Claire got baptized on February 11th.
It was such a great day to share with family and friends.
We did a few things to prepare for the big day. Most importantly we had the missionaries come over and have a formal discussion with her (and the rest of the fam).
When I was a missionary all those years ago I decided I wanted to do that for my kids. I mean, they go to church every week, and we talk about church stuff a lot, but there’s nothing like having real missionaries in your home explaining things in such a neat way to your child.
(She was pretty happy about the whole deal in case you cannot tell 🙂
I so want my children to understand this step of faith they are taking. I want them to understand that it is a covenant they are making with their Heavenly Father to follow His Son. I want them to understand that each week when we take the sacrament at church they are renewing that covenant. I want them to understand that they are following Christ’s example. (For more about baptism click here.)
Before her birthday Elle and I went out and did a little photo shoot with her in her new white dress.
A few people asked about her dress from this post…the answer is that I was meeting a friend and happened to walk by a rack of white dresses at a place called “Last Chance” (rejects from Nordstrom returns that so many people love to sort through and I don’t have the patience for). But that rack of white dresses caught my eye, especially since they were so beautiful and priced at $19.99. It’s a little big for her but hey, we’ll take it!
(Choose the Right)
I’m telling you, that Elle is getting to be quite the photographer if I do say so myself. 
And Claire was pleased as punch to have her “twin” taking pictures of her.
(Gotta get the mom in there too…)
When the big day came we were ready.
Especially since we had my parents and two sisters join us.
Claire was sure delighted about that.
A couple of Claire’s friends who came to support her:
Ready to go with her Dad:
She was glowing with excitement.
After her baptism she was given the gift of the Holy Ghost with these good men surrounding her:
And both her Grandmas got to share their testimonies of their beliefs.
I got to go after them and I was pretty emotional because man alive, those ladies are some of the most amazing people I know and they shine with the light of Christ in so many ways. How grateful I am for their examples in my life, and that my children get to bask in their goodness as well.
And I was also just overcome with how much I love that sweet Claire and what a little shining light she is in our family. She truly is one who seeks to understand spiritual things and always has such good questions for me.
Friends and cousins:
Most of the people who were there to support Claire.
I’m telling you, she is one lucky girl to have so many people to look up to. Each person in that picture is an incredible example.
The portion of my family in town:
The portion of Dave’s family in town:
Joy School buddies from a few years ago (and second cousins):
The Grandparents:
Some of the cousins:
We went to our house after the baptism for lunch and a slide show of Claire.
I was so grateful my mom and sisters were there to help prep the night before.
Love these dads:
Claire quickly got into something more comfy (jammies).
The last lingerers watching the amazing slide show Elle made for Claire. I wish I would have caught the scene when everyone was crowded around watching.
(I’ll have to post the slideshow another day…)
How grateful I am for these guys.
Wowzers, that was a lot of pictures! 🙂
It was sure a day we’ll always remember.
This is to Claire…
Darling you look so pretty! It has been fun to get to know you lately, and Cozie has so much fun when you play. I am so proud of you and excited too… Baptisms are so special and have such a special spirit there. I'm sure you felt that. LOVES… from the Whitings.
That is just beautiful Shawni-my Andrew is making his First Communion in April and I have always celebrated this in a big way-your photos have me excited (I usually get nervous wondering if I can pull off the big celebration!) I love learning about your faith and its traditions. (And I never realized how much Claire and Elle are "twins"!)
Beautiful girl, beautiful family! 🙂
So sweet. And I love that you had the Elders over for a lesson. What a great idea! And Elle's photography is gorgeous.
oh, man, those mint brownies were so good. i love that claire so much. it was so fun to be there.
Hi Shawni
What a beautiful post about your daughter! I love Claire's dress and her curls. She is so pretty.
I have a couple question for you for the Q & A post you do on Fridays. How do you deal with TV watching in your house? Do you have the kids wait until homework is done? Also, what in the world do you do with all of your pictures? I'm sure you've answered this before but you take so many beautiful photos and I want to know how you put them together at the end of a year. I do a photobook through Shutterfly each year and it's hard to dwindle down the pics to the best ones so I can squeeze it all into 100 pages. But, I am not sure of other options out there so if you have ideas, let me know. And I hate to bug you with one more question but how do you maintain PEACE in your home? I struggle with that daily with my 5 kids!
Thanks for any input, Shawni!
Tami
My daughter is getting baptised this summer. I think I might invite the missionaries over too and take some cute pictures of her like you did of Claire. What great ideas.
Beautiful….beautiful …….as someone who is not religious at all i can tell you now sweet SHawni, your post moved me 🙂
Your words were so lovely x
So…just wondering where you got that silver server. It is so pretty, I love it. And also from your Christmas post where did you get your stocking hangers? Thanks!
What beautiful pictures. I love how your family really celebrates and makes a huge deal out of the sacred ordinance of baptism. It really is one of the biggest events in a person's life. You did a fabulous job and it looks like a wonderful celebration that Claire is sure to remember forever.
Lisa in Seattle
This was almost like being there again! Thanks for always being there to document these momentous occasions. That was a day we won't ever forget!
What a darling little girl! Is the light over your table in your nook from Ikea?
Wow! What an amazing family and what a beautiful and important day! It made my day to see you guys reading my book in the last photos! I hope I can say that without sounding tacky…but that is very kind of you to put that photo up…and I really do hope you enjoyed the book! Congrats to Claire and your family!
