Dedication Weekend

This weekend we made the formal commitment to raise our boys to know the Lord and disciple them to be followers of Christ.  Here's the awesome part.  There were 21 of us standing behind the boys while we made this commitment.  Our family and friends are awesome.  I need to say that before the end since there are so many pictures and many of you will get bored!  Our family goes out of their way to help us and support us in life.  They have encouraged us, prayed with/for us, and offered us full nights of sleep while the boys were just newborns!  The fact that many people traveled in from out of state to celebrate the weekend with us is humbling.  Our boys are loved loved loved loved loved, we knew this before they were born, and our family/friends support us through everything!  I pray everyone is able to experience the blessing of a supportive family at some stage in their life.  Now onto the weekend and cute pictures!

Friday evening my parents came in with my Grandma to see the boys before everyone arrived Saturday. They got in some play time and then cuddle time as they were going to bed!

Can you see how excited Calvin was to see someone other than Mom and Dad?

Caleb with his Great-Grandma Jenny- they share the same birthday and as her older sister Mary!



Lots of giggles with Grandmama and Granddad!

Saturday we grilled out at our house and the kids played baseball with the 'old men'.  It was so much fun just getting to hang out with everyone.  I never worried about where the boys were or if they were ok- there were enough people looking after them and gladly feeding/changing diapers/playing/soothing/rocking them for the entire day!

Calvin got put to sleep by my dad...he always puts babies to sleep when he holds them!

My best friend Sarah with Caleb.  Every time he looked at her all weekend he broke out in the biggest smile!



Calvin slept with his hands pressed against his forehead.  You can see his finger prints and creases from his knuckles!



Caleb playing with Aunt Amy!  He always saves lots of smiles and giggles for her!



The boys were well entertained while the adults ate.  Although I think they're ready for burgers with the way they were eyeing that plate!



Happy Calvin after a great nap.



We had this creepy neighbor guy who kept watching us over the fence.  Weird huh?
I guess I have to admit this is my brother-in-law Jerry and he was a great sport by standing on the fence all evening.  The kids kept hitting home runs over the fence so he rescued the ball every time!



The kids congratulating themselves on another home run against the adults/ aka 'old men'!



Everyone standing ready for another pitch by Uncle Scott!



This kiddo wasn't so interested in baseball as he was in his bowl of berries!



This is first base.  Yes it is a drain spout.  You think that is weird?  You should have seen that second base was a dog chew rope.



Sunday we met everyone at church and filled up three rows!  The ceremony was great and the boys were talking and giggling, and smiling the entire time.  Once we were finished with the dedication both Granddad and PaPa soothed a boy to sleep for the rest of the service.   It was pretty sweet.


We really tried to get a good family picture with everyone smiling.  Too bad Sarah wasn't behind the camera- that is who Caleb was smiling at!



And our best attempt!



Caleb with MaMa before the service.



Sweet Calvin.

This picture showed most people's faces.  We had quite the crew for the boys!



Calvin asleep on PaPa and Caleb asleep on Granddad.  I'm sure their arms were exhausted after church but their hearts must have been pretty full after all those sweet cuddles!

After church we all headed back to our house for lunch from Mazzio's and cake.  We were so fortunate to have nice weather all weekend where we could take advantage of eating outside.  I don't think we could have fit everyone inside to eat!  The kids loved sitting outside on their table playing together while they ate.

This cake was delicious!  It was a tres leches cake and worth every bite!

Since it is likely we will move around a bit more as a family Scott and I felt it was important to make a commitment as a family in addition to the one with our local church congregation.  We worked on making formal documents outlining the areas we wanted to be intentional while raising our boys with Scripture to support each point.  We asked our friends and family to sign if they wanted to make the commitment as well.  I think this will be a great reminder for Scott and I to check how we are doing and even to refer to while we are disciplining the boys.  It was also a great exercise for us to discuss where we really wanted to be intentional with instilling values and when we can start with each step. 

We know the boys will be grown before we know it- that living day by day adds up quickly into years!  It is going to require us to be intentional to teach lessons to the boys and individually love them as their own person.  We are so thankful all of our family and friends are ready to help us during the easy and difficult times!