occasion.

After the ceremony, we headed back to Gainesville to host a small gathering at our house. We did not expect for everybody to drive all the way to Jacksonville for the ceremony, so we wanted to have a small celebration here as well. Ava got to see her buddy William, and his dad Jason, too.

After a couple of hours, everybody headed off, and we figured we would get a nice nap out of Ava, and that's not the first or the last time that we've figured wrong about that.

And now that the Christening was done, we could focus on the next big thing - the trip to Mexico that was only four days away...