Just lovely 🙂
Congratulations to Claire! Such an important day for her! Tonight, I went to a Tri-Stake RS evening with my sister to hear your parents speak. They mentioned Claire's baptism. It was so fun to see your dad's eyes light up when he talked about it. I went up afterwards and said "hi" to your mom – told her we were friends from high school. They're wonderful speakers. Such an inspiration as are you Shawni.
It looks like you all had a great day filled with many blessings. Inspirational words for all of us. Regards Anne
http://www.saturdaymorningsinmelbourne.com
oh I love your photos! so sweet! I especially love the family one of just the 7 of you! just so lovely.
We have our baptism at birth but it's still so special and I love family getting together! I am secretly looking forward to my girls first holy communions and them getting to wear fancy white dresses:) Claire's dress is gorgeous
corrie:)
I just wish I were lucky enough to live close and be a part of all that love. Clair, you are a beautiful and blessed little girl. What a glorius celebration for such a for a glorius day.
What a wonderful day. I vividly remember my own baptism and remember it being such a wonderful day.
Holy Crow Girl! You have a huge family and it makes my heart flutter to see them all gather together for your little girl. That's what it's all about isn't it.
Love Claire's beautiful dress, sweater and shoes. She looks lovely.
My goodness – it is awesome how the adults (grandparents, aunts, uncles) in your family take the time to honor all the little ones – when there are so many little ones! I wish every child in the world were made to feel as special!
Shawni! I saw this post on Pinterest looking for idea for my sweet Christina's upcoming baptism and I about rolled over with joy when I saw it was your post and blog! I am not sure if you remember me… Kelsey Haddow (John and Kathy's daughter) now Kelsey Carreon) Your family is gorgeous and what an amazing blog you have! I am so glad to see that you and David are doing so well and to read about your beautiful family. We are celebrating our son's Eagle Scout and Christina's Baptism at the same time so I am trying to turn two special days into one and make both kids feel special and appreciated. I know I can do it though. My parents will be here. I will have to tell my mom where I got some stellar ideas from. Thanks for sharing all your amazing talents so glad to have found you guys!
oh my goodness what a weird experience this is for me, might not be for you but I found this posted on pinterest and JUST LAST NIGHT I was at a most wonderfully uplifting meeting for our stake RS and I think it was your parents (maybe your husbands) that were there speaking and they talked about this baptism. It was so wonderful and what a wonderful experience for your family. Thank you for sharing, it truly is a small world!
I know its a common thing amongst the LDS to have large supportive families (or thats the way the culture seems) but just remember that you are so very blessed to really have just that! When we bless my daughter next month, we'll be lucky if we have one of her grandfathers there. My heart aches just a little bit seeing these beautiful pictures for what I don't have, but I am glad to have found such cute ideas to make the time special for my children when the time comes. I love the little photo shoot with the CTR ring and Book of Mormon. Thanks!
What a lovely day and beautiful little lady Claire is! I love how your family places so much importance on being there for one another. You are an amazing person and I'm so very thankful for your blog and all I'm learning for when I become a Wife and Mother. 🙂
So the author of that book "I Believe in Jesus Too" is in my ward! So cool.
And congrats to Claire! She is such a beautiful girl and those pictures are beautiful!
I came across your blog via Pinterest! Oh I just love it! I have twin girls that will be baptized on March 24th! I have so many ideas, and your post just nailed it! Your daughter looked so beautiful! (Well, the whole family actually!!!)
I feel so blessed to have come across this! Yeah! I loved the Navy and BOM pics! As well as the CTR ring!
Thank you for sharing!!!!
Alli Blue, Meridian ID
You din't know me, but I saw your cute pic on pinterest and linked to your blog. I saw the picture of the missionaries and couldn't believe that my nephew, Elder Woerner, was one of them. If you see him again please tell him "hello" from the Roberts family!!
My sister-in-law's daughter is getting baptized in a couple of weeks. Your post had so many good ideas, I'm going to have her check out your blog. Thanks for sharing.
Hi – I love your ideas for baptism, especially since my daughter will be baptized this summer. I was wondering if you mind sharing where you got your "LEARN, WORK, SERVE, RESPECT" art above your fireplace?
Thanks
Aileen
I stumbled upon this from pinterest and I just gotta say that by the time I got to the picture of Claire and her two friends at her baptism I was completely bawling. How beautiful and special are these children and what a blessing it is to have young spirits so excited for their covenants with our Father. Truly this was a special and set apart day for her and you can see her countenance just beaming. I really felt the spirit testify of God's love for His Children. Thanks a ton.
My gosh Shawni! I have said this so many times but I am so so so glad you are going through all this before us and take such great record of it so we can all get ideas. Great ideas! You are awesome! A friend just had me take some baptism pictures of her daughter and I used Claire's pictures for reference. Thanks for that too! Love you guys.
Found this on pinterest. haven't read your blog for a while but recognised one of your beautiful daughters. LOVE her baptism photos. beautiful and special.
My daughter will be baptized in 2 weeks and I just wanted to tell you thank you for all the inspiration! I have been following your blog for quite a while and was glad I could come back to this posts multiple times as we prepare for her upcoming baptism!
Thanks SOOO much!
I appreciate the time you spend documenting and sharing bits of your life with us. Did you ever post her baptism video? I would really like some ideas for songs to use. Thanks!