Liesel's Baptism

As a perfectionist, I wanted Liesel's baptism to be, well, perfect. We started reading the Book of Mormon with her when she turned 7 and it pretty much took us the whole year to figure out a groove when it comes to family scripture study. There were some intense months at the start of this year, but we all cheered when we finished on April 1, the day before Liesel's birthday.

I'm an avid follower of the blog 71 Toes and talked to Brent about having The Big Talk with Liesel when she turned 8. We took her to a quiet restaurant where we could talk privately and I have to say it was the most entertaining discussion we've ever had with her. The sad fact is that these days age 8 is about the time kids are starting to get exposed to porn. Brent and I wanted to be ahead of that and talk to Liesel proactively, not as an awkward conversation after she's seen something she wasn't ready to see. We used the book Where Did I Come From? by Peter Mayle. It starts simply and then builds up and I'll never forget Liesel excitedly exclaiming, "I know what a penis is! I know what a penis is!" just as the pizza was delivered to our table.

On occasion, when Liesel has been particularly disrespectful, I remind her that I nearly died giving birth to her and she should not talk back to me. As we went through the book, she kept asking if this was the part where that happened. Near the end, she discovered that the baby comes out of a mom's vagina when she's born, and Liesel's eyes popped open. She immediately insisted she didn't want to have babies. Despite my attempts to calm her with the knowledge that it's really only a day and then you have this wonderful creature for the rest of eternity, she told us she wanted to adopt. After a minute of silence she perked up and said, "Annie and Jeremy adopted! I'll just ask them how to get a baby!" 

More than anything, we wanted to make sure Liesel knew the difference between private and secret. We didn't want to have The Big Talk and then walk away to let her fill in the blanks, we are hoping to check in with her and keep the discussion open. Maybe we won't do it perfectly, but at least we are going to try. 

Liesel had the missionary discussions multiple times, with multiple companionships. Brent and I prepped her as much as we could, but it's always good to get it from another source and our fabulous missionaries were happy to teach her. Her last lesson was with Elder Fuchigami and Elder Swallow. 

Brent was able to sit in on her interview with Bishop. Her Sunday School teacher took one of their lessons to bring the kids into the Bishop's office so they'd be familiar with it when the time came. Brilliant! She was SO ready to go!

 Reagan did the invitation:

There were a few glitches just before the program started: the DVD we burned didn't work, Brent forgot a couple of things and we were scrambling to make sure he was set, and the battery on Reagan's fancy schmancy camera was dead. In the end we played the video off of our phone which was projected onto the screen, Brent was squared away and we only had to start about 5 minutes late, and the photos turned out beautifully:

Our dear friend Annie made the crown for Liesel; the perfect little touch.

Katrina created the most amazing program (in pink!):

No kidding, people asked if I bought a special computer program or hired a professional. 

The welcome gift from the Primary Presidency was fabulous:

I was able to wrap Liesel up in this right when she came out of the water. It came with a sweet message. Oh how I love the Primary in our ward! They work so hard to make the kids feel loved.

One of my friends told me the most special moment for her was when Brent and Liesel were standing in the font, and even though there was a crowd there, he just took a moment to review what was about to happen and make sure she felt safe and comfortable. Surrounded by people, they had their own private moment.

I helped Liesel change into her dress and braided her wet hair lickety split so we could get back for the rest of the program.

I was impressed with how intently and soberly Liesel listened to the speakers. She really tried to soak everything in.

The whole family and some friends helped with simple refreshments. The rolls rose during the program and Mom popped them in the oven at the very end. As the closing prayer was said, the wonderful smell wafted into the air.

It's no surprise the CTR sugar cookies were a big hit among the kids.

People came from both coasts to be there for this special event. Liesel's grandparents flew in from San Francisco and Reagan came with her family from Maryland. My parents drove from Iowa City and Julie was there from Provo.

Nielsen Grandparents:

Wuehler Grandparents:

I'm so grateful they could all be there! 

The sweetest moment for me came during her confirmation. Just before going to the front, I told Liesel it would be appropriate to shake everyone in the circle's hand and then give her father a hug. She started shaking hands but when she came to our dear friend Jeremy, he got down on one knee and gave her the sweetest hug. 

We don't deserve the amazing friends we have.

Lots of cute kids came to support Liesel. 

I almost cried when Liesel's 2nd grade teacher Mrs. Taylor arrived. We had invited her but weren't sure if she'd make it. The beginning of the school year was pretty rough, and Mrs. Taylor was so patient with Liesel while she went through that stage of life.

In the end we were able to make a pretty display of the baptismal collage given to Liesel as a gift, Annie's crown, another collage of her professional photos, and then the framed picture with everyone's well-wishes on the mat. This is opposite her bed so she gets to wake up to all those happy memories every day!

I've watched the video Reagan put together many, many times and I get teary every time. For some reason, the one of her at The Bean really gets me.

We weren't allowed to play this during the program so we saved it for after during the refreshments. Just for fun, we also threw in some home videos of Liesel throughout her life and the kids really enjoyed watching them: