Wow! We just had the most remarkable weekend, following a very crazy week. Zoe was baptized yesterday and it was absolutely brilliant! Zoe, Zak, and I spent the week preparing. Zak and I shopped. Zoe slept. Zak and I cleaned. Zoe slept. Zak and I (and my mom and Nic and Val) cooked. Zoe slept. Zak and I had a meeting about the meaning of baptism. Zoe slept. You know, I really don’t know how we could have gotten everything done without the assistance of Zoe! (P.S. You may be interested in the fact that there are 12 Zs in that paragraph!!)
My mom came over Friday morning and we got right to work baking and baking! We made two delicious types of cookies, and one type that only saw the bottom of the garbage can. Nic and Val (two of Zoe’s godparents) arrived into town on Friday night and were quite surprised by how big she had gotten, as she was only 5 days old last time they saw here! It was so wonderful to catch up with them. We watched the opening ceremonies for the Olympics and Zak noted that Costa Rica only had one athlete, so he came up with a plan. Knowing that each country is allowed at least one athlete in each sport, Zak wants to move to Costa Rica and become the first person EVER to compete in every sport in the Olympics. He doesn’t need to be any good at any of the sports if he is the only person in the country who will participate. That’s my boy, always thinking…and making us laugh!
We (Nic and Val, too) rose bright and early on Saturday, thanks to Miss Zoe, and started making chili. A lot of chili. 7 pounds of ground turkey were used, 5 big cans of tomatoes, and almost a whole container of the big size of chili powder. All this done by 11:00! We then made approximately 2 million corn muffins. Zak could have brought them to Costa Rica to give to each citizen as a thank you gift for allowing him to participate in the Winter Games on their behalf.
Then the big day was here, and it was marvelous. The weather was chilly (pun intended), but sunny and crisp, just like the day Zoe was born. She wore the most beautiful gown. My dad received it from his godmother and wore it along with his two sisters. Then Michael and I wore it and now Zoe got her chance. When my mom first took it out a few months ago it was yellow with age, but I didn’t care. It was too meaningful not to wear. Well, mom worked many hours and yesterday it was as white as could be. It is a fine, sheer, white material daintily embellished with eyelet lace, two simple white ribbon bows, and a simple ruffled collar. She also wore a beautiful jacket that matched the eyelet lace and ruffled collar. I don’t know if Zoe felt it, but she looked like and angel in it.
The ceremony was gorgeous and Zoe was very well behaved (as always!) Michael, Nic, Val, and Katie were fabulous godparents. There were oohs and ahhs as the pastor walked Zoe down the center aisle. Zak and I are so proud of her and so in love!
Following the church service, everyone came back to our home to enjoy all that chili, corn muffins, cookies, and other goodies. It was especially meaningful to me that my aunt, uncle, and cousins could meet Zoe for the first time Sunday. We all spent the afternoon eating, drinking, talking, laughing, and celebrating Zoe!
