Joely's Baptism

Joel turned 8 a few weeks ago.  In Joel's world (and pretty much every other Mormon kid's), 8 means baptism.  He was super excited to receive his brand new set of scriptures.  But he was also really nervous about his interview with the Bishop.  What questions would he ask?  What could he expect?  Matt sat Joel down and went through the entire process with him in preparation.  And Joel wrote meticulous notes.  All of his notes were in the form of the answers, the "right" answers he should be giving the Bishop.  His list said things like, "I do believe in God the Eternal Father", "I do believe in the Book of Mormon", etc.  I can't tell you how sweet and heartwarming it was to find that list inside of Joel's scripture case one day.  And I can't tell you how heartbreaking it was to realize that I can't find it!  It's lost!  I wanted to scan it and put it in this post for all posterity to read, but, I'm afraid that's not gonna happen.

Needless to say, Joel did great in his interview with the Bishop.  The baptism was last Saturday.  It was a beautiful service, attended by most of the extended Malone family.  I made these CTR cookies as refreshments.  Joel's response was, "Mom, why do you always cheat by stealing other peoples' ideas off the internet?"  I still love them, though I will definitely find myself a cookie cutter for next time.

Matt baptized Joel.  I'm so glad I'm married to someone who can do that for our children.  It makes it so special.

And I gave the talk on baptism.  I bawled through the whole thing.  I would love to say that my crying was because of how much I love Joel and how special and sacred the ordinance of baptism is to me, but I am pretty sure it's just a matter of being pregnant.

Either way, we got our boy baptized.  We are so proud of him and love him so very much!  Congratulations, Joely!