Matt + Janae

For Thanksgiving, Zonzon came from Michigan, Mary from Ohio, and Debbie from Boston. It's nice having Mom live close where others travel to us! Having family here for the holiday created the perfect opportunity to have Verene's baby blessing at the church. Fathers typically perform the blessing and I was extremely nervous. For weeks I did my best to prepare myself through studying the scriptures, fasting, prayer, and meditation to know what to bless my daughter with. The experience was intense. I have a new level of respect for others who have also blessed their babies!

What was special about the blessing was what I learned about my hopes and desires for Verene. She's going to be a lawyer. Just kidding. What's important is that she is happy! I think lawyer just got axed from that one criteria alone. Maybe I'm just tainted by Aunt Debbie's workload. Seriously, I desire for her to be happy, gain a deep understanding of who she is and how she is tied to the families Janae and I come from including our ancestors. At the end of the day, success is measured by how happy you are!

It was so nice having family, friends, and neighbors as part of the experience. I was so grateful that Mary and Debbie were able to be there. This was a big event and it was just nice having close family and friends be a part of it.

After the blessing, we had a little gathering at the Purdons. It was nice to have neighbors, friends, and especially family there. I hope everyone had a good experience with the baby blessing. It was quite the fathering experience for me.