Natalya Gets Baptized

I am so proud of our daughter for choosing to be baptized.  She is an extraordinary girl with an outstanding knowledge of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  Natalya has more faith than most grown adults.  She truly has a testimony of precious, sacred things.  She knows her Father in Heaven loves her.  She knows Jesus Christ lives.  She knows prayer is her lifeline and utilizes it daily.  She reads her scriptures and not only understands the stories, but she has an inspiring way of applying each passage to her own life.  

May 21, 2012
Just like our parents gave to us before we were baptized, we gave Natalya two special gifts before her baptism...

...Her very own special CTR ring.  CTR stands for "Choose The Right".  Now that she is old enough to be held accountable for her own sins, she will always have a little reminder that will help her choose the right.

We also gave her her own set of scriptures.  (She loves that her name is inscribed on the leather cover.)  She reads them daily and treats them with the utmost respect.  

Here are some photos we had taken of her in her special baptism dress.  My friend, Chelsea Allred, took her pictures and did a beautiful job!  Chelsea is our family photographer and has been taking our family pictures for the last few years.  In these pictures I felt like she really captured the spirit of baptism.  Natalya is a clean, pure, sweet and angelic and it shows in these shots.  Thanks for another job well done, Chels! 

This was the picture we chose for her invitation.

And this one we enlarged to an 11x14.  She looks so angelic to me!

This is her butterfly CTR ring... because she's a free little spirit who is also free to make her own choices.  And it's beautiful - just like her.    

June 2, 2012

The day after her 8th birthday Natalya was baptized by her daddy. Brian has baptized many people before, but baptizing his own daughter was a first!  It was a special experience he'll not soon forget.

When Natalya was 5 years old, we were driving home from visiting my sister in California.  A song was playing in the car and she spoke up from the back seat, "Mom, can you sing this song at my baptism?"  It was a song about 3 white dresses: a baby blessing dress, a baptism dress, and a temple dress.  Of course I agreed knowing that she would just forget in 3 years time.  So it surprised me when about a month before her baptism she asked me if I remembered that I would sing the 3 white dresses song that she heard so long ago.  (Leave it to Natalya to never forget anything!)  That night I located the sheet music online and quickly agreed that I would be honored to sing it at her baptism.  As a visual I brought in her baby blessing dress, her baptism dress and my wedding dress.  

My dad gave the talk on baptism and Brian's mom gave the talk on the Holy Ghost.  They both did an exceptional job and were really good about keeping it on a child's level.  Grandad and Granny Kim gave our opening and closing prayers.  And Grandaddy and Grandad were the witnesses when she was baptized.  My cousin Merrill joined the circle when she was given the gift of the Holy Ghost.  We were blessed to have so many people there who love her.  

We were blessed to have had all of her grandparents in attendance! It was a beautiful day that we truly enjoyed spending with so many people who cared.  

Congratulations, sweet girl.