Luke's Baptism and More

Luke turned 8 in December so it was time for his baptism.  He's a good boy and I'm so proud of him for all the good choices he has made.  He can be so crazy full of energy, but he is so sweet and I sure love my special little guy.

Jacob's parents did the long drive to be here with us for the big day.  I was really, really hoping the house would be done by now, but it's not hard to fit a couple more people in this house.  When we took them to see the new house, I told them that we could still let them stay in the new house if they want, it just might be a little cold.

As soon as they arrived Luke was driving us crazy wanting to play Scum. He's a little obsessed with that card game right now.  Grandma, Grandpa and Drake were very accommodating and played it with him many, many times.

One of many rounds of scum.

Our stake does the baptisms once a month, so you never know how many other kids are going to be baptized the same day.  We lucked out and had only one other boy there to be baptized.  I decided to do the accompaniment so I practiced the two songs nonstop for two weeks before the baptism. I was super duper nervous, but it was a nice goal to shoot for.  Grandma was the chorister so we were able to be nervous together.  The first song went so so.  "Baptism" is definitely difficult.  The second song, was much easier.  Grandpa gave the talk on baptism.  We had to wait for a few minutes for the first boy to be baptized and then headed back to the font room.  It was wonderful to have so many friends and family there with us.  I definitely felt the spirit during the ordinance. 

Here is the slideshow we watched while Luke and Jacob were drying off and getting dressed (be warned, it's pretty long):

Uncle Robert gave the talk on the Holy Ghost and then Jacob gave Luke a wonderful blessing after conferring the gift of the Holy Ghost.

The whole crowd.

Michelle gave Luke some delicious cake pops.  Probably the best part of his day.

After the baptism we had family over for some delicious pulled pork.  Thanks to my dad for such a yummy recipe. Thanks to my mom too for the delicious Gone with the Wind recipe that we had for dessert.  Speaking of which, I've done some more tweaking to my recipe and finally figured out exactly how the custard needs to look before you mix it with the other ingredients.  Recently I've been having more problems with it separating into layers while separating.  Turns out I just wasn't cooling the custard enough sometimes.

Gone with the Wind

1 c. graham crackers (about 7), crushed 1 c. vanilla wafers (about 23), crushed ¼ c. brown sugar 3 tbsp. melted margarine 1 Tbsp. gelatin (Knox--about one packet) ½ c. cold water 4 egg yolks, beaten

2 c. milk 1 c. sugar 4 egg whites 1 tsp. salt 2 c. whipping cream 2 tsp. vanilla 5 tbsp sugar

Mix first 4 ingredients well and pat ½ into 9x13 inch pan.  Reserve ½ for the topping.  Soften gelatin in cold water.  Make stirred custard by cooking and stirring milk, sugar, and egg yolks in microwavable dish on 30% power.*  Check every couple of minutes.  Custard is done when the mixture coats a metal spoon (it is a very obvious change).  Mix gelatin in until well dissolved.  Cool the custard in the refrigerator.  Be sure to stir periodically.  The custard must be thoroughly chilled before mixing with other ingredients (otherwise will form layers while setting).  It is properly chilled when the custard mounds when stirred. Whip cream and vanilla till stiff, whip in the sugar.  Beat egg whites and salt till stiff.  Fold both into custard (thoroughly with a whisk) and turn into pan.  Sprinkle topping on.  Chill overnight.

*When making custard, cooking times and power levels will vary.  Be sure to not overcook the custard or the egg will cook into little chunks.  Best rule of thumb: start on a lower power and bring it up if it’s not cooking.