TuzigootJournal: Malia's Baptism Weekend

Big Weekend! Valerie and Jeff scheduled Malia's baptism for our church, St. John's United Methodist Church, in Albuquerque, on April 1. (St. John's is Jeff's home church and also where he and Valerie were married.) Both sides of the family came -- son Mike, his wife, Karen, and their son, Jason; Valerie's two sisters and their families and Valerie's mother and stepfather. Because Sunday was Palm Sunday, with various additions to the service that would make it run long, we scheduled the baptism to immediately follow the service, open to all who would like to attend. Made for a nice, intimate gathering, friends and family standing next to the altar. Malia took it all very calmly and seriously. A little water on her head didn't faze her a bit.

You may remember that Malia received a Buddhist blessing in China in December. Now, according to your point of view, she's either protected in two religions or this baptism overrides the Buddhist blessing.

Church lunch followed, more opportunity to introduce Malia around and a chance for Mike and Jeff to connect with church family friends, and then the families gathered at our house for visiting and celebrating.

Malia (she's now 15.5 months) just started walking on her own two days previously, so a lot of our entertainment was watching and catching her as she careened around house and patio.

Spent some quality time with Grandma, too!

The two cousins got along famously.

Here Malia is playing peekaboo with the quilt that the St. John's quilting group made for her, while Jason watches.

We had started the weekend with Saturday lunch at a Mexican restaurant and then reinforced that with a Monday afternoon lunch at a different Mexican restaurant. That evening, we had a professional photographer come out and take family pictures at our house. We've seen Mike's family group pix and they're great. Looking forward to seeing how the rest turned out.

Jeff, Valerie, and Malia returned to Denver on Tuesday. Mike, Karen, Jason, and I took a trip to Bandelier National Monument (ancient Indian ruins, for those who may not be familiar with this site) with a stop in Santa Fe on the way home. Very nice spring day. This picture turned out sort of artsy, so I decided to include it.

Here, tourists (Jason, Karen, and Mike) stroll the portico of the Palace of Governors in Santa Fe.

In sum, it was a very special weekend. Susie and I both get weepy just thinking about Malia being abandoned on a government building doorstep when she was one day old, and now, fifteen months later, what a change her life has seen! Then you add two families gathering, linked by this precious little girl and the sacrament of baptism, and the sentiment really runs deep. Life is good.