Headed North

On Thursday, I headed north to South Dakota to spend the weekend with the family on the farm. My brother Chris & his family along with my sister Jen & her family were there for the weekend so I was able to get in lots of "Aunt Hedder" time :) 

Unfortunately, my little brother Steve wasn't able to join us as he had started CRNA school & also had to work over the weekend. He, Meghan & Caleb were definitely missed.

The majority of the weekend was spent playing outside with the kiddos, watching them feed & pet the sheep, watching the horses, running through the sprinkler, playing in the kiddie pool...

...cooking, eating, visiting with extended family, watching sunrises/sunsets on the deck & snuggling with my niece Jensen - it was definitely a good time.

The main reason we were all gathering for the long weekend was to witness my niece Jensen's baptism at church Sunday morning. On Saturday evening, my sister & her husband hosted a BBQ for our enitire family as well as Ben's extended family.

There was about 26 people gathered at the farm & it was a beautiful night for hanging out on the deck & catching up with everyone.

On Sunday, we all met at the church for 9:30am service & the baptism of my niece Jensen. There was also one other little girl being baptized so our family stood on the right while her family stood on the left. 

My mom had just recently returned from a trip to the Holy Land in Israel & while there she managed to collect some water from the Sea of Galilee (where Jesus had "walked on water" according to the bible). The water was used to baptize Jensen which made the service all that much more special. Jensen also was able to wear the baptism dress & booties that my sister wore 34 years ago.

I was very proud to be chosen to sponsor Jensen & be her "Godmother" :)

After an awesome weekend spent with family, everyone headed back on Monday morning to return to their normal routines. It was definitely nice to get to see everyone & spend some R-n-R on the farm.