Isabelle's Baby Blessing

Finding a date to bless Isabelle was tricky. We had to plan around family members being on vacation and church callings. We settled on Sunday, September 8 which still wasn't ideal for the Ditto side. (The brothers went on their all brothers hike that weekend, but none of them were planning on making the 12 hour drive anyway. I don't blame them.) It also wasn't a fast Sunday, but our ward has so many baby blessings that the bishopric didn't care. I was thrilled because there was absolutely ZERO pressure for me to bear my testimony. I can only imagine how hormonal that would have been.

Jill and Rob flew in for the blessing which I really appreciated. I always love to see them and wish they lived here. We packed in the fun while they were in town. We hiked Stewart Falls and Andrew and I brought BOTH kids with us. (We hiked about 4 miles.) Andrew was the lucky one who got to carry 30+ pounds of James. I got to carry Isabelle. After the hike, we ate at a scrumptious breakfast restaurant. That evening, my sisters and their spouses came over for a game night which kind of ended up turning into a BYU Football viewing party--much to my dismay. Why did BYU have to go into overtime??

9:00am church means we were up plenty early to ensure everything was just right. We decided to have a brunch following the blessing, so the house was spic and span.

All of my siblings came to the blessing which meant a lot to me. We snapped a family photo, so the pressure was definitely on to be looking good. Who knew that the apple tree in our backyard would be the perfect backdrop?

I love how it turned out!

Grandma Langlois was thrilled she was able to make it. (She has been dealing with a foot injury the last couple of months.)

The Dittos!

Ben and Cousin Becca, (plus their 2 kids) Uncle Dan, Cousin Alex, Cousin Tyler, Cousin Malia

I didn't get pictures of Grandma and Grandpa Denning (Giggi and Go-Daddy), my Aunt Lisa, my cousin Allie, or my cousin Kimberly. We had so much support which made it such a special day. Andrew gave Isabelle a neat blessing and one of the speakers even mentioned a specific part of it. Something that stood out to me was that Isabelle was blessed to be service-oriented. Another part focused on love and how many people love Isabelle.

Brunch afterwords was a success! My house felt small hosting so many people. I was hoping to use some outdoor space for one of the tables, but rain ruined that plan. We had Costco muffins, 2 breakfast casseroles, juice, and parfaits with fruit/yogurt,granola, whipped cream, etc. I had so much help which I greatly appreciated because it would have been hard to pull off on my own.

Let me just say that I was exhausted after all of this! We all took naps (for about 2 hours) and then headed to one final dinner at my parent's house before Jill and Rob had to fly out. Even after the nap, I was asleep by 9:00pm. (That seems to be the new norm around here though these days.)

I'm dying over these pictures. Thanks to Lindsey Denning (as always)! I can't believe how big my baby is getting. Isabelle is such a sweet, good baby. It helps that she sleeps through the night.

This picture of the 4 of us is now hanging on our wall. I'll cherish it forever!

I'm truly blessed with the best!