This is my Day, my Baptism Day

This is my day my baptism day. Yesterday was so wonderful. Cole turned 8 on Friday and on Saturday we had a very suspenseful baptism. :) For those of you who know Cole well, you know this was going to be very difficult for him. Would he go into the water or not? Would he cry or not? He is terrified of water. He has a really hard time dealing with stressful situations and he was the center of attention dealing with his biggest fear. When the talks began he was so excited. He looked back and saw all the people that love him sitting there to support him! He wanted to talk to every single one of them :) This is why I love that kid. The people that came were Grandma and Grandpa Porter, Grandma Knudsen, Aunt Linda (Cole has this LOVE for her), Cousin Timmy and Kris Angle, Dawn and her cute kids, Chris and Shawna with Dane, Julie and Kent and their kids, Lindsey came with most of her kids, Shellee and Curt and their kids, Gena and Doug Berky with their kids, Stephanie Shumway and kids, Valerie Shumway, Jeff and Trish, oh and Stephanie and Gerry came from Tucson as did Melissa and Justice. If I forgot anyone I am sorry but I had to write these names down before I forgot. Now back to the story...

So, we got into the baptismal font and you could see the color drain out of Cole's face. He was visibly shaken. I walked into the little cubby where they prepare to go into the water to talk to him and he started to hyperventillate. He came rushing over and we talked about what was happening. I offered to have the kids scoot back and he said it isn't them it is the water! :) Poor guy. So we tried again and he couldn't do it. Grandpa came back and tried to talk to Cole and that didn't seem to help either. He wanted to do it but it was so hard. Andrew and I had been preparing for just such situation and we decided that we couldn't force or dunk him. This was afterall the first major step in the church for him and we didn't want his memory being us forcing him in. We had decided to not make him and just go have a party and come back another day just our little family. Cole was determined to have it done that day so he asked Brother Ray and Speelmon if he would be able to grab the sides and do it. They said to try it. So, after the prayer Cole walked to the front of the font in front of his cousins (I thought he was going to climb out!) HE grabbed the side and proceeded to do an excellent bob in the water and at the last second Andrew pushed him the last two inches in. He came up so happy and there was an audible sigh of relief. Andrew stood there and pointed at the witnesses "did I get it?" When it was confirmed he went all the way under we were so happy! Thanks to some quick thinking wonderful women we had singing going on. Thank you for your help with that Valerie and Shawna and Shellee. You ladies helped a lot. I was overwhelmed with love and support from the people we love most. I appreciate the lengths people came to to be there for our very special and original day. Later I talked to Cole about how he conquered two very important steps that day. Yes, he got baptized but he also faced his greatest fear and overcame it. That doesn't mean he is cured from being petrified of water. It just shows him he can do it. He can do anything. I love him so much for figuring out for himself how to get the job done. That is the story of his life. He is independent and creative and determined. I love you Cole!