Dedication

On Saturday, April 21, I was dedicated at church. A baby dedication is a public declaration of "giving" a child up to God. Commiting their life into God's hands, as a blessing and a thank you for the gift of life he gave us. From parents, it's a way of saying they will raise a child to come to know the Lord. From friends and family, it's a way of saying they will hold the parents accountable with raising their children in a God-fearing home. It's a wonderful event and I loved it because I got to have a party and I got loads of gifts!!! Thank you all for the wonderful clothes, ballet shoes, gold ring, Disney books, Princess Devotional!! My Grammy gave a big party, too, with a taco bar and ice cream cake from Cold Stone Creamery!!

When my mom and Grammy went to pick up the cake, they were quite upset... The cake decorator had misspelled my name "Daphine" instead of "Daphne". Everyone tries to pronouce my name "daf-uh-knee" instead of just "daf-knee" so then when they try to spell it, my name has been written many different ways. This is a problem my parents did not forsee when they chose it... They assumed it would be an easy name to say and spell, but it's always mis-pronouced and mis-spelled. Since the cake was spelled wrong, they had to try and take off the extra letter....and I think the fix looks great! You can hardly even tell...

Grandma and Grandpa both drove down all the way from Iowa, and I was so happy to see both of them! I woke up on a normal Saturday morning and not only had my Grammy and Gramps come to visit, but Grandma and Grandpa came too!! Grandpa and Buffy gave me a great yellow outfit with a matching blanket, as well as two big Disney books! Grandma gave me a beautiful red velvet box. It was my first ever velvet box, so I didn't know the secret of velvet boxes - FINE JEWELRY... She gave me my first of real jewelry - a beautiful yellow gold ring with three hearts on it. It's still a little big on me, but Grammy said she could tie a ribbon it and attach it to my wrist...

Before the church service at 6pm, Grammy held a big taco bar for me! Lots of friends and family came up to my house to celebrate with us! We ate tons of food...but we have LOTS left over...so if anyone is hungry this week, call my mom and she'll invite you over for Mexican.... Nate cracked me up...at one point he crammed four very large olives in his mouth at once! Devon grabbed the camera and captured his "chipmonk" cheeks!

After eating, I was pulled out of my warm dress and placed inside a long white dress that hung down way past the tips of my toes. But I will admit, I sure did look cute in it. Then we rushed off to church.

After the worship time, Pastor Fred called us up on stage and announced me to the church. I was sound asleep and I didn't even wake when he touched my arm. My parents were so nervous about me waking up and screaming, they even brought a bottle up on stage just in case! Ha! I showed them, I just slept the whole time! Pastor Fred announced that my name, Daphne Rae, means "Victorious!" and he referenced the scripture Isaiah 41:10, "So do not fear, for I am with you. Do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand."

Aren't we a beautiful family? And so my mother could remember the day, we took a group photo of our friends and family who had gathered to celebrate with us. Matt, Alison, Myles and Meyer had already slipped out, so they missed being in the photo with us. Back row, left to right: Gramps, Grant Kathy, Uncle John, Nate, Devon, Dan, Laura, Andrew, Charla and Ryan. Front row, left to right: Grandpa, Grandma, Dad, Mom, me and Grammy

After...Mom and Dad left me in the caring arms of my Grandma while they went to see "300". It was their first outing just the two of them since I was born, and I think Mom took it a little rough. Then again, she still dreads the days she has to go into the office and leave me with a sitter. But their date was great and everyone needs to go see "300" a great flick! To all the Acadamy voters reading my blog (becuase I know there are so many of them) remember this movie come next spring and Oscar voting time. "300" deserves some recognition for art direction and/or cinematography! Mom enjoyed the costumes, or should we say lack thereof... Nate and Devon saw the movie with them, and Devon enjoyed the costumes as well... Wonder if all those six packs were real or created like the backdrops? When I heard the actor who plays...er...played Paulo on "Lost" played Xerxes in "300" I wanted to go see it too, but Dad said I wasn't ready for all that blood and gore yet. Sure, I can help him play "Gears of War" on the Xbox 360, but I can't see this movie... Double standard if you ask me, but I guess they enjoyed their date night.