Baptism

For quite some time before Trace's birthday, we discovered that Kevin's younger brother, Josh, was coming into town with his family around the end of August and because she is about a month older than Trace, his daughter, Guinevere, wanted to get baptized in Utah since her cousins from California are all Catholic. We thought it was a great idea and tossed out that Trace may want to be baptized at the same time. Then, we asked Trace about it. He said "no" when we asked. He said he did want to be baptized, but just not with Ginny. We thought that was okay, and we were prepared to continue on that path until Trace heard his Dad and Josh making plans for the baptism over the phone. He said he changed his mind and he wanted to be baptized at the same time as Ginny. We made a few phone calls and it was on! It worked out that they both got baptized only 2 days after Trace turned 8. He got interviewed by the bishop and he said he wanted to be a member of the church and that he believed in Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father.
As we were preparing for the big day; I asked Trace; "What do you get after you get baptized?" (Looking for the answer "The Holy Ghost") Trace replied; "A new suit and a special towel". I guess I hadn't made it clear that those items were being purchased for him whether he got baptized or not.
One day I came home from work and opened the garage door when I pulled into the driveway. Trace happened to be in the garage filling up Raven's food when I pressed the door for it to open and I saw his little feet scramble as he was obviously startled. When I got out of the car, he said: "Mom! You scared the Holy Ghost right out of me!"
We did get him a new suit for his birthday and so he could wear it on his special day. When we were trying them on, he was checking himself out in the three way mirror and he said: "Boy, you ARE lucky Mom, I AM a handsome kid!" The store employees and customers all laughed.
When the big day came, everyone gathered at our ward building (which also happens to be the stake building) and we had a new member of our bishopric conduct and although he was obviously nervous, he was sincere and sweet to the two little kids he didn't know. My dearest friend, Cambria Young-Shore, played the piano for us and Aunt Chrystal and Aunt Shaunasee spoke. My Mom said the prayer and both Grandpa's were the witnesses. I was a little surprised, but Trace's foot came out of the water the first time so he had to be baptized again. Afterward, he said he brought his foot up on purpose because the water was so warm, he just wanted to stay there. He also told us about a floating spider that was in the water with him. He just was wondering if the spider had been baptized lots of times.
His confirmation went well and he shook the hand of each member of the circle. Such a handsome and respectful little boy. Afterwards, the Carrells had a nice BBQ in their backyard to celebrate the milestone of these two precious kiddos.

Josh and Ginny

All of the Carrell Grandkids except 2 were present, so we decided to take a picture will all 25 of them! There was even their only great-grandchild present! Left to Right, Back to Front: Braden, Hannah, Angelina, Kyli, Peter, Preston, Ethan, Cam, Emma, Emily, Guinevere, Cecilia, Sarah, (Baby Keegan), Lexi, Kaitlyn, Jason, Sam (holding Marionne), Becca, Izzy, Fischer, Boston, Trace, Daniel and James!