The Girls Baptism

Sally and Mary Kate were baptized on December 23, 2012 at Independent Presbyterian. It was such a special day for many reasons. I have been thinking about the day our babies would be baptized for a long time. It has always been such a special day to me, and I know I will remember this day for forever. When we were praying so long for children, I prayed countless times that if God would give us children, they would be His and we would give them back to Him. Ford and I, on our 7th anniversary, went to the IPC and knelt and prayed that God would give us babies. About a year and a half later, we were baptizing our children in the same spot that we asked the Lord for them.
 Besides being able to baptize our girls and dedicate them to the Lord, the day was special for a number of other reasons as well. Both of our fathers, the girl's grandfathers, took part in the baptism. They each baptized one of the girls. What a special moment to see our dads placing the water upon the heads of our children. I am so thankful for both of these men in our lives and in our daughters' lives. We also had some extended family come in to town for this special day. My grandmother, who both girls have part of her name in their name, and my grandfather and my great aunt were able to meet Sally and Mary Kate for the first time. I was close to my great grandfather growing up, so it is really special to me that my girls get to know their great grandparents and their great aunt. My grandmother is obviously very special to me and to Ford since both girls have part of her name.
Lastly, both of the girls dresses came from a dear friend of the family, Mrs. Deyoung. She had bought these dresses 40 years ago hoping someone in her family would have twins. She gave them to Martha, Ford's mom, to give to us to use for the girls. She bought them in York, England and they are over 100 years old.
Here are some pictures from this special day! Thank you Lord for these indescribable gifts.

Mary Kate (L), Sally (R)

 Our family... Sally (R), Mary Kate (L)

 The Norton Family (Mary Kate (L), Sally (R))

 The Norton Siblings

 The grandfathers with Sally (L) and Mary Kate (R)

 The Williams Family with Sally (L) and Mary Kate (R)

Williams siblings

 Here is Sally in her baptismal dress

Here is Mary Kate in her baptismal dress

Mary Kate fell asleep in Martha's arms during lunch. Here is a picture of the back of the dress.

3 Generations

The girls were given these add a pearl necklaces for their baptism. Each year, they will be given a pearl on their birthday. I love these pictures of them in just their bloomers and pearl necklaces. Sally was loving the photography session so she got a lot of pictures taken.