Kaitlyn's Christening

Kaitlyn became a memeber of our Catholic Community this weekend! On Sunday we celebrated the sacrament of Baptism in the parish of Saint Maurice here in our village. Kaitlyn is our first child Baptised in France... and unfortunately because of the distance my family was unable to attend. SO, I will make up for their absense by posting a nice blog about the day and share with them of lots of pictures (and video to come)..


The ceremony was absoulutely beautiful! I was really looking forward to celebrating Kaitlyn's Baptism-- and it fulfilled all of my hopes and expectations! I spent a lot of time in the preparation of the programs, the souveneir almond decorations (called "dragees"...a tradition in France for marriages and baptisms), and also with the preparation of the reception. The result was a memorable and special day for all of us. The kids were also looking forward to it for months, and it really helped them understand the meaning of Baptism..as being the sacrament of initiation into our Christian family. They really had a lot of fun too and enjoyed watching their sister be the center of attention.





The ceremony started at 12:15, just after the family mass at St. Maurice (in the center of the village). The church is very old (older than my country!) and very beautiful. The day "weather-wise" was amazing also! I had prayed for warm and sunny weather and God did indeed answer my prayers (plus some!). We were blessed with a very unseasonal day indeed. The sun was shining (not a cloud in the sky) and it was in the mid 60's (16 degrees C), which is fairly unbelievable considering it is December! The kids didn't even need their jackets.


The ceremony went equally as perfectly. Kaitlyn looked like a little angel in the Baptismal gown that her sister wore 7 short years ago. It was really wonderful to see Kaitlyn wear Krista's dress. Kaitlyn was very interested in the ceremony and seemed to understand that something exciting was about to happen. She was "fairly" tolertant of the water ritual, although she did SCREAM at the top of her lungs as the water was poured. (The water was really cold and her head was pretty drenched, so don't really blame her). She was very excited and "bouncy" during the ceremony. She was in such a playful mood, her arms and legs waving the whole time--she seemed to understand that it was a special and wonderful day for her!

The ceremony was just the right length--in all about 35 minutes. We started out the ceremony with a song, some readings and our wishes for Kaitlyn. Then there was the blessing of Kaitlyn baptismal font, followed by a blessing with oil and the passing of the baptismal candle throughout the church. The ceremony was completed by the signing of the church registry at the altar.

We were happy to have Toomas' sister, brother-in-law and Kaitlyn's 2 cousins come from Sweden for the ceremony. Helen is Kaitlyn's Godmother. Janne, her husband was able to be the proxy for my brother Mike, who is the Godfather. It would have been wonderful to share such a big event with my family in the US, but it just wasn't possible. Fortunately we took a lot of video and many pictures to share. On the other hand it was also special to celebrate here in our own village--where we have our first home. We had our friends here in the village with us, as well as Toomas' family and the Estonian community. It was wonderful sharing the day with everyone. There were a LOT of children in attendance also, so it was very lively. In all we had 47 invitees, but not everyone came to the reception (38 came to the reception).


The reception was really fantastic also. We decided to keep it simple and use the reception hall behind the church, instead of going to a restaurant. We had a restaurant from a neighborhing village cater a cold lunch buffet which was very well made and decorative. There were breads and sandwiches of all sorts, caviar, salmon, dips, desserts and of course the cake. All in all...it was quite an event!

We are so happy to have Kaitlyn is now baptised and a member of our Catholic Community. We are also happy to celebrate her...and the blessing that she is to our family!