Lizzy's Baptism

(WARNING: Lots of pictures. :)

My beautiful, sweet, loving, empethetic, unselfish not-so-little-girl got baptised on January 22nd. She was so excited.

I must tell you a little story about why she looks so beautiful in her baptism jumper... When she was being interviewed by her Primary President (along with 2 other girls) the Primary President had two baptism dresses availiable and one baptism jumper. Now, with three little girls getting baptised on the same day, only having two dresses might pose a problem. The Primary President asked who would like a dress and immedietly, Lizzy's hand went up and she asked "Oh, may I PLEASE have a dress??!!" (She REALLY wanted a dress.) We held the dresses up to the girls to see which girls they would fit then I put the dress back on the table because I didn't want to just take it. One other girl got a dress because it was long and she was the tallest. The Primary President then handed the second dress to Lizzy while she was talking and the third girl started to silently cry because she knew that she would have to wear the jumper. Lizzy noticed her crying and simply said (and remember...she REALLY wanted that dress!): "Oh...well, she can have the dress." Just like that! It was the sweetest thing I've ever seen. I got choked up and it was all I could do not to cry. I explained to her in the car on the way home what a wonderful thing that was for her to do and she just shrugged and responded: "Well, I just wanted her to have a special Baptism Day." She was not trying to fish for praise or recognition. She just genuinely wanted her to have a special day and was not concerned about having her own special day. The Primary President called me later to see if I would like her to call around and try and find another dress from another Primary President but I told her not to because I knew that Lizzy would look the most beautiful in the jumper that she chose. What an example she is to me.

Of course a party with the best family and friends followed and we all had a very, very special day. ;)

Here are some shots from the Baptism Photo Shoot I did with her and then there are some pics of the fun get-together afterwards. ;)

My Sister, Rebecca...

When I was little, I thought she was the most beautiful girl in the world (Why else would she have so many boyfriends??) Today, I think she is the most beautiful woman in the world.

She was always so sweet to me. I never remember her getting upset with me.

She was so smart! And so I wanted to be smart...just like her.

She taught me how to spell the word 'necklace'. She helped me with my math homework. She taught me that you always need to do it correctly and not to be afraid to do it over until it was correct.

She loved me...and my siblings. She took us places all the time. I'm not sure where she took us, exactly, I just remember that she took me with her.

She taught me not to curse when she covered my ears because her roomate said a naughty word...which also taught me not to be afraid of my beliefs.

I was and am so tickled that I am her "clone". (After the first seven siblings, the genetics repeated themselves in the next seven.)

I've never stopped learning from her. She still teaches me to be passionate about something. She encourages my artistic desires. (I say 'desires' because I will never reach her level of talent.) She teaches me to be loyal to family and instills in me the responsibility and duty that I have to those that have passed on. (They are still family, ya know.) She teaches me to be generous and loving because of her generosity and her love.

She is fiercely loyal, devoted and loving and I am honored to be loved by her.
She is funny...

She is tender...

She is a woman of God.

She is my daughters namesake.

Happy Birthday to my beautiful sister.

The "Cupcake Cake"

Beloved...

(Lizzy,Dad, Steven, Me, Rebecca, Scott)

I don't know why but I absolutely adore this shot. It's heart-wrenching and very raw but I think it is beautiful. It shows how very much we loved my Great Aunt Edith, and how much we love each other.

We released balloons in memorium of her. She always told us that she didn't want flowers at her service "because flowers die". "I want balloons, lots of balloons.", she said. So we released balloons...and sang "You are my Sunshine". How appropriate. She was quite absolutely sunshine in my life. And only she could take the sun out of Palm Springs that day...In all my childhood, I never once remember it raining in Palm Springs. It rained the day we laid her to rest.

She was Aunt Edith... "Just call me Aunt Edith", she would say. No one else had an Aunt Edith...but I did. And I am so proud that she was mine. She made me want to be my best. She kept every trinket and every picture that we colored for her. She was so proud of us and that made me feel so special. She laughed and sang, loved and lived with gusto. Life was a song to her. And it was in her beautiful Contralto voice. The smell of bacon and the taste of tangerines remind me of her. She always made us bacon and always let us explore in her yard and pick her tangerines. She was never ashamed...of anything. She told stories because she loved her sister and mother so much. We knew them because of her story-telling. She always made sure that all 14 of us had coats and shoes (with NO holes in them). She was kind to everyone...everyone. She (and Uncle James, of course) paid for weddings and missions. She supported us in everything we did. She would never get annoyed or tire of us. She loved us dearly...and she was deeply, deeply loved and adored in return. Edith Alice Ruffell-McDaniel. She is my daughter's namesake.

My wonderful, quiet, hansome Uncle James with my handsome brother, John. Her heart belonged to James.

Derek, Mom, Doug, Emily, Steven

My beautiful, talented, lovely sisters (excluding Crystal & Jena)

{Heather, Shelley, Mamma, Me, Ashley, Melissa, Rebecca}

These are some of my favorite people on this earth. My brothers and sisters. How did I get so lucky?

{1st row: Me, Shelley, Heather, Uncle James, Ashley, Melissa, Rebecca. 2nd row: John, Travis, Steven, Derek, Doug, Scott}

My Daddy and Kathy-Mamma.

My handsome, tough brothers.

Little Nate got a taste of his new cousin. The more slobber, the more love.

My beautiful sister, Rebecca. My Alice Rebecca's namesake...for so many reasons.

Heather, Jane-y, Travis

Me and my yummy little niece, JaneThis is what I LOVE about getting together with my fam. Story-telling and laughing.

My beautiful sister, Heather that I don't get to see NEARLY enough because she lives way too far away. I absolutely ADORE her. I talk to her at least once a week.

My brother Johnny, little Nate, Uncle James and a very fussy Ali.

My tough brother, Travis. (Not really, he's a big Teddy-Bear)

HAD to see Danny the Dinosaur and T-Rex on the way home...nastalgia, ya know.The "Rock". Had to do a pose. I remember taking many a pictures on this rock. :)

Old Town Temecula Girl's Trip!

We ate at the oh-so-yummy 'Rosa's Cantina Then headed out and browsed the shops. One of my FAVORITE days ever.

We really missed all the sisters that couldn't make it.

Heather REALLY liked her food...she's prego and she's been drooling for it ever since.Ali REALLY likes her reflection...and she smiles 10 times bigger when you tell her she's pretty...NO kidding. She loves to be pretty. ;)

That night we headed over to Shelley's (because she's on bed rest and couldn't come with us) and met up with the boys and Crystal too! We had a blast as always.

Doug wanted to try one of Shelley's pickled peppers...(yes, there were a lot of "Peter picked a Pepper attemps) Playing on Shelley's property

Laura (Shelley's), Trev, and Tyson (Crystal's) Hailey, Audrey (Shelley's) and Lizzy

Crystal attempting (notice I said "attempting"???) to show Doug a card trick. Hillarity ensued, as it always does.

Candid Laugh-out-loud shot. This is what we do as Whitmans. :)

Tellin' more stories!

Massaging the much deserving, bed-resting prego Shelley's feet.

*More Cali trip with the Tomseth Fam & the Lowe Fam to come*

New York, New YORK!

I've sworn off doing cakes after spending 5 days doing this one... It was 32 inches tall and fed about 125.