As I Went Down to the River to Pray (Part Two)

So when we left off the story of Evelyn's baptism yesterday (if you missed it, check out the previous post), our whole congregation had processed down to the banks of the Harpeth River, following a band of musicians playing some good old-fashioned gospel music suitable for the occasion.  And then...

 Evelyn is clearly wondering what we are all doing, standing around on the bank of a river...

Especially when her daddy carries her down some steep steps and walks into the river with her.

 And after the appropriate prayers and blessings...

 1...

2...

3!

(Please note for the record that a) the river is almost waist-deep at this spot, b) my hands look truly bizarre in the above picture, and c) our rock-star baby is not merely sprinkled symbolically, but is fully submerged, along with her father.  She is REALLY baptized now, folks.)

 So a full-body dunking in a cold river was not necessarily on Ev's to-do list...

But she recovered quickly...

And after a wardrobe change and a snuggle with her lovely godmother Anna...

She participated in a big ol' potluck lunch (aka munched on some kale-flavored puffs while the rest of us participated in the big ol' potluck lunch)...

Hung out with D...

And posed for some final pictures:)

What an amazingly joyful occasion!  We thank God for entrusting this precious little one to us, and for surrounding all three of us with dear family, sweet friends and godparents, and a wonderful church community.  Praise the Lord for all these gifts!

As I Went Down to the River to Pray (Part One)

Every spring, St. Augustine's Chapel (our church) does a Spring River Baptism for all the babies born that year.  Now though St. A's is Episcopal, and though infants in the Episcopal church are traditionally baptized with a ceremonial sprinkling accompanied by some parental/godparental/congregational vows inside the church building, our church doesn't let that slow us down.  Instead, St. Augustine's Spring River Baptism looks something like this:

A beautiful farm, complete with a barn...

Straw hats and picnic blankets and folding chairs...

A sweet baby girl all ready to be baptized (along with 9 other sweet babies)...

 Two wonderful godparents (and a third in China!) and some prayers and vows...

A procession down to the banks of the Harpeth River...

And some old-timey gospel tunes from some of our church musicians.

And now, friends, things are about to get serious.  So serious, in fact, that I will post the rest of the pictures tomorrow:)  Stay tuned to see baby girl get baptized....

Now THIS is What I Call a Good Tuesday.

First, there was lunch at Chick-Fil-A.  With Daddy.  And everyone got his or her own drink.

Back at the ranch, after a half-hearted attempt (read:  15 minutes) at a nap, our sweet girl decided it was high time to break out a bathing suit.  So Ev and I donned our suits, spread out an un-inflated water mat on our back deck, and filled a tupperware container with water, which I proceeded to scoop and pour on Ev's head with her stacking cups, eliciting this face.  Sophie the Giraffe was also present, obviously.

According to a baby book we have, our daughter appears to fall into the category of "mouther."  A "mouther" is a baby who explores new things by immediately putting them in her mouth without thinking first.  A baby who is highly impulsive, but also fearlessly daring:)  Anyways, since Ev had never played on this water mat before, she spotted a pink seahorse and went in for the kill...

...and here we are.  It's pretty hard to chew on a pink seahorse when it is lying flat on your deck and is printed on your water mat.

And these last two are just for kicks (check out those expressions!).  Meanwhile, happy almost-summer, friends!  If you need to cool off this week, just pull on your bathing suit and head on over to the Berry deck:)

Half of a Year

What does half of a year look like?

 A Moses basket...

 ...snuggles...

...chats with friends abroad...

(...and friends at home...)

...good food...

...giggles...

...and grins.

Happy six months, Evelyn Orr!  We love you so much, and the fun is just beginning:)

The Cabin's Last Hoorah

So I mentioned that a few weeks ago, we took a trip up to Sewanee (a lovely university community on top of a mountain south of Nashvegas), to spend one last weekend in the cozy spot lovingly referred to as "The Cabin."  The Cabin has been part of Dave's life for many years at this point; his parents bought it when their boys were young, and they have loved retreating there ever since. 

The Cabin has sure been good to the entire Berry clan:  Dave and his brother Phil spent countless hours as children exploring the surrounding woods there; Phil proposed to his wife Amy there; numerous Fourth-of-Julys have been celebrated there (and the Fourth of July is the BIG-TIME in Sewanee, TN); Dave and I spent a summer living there and celebrated our first anniversary there; many, many friends and relatives of all ages have enjoyed a fire or a swing on the front porch or a cold drink from the fridge there; and all three Berry grandchildren (Piper, Lily, and Evelyn) have spent some quality time there. 

Evelyn has actually spent two weekends at The Cabin, but the most recent visit was sort of The Cabin's Last Hoorah, since the Berrys have decided to sell it.  It also happened to be the 50th anniversary celebration of Dave's Sewanee fraternity that weekend, so it was an excellent time for a visit:)  So Evelyn and I packed up the car one nice Friday morning, swung through Brentwood and picked up Grammie, and headed on up to the mountain for the weekend.  Grandaddy and Dave came up later.

Over the course of our weekend, Evelyn did exactly the sorts of things you should do when you visit a cabin in the woods on a mountain-top....

She swung on the front-porch-swing with Grandaddy...

...she giggled and snuggled with Grammie in the late-afternoon sun on the back porch...

...and after working up an appetite in all that fresh mountain air, she donned her Easter-bunny bib and chowed down...

...and then plunged into the awesome kitchen sink for a bath.

We have had such fun spending time at The Cabin all these years--we will miss it!  I hope that its new owners enjoy it just as much as the Berrys have:)