S's Easter Baptism

S was baptized on Easter. This was a huge goal of ours and it turned out to be a magical day. The service was at sunrise on Easter. We showed up at the church at 5:15am. It had snowed overnight. It's been a LONG time since I have had a white Easter.

M and I took S to a small chapel in another building separate from the sanctuary to get her dressed. We bought her dress in Florida. Expecting it to be cool in Germany, but not FREEZING!

After the silent meditation by candlelight portion of the service, which my mom said was beautiful, we walked over to the chapel. The church is part of an old monastery that was built in the 1600's. If those walls could talk...

There were 4 baptisms that morning. S and 3 teens who were preparing for their confirmation. S got to go first and she was fantastic. She even let the pastor present her to the congregation. (The pastor carried her up and down the aisle and then told the teens that he was going to do the same with them! Everyone laughed.)

After the service, we were surprised to find that 4 of M's best friends had made the long (early) journey to surprise us for the service. It was wonderful that they made it there. It was so touching.