a father's day to remember!

we had two very special events planned today for father's day.  as always, we planned a cookout to enjoy time with my dad & grandpa but then quickly found out that our church was having a father' day cookout planned at a  neighborhood park and that everyone, family & church family alike were invited, encouraged even to come and bring the whole family.  we quickly put the kabosh on a cookout at home and made plans to be there instead.  i made the mistake of getting distracted by the friends and family and forgot to take pictures but it was really fun and the food was great!  somehow the hubs was still drafted to cook but he got to enjoy the day too, especially since we weren't gone all night long and he got to come home and relax on the sofa.

the second big event for today (that actually happened first) was that my beautiful niece casi got baptized today!!  we don't believe in baptizing children, like some churches do, because we believe that dedicating your life to Jesus is a personal choice, not one that can be made for you.  we believe that it's something that takes quite a bit of thought, prayer and discussion before the decision can be made and it's not a decision to be taken lightly.  i realize that you lovely readers may not believe the same things we do but that's what being free to believe what we believe is all about!  casi was given the choice as to who she'd like to baptize her and when and she chose today, father's day, and one of her teachers from church, the lovely annette.  casi met annette two years ago during vbs, really began to bond with/learn from/rely on her last year during vbs and continued during our midweek classes over the last several months.  annette has really taught casi a lot about herself, how to act more like a young lady, what is and is not appropriate behavior and how to deal with the drama that several of her classmates seem to bring, in short, she's amazing!