JohnPaul's Baptism

May 30 was a very special day for our family as JohnPaul received the sacrament of baptism during 5:00pm Mass in our base chapel. Jennifer's parents were able to be there and stand proxy for JohnPaul's Godparents, Manny and Jessica, dear friends of ours who Jennifer met during college at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo's Newman Catholic Center. John's parents participated from afar by sending a hand-picked Baptism outfit all the way from Georgia. Other special tokens included the white blanket used for Jennifer and her sister's own baptisms and water from both the Jordan River (from Jennifer's parents' 2009 trip to the Holy Land) and Mary's house in Ephesus, Turkey (from John's parents' recent visit to the site). JohnPaul is a very good baby, but of course he screamed through the entire ceremony :-). After Mass, many friends from our church community joined us for cake and lemonade in the chapel's fellowship hall to celebrate the big event. Congratulations, JohnPaul!

It was so special to have JohnPaul baptized in the base chapel, which was formerly a dojo (martial arts training center) when under Japanese control and was specifically saved to be the chapel by General MacArthur.

JohnPaul commemorated the occasion by wailing his head off :-).

Group photo!

 

Our little family :-). (Guest of honor still crying...)

 

Thank you Granny and Papanono for my adorable baptism outfit!

 

All set up for celebrating!

We weren't sure how the cake from a Japanese Costco would turn out, but it was beautiful and delicious! Somebody in the bakery over there must speak English!