It's GREAT to be 8!!!

Aug. 8, 2009

Carly told me she has been waiting all her life for this special day. The day she gets Baptized. She is so excited to follow Jesus Christ's example and be baptized and become the newest member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Granny & Pappy Zito flew down to AZ to support Carly on her happy day. She couldn't wait to wear her new pretty white dress too.

Granny caught some pictures of me helping Carly get ready.

Aahhhh! What a beautiful girl! I can't believe she is 8 years old. She loves her new baptism dress and adores the new scripture tote I made for her. It screams CARLY :)

A close up of our Beauty :)

We had to take a couple pics with the jacket off. It is cute both ways :)

I found her dress by chance and when I brought it home to show her, she was in love. I was so happy it fit and she has room to grow in it. Isn't she just a doll? I know :)

Carly has the prettiest brown eyes!

3 cute zito kids :)

Father & Daughter

The Zito Family

Blake is as happy as can be. Can you tell? He is showing off his candy that Pappy gave him! Blake sure loves his Pappy. He calls him HAPPY!!! It is too cute!

Carly with Pappy & Granny Zito.

We were so excited Leonard's folks came down to spend the weekend with us. They are some amazing people. I am so blessed to have them in my life. They love us so much too! :)

Carly is dressed in her baptism clothes. So here is a ? you might have if you aren't familiar with the LDS faith. Why get baptized when your are 8? - because age 8 is the age of accountability. When you are 8 you have the ability to chose right from wrong. This is a tender age where you make choices that will affect your future. Heavenly Father wants to help us every step of the way. When we chose to be baptized we make special covenants and promises with God that we will follow Jesus. We promise that will remember Jesus Christ & that we will keep his commandments. Heavenly Father promises us that He will forgive us of our mistakes. He gives us the Gift of the Holy Ghost (His Spirit) to lead and guide us and always be with us. This will help us to do what is right and helps us to be happy. And if we chose the right, He will give us eternal life. Pretty special hu? Carly is ready!!!

Her dad will be baptizing her today.

Here is another ? you might have... Why can Leonard baptize her? He holds the Priesthood and it is a gift from God which gives him the authority to perform this sacred ordinance. We feel so blessed that we have the priesthood in our home. It has blessed our lives so much.

Our Happy Family!

I love this picture of Granny & Pappy & Carly! What a great shot :)

Her hair is wet (because we are baptized by immersion....this means that your whole body is put completely under the water and then brought back up out of the water. Being under the water is a likeness of Jesus' death and burial. Being brought up out of the water is a likeness of Jesus' resurrection to a new life, and a likeness of your being born to a new clean life of righteousness.) and the baptism is complete. She is a brand new girl! It was such a sweet experience to witness. The spirit was so strong! I could feel my heart swell with happiness and joy. Carly could too. That warm feeling in her heart was the Holy Ghost testifying that Heavenly Father is so pleased with her choice to follow his commandment and be baptized. What a great day!

The Family! All these people love Carly and are her to show support and witness this special ordinance.

We are so proud of Carly and we will do all we can to help teach her to chose the right :)

Carly & her other grandparents. Grandma & Papa Daddy! ( they are looking great hu?)

Carly & her cute cousins Claire & Ethne. Claire will be 8 in Sept. We are excited for her too :)

The missionaries and the gals. We love these Elders! Leonard is serving as the Ward Mission Leader and we love to help these elders in way we can! We are even lucky enough to serve these great elders dinner here and there. We love the spirit they bring to our home. :) We love the missionaries :) You should have the missionaries over to see what I mean :)

So after the baptism, we had a little luncheon at our house with my family and a couple friends. Isn't this the coolest sandwich ever! a #8?? No way! SWEET!!! It was a tasty sub and we can thank Krazy Subs for this yummy number :)

The decor.... and some of the food. I threw this together late into the night :) Easy and simple and perfect :)

The Luncheon bunch! :) love you guys!

Let's eat :)

It sure is great to be 8! One last pic of Carly on her special day! Oh and the white roses on the table is gift from her dad! It is our family tradition to get a dozen white roses from daddy on your baptism day! Beautiful Roses for a Beautiful Child of God! We love you Carly!