Tressa's Baptism

Even though we live in Colorado now, where there is no holiday on the 24th of July like in Utah, we still had something awesome to celebrate. Our oldest niece, Tressa, was baptized! Of course, we wouldn't miss her baptism for the world, so we loaded up ourselves and Louie in the car, and made the long drive over the mountains to be there. (Thanks Mom!)

This is Tressa in her baptism dress, which her mom made by hand (yeah, Dan's family has some talented seamstresses in it). She looked so beautiful, and we both had a hard time believing that she is already so grown-up. Every time we see her, she is less and less a little girl, and more and more a beautiful young woman.

The baptism itself was a beautiful, spiritual experience, and one that we will treasure forever. We were so happy that we could be there to see it first hand. The speakers were great, and Dan sang a special version of "I Am a Child of God" just for Tressa.

Tressa is a lot like Dana in a few ways, and one of those ways is that she does not like to be the center of attention and gets embarrassed easily. You could tell that she was uncomfortable with all of the attention she was getting from family and friends, but she knew we were all there because we love her. The picture above was taken by Josie, Tressa's 6 year old sister, who is already excited about her own baptism in 2 years.

After the baptism, the family all went up to Echo Reservoir for a little R&R. It was Louie's first time in the water, and it turns out that he swims like a pro, and even seems to like it (a little). He was happy to jump into the water, but as soon as he started swimming, he got the panicked look in his eyes that you see above, and he made a bee-line straight to the closest person who could pick him up.
Mom and Bob provided the entertainment on the lake - they brought up their mini fleet of wave-runners for us all to cruise around on. Five months ago, they were all destined for the scrap heap, but there is not a machine in the world that Bob can't resurrect. We had a great time. Dan's uncle Norm also brought up his boat, so we had a great time tubing and touring the lake. The water was incredibly warm, and the weather was perfect. It was a great day on the lake, spending time with family and loved-ones.

Of course, no day on the lake can pass without someone getting injured. This is Dana's leg and the bruise she got when she fell off one of the wave runners. Ouch!

It really was a beautiful afternoon. Completely appropriate to celebrate Tressa's big day.

After the lake, we all went up to mom and Bob's cabin in the mountains. It is such a great place to just hang out and spend time together. This picture is mom and our niece Persaus (Pinto), doing what the cabin is for: just hanging out.

Before we headed back to Denver, we had to make the compulsory stop at IKEA. No trip to Utah is complete without it! Dana still had a gift card, so we grabbed some great little knick-knacks to spruce up the home a little with that special IKEA flair.

We were so happy that we were able to make the trip over, and we are so proud of Tressa for the decision she made to be baptized. We know that Heavenly Father is also proud of her, and happy to have her as a member of His church.