Luke's Blessing Day

More pictures to come! Luke is in his blessing outfit underneath his fluffy blue blanket, but it was a little breezy and he's not too fond of being cold ;)

We blessed Luke Stanford Plessman at our church on May 7th, 2015. It was such a special weekend filled with family, sunshine, and Jace's non-stop giggles. 

Colt's parents (Grammy and Grampy)flew into Seattle on Friday. They met up with Colt at work, and he took them on a tour of the Boeing campus. I went a couple of years ago when I was pregnant with Jace, and it was really interesting; The Boeing site is huge, with lots to see, and I think they really enjoyed it. Afterwards, they came home and we ate chicken lime tacos in honor of Cinco de Mayo (this was totally accidental, and I was rather pleased with myself when I remembered it was Cinco de Mayo after I'd already put the chicken in the crockpot). After a family walk and a low-key evening spent catching up, we woke the next morning to a gorgeous, sunny Saturday. My parents arrived that afternoon with my dad's mom, Grandma Carol. They checked into a hotel in town, we ordered Red Robin to go, and then we all met up at the park for a picnic dinner. Jace was able to run and play to his heart's content, and the adults basked in the beautiful weather (does Vitamin D prevent the flu? We're desperate).

On Sunday morning, we got ready and headed off to church. I'm so lucky that Colt is a pro at getting the boys prepared to leave the house-I was able to shower, blow dry my hair, put on makeup, and get dressed without interruption for the first time in quite awhile. Haha! He's amazing. We waited until we got to church to put Luke in his blessing outfit, the same one that Colt wore as a baby and that Jace wore at his blessing. 

Colt gave Luke such a sweet blessing. I tried to record it on my phone so that I could write it down later, but unfortunately, the microphone was very quiet, and the chapel was a little noisy due to lots of little ones chattering around us. However, once we got home, I was able to crank up the volume to an unhealthy level, listen over and over again and, with the exception of a couple of words, C and I were able to transcribe the blessing in it's entirety. I'm so grateful, because it truly was a beautiful blessing and I could tell Colt was sad when I told him the recording might not have been successful. 

Afterwards, everyone came back to our house, and my mom, Terri, and I went to work prepping a lunch of croissant turkey sandwiches with all the fixins', chips and salsa, veggies and hummus, and plump, fresh strawberries with fruit dip (the leftovers of which I may or may not have polished off by myself later that night). We spent the afternoon visiting, passing a sleepy Luke around for lots of snuggles and loves, and laughing at the antics of my funny little Jace. He was so cute all weekend; he radiated pure joy. He loved being surrounded by his "fan-club," and ran around yelling "A Mimi! Hi Papa! Hammy! Gampy?!" This weekend really reinforced my already strong desire to live close to family, whether it's my side or Colt's, grandparents or aunties and cousins. Not only to I enjoy the support and the peace of mind having people I know and love just a few short hours away, but I really want my kids to know their relatives, like Colt and I did as children. Cousin birthday parties, Sunday dinners at Grandma's house, yearly reunions, grandparents cheering me on at sporting events...these are treasured memories that Colt and I have of growing up with family members close by, and I want that for my boys. Especially after seeing how happy it made Jace to be surrounded by his clan this weekend. 

My parents and Grandma C left Sunday afternoon, and Colt's Mom and Dad said goodbye the next morning. We are so happy they were able to make the trip to celebrate Luke's blessing day with us. Of course, we missed everyone who couldn't be there, but we are so thankful for the kind and supportive messages we received. My boys are very loved. Family, a strong, loving family, is a gift from heaven. Jace and Luke don't understand yet how lucky they are, but they will one day.