A Beautiful Day

Yesterday was a great day. Seth was baptized. He is such a good boy and I could tell he was trying extra hard to be nice to his brothers and be obedient all day. The baptism was really nice (except for naughty Nathan throwing a fit and my sister having to take him out for me.) There were a few small glitches but nothing too catastrophic--the man that was supposed to be in charge of filling the font didn't come to church so about 10 minutes into Sacrament Meeting I asked David if the font was filling up and when he went to check, sure enough it was not. Luckily we caught it early enough that it finished filling just in time. Our pianist was at another unit's Branch Conference (he's the stake YM's president) and forgot we'd asked him to play the piano but his wife was on the ball and called him and he made it in time. I forgot a few things at home (towels, comb, etc.) but David ran home and grabbed them during Sunday school. Anne and Patrick gave really great talks on baptism and the Holy Ghost and after Seth was baptized I just couldn't handle the emotion any more. I broke down and bawled partly because I was touched and happy but partly because I was just so exhausted and a little sad that Anne didn't even get to see the actual baptism because she had to take Nate out for me. It was all really stressful to me but such a joyful event that after everything was over I just breathed a huge sigh of relief then enjoyed the rest of the day. We had an "8 minute party" to celebrate Seth's birthday with my sister's family then they had to hurry and get on the road so they could get back for school/work/seminary today. Having them here was such a blessing they came right in on Saturday and started working to help me with my house. I've felt so tired and yucky lately that things had just been neglected--my kids rooms were awful and the carpet was really yucky, but Patrick went and rented a carpet cleaner and cleaned my carpet for me. They were all so wonderfully helpful and made me feel so loved. Anne and Patrick have done such a great job raising their kids. They all jumped in helping, mopping the floor, getting Nate to nap, making everyone lunch. They are an awesome family. Yesterday afternoon I just kept thinking about how much I love my family and how blessed I am to have them. Last night was the First Presidency Christmas devotional and I look forward to that every year at the beginning of December. It is the perfect way to start off the Christmas season and get me in the true spirit of Christmas. I felt such a sense of peace and calm as I watched and listened to the beautiful music of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. It was the perfect way to end the day. Now I feel refreshed and encouraged and like maybe I can keep on top of things a little bit. There's a lot to do but I feel like maybe I can do it now after all the help from my family.