Austin, Texas - Garrett Baptism

Dear Friends:

Earlier this month, we had a very special event happen.  In our church, when a child turns 8 years-old, they're able to choose to be baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. G-Man made that decision, and we gathered many family and friends to Austin, to help celebrate:

However, this post begins a few days before that.  With such a significant event, we had family travel from far away, to commemorate the occasion.  My wife's family arrived first, and we proceeded to take them to some of our favorite restaurants...because that's how we work.  We started with Hopdoddy - a gourmet hamburger joint that is simply breath-taking:

The Continental Club - a Turkey burger with provolone, Apple-Smoked Bacon, arugula, mayo,

basil pesto on whole wheat

We also dragged them to Pieous - a wonderful pizza bakery that makes a traditional East Coast-style of pizza.  The flavors are unique and the atmosphere is wonderful. We usually get the Bacon Bleu Pizza with bacon marmalade and arugula:

With first-time visitors to Austin, we like to take them down to Lady Bird Lake and watch the Mexican fruit bats emerge from underneath the Congress Street Bridge.  One of G's cousins was able to make the trip, and he's fascinated with animals.  This was a HUGE treat for him:

Just as the sun was setting, the bats started to emerge.  It's an amazing sight, really.  Hundreds of thousands of bats all emerging from inside an urban bridge.  I managed to capture them with a little light behind them, so you can see just how many there were.  This went on for over 20 minutes:

That evening, my oldest son and his family were driving down from Dallas.  They were stuck in a lot of Friday-night traffic, but while they were driving, my little grandson was talking about going to "Grandpa's house".  Here's a video clip of him talking about "Grandpa Neal" and Grandma "Mimi"

The next morning was the big day.  We started by having all the kids in the house play together.  He's my youngest daughter and my grandson playing together.  Yeah, you read that right.  We're one, big, happy family!

The boys all decided to have some cereal...because that's what boys do.  I can't wait to add my youngest grandson to this mix ; )

Later that morning, G-Man had a flag football game.  He was excited to have all the family watch his game.  He's in a huddle with his teammates, before taking the field:

G-Man is actually the quarterback of the team.  This is his first time playing football, which is almost required, here in Texas.  He's still learning everything about being a quarterback...but he is quick to understand offensive plays and executes them well:

On the sidelines, I was also playing with the other kids.  My grandson and I were playing catch with the football:

Even L was eager to get in on the action.  She's actually really good at catching the ball!

Little L is a fan of soccer, and chases the ball down pretty well.  During halftime of the game, he dribbled the ball all over the sideline:

The funny thing was to watch these little girls, who were playing near him, start to fawn over him.  He's quite the lady's man already ; )

Once the game finished, G-Man quickly made it to the sideline, to be congratulated by his adoring fans:

Later that afternoon, we went to the church for the baptism.  It was really fun to dress in white - signifying the cleansing that takes place during a baptism.  I loved standing next to G-Man in our white suits:

We took lots of pictures with the family that had gathered with us.  We're so lucky that they all made the effort to join us:

G-Man with his older brother

G-Man with his grandparents (my side of the family)

G-Man with his uncle, cousin and grandparents (wife's side of the family)

Prior to the baptism, G-Man had delivered invitations to all of his classmates and friends.  I was impressed that several of them came to the service.  Here are some of the boys, along with his cousin and a set of brothers from our own congregation:

The service was beautiful, and everything went well.  Afterwards, G-Man had picked the refreshments that would be served:

We then took the entire family to Rudy's - a legendary BBQ joint and every single person in the family loves.  There wasn't a lot of talking, as everyone was enjoying the famous briskette and cream corn:

The next day was Sunday.  We had several family members that had to fly home.  We started the morning by playing in the back yard.  The boys went right for the basketball...which is natural:

The kids discovered a ton of buys at the edge of the backyard lawn.  They proceeded to investigate, of course:

It was fun to watch the two cousins take on the "older" boys in basketball.  I just sat back and enjoyed the friendly show:



Playing basketball can be a lot of hard work.  Sometimes, boys just need to take a break:

After church, we tried to take a few pictures, while everyone was dressed-up.  I attempted to gather the kids...it didn't always work out:

When we reached home, G-Man had specifically asked my Dad to make his famous fried chicken.  G was really excited for this...and even tried to figure out my father's secrets (there aren't any):

The kids had a blast playing together.  I usually ended up serving as playground equipment, in one form or another:

As I've said before, I simply love the fact that my youngest kids and my grandkids are so close in age.  That means that everyone has a chance to play together.  I truly enjoy watching G-Man as an uncle - he's really good with little kids.  He loves his nephew and always tries to entertain him:

The next day, some of the remaining folks were starting to head out of town.  I caught this moment with Super Kimmy keeping L engaged on an iPad - listen for his laugh when he gets to interact with a game:

On their way out of town, my son and his family stopped by G-Man's school, to have lunch with him.  It's a treat for any kid at school:

I'll close with this video - it's G-Man showing his nephew the school lunch room.  Little L has jammed Oreo cookies into his mouth, but I still love the interaction.  You can also hear the deafening noise from the cafeteria ; )