Ryan’s Birthday and Baptism

Today was the most amazing day! We met my friend Kevin (Bishop Schlag) at 7:30 am at Temple Beach Park, just down the street from the Laie, Hawaii Temple. We were lucky to have some other friends from here in Laie join us for Ryan’s baptism! For those of you who know the Marsh family, Kim’s husband grew up here in the Laie 4th Ward, and some of his family still live here. They were able to come to Ryan’s baptism, too!
The day was beautiful, sunny, and calm. We had the program in the park area first, and then walked down to the beach for Ryan’s baptism. Uncle Marc Inman baptized Ryan, with Papa and Kevin as the witnesses. It was a beautiful setting with a beautiful feeling.
After Ryan was baptized, we walked back up to the park area where Papa confirmed Ryan and we finished the program. We all had leis to give to Ryan. The whole thing was amazing. It was one of the neatest things that I’ve ever experienced, and I’m not just saying that because I’m Ryan’s mom. It was beautiful, happy, and peaceful…exactly what we were hoping it would be. A very special thanks to Kevin for all of his work in helping us put it together.
After Ryan’s baptism, we changed our clothes, and then headed to our favorite breakfast spot in Laie – the Hukilau Café – for macadamia nut pancakes. Nearby is Hukilau beach, where we spent a couple of hours swimming and playing.
We got cleaned up from the beach and took Ryan to the Schlags’ house to play with Kevin and Nan’s kids while Mom, Dad, Marc, Frances and I went to a session at the Laie Temple together. That was a great experience, too. We hadn’t been together in the temple since Marc and Frances were sealed. It was a very small session of only about 18 people, so it was also quiet and peaceful.
I had heard that from one part of the temple, you could look all the way down the hill to Temple Beach Park. I explained to one of the workers that we had just baptized Ryan there this morning, and asked if we could see that view. The temple worker escorted us to that area, and we were able to see where Ryan was baptized from the temple. That was also a very special experience to be able to do that.
We picked up Ryan from the Schlags’, and he said good-bye to his new friends. Another special thanks to Nan and the kids for helping make Ryan’s birthday a lot of fun. We changed our clothes yet again, and drove to the North Shore. We saw Waimea, where all of the famous surfing competitions are held. There were some pretty amazing waves going, and hundreds of surfers waiting to catch the perfect wave. We drove as far as Haleiwa, where we had a wonderful seafood dinner at Jameson’s Restaurant.

As we drove back to our hotel, we all commented that it was a wonderful day for all of us, not just our special birthday boy. We know he had a wonderful day, too, and will do everything we can to help him remember all of the special feelings of the day.