Ethan’s Baptism - and “Service & Son’s Construction”
Yes, our second born son Ethan has been baptized!
First off, I would like to thank the MANY family and friends who came to Utah to see the blessed event. It was a truly wonderful experience for Ethan to have you all around.
The baptism itself was one of the most spiritual baptisms I have ever been apart of. Grandpa Service (Craig) and Uncle Ian both gave wonderful talks from the heart. Grandma Service (Diane) played the piano, and I was able to baptize and confirm my son. The whole room was full of friends and family from all over. The confirmation circle was huge… I thought we were going to push Ethan and the chair into the floor.
Afterward, everyone came over (and filled the house) for dessert. Desserts of ALL kinds filled the kitchen, all made with love from my family in Odgen… except for the BEST raspberry concoction my Aunt Linda made. I only had 4 pieces. 
Here's a few shots of the "after party".
As I stated earlier in the post, I had my ENTIRE family in town at my house for the weekend. It was a blessed weekend. Since we were all together, we actually planned ahead and family pictures taken at Wheeler Farm. Here's a "preview" of what the REAL photos MIGHT look like… I'll post tthe real photos here when we get them. It was the first time we have ALL been together in about 2 1/2 years.
Another treat was having my Grandmother Cogdill (my mom's mom) and my Grandpa Ben down with us. They parked their large RV on the side of my house and stayed for a few nights. On Sunday, my mother made a FANTASTIC "pre" Thanksgiving dinner and we all pigged out. We had to borrow a few tables and 16 chairs from the church to make sure we had enough seats for all of us. While my Grandmother was here, we snapped this photo of 4 generations of girls… Great Grandma, Grandma, Momma (Holly), and baby McKenzie.
… and while we were together, I hired my father, brothers, and brother-in-law (for free) to help me FINALLY build my deck on the back of the house. With my father manning the saw and the rest of us watching… er screwing down boards, we knocked it out pretty quick. We used most of the old wood from the old sun room that was on the back of my house (that I tore off last May) so I was able to put in a GREAT DECK for about an 1/8th of the cost of a brand new deck.
Half way through, my dad said something to the effect, "Man, I wish I started a construction company with all these boys I have around". I don't know about that… some of us still subscribe to the threat he all gave us as children: "If you ever pick up a hammer, I'll break your arm." - You could tell we didn't know the first thing about hammering a nail… but we sure could drive a screw with the screw gun! It snowed before I could get decent shot of the finished product, but I will post one just as soon as it melts.
It was a fun weekend… everything from playing scrabble, to staying up late and talking, to dinner at Johnny Carino's, to ice skating downtown, to riding the Trax train was all good times. I'm sure it will be something we all remember fondly. Can't wait for the next big get-to-gether! … maybe I'll put that addition on my house!