alexander's blessing day

today our sweet little alexander had his blessing day. for those not of our faith, a baby receives a name and a blessing, during the first months of their life (although it can on occasion be done at a later stage). the blessing is given generally by the father of the baby, or another prominent male in their life who holds the melchizedek priesthood. during the blessing, this man and other important men in the baby's life surround the child in a circle and join together to assist with the blessing. he will speak of things hoped for or that may occur in the baby's future. it's a wonderful experience for a family.

today was no exception, doug spoke of wonderful things in store for baby alexander and it was beautiful to hear him speak so tenderly of him. the thing that stood out the most was that he would be strong both psychically and spiritually, which was a huge relief to me! after his rocky start in hospital, i'm glad to know he'll be strong in body and with the crazy world around us, i hope he'll always be able to remain close to his earthly family and his father in heaven.

he was assisted by his father stephen, my father neil, my eldest brother jared, our bishop paul and two friends, mark and hayden. getting everyone together for a photo afterwards proved impossible, so here's all the family together. 

alex with his daddy and grandfathers

and with mummy and his grandmothers

he was such a good baby during his blessing, not making a fuss at all, meaning we were able to hear the entire thing with no problems at all. yay baby!

and madeline and joseph were so proud to have their pictures with him afterwards. look how chuffed they are. i'm so glad he's slotted in perfectly and that they love him so much ♥

and finally a good photo of baby alex with me. he is just the sweetest little thing. i am so happy he is mine. 

all these little cuties turned up for the blessing... i couldn't resist throwing in a photo of them too!

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last but not least. alex's little outfit. i was so stoked. i found it on ebay (an absolute steal, just $10.49 including post) and it was exactly what i wanted. when it arrived i thought it was so huge that he could never possibly fit into it. but fast-forward a few months to now, when we actually had the blessing and it's just right. hooray for ebay!

theron is the man!

we've just gotten home from a great night, being part of our friend theron's melchizedek priesthood ordination. he waited for us to return from holidays so that doug could be a part of such a special experience.

in our church, worthy young men receive the melchizedek priesthood (which you can read more about here) at age 18, and most generally submit their mission pages shortly after - which i am guessing will be in store shortly for theron! can hardly wait to see where he will be off to...

as you can see, there are an awful lot of people who care for theron and play an important part in his life. his dad passed away just 3 months before madeline was born and although we all still miss him terribly, his family have coped amazingly and grown from strength to strength in his absence.

theron was just 10 when we got to know the pinker family well... and we have watched him grow into a amazing, faithful, young man that we know paul would be so proud to call his son. we spend a lot of time with them and feel as though they are the kind friends that one can call their family. we are so proud of theron for taking such a big step and look forward to watching him continue to grow.