...And Next You're Dazzled By The Beauty Of It All

But somehow, despite everyone's best efforts, things do have a way of coming together. By the time we arrived at the church, everything that needed to be finalized, was. Everyone that was supposed to be there, was. Everything that was supposed to happen, did.

It was certainly funny to show up at 5:00 mass, which is traditionally very casual. Arriving with babies, dressed up in suits and dressed, we visibly stuck out in the sea of T-shirts, jeans and senior citizens. There had been a wedding a little bit earlier that day, and some of the wedding party were still just leaving as we arrived. I had to wonder just how many people may have thought that we were late arriving wedding guests who just were too dense to know we missed the party.

Furthermore, the standing agreement is that since the Bishop was using the services of this church, he would agree to say the 5:00 mass as "payment." So here was this casual mass being said by the Bishop in full Bishop gear robes and headgear, looking very impressive. Though in all honesty, it seemed like the senior contingent was a slightly perturbed in having their routine changed by our personal little celebration.

The actual baptism ceremony was something to remember, having a mix of high ceremony and relaxing casualness that could only be present with family. Dinner went well with everyone happily talking and mingling. And there was more than enough cake for everyone, even those that don't normally eat cake. Everyone, well most everyone, was comfortable and happy to be there. It seemed that all of the headache and frustration to get to this point gave way to a very enjoyable time.

Let's just try not to do this again though. At least not quite like this, ok?

(The photo gallery now has a few pictures from the baptism.)