Noah’s Baptism

We could have baptized Noah on his birthday, which would have been kind of cool.  But it was only the day after we got back from Austria, and even I couldn’t have pulled that off!  Plus Oma and Opa really wanted to be there, so we waited and did it two weeks after his birthday.

I had asked Noah beforehand what kind of treats/food he wanted for the party afterwards.  Zucchini bread, brownies, cinnamon rolls and CTR cookies were requested.  So that is what I spent Friday and Saturday (when we weren’t on the boat ride) doing, baking all those treats.  I tried out a new sugar cookie recipe for the CTR cookies from a lady’s blog that sells them for money.  They were really, really good!  I will definitely be using that recipe again.

I didn’t have a CTR cookie cutter shield, so I just drew one on paper, cut it out, and then placed that on the dough and hand cut each cookie with a knife.  Fortunately the shield is just four “swooops” so it went pretty quickly.  I found out later that my friend actually had a shield cookie cutter, but it was faster to just cut them out this way, rather than drive into Zurich to pick it up.  Yeah, that’s what I am going with. 🙂

Noah was so excited about finally getting baptized, since all the other kids in his Primary class have birthdays in February and March.  It was hard waiting so long.  Chris did a lot to prepare him, both spiritually and practically.  They read lots of scriptures that dealt with the covenants you make at baptism and talked about what they meant.  They also practiced getting dunked under the water. 🙂  Every few days Chris would just walk up to Noah and say, “Okay, let’s practice!”  And then grasp his arms from the front and bend him backwards.  It was a good thing because Noah had a hard time bending his legs and would just let himself sort of fall backwards.  Chris was afraid he would slip out of his hands!

Finally it was the big day. In order to make the day extra memorable for Noah, the water heater kindly arranged to break down.  This meant he got baptized in very cold water.  Twice.   Because his foot popped up the first time.  Chris was trying to do it fast because of the cold, but it backfired on him.  They were both shivering by the time they were done.

I rubbed Noah really well with the towel to try and help him warm up, but he wouldn’t let me do it for very long.  He was laughing and saying he wanted to race as fast as possible, so they would only have time to sing three songs.  I don’t know if he made it, but he sure had fun trying.

When we made it back to the chapel, the girls and I did a little musical number to “I am a Child of God”.  Sarah and Alexandra sang, Sophie played her recorder and I played the piano, sort of.  When we practiced at home I did fine, but playing in front of people always make me so nervous!  My fingers tense up so bad I can barely move them.  But the girls sounded great and Noah liked that they went to all that extra effort just for him.

Noah had asked Dolores to give the talk on the Holy Ghost just like she had done for all the other kids.  She has been his teacher since he started Primary and just recently moved out of the ward.  He was very happy that she agreed to come back and speak.  It was a great talk, and he loved all the little presents she gave him that went with the theme.

Opa gave him the gift of the Holy Ghost and the Bishop welcomed him to the ward and gave him his very own Triple combination in German.  Then it was time to party!

Chris and I had originally talked about having his baptism on a Saturday and grilling in the nearby park afterwards with everyone who wanted to come.  But when we suggested it to Noah he was less than enthusiastic.  He wanted a baptism “just like everybody else”.  Since we wanted the day to special for him, we obeyed. 🙂

You can see most of my kids in this shot, although not their faces. haha.  But don’t those cookies look cute?  The fancy tray was borrowed from my friend, Megan.  It really helps to glam them up, I think.

It’s not a great picture, but this is the angel crew that helped me put this shindig together.Rahel is slicing her homemade bread that she brought to go with the meat and cheese I brought.  Wendy is next, who brought real American chocolate chip cookies, which got devoured in about 5 minutes.  Megan brought snickerdoodles, which were a request from Chris.  I am a pretty good baker, but for some reason I can’t make those particular cookies to his liking.  Fortunately, I have awesome friends who take pity and make him a batch once in a while.  Tanya made veggie pizza, which Noah didn’t touch, but Nicholas and I loved it.  And Terrian, not pictured, brought a great veggie tray with dip despite the lateness of the request.

The thing about awesome friends is that they are able to walk into the room, assess that you are in need of help in about .5 seconds and immediately get to work.  Love, love, love these ladies.  I honestly don’t think living in Switzerland would be near as great as I think it is without them.

We were so thankful so many people came out to support Noah, despite the fact that it was summer vacation.  He absolutely loves being the center of attention and they all helped to make him feel special.

By the time we had cleaned everything up, with the help of my awesome friends, their husbands, and the Bishop, we were pretty tired and ready for bed.  What a great day for a great boy.  Love you, Noah!  We are so proud of you!