Oliver's Blessing

Today was Oliver's blessing day. He and Aaron wore their matching ties from Easter, and all of mine and Aaron's siblings were there at church for the blessing. There were three large benches full of our family. We felt very loved and supported.

The blessing was beautiful. A friend of mine wrote it down for me, and I am very grateful for that, because this is the first blessing of one of my children that I haven't been able to write it down myself. There were three main things that stood out to me in Ollie's blessing #1 He would be a joy to our family #2 He would strive for education #3 He would have a love for the gospel.

Also today, Lincoln gave his very first talk in Primary. He was soooooo excited about it. He pretty much wrote the talk himself, with some guidance and direction from Aaron. Meaning Aaron said, "What do you want to talk about?"
Linc: "Jesus' apostles."
Aaron: "What do you know about Jesus' Apostles?"
Linc: "That they ate a last supper with Jesus."
Aaron: "Why did they have a last supper?"
Linc: "To learn about the Sacrament."

and so on like that. Aaron wrote it down for Lincoln so Linc could remember it while he was up at the microphone. He did such a good job. I was a very proud mama. Here is Lincoln's talk:

My Talk About Jesus' Apostles

Jesus' apostles ate a last supper with Jesus.
Jesus taught them what the Sacrament was.
He gave them wine and bread.
The wine reminds us of his blood and the bread reminds us of his body.
We remember that he died for us so we can return to live with God.

The apostles taught us about Jesus' gospel.
Things like how to follow the commandments, which means to do what Jesus says.
The apostles testify of Christ.
Testify means they tell others that they know that Jesus died to help us return to live with God. And they know that Jesus lives again.

I know that there are new apostles on the earth today. I'm grateful for them. In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

After church we had everyone over to our house for dinner. There were 38 people there, the most we've ever had in our house at one time. It was a little bit busy, and loud, but not too chaotic. One of the reasons we bought the house we did, so because of it's potential to host large family gatherings. So, I was happy to see that we could seat 38 people comfortably. I mean, there wasn't luxurious amounts of extra space, but I didn't feel like we were climbing on top of each other the entire time either.

We served pulled-pork sandwiches for dinner. People brought all kinds of salads, veggies, fruit, chips, and drinks. It was a wonderful meal. And for dessert, Aaron's mom made a wonderful chocolate sheet cake. I asked her to make the cake because #1 It's really good, and #2 It was my mom's birthday, and I wanted to celebrate her big day too, along with Ollie's blessing.

Gramma Tam, Ollie, and Kels

After dinner, the guys cleared the tables and chairs out of the family room and had wrestling matches, the women and babies decided they'd be safer in the living room, and the kids went back and forth from watching the guys to playing outside. People were everywhere, but I think everyone had a good time. At least I did.

Top: Whitney, Krystal, and Syndi Bottom left: Tanner, Lincoln, Kyle Bottom Right: Ivan and Zac