Baptism day

My niece Eliana turned 8 this August and made the great decision to get baptized. So, my family made the trip to Vegas to be a part of the events. It was a quick whirlwind weekend for us. We left after school and work Friday evening. The baptism was Saturday morning with a wonderful luncheon afterward. I had the blessing of leading the music for the baptism, but I think one of my favorite parts was watching my nephew, Eli's brother - Ben, give the talk on the Holy Ghost. All of these kids are growing up so fast! The spirit was strong and it was a wonderful day.  Chris told me something Katelyn said after the baptism that I have to share.  They had gone to the lobby to wait for the rest of the group and Katelyn said that while the bishop was giving some remarks she felt really warm in her heart.  Chris asked her if she knew what that was and she said she knew the bishop's words were true because of the spirit touching her heart.  I'm so proud of how she's growing up and learning these important lessons.

I want to share a epiphany moment I had that day. At the luncheon I had the chance to visit with friends I have not seen in a long time. It is always good to catch up. At one point I was on the couch visiting with my sister in law Kristin's mom - Susan, and sister and others around. We were just talking about life and Susan was telling us stories about when she was raising her kids. As part of one of the stories, she was saying how when raising her 7 kids she had to have her date night every week and get out of the house with her husband. Kristin's sister made the comment that the kids needed them out of the house just as much as the parents wanted out of the house. I know this was meant as a funny retort to her mom's comment, but it really rang true for me. Our kids sometimes need breaks from us just as much as we need breaks from them to rejuvenate and appreciate each other more. I'm grateful for this insight. I have since tried to make date nights happen a little more often. I still have a hard time trusting a babysitter, but have gratefully found 2 girls that we really like and the kids like. In fact, the other day after a date night, Megan was asking when we were going to leave again so Briana could come back. Since then we've had some busy weekends and haven't been out much, but I know now that I can go out and I can have a date night, and really, I should do that not just for me and Chris but for my kids too.

As usual, I was terrible with taking pictures on this trip. We did however take some pictures of the Hoover Dam bypass bridge. We can't wait until it's open and we can ride on it! It's supposed to cut the time from Phoenix to Vegas by 45 minutes! Yippee!!