Baptism

What a Wonderful weekend we had! The weather was beautiful, the company was great, and everything went very smoothly. We had a very busy weekend with Ava's baptism and were blessed to be surrounded by so much family. Lisa, Brent and the kids arrived around 11:00 on Saturday morning. Reece was the first in the door and wanted to make sure that he got to see Ava and give her the gift that they had brought for her (Ava's necklace, which Reece called daily to tell me the week leading up to her baptism). Brent was nice enough to grill lunch since Nate had to work until 1:00 on Sat. Grandma Becker, Great-Grandma Schutterle, Grandma Great (Becker), Darlene, Carl, & Sara got here about 1:30 after taking a short detour through Minneapolis and I think all of Mounds View. We had lunch and just hung out for awhile. Then everybody except for Ava, Grandma Becker, and I headed over to the hotel to go swimming. I had to feed Ava and Grandma had to sew the last couple buttons on the back of Ava's dress. Grandma Becker made Ava's baptismal gown, all from her wedding dress. Ava's dress was beautiful and so special. It will be such a keepsake. Thank you so much Grandma...what a wonderful gift, and Ava looked beautiful in it!!! We then joined everybody else at the hotel. Grandma & Grandpa Veldman, along with Tom and Judy arrived at the hotel just before we did. Tom & Judy drove up from Johnston to celebrate with us and meet Ava. We are so happy that they were able to make the trip up. It was great to see them again!!! It was a low key evening at the hotel that involved pizza and visiting, but it was wonderful to spend that time with everybody. Ava was a very good girl as she was passed all around. I think she likes the attention. :)
Sunday brought more people from IA. Grandpa Becker arrived at our house around 2:45 AM. We know he was very busy with work and very exhausted, so we were very grateful when he arrived here safely. Marilyn, Carl, Kristin, and Luke also drove up during the wee morning hours and met us at church. Aunt Carolyn, Uncle Rick, and Nana drove up from Hollandale that morning as well. A big thanks to all of you for sacrificing your sleep and time to be a part of Ava's special day. She is a very lucky little girl to have so many people surround her with so much love. We had around 36 people attend Ava's baptism and luncheon. The service was very nice and then we went over to Grandma & Grandpa Veldman's for a delicious lunch. As I said before, the weather was gorgeous so people were able to eat outside which was very nice. We had lunch, opened gifts (which were all very nice), and were home around 4:00 Sunday afternoon. We were all exhausted, including Ava!!!
A big thank you to everyone who attended Ava's special day this weekend. It was great seeing you all and meant a lot to Nate and I that you were there.

Ava thinks it's very funny that she's wearing mommy's old dress

Ava's baptismal gown that Grandma Becker made out of her wedding dress

Godparents Brent and Lisa with Ava, Mommy, & Daddy at the church

Uncles Wes, Grandpa & Grandma Veldman, Ava, Mommy & Daddy after baptism

4 Generations on the Becker side...Grandpa, Grandma Great, Ava, & Mommy

4 Generations on the Veldman side: Grandpa, Nana, Ava, & Daddy

The Iowa group that came up for Ava's baptism (minus Tom & Judy who came from Johnston)

4 Generations on the Parr side: Grandma Becker, Grandma Schutterle, Ava, & Mommy

Ava & Mommy with Ava wearing the dress that Mommy wore at 18 months. That dress was given to me by my great grandma Clark

At the hotel Sat. night where we ate pizza and hung out with everybody

Nate & Reece spending quality time in the pool

Judy & Tom drove up from Johnston (Des Moines) to meet Ava for the first time and attend her baptism.

Reece holding on tight to Ava, he wanted to make sure that he got his time with her. He loves our little girl SO much!