thankful for family

Tonight I feel so lucky to have the family that I have.  The family I was born into, the family I married into, the family that has resulted from church, sports teams, coaching, and work, and the family that calls 2292 Darah street home.  The gospel of Jesus Christ has made it possible for me to be where I am today, enjoying the family relationships that make life complete.  And I am extremely grateful.    

 

 

 

Raleigh's Baptism Notes

Our primary presidency handed out note cards to family and friends in between Raleigh's baptism and confirmation to write a note to him. They collected them and gave them to him in a brown paper bag at primary today. Raleigh enjoyed reading them, and here are a few of the ones that stood out:

"Hey Bud!! This decision is going to be the biggest and best decision you have and will ever make. I hope that when you get older you will resist temptations. It will be hard but me, your parents, your siblings, and god believe you can. You are an amazing, athletic, and handsome young man. You can do anything. Again, congrats on your decision bud. It will bless you forever. Love Your Cuz, Hannah Shippen

P.S. You're gonna be a good lookin' kid and lots of girls will like you. So only pick the ones with high stands and nothing less!"

"Raleigh, I can't believe you're already 8! (Seems like just yesterday you were throwing chewed hamburgers at me, ha ha) Your whole family is very very proud of you. Congratulations, stay out of trouble, and don't forget your baptism day! ☺ Connor…. Congrats, 8 is great."

"I'm very excited to be here and see you get baptized. Ral, I hope you had a good time and always keep close to our Savior Jesus Christ. He's always there when you need him. I am very happy for you. Sincerely, Reilly"

"Raleigh, you are a great example and an awesome cousin, hoping that your decisions will be chosen wisely. Wishing you the best, Wesley James Shippen."

"Raleigh Ben, how proud we are of you! We look at you & see your Dad all over again. Always follow his example and that of your family. Heavenly Father loves you very much. Always CTR. Love G & G Emmett & Sue."

Raleigh's Baptism and Confirmation, November 6th, 2010

Raleigh's baptism was great. The first talk was by a high school girl and
she was doing an amazing job, but about halfway through she started to black
out and thankfully said something so the people on the stand helped her sit,
and then they took her out to the hallway. Austin went out and helped
her--so nice to have a doctor in the house. I talked to her mom April
Spaulding today (who happens to be my online teaching supervisor) and she is
doing fine. They think she may have just locked her knees. We all thought
she might have had a seizure, so hopefully that's all it was.
We had beautiful weather and lots of people came. Afterwards we went to
Leo's, which was easy. Too big of a crowd for our house. Aunt Janie and
Uncle Mike came all the way from Boise. Meredith was planning on coming but
her flight got cancelled.
We are so proud of Raleigh and how he handles himself. His primary teacher
came and gave him a neat homemade book about baptism.
Standing in for his confirmation was G-Emmett, G-Jer-Bear, Uncles Ronald,
Shane, Troy, Trent, Andrew, Mike Conroy, Cousins Austin Gillette, Justin, Skyler, and Bishop (and friend) Clay Murdoch.