memorial weekend [part 2]

Well, so much for "tomorrow," eh?

Meh.  Ees ok.  I have a very needy daughter.  It's like she's a baby or something.  Sheesh.

In fact, let's sum up the entire trip in her words:

My mom and dad took me on a trip last weekend.  It would be fun, they said.  Let's see the world, they said.  Give me a break.  All that really meant was that I spent hours upon hours in a claustrophobic little contraption called the carseat.  And then when they finally took me out of the so-called "carseat," strangers kept trying to steal me away from my parents.  Oh, the strangers!  I kept trying to tell them that I didn't know them and just wanted my mommy, but they wouldn't listen!  And it was hot and loud and hello!  I just wanted my mommy!

Yes, she had a rough time.

The little baby.

Just kidding.  I actually felt really bad for her.  I tried approximately 2,347 things to help her feel happier, but she just wasn't having it.

Tim and I, on the other hand, loved seeing everyone.  It was so fun.  Six out of the ten kids in Tim's family were able to make it up to St. George for Ellie's blessing.  And they brought their families.  And one of my brothers was able to make it.  And of course our parents were there.

Which made for a lot of people.  It was great.

Tim's sister, Dru, was the most gracious host in all the land!  Really.  It takes an immeasurable amount of grace to let that many people invade your home, and they handled it like pros.

Tim and I kept hoping and praying that Ellie would be happy and/or sleeping during the blessing itself, but somehow I just knew that she wasn't going to like it.  I was right.  She started fussing almost immediately after we got to the church and didn't stop until well after her blessing was done.  Tim took her out into the hall to try to get her to calm down as the meeting was starting, but then as the meeting progressed and I still didn't see any signs of Tim or Ellie, I started to get nervous.  Where could he have gone?  Was he coming back in time for the blessing?  Was everything ok?  Just as they announced her blessing, Tim walked back in the chapel with a crying Ellie.  With her lacy headband covering her eyes.

I motioned frantically to Tim to re-position her headband, but it was too late.  She was already crying and the congregation was already laughing.  And I couldn't really blame them.  It was pretty funny.  Poor thing.

She cried during her entire blessing, but it didn't really matter.  She wasn't very loud and the words of the blessing were beautiful.  I frantically took notes and have some beautiful phrases to look back on in the coming years.  After the blessing, as is customary, Tim held her up for the congregation to see.  I hope that moment is forever burned in my memory.  It was so comical and sad all at the same time.  Her little tear-stained face was a bright, cherry red.  She let out a final wail before Tim brought her over to me.  I tried to calm her down, but ended up taking her out into the hallway, where she continued to cry.  Finally, I took her outside and she fell asleep almost immediately, after which I took her back inside.  We enjoyed the remainder of the meeting together in peace and quiet, other than the occasional suggestion from Tim for his sister's baby's middle name [Burton "Jabbada" Whitmer was a favorite] or the occasional message from my mom on one of those old magnetic drawing boards for kids [she can't wait for Ellie to get older].

After sacrament meeting, I made everyone go outside for pictures:

They'll thank me someday.

My poor, unhappy baby with her crooked headband.

She'll thank me someday, too.

She wore the same blessing gown I wore some 24 years ago.  I got her headband off of etsy.  As stylish as I'm sure it was for me at the time, I didn't want to also make her wear the bonnet I wore.

Oh how I love that little girl.