For of Such is the Kingdom of Heaven

On Sunday, we celebrated the baptism of sweet Noah James at St. Luke's UMC in Indianapolis.

We arrived early, and Jim was able to make a stop at the coffee bar at the church.

Many of Noah's family members gathered to attend the service prior to the baptism. Noah got a little fussy during the service, so he watched on the video monitor in the nursing room after he had his morning snack. Or maybe he snoozed. :)

After the service, we moved to the chapel for the baptism. His mommy got him changed into his special baptism outfit.

He wore a dress worn by my dad, his great-grandfather, and all the babies in the family since then.

Just like the young prince in England. :)

His photo appeared on the big screen in the chapel during the special time of infant baptism.

Family and friends gathered to join in the celebration. That's Adam and Courtney, Darci, and Jon taking a picture of me taking a picture. Their friends Carl and Laura are in the back.

Nana and Boomie were sitting in front of Jennifer and Bryan's small group who came to share in the service.

Bryan's parents, Justin, Erin, Mike, and little Ella.

Pastors Jamalyn and Dave officiated for the baptism. It is such a blessing to have them as friends and pastors.

Noah added his voice to the service with a little fussing as they got started.

"... in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen."

Jamalyn prays for just-baptized Noah,

and presents him to those who will help to guide him and teach him about God's great love for him and the gift of amazing grace.

Bryan, Jennifer, Noah, Jamalyn and Dave.

Noah with his parents and grandparents.

Noah with the Davis family,

with his great-grandparents,

and with the Stewart family.

This is a photo of Noah's mommy, Jennifer, on her baptism day with her mommy, Nana, and Mamaw. (My hair. I know.)

We tried to recreate the picture with Noah's mommy, Granny, and Nana.

We took another picture with Boomie, too, since the special dress belonged to him.

What a blessing to witness this special day for Noah and his parents, as we celebrate the grace that works in our lives before we are even aware of it.

We pray that this beginning will lead little Noah to a life of faith and trust in the loving God we serve.

God bless you, Noah. You are loved.

The Force is Strong With This One

Another nice day for football, another sad game for the Boilers. Our expectations were not high for this game, and we were correct in not getting our hopes up. In fact, it seems there was no hope at all. (Bad joke, I know.)

We did, as usual, have fun in the tailgate lot before and during the game.
The kids.

With the parents.

The new black helmets were pretty, but the play was pretty pathetic.

The stadium was dominated by red, and we took quite a beating on the field too.

Those pesky Buckeyes have a very fine team this year, and will no doubt be in contention for a national championship at season's end. We will not.

OSU brought their band, which is always excellent. Their show featured a movie theme, starting with a flying Superman, the 'golden snitch' dodging Harry Potter,

and a dinosaur from Jurassic Park gobbling a Hoosier. Sure to get applause from the crowd.

The Purdue band show featured a Star Wars theme, with 'Princess Alexa' trapped inside the big drum.

The heroes, 'Pete Skywalker' and friends, bellied up to the Cactus bar before setting out to destroy the forces of evil and save the princess.

Pete Skywalker battles and defeats the evil Darth Hoosier.

And the princess is saved!

Unfortunately, there was no saving the team from the evil forces of @OSU. :(

Shylah did spot these two in the crowd... Ronnie Johnson and Sterling Carter who will be representing the Boilers on the hardwood. Bring on basketball!!

Friday Fragments, Floors, and Fun

I have a few fragments to share on this Friday as a way of catching up with some of the photos on my phone. I'm linking up with Friday Fragments at Half-Past Kissin' Time, so click on over and check it out.

We have been in a bit of a mess transition around here, as we are doing some renovating/remodeling. As I have written before, we are blessed to live in the house built by Jim's grandparents, passed down to his parents, and now to us. The house was built with hardwood floors, some that have been exposed and some that have been covered by carpet for years. The floor in the upstairs hallway has seen some wear and tear over the years, and we recently had it refinished, along with the floor in the large upstairs bedroom. That's before on the left, and after on the right. Doesn't it look great? I also did some painting and rearranging in the bedroom upstairs, and I hope to finish up and share photos soon.

And since one thing leads to another, we decided to do some work in our bedroom, too, which is on the main floor. First thing was stripping old wallpaper. I rented a steamer, and started gettin' gluey with it. As I scraped, I found it was easier to bypass a rag and just wipe the glue from the scraper to my shirt. Whatever works!

With the the wallpaper off, the next part was washing the old glue off the walls. Worst. Job. Ever.  I ended up enlisting some help, and thanks to my husband and favorite son-in-law, the job was completed and I didn't have to have shoulder surgery. Ha. (Emptying the room was a bit of a task, too, and let's just say we won't be using our dining room any time soon.) :)

Wallpaper off, check. Room empty, check. Now to rip up that old shag carpet and get to the hardwood floor!

The floor was in great shape, and I honestly wondered if it needed refinishing at all.

But I love the dark stain.

And I can't wait to get the rest of the room finished! I will be sure to share before/after photos when it's done!

In other fall news, I will be spending Tuesdays with Noah when Jennifer goes back to work in a couple weeks, so we have been 'practicing' our Tuesdays together. :)

We recently checked out the ReStyled Barn Sale in Westfield, and had an enjoyable outing on a beautiful day.

On Wednesdays, I get some time with these little girls who like to show their Halloween cuteness during the month of October.

Noah donned a pumpkin hat so he could join in the fun.

This isn't MY pumpkin, but it's an awesome one. Boo Dat!

I served the girls 'jack-o-pancakes' for breakfast on Wednesday.

And last night, we had these sweet little Trick-or-Treaters come to the door. A smart scientist, a merry mermaid, and a friendly fairy came to brighten what turned out to be a dark and stormy Halloween night.

That's it for the Friday Fragments! Have a great weekend!