Baptism Weekend

It's been an exciting weekend full of family and friends. My Mom and Dad arrived on Tuesday after driving up from Texas (yes, they are really related to me). It's a two day journey that I wouldn't wish on anyone. Mom and Dad C. arrived on Friday afternoon. We all trudged over to the photographer's studio to get our first family portrait done. Now, family portraits have never been my thing but there is an entirely new dimension added when you bring someone under two. Sasha had no interest in being photographed and bored quickly when taking various people in and out of the shoot. Eventually he became more interested when he was allowed to play with the variety of toys and the photo shoot was more of jumping in next to Sasha while he played with the doll house, etc. Interesting. And to think that we only have 16 more of these to do before he leaves for college. Hopefully it gets easier. Aunt Karen arrived on Friday night having been smart enough to miss the photo op.

Saturday was spent moving the thousand tropical plants (only a slight exaggeration) that must winter indoors through out the house. Yes, there is a steep price to pay for someone who loves plumerias and lives in Illinois and I must admit that Nathan pays the biggest portion of this. Granddaddy Plumeria (the first plumeria I owned) thanked us by displaying his snowy white blooms for our weekend. He was damaged in route last year from Texas and this is the first time he's bloomed since he's arrived in the Land of Lincoln.

Sunday. First, I must tell you that we added a level of difficulty that's not usually associated with a baptism. We had originally planned on my Grandmother (the retired minister who also conducted our wedding) to do the ceremony at our house. What could be easier? Unfortunately, with her recent health challenges, this became more difficult. So, we opted to use Bryan's (the Godfather) church. Bryan lives on the south side of Chicago. So ... after dropping the Christensen car off at our lunch destination, we made the journey downtown. Wow ... downtown has really gotten a face lift in recent years. It's always been a beautiful town but now it's a cleaner, shinier version. We found the church without a challenge. First St. Paul's is a lovely church. The santuary is bright and welcoming and the pastor was wonderful. Sasha, Nathan and I awaited our turn in the nursery (he's just not quite there to sit through a service yet). The baptism service was really well done. The pastor asked for all the children to come up and renew their baptism by sticking their finger in the baptismal fount. It was really a nice piece to the service and even my father commented on how welcome he felt in this church. What a lovely place.

We spent a little time after the service taking some additional photos. The first photo is of Sasha's Godfather, Bryan, and his Godmother (no, not the fairy variety although Karen is quiter magical), Karen. Later pictures depict a damper version of Bryan.


We dined at Bob Chinn's Crab House in Wheeling for lunch. They had a special on Alaskan King Crab legs (it's hard to go wrong) and most of us sampled the wonderful crab. Sasha was tired out by the end of our meal. He made a little pillow out of his napkin but still had time to enjoy some frozen yogurt. He was such a tired boy but did really well with his ultra long day without naps.


Mom and Dad C. returned to Iowa directly from Bob Chinn's. Bryan dropped my Aunt off at the airport on his way downtown and the rest of us made our way back up north to our home.

Monday was spent planting a couple hundred bulbs. Mom is an expert bulb planter from her many years in Illinois so we put her skills to good use. Unfortunately, we have many more to plant in addition to a blue spruce.

Today, sadly, my folks left to return to Texas. It was a good trip for them. Sasha has made big progress with my Dad. When Dad returned from running errands, Sasha greeted him with a huge grin and his little arms outstretched to be picked up. What more could any grandparent want?