Celebrating Calvin's Birthday AND Baptism Birthday!

We celebrated our firstborn on Sunday afternoon and while we always have his party near his Baptism birthday, for the second time in his life, it actually fell on the day! See my post from his 11th birthday party to read about the last time.  Of course we started our day in church where we almost always hear about the Baptism of Jesus on this first Sunday after Epiphany.  Well this year, Pastor decided to keep the focus on Epiphany, and while I was a little disappointed (because I love focusing on the Baptism of Jesus while celebrating the Baptism of Calvin), his sermon brought everything full-circle. While the actual sermon text was the Old Testament reading of Isaiah 60:1, "Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you"; he focused a great deal on WHO that light is with the John 11:25 passage, "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die."  This is Calvin's confirmation verse!  It was a great morning of worship.

After church we invited all the family over for some chicken fettuccini alfredo by Calvin's request.

While we watched a lot of football upstairs, the boys also headed downstairs to show off their new set-up.  They had a bit of a "bonus" Christmas gift when I decided it was really time for us to get a smart TV (so many games are streamed on ESPN+ and Prime now!) so we got a big one to go downstairs (and ended up getting one for upstairs, too).  They mounted the old TV next to the new one so that two games could be watched at once. It's just like B-Dubs now! Minus the wings, of course.

Calvin got tons of clothes, which is all he really asked for.  He (and Oliver) also got a really cool personalized golf towel from Grandma Cheryl (made by ever-talented Grandma Kathy).

The funniest gift of the day was from John and Becky. He opened, and opened, and opened.  One Amazon box after another, just like Russian nesting dolls. Until he finally got to the Amazon gift card. Very creative! And as it turns out, a good way for them to unload their trash boxes at our house :)

We sang and blew out candles next.  It was a rather busy weekend and Calvin really didn't have a preference for a cake "theme" this year so we went with the "miscellaneous, random, hodge-podge, etc" theme with an ice cream cake, leftover graduation cake (from Jack's party) and leftover cupcakes from John & Becky's party.  It was all yummy, so he was happy.  These next pictures crack me up with Violet.  She's dancing along to the "Happy Birthday" song until she sees Calvin is getting ready to blow out candles.  Then she comes in for the kiss. She sure loves her big brother.

After cake and ice cream, we brought out Calvin's Baptism box. We lit his candle, sang "Jesus Loves Me" and thanked God once more for making Calvin his child through Baptism.  I enjoyed looking through pictures of that day 17 years ago.

We are so thankful that Scott and Joy are his sponsors and have been there for him every step of the way.

In addition to looking at pictures, we found the audio of his baptism -- yes, that's a cassette tape! (and the older gentleman who made it for us had a unique way of spelling baptism)

We borrowed a tape player from church and listened to the service while following along in the bulletin from the day (that was also in his box).

Here is just the first and last page of the Sacrament of Holy Baptism from that day. I tried to get everyone to sing this Baptismal Song at the party, but "Jesus Loves Me" was enough, I guess.

It's amazing to think of all that's happened since that bulletin was printed for Calvin's baptism!  What a gift he received that day, and what a gift he has been to us every day since.  We love you so much, Calvin! Always remember what the Small Catechism says, "Baptism is God's work, and what He does is sure and certain. Nothing is more certain in all the universe than the name God has placed on you in Baptism." What a glorious day!

Jackson Dwyer, BU Grad!

We are so proud of Jack, as he graduated from Baker with his Sports Marketing and Business degrees in just 3.5 years!  Joy and Scott had a great party to celebrate this accomplishment last weekend. 

So many friends and family came out to congratulate our newest college grad!

Downstairs were more party-goers.

. . . and some pretty good-looking cousins.

Jack already has a job lined up with MidAmerica Bank, and he's moving in to Grandma Jo & Grandpa Denny's house.  He's doing all the adult things, so crazy!

We are SO proud of you, Jack, and so thankful that our boys have always had such a wonderful role model in you! Your work ethic and faith are qualities that I pray you always take with you.  And we pray ALL of God's abundant blessings on this new chapter in your life!

Welcome 2023!

On this New Year's Eve, we let Oliver choose where to eat dinner.  It was a crazy surprise as he totally unexpectedly chose Texas Roadhouse.  It was a good choice because they had the college football bowl semifinal game on, and it was a VERY close one between TCU and Michigan.

Everyone was very happy with their delicious dinner!

After dinner we headed to church for our New Year's Eve service.

 

We got home from church and had a very chill evening at home.  Per tradition, we girls got silly with Snap Chat filters.

Usually we have a house full of boys on New Year's Eve, but this year, the party was at Jace's house.  Jadyn set up their downstairs like an afterprom with plenty of games and food.  I know the boys had a great time!

Our New Year's toast and my favorite New Year's Kiss!

I worked on New Year's Day, but unlike the past several years, there was no weather to be concerned about.  The ladies at work had things decorated very festively for the New Year!  I'm thankful for another year of getting to take care of patients at LMH with coworkers who are more like family (as we lovingly refer to each other as "phamily")!

When I got home from work, we pulled out our previous years' goals from our stockings (which is always entertaining, especially looking back at little preschool and kindergarten goals).  We worked together on making individual and family goals for 2023 and tucked them away in our stockings.

The Old Testament reading for January 1 is from Isaiah 61, and it's a beautiful one.

What a gift that we can be confident 2023 will be "the year of the Lord's favor"!  Because of Christ, we know that EVERY year we will live in the Lord's favor, no matter what this world tries to throw at us.  In baptism, we are secure.  The writing for the day in the "Treasury of Daily Prayer" was from C.F.W. Walther: "Through Holy Baptism a great stream of joy has been conducted in his heart, which does not drain away, but streams forward with his life until its waves carry him into the sea of a blessed eternity. Should the Christian be reminded all day long that the flowers of his youth fall more and more? He stands planted by God in the water of his Baptism as a palm tree which becomes greener and greener and whose leaves never wither. . . For Baptism is a bath that washed me not only once when I received it -- washed me pure with Christ's blood -- but it continuously washes me clean even daily for as long as I hold it in faith. . . Now then, all of you who believe in God's Word, let your watchword for entering the new year be this: 'I am baptized!' " Yes, with these promises, we can all look forward to a blessed New Year!