Easter Week

 It was Cowboy Night at Awana last week! All of our western apparel was borrowed. As you can see below, Paton is not a cowboy at heart.

 Wendy, my friend in the picture below, let me borrow some boots and spurs for the evening. Oh and the hat is her daughters...didn't fit me perfectly, but it was great!

This was our first Easter in our church. Paton was dressed quite dapper dan in his sports coat and tie (courtesy of Nana Baker).

Greg is explaining to our children's group the idea behind the Resurrection Egg hunt. Inside the numbered eggs were nails (plastic), cloth, money, and something else I can't remember. After finding these pieces intended to remind one of the resurrection story, they were then permitted to go upstairs and find the eggs loaded with candy.

Our traditional Easter pic of Daddy and Paton. Not sure why Paton's mouth is wide open.

I asked him to stay still for the camera and this is the pose he struck. Who taught him that??

What a week!

The Baker family has had a whirlwind of a week! Last Wednesday, Pastor and Mrs. Owen flew into UT from OH in order to be present for Greg's doctrinal questioning, family conference, and ordination. On Thursday, my parents drove here from CO, and my in-laws flew in late Friday night from GA. Since Pastor Owen was here, he taught a lesson at C2 on Thursday night.

Friday was doctrinal questioning. It began at 10 and finished around 4:30 that afternoon. So we figured Greg went through 5 or so hours of questioning from a panel of eight men. But it went very well, and the panel unanimously agreed on Greg's worthiness to be ordained!

 The men wanted to hear from me for the first few minutes. Greg and I talked about our testimonies, how we came to know each other, and how God lead us here.

 We took an hour lunch break which was provided by our wonderful ladies. This questioning was open to the public and several from our church attended.

Then Friday night and Saturday morning was our first annual Family Conference taught by Rev. Joel Owen. We learned Biblical principles in marriage and raising children.

Then Sunday was Greg's ordination service lead by Dominic Gonino and preached by Joel Owen. Both of our parents were in attendance for this service.

 Paton had a special outfit from Grammy and Grampa Lavertu for this occasion.

 Our mixed ensemble sang "Rise Up O Man of God"

 The church presented Greg w/ some gifts...including a pulpit.

There were light refreshments after the service. What a wonderful blessing it was!

Sunday Traditions

It seems like every place we live, we tend to unintentionally create traditions. Now that we're in Utah a trend has been surfacing. We generally go in to town in the evening to enjoy playing in a park, dinner, or Starbucks...or sometimes all three. This Sunday was no exception.

After the park, we went to McDonalds for dinner. We don't often go there, so this was a special treat. Daddy is with Paton in the play place since he's not the most stable at climbing yet. But he did enjoy it!

 Sigh...like father, like son.

Rashes and Snowboards

Paton is in the last stages of Fifths Disease--the rash. There is no cure for this, so all I can do is offer some relief from the itching by applying calamine lotion to the itchy spots and then 1/4 tsp. of benadryl orally every 4 hours. These pics were taken before the rash got really intense, but the little boy has been bearing up quite well.

It's also called "slapped cheek" disease for the reason you see below.

I've been forgetting all season to take a snowboarding pic, and I finally remembered this last week. I've been steadily improving my riding all season (like all of the 5-6 times that I've gone!) and am seriously considering trading in my skiing prowess for riding. I've borrowed this board from a friend of mine who didn't ride this season. The best part about the board is the praying mantis between the bindings. No tricks or jumps yet...I'm still doing my best not to knock myself senseless! Word from the wise--learning to snowboard is a painful experience! Thank goodness for helmets!

Look Alike

Greg and I have enjoyed bantering back and forth about who Paton looks most like-him or me? So here are the pics and we'll let you see who's right.

Greg is in the next two. I'm in the last two.

Playing in the park

Though it was 40 degrees this morning, Paton and I went to Eden Park and played. The rain was coming soon so it was then or not at all today. We took Red Ball (one of his best friends), and he had such a great time that there were tears when it was time to leave. One funny aspect of the trip was that he didn't stop talking even once! He jibber-jabbered the entire time...no response from me necessary!