Brought to you by the letter "E"

Emerson Marie Lynch was blessed last Sunday at church. We have a ton of family who live nearby {and some not-so nearby} who came out for the event. Emerson was wonderful and didn't cry at all during the blessing! {which was great...so I could hear it all}. The picture above is Emerson {swaddled, of course} next to her letter "E" cookies my mom baked and Mallory and I decorated for favors.
This next picture is of Dan, Emerson, and I {what a great family!}

My mom made Emerson's blessing-day dress out of my wedding dress {even down to the snaps...aren't we green!}. I made the flower sewn onto the front of the dress. {p.s.-click on any of the pictures to see them larger}...

Emerson's baby shoes {that she somewhat wore...she doesn't like things on her feet} for the day were a gift from Dan's mom, Gretchen. They belonged to Dan's grandmother Norma and were her baby shoes...yes...the handmade baby shoes Emerson wore are 96years old! It was such a wonderful tradition to hand-down.

The first place that I heard the name "Emerson" was on a website that my sister sent to me {Emersonmade.com}. The woman, Emerson, makes the most absolutely beautiful flowers from linen and wool. They are stunning! The second place I heard the name Emerson was a first grade girl at the elementary school I taught art at last year. Dan fell head-over-heels in-love with the name and it stuck! So, I thought it would be fun to purchase an Emersonmade flower clip to wear for her blessing day, that I can give to her when she gets older.

Emerson's middle name came from my sister Mallory's middle name "Marie." Mallory and I are absolute best friends! We are super-duper close and have so many inside jokes we can't remember them all. We find ourselves on many occasions dressing in almost the same outfits {color and layering options}. Dan and I agreed that Emerson's middle name needed to be one that held a family connection... and it does!

Three generations of women...

My Owens cousins have been a huge help from day one! I couldn't have made it without them and it's so much fun that we attend church in the same building. It was fun for Dan and I to sit with them in their Sacrament meeting while my mom babysat Emerson for us so we could go and take the Sacrament {before we could take her to church with us}

My Uncle Calvin flew over from Hawaii. With how busy the week was with a full house of Calvin, Mallory, my brother Matt and his wife Sarah, we only got some candid photos of Calvin with Emerson {I'll post those next time}. I have many different "replacement dads" in my life, but Calvin has been the most like a dad to me {which I don't know exactly what that relationship is supposed to be like after not having one with my biological dad, but it has been so helpful}. Calvin has given me advice over the years that has truly made an impact on choices I've made. He was the witness at my temple sealing and I felt very blessed that he would fly over from Hawaii for Emerson's blessing. I thank Heavenly Father that Emerson has so many people around her that love her... Most especially Dan. Emerson has the opportunity to have the most beautiful relationship with her dad and I am so so grateful that she will have that in her life.