The relatives all arrived on Saturday. My dad and Margie, my sister Marisa, David's parents, his sister, her husband and baby Melanie who is 17 days younger than Rachel and Cindy and Chris from Florida with their youngest son Colin. We were so glad to get all the immediate family here. Rachel and Melanie had not met each other yet, and it was so cute to see them together. David and his sister Julie really enjoyed seeing each other with their babies. David's parents hadn't seen Rachel in two months, and my aunt, uncle and grandmother from Rhode Island had never met Rachel at all.
Saturday night David and I hosted dinner at our house. We ordered food from Honey Baked Ham. It was great not to have to cook. We ordered a boneless ham and several side dishes. All we had to do was heat everything up. I bought paper plates, napkins and plastic cups - I know, not great for the environment, but I don't have enough dishes for 15 people to eat dinner and drink.
Sunday was the baptism. The original plan was to go to 1230PM mass and then the baptism was at 230PM. However, starting in October, Holy Trinity changed the 1230PM mass to all Latin all the time. So unless anyone had a Latin major and could translate, we weren't going to the 1230PM mass. So we had to regroup and go to the 1030AM mass. That mass is always very crowded and David and I can't usually make it there on time, but we were determined. We needed seats for 9 people so we couldn't be late!
After church we came back to our house for a light snack before the baptism. I left my sister at home to get ready, set up the table and drinks and then head to Safeway to pick up the sandwiches and cake while we were at church. When we came back after church we were able to have coffee cake and cheese and crackers. David's parents were there, his sister, her husband and their daughter Melanie, along with my dad, Margie and my sister.
We were also able to feed Rachel and change her into her baptism gown. She was so beautiful. It was perfect. The dress had a bonnet which was not an option since it was way too big. We took some pictures and then headed back to the church for the baptism.
The families all sit in the pews around the church, with the parents, child and godparents in front rows. There are some general parts of the baptism that the priest does with all the families in the pews, and then he brings each family to the baptismal font separately. It is nice because each individual family can be up close to their child being baptized and can take as many pictures as desired. Most other baptisms I have been to have been all the families all at once crowded around so you are on tip toes trying to see and take pictures between heads.
And then we went back to our house. We had croissant sandwiches, cheese and crackers, cold salads and CAKE! It was nice to have all the families together - the Croce/Vianello side and the McDonald side. They would not have been together since our wedding in August 2002. We took lots of great pictures and had a good time watching football. There was some dicey political talk for a while, but that was quieted down quickly - well, not so quickly!
Here are some pictures from the weekend:
Grandma and Grandpa with both their grandaughters.
4 generations!
Auntie Julie with Rachel and her baby Melanie. 
Cindy, Chris and Colin.
Auntie Marisa with Rachel.
The grandparents, great-grandmother and godparents.
The Vianello family.
Cindy and Chris - The godparents who adore their godchild. 
2 comments:
You didn't mention "The godparents who adore their godchild!"
I will add that in, but it's already known and assumed. She loves them very much too!
Post a Comment