Ellie's Blessing Day

Sunday, July 28th, 2013 was the day that Ellie was blessed at church! It was beautiful & I'll always remember her blessing. I can't wait to share the things that were said with her one day! I love baby blessings, hearing my own children being blessed was even more amazing. For me, it was the first time it hit home that these babies are people. They have feelings, they're going to do wonderful things in this life. They're going to influence the lives of others. I also felt great responsibility placed on my shoulders to make sure I do my job as a parent fully every day by teaching them truths. Thank goodness I have such wonderful examples of parents in my life, otherwise this whole parenting thing might be more overwhelming that it already is at times!!

Three things that stood out to me in Ellie's blessing-- she will be a peacemaker in our home, she will come to know the Savior at a young age & recognize His hand in her life, there will be many people that come into her life that will try to lead her astray but with her knowledge of the Savior, she will know for herself what is righteous & good.

Just a little thought... as a parent, that last item I shared really struck me. I wanted to instantly grab her & hold her close & not let anyone or anything that I didn't approve of, come into her life. I wanted to tell her all about my life lessons & plead with her to choose the right. I then realized that this must be just a small piece of how our Heavenly Father feels for each of us. He can't make our decisions for us, but He DOES give us all we need to choose the right & He loves us regardless of our decisions. The ultimate example of a loving parent.

Anyway, a few minutes before we left for church, I snapped some pictures of Ellie. I was rushed, people were walking around, standing right in front of my natural light sources, & it was hot. I was not pleased with these photos at all after I looked at them. I am also upset still that I didn't get group photos of everyone! But it was so flipping hot (104 F) that everyone was rushing to change into their coolest set of clothes. (Seriously Europe, triple digits warrant AC!!!) Since I was not happy with Sunday's lightening fast photoshoot, I took some on Tuesday as well. Tuesday also didn't go as well was I wanted-- Ellie wasn't in the mood to be in her dress or to be photographed. So both Sunday's & Tuesday's "sessions" were roughly 5 minutes long. Considering that, I'm lucky to have gotten any good images at all. Anyways, Purple backdrop is Sunday, Black is Tuesday.