Esther's Baptism

We had a really early flight. 

We were able to go to Esther's baptism (minus Dad) at the end of July. Esther asked Mark to baptize her, which was a really special opportunity. So, Mom and the boys flew out to Santa Clara and stayed with the Webbs. We arrived early on Saturday morning and the baptism was later that night, so we spent some time hanging out with the cousins doing puzzles, playing at the park, and having fun. The Pooles arrived later that day, Grandma and Grandpa were already there, and too quickly, it was time for the baptism.

Mark did perfectly. He was so kind with Esther in the font, and the baptism was nice.We were glad he'd had all that practice in the temple font! The kids all sang a song together that Mom played. Grandma and Melanie both spoke. And it was nice being together with family.

We did a fun puzzle!

Mark baptized Esther. 

They are so cute!

We were glad we could be there to support Esther on her special day.

Umm...why is Tiffany so tall in this picture?

Having fun at the end of the baptism.

The next day was Sunday. So we all went to Melanie's ward where anyone holding the priesthood helped with the sacrament (Mark, Daniel, Josh, and Dax). After church, we headed out to do some outdoor nature adventures. We stopped at a beautiful little trail in the Redwoods where we explored for a few minutes.

The redwood grove was in the middle of a neighborhood, but it was still great.

Missing the Ferlans, but here are the cousins.

This is my favorite picture ever. We are acting like our kids and how they take pictures.

Then we went and walked around part of Stanford University. This campus was beautiful. The boys were amazed! I don't even think Randy and I have taken them to walk around BYU, so it was fun to explore the beautiful buildings. We were there to see the fountains because Stanford apparently has a million fountains. We found some of them, others were turned off, and when our feet were tired, we headed back to the Webb's house for dinner.

On Monday morning we headed back home. We were sad that Dad wasn't with us, but he needed to be home for school and church!

S for Seth and Stanford.

Grassy Hill = rolling Dax

Everyone posed like their favorite statue.

They did a great job!

Dax matches well.

Stanford had some really beautiful architecture.

So pretty!

This was the best fountain we found.

Yes, we got in!!

Even Mom ventured in!

The cousins just love to be together!

My second favorite picture from this trip. Seth fanning Audrey with a palm leaf.