**By Rob

Well, it is finished. My youngest child was baptized. All my children have been baptized. It is kind of an odd feeling; part excitement, part sadness over change/aging, but mostly contentment and peace. I’ll get back to some of that a little later. 

I’ve always been good at engaging playfully with my kids, but over the last two years I’ve been working hard to emotionally understand my kids, show them that I think their feelings are valid, hold them when they are sad, and foster deeper emotional connections than before. All my kids are benefiting from this but Cara gets to benefit more from a younger age. As such it was very touching and tender to baptize my little Caroline. 

Here is Cara’s baptism program and lovely photo showing her as very proper and prim. 

Many of you know Cara as very polite and quiet. She is indeed very quiet in public settings; however, those of you that are lucky enough to get to know her, start to see some of her playful and loving personality shining through, and the most lucky get to see her keen emotional awareness. These photos below were taken mere seconds apart from the photo from the program. All show parts of her personality.

At the baptism we were surrounded by family and joined by some dear friends. It was great to have the support of so many people for Cara’s big day. Cara was excited albeit a little nervous when the time actually came but it went off marvelously. Here are a couple photos of her with Julie and me. 

While blessing Cara and giving her the Holy Ghost I mentioned how much emotional awareness she has for a soul as young as hers. I blessed her to recognize how special her gift is and that it will help her and others around her throughout her life. She is very special to me and I love her dearly. 

We had a nice party at the Church and served floats and snacks and everyone was able to visit together. 

To finish up the post I wanted to share a thought and feeling that was on my mind the day of the baptism and for weeks since then. I’m excited that all my children have access to the Holy Ghost to be with them constantly.  I’m not excited for them to sin but I’m very excited for them to feel the wonderful feeling of acceptance from God and the Savior that comes from repentance. There is something about the emotional action of turning to God and feeling accepted despite our mistakes and weakness. Shame and destructive self-hate have no place in the warm and comforting embrace of repentance. I’m excited for my kids to experience the warmth and comforting embrace of God’s love throughout their lives.