Clayton's Baptism

This past weekend, on Saturday June 25th, we baptized Clayton and he began his life as a child of God! We were so blessed to have had Father Francis baptize Clayton at our home parish, St. Lawrence Catholic Church. This is the church where Darren's parents were married, Darren and myself were both baptized, and where we were married. It meant so much to us to have Father Francis do the baptism because I was his first St. Lawrence baptism, and Clayton was his last St. Lawrence baptism. Isn't that awesome?! We are sad to see Father Francis leave us to start his new work in Brownwood. We hope that he'll enjoy his parish there, but he will always be a part of our hearts!

We were so happy that both of my parents were able to come in for the celebration. Out of 5 great grandparents, 3 of them were able to be there! We also had a bunch of other great family members come, and that meant a lot to us! Of course, Trey and Leslie, Clayton's godparents, were there and he was happy to see them!

Clayton was an excellent baby during mass and during his baptism. He slept almost the whole time. Right after Father finished baptizing him, he opened his eyes and I promise you he smiled! It was as if he knew that he was cleansed of original sin! Most babies fuss or cry during the baptism - I mean, wouldn't you if super cold water was poured over your head? But not Clayton! Not our sweet baby boy! He was an angel! =)

After the baptism we went back to our house for a celebration! Scotty (Pop) had cooked some great barbeque chickens, and everyone else pitched in and brought sides and dessert. The meal was excellent! We enjoyed hanging out and talking, and we were treated with a performance from the Hillger band - aka, Mike, Scotty, Darren and Brian! Trey even played and sang a song! It was so fun! Clayton LOVED the music. My dad (Opa) was holding Clayton during the music and as long as the music was going Clayton was a happy camper, but dad said when the music stopped Clayton would fuss a little. Hehe.. he's already a music fan!

We couldn't have asked for a better weekend to celebrate this great and wonderful time in our son's life. Welcome to the Christian family, Clayton! You won't remember this day, but it will be an important part of your life and we wanted you to know all about it!

Now for some pictures! Enjoy, and God Bless!

Daddy and Clayton, with the afghan that was knit for Darren's baptism!

Clayton's godparents, Uncle Trey & Aunt Leslie, and us!

Clayton with his godparents

Us with Father Francis!

Oma & Opa, Us, and Nana!

Pop & Gia, and Us!

With the great-grandparents!

Darren's First Father's Day!

This year Father's Day was a wonderful and joyous day. Last year it just so happened to be my LMP. For any boy readers I decided to abbreviate. ;-) This year Darren had his super cute son to celebrate with! We spent the day rounding out our weekend in Ruidoso. We went to the horse races for some fun and gambling before making the long 6 hour drive back home. We had a lot of fun at the races! I won on both of my bets! I must be good at picking horses.. hehe. We probably only made a few bucks, but it was fun! Clayton was all smiles for his Daddy yesterday! After stopping in Roswell to feed Clayton and get gas, Darren stayed in the backseat just to play with Clayton. It was so sweet! I bought Darren a tervis mug (you know the kind that don't sweat?) that says "Best Dad Ever". I also got him a picture frame that says Dad all over it and put a picture of our cute little 3 person family in it! He also received this book about the... get this... Soviet/Finnish winter war of 1939 that he was been wanting. Hehehe... my little nerd. ;-) So, I think he was pretty satisfied with his gifts! I think the best though was the onesie that I made for Clayton that said "I'm the best father's day present!". He looked so cute and everyone agreed that he definitely was the best present! =)

We feel so blessed to have Clayton in our lives this year. This time last year was such a frustrating time as I was making our appointment with the RE in Lubbock, taking clomid, and we didn't know where the road would take us. It is truly amazing to see how much life has changed in the past year!

A Father's Day post would not be complete without mentioning the other main men in my life. I have the BEST dad, dad-in-law, and step-dad anyone could ask for! They are all such great father's to me and their own kids. =D I love them all!

The Good Life

I know I've been a horrible blogger. It's been nearly two weeks since my last post. Honestly, I have no excuse other than I have been enjoying life. My son is amazing. He is spoiling us with how good he is. He is so easy going and his smiles bring such joy to our lives. We've been enjoying our summer so far! Two weekends ago we went to my dad's house for a visit, and this coming weekend we'll be going to Ruidoso for our Frerich family reunion and Colby's wedding. It'll be Clayton's first out of state trip! I should probably take some pictures of my jeep when it is all packed. I have already made a list of the million things I must remember to bring!

Side note.. in case you were living under a rock yesterday... The Aggies are headed to the College World Series! We BTHO Florida State and are now headed to the CWS for the first time since 1999! WHOOP! (We greatly enjoy all things Aggie sports in our household!)

I promise to update next week with all of the fun happenings of our Ruidoso trip! =) In the mean time, I'm going to keep enjoying my life with my great husband, great son, and great family! Life is good!