Benson Turns 8 and gets Baptized!

This cutie pie turned 8! It's a big deal! We were lucky enough that his birthday/baptism coincided with a trip that Ross and Amanda were taking around that time anyway! So Ian and Makenna made the trek up here too and it was like a mini Garner reunion! Before the other Garner kids got here, we took the James kids to an arcade type place to celebrate and got ice cream. :) When the other Garner kids got here, we also had lots of fun at Grandma and Grandpa's pond and fire pit! We did the #8 punch board to try and teach him about the promises he makes at baptism. I also loved getting to take him to buy his own set of scriptures. It was so cool to see how decisive he is. I'd give him a couple of options for colors, fonts, cases etc. and he would immediately know which one he wanted. 

We felt really lucky that Grandpa Crosby drove 10 hours up to Nampa for the baptism! We tried to soap up time with him as best as we could. He showed Benson where to put his hands for when he got dunked and made sure he brought up the traditional white embroidered towel Grandma Crosby has made before she passed away. 

We had to get special permission from the stake to have Benson's baptism outside of the regularly schedules stake baptism days. It was a little tough, but I'm so glad it worked. It was so nice to have it be just our family! Benson asked Grandpa Crosby on baptism and me to speak on the Holy Ghost. I asked Jenn to get on Grandma's computer in SG and send me some of her saved talks :) So I was able to borrow lot of my talk from things Grandma had already said, and it felt special to include her in that way. Benson also asked Ross and Grandpa Garner to sing his favorite primary song, "I will be what I believe". Ross and Grandpa sang the verses and everyone joined in on the chorus. Aunt Adrienne sent up a super soft blanket to help Benson remember the feeling of the Holy Ghost and he loved/loves it! Grandma and Grandpa Garner went right into food mode when we got home, prepping an absolutely delicious waffle bar for everyone to enjoy. It was all so lovely! 
 

Here are some of the awesome pictures my friend Whitney took for Benson's baptism. During the session, he kept smiling with his eyes basically closed. I was really having to work hard to get him to smile normally. I was worried we'd get any decent ones! But when they came back, there were so many great options of our adorable Benson!