Taytem & Rylee's Baptism

On August 31st we drove up to Boise, Idaho for Taytem and Rylee Tanner's baptism.  They are daughters of our oldest, Andrea.  Below is a sweet picture of the two of them before the baptism.

 

Taytem is on the left and Rylee is on the right.  We're grateful for their willingness to wear individual hair styles, or we'd never be able to tell them apart!

 



Here they are in their jump suits, just before the baptism.  In our church, we do baptisms by immersion, in the same way that Jesus was baptized.  Those being baptized and the priesthood holder, with proper authority, wear white for the baptism. Ryck Tanner, their dad baptized them. 
Before the actual baptism, a short meeting was held. We sang a couple hymns and a talk on the importance of baptism was given by the twin's grandfather, Dave.  He reminded them that being baptized would wash away sin, and that by partaking of the sacrament weekly, thereafter, they could renew their baptismal covenants and would be forgiven of mistakes and sins that they would continue to make.  Grandpa also gave them each a large piece of cut glass that looked like a diamond.  He told them that he hoped that they would remember how precious they are, and that Heavenly Father loves them very much. This is a tradition that we're putting in place for all our grandchildren.  We feel that if they remember their worth, they will act accordingly. 
The baptismal font in this church building, and the adjoining bathrooms had just recently been renovated.  In fact, Taytem and Rylee were the first ones to be baptized there after the work was completed.  In the past, there had been a problem getting the water warm enough for comfort.  So the people filling the font cranked up the hot water knob, as they had in the past.  The hot water problem was totally fixed during the renovation, unknown to all participating, and when they stepped into the water -- it was nice and HOT!  Probably around 102 or 103 degrees ferinheit.  None of the observers knew this though.  They were brave and we didn't find out about the water temperature until Andrea and I (Sue) were helping the girls towell off and get dressed and ready for the confirmation.  Their little legs were red from the hot water.
After the baptism, we all gathered for their confirmation.  Their Grandma Tanner (Nana) gave a little talk on the importance of the Holy Ghost.  During the confirmation, new members of the church are given the "gift of the Holy Ghost" to always be with them, for a comforter, and to help them make good decisions.  Anita explained that the Holy Ghost can help bring things to your remembrance and comfort you when life gets hard.

This picture was taken after the baptism and confirmation.  There's a fun story about the flower arrangement seen in this picture. . . . Before we began the service, as Andrea was getting the room set up and was laying out the programs on the table near the door, she commented that she wished she had bought a bouquet of flowers to make the event a little more special.  Just minutes later, a floral delivery man came into the back door of the church with this beautiful arrangement in his hands and was asking where he should put them.  As it turned out, a funeral had been planned to be held at this same venu, but was then re-scheduled for Monday.  We decided that the lady that died wouldn't mind at all if we used them for our baptismal service.  They made a lovely addition to the proceedings.  We are sure that this event will be memorable for the twins.

After the baptism, we all went to a Pizza Place, for lunch.  Joe, Heather and their girls had come up from Utah for this important family event, along with the two of us, and Leah, Julie's oldest.  The cousins all enjoyed being together.  Julie, Jeff and their two boys were the only ones missing from our whole family group.  Julie was three days away from the delivery of our new little grandson, Austin, so they didn't make the trip up from American Fork.

Later on that afternoon, we joined up with the Tanner cousins, and we all had a wonderful time floating down the Boise River.

Our group commanded three rafts total!  Here we are on our raft; Dave at the back and Joe on the right doing the bulk of the rowing.  The weather was perfect, and we had such a good time together!

Left to Right, Front:  Joe, Gracie, Jane, Taytem, Mattie Tanner, Luke Tanner

Middle Row:  Cardon Tanner, Zoe, Leah, Rylee

Back Row:  Sue, Ryck, Ryan Tanner, Anita Tanner (Nana) and Dave

Andrea was taking the picture.

Andrea and Ryck's family on September 1st after Rylee and Taytem's baptismal service.