Ben's Baptism / Christening Day

After many weeks of planning, finally Ben's Baptism / Christening Day arrived.  This was a special day where friends and family came together to celebrate Ben and his Baptism into the Catholic Church. Here is the priest, Bob Stephan, Baptising Ben as his proud parents look on.











Ben was Baptised in St Mary of the Assumption Church in Brookline, Massachusetts.

And here is the Church.
















Rewind one week and here is Marguerite leaving the chapel after attending the pre-ceremony session at St Mary's. This session helped prepare Jude and Marguerite for the ceremony the following week.











And now fast forward to the night before the Baptism.  Marguerite's Mum (Marguerite Snr), her sister (Emma) and neice (Riona) all came over to Boston to attend the Baptism / Christening ceremony.  It was great to have some immediate family there to join in the celebrations.










So now it's the day before the ceremony and Riona is frantically trying to sort out Emma's hair.  Riona and Emma are Auntie and Neice but they really are more like sisters the way they get on.  One minute they are best buddies, the next they are arguing and then they're sending each other text messages across the room saying they are very sorry for arguing with each other.  Like two auld sisters they are.  Very funny!!






Aye Emma yer hair!  Wha?

The next morning it's Ben's big day and here he is getting well washed and cleaned.  He loves his baths this wee lad and sometimes you'd think he does not want to get out.  But with a wipe wipe here and a wipe wipe there ....










..... he was soon out of the bath and all set for his big day.  Auntie Emma and Granny Marguerite helped get Ben looking great and before you knew it .....












 ....... they were off and heading to the chapel.

After a short wait for a bus the gang decided to hot foot it around to the Chapel instead - it was only a 10 minute dander anyway and sure it was a nice day into the bargain.

Marguerite and Emma were in a tizzy to get Ben to the chapel on time and by all accounts they had never been seen to move as fast as they did today .... not ever.  They were spotted running down Harvard St like two mad edjits running for a bus which has just departed.  As it turned out they got Ben to St Mary's in good time anyway.








St Mary of the Assumption is a beautiful Church.  Here just before the ceremony are the full Baptism party of Jude, Marguerite and Ben, and behind them are Emma, Robert and Lindsey.  Emma would be Ben's Godmother and Jude's brother Kevin would be Ben's Godfather.  However as Kevin could not make the trip so for today, for this ceremony, Jude's friend Robert would stand in and act as proxy for Kevin.

How would Ben behave today?




Well Ben likes to sleep a lot and to eat a lot, and today was no exception.  The odd time he will cry but that is often just like an alarm clock reminding his parents that it's feeding time.  Here he is decked out in his wonderful Baptism gown which was given to him by Marguerite's Aunt Mandy and Uncle Paul.  The gown was simply beautiful and Ben looked totally cool in it, as you can see here.

Then moments later ......





....... the priest called 'Ben Michael Clarke', and up jumped Marguerite and Jude and ...........


















...... it was Ben's moment in the spotlight as he was Baptised.  This was a wonderful moment.  Ben's proud parents, Marguerite and Jude, watched as the holy water was poured over his wee head and Ben was Baptised into the Church.










Ben did not even cry when being Baptised .......... well he wasn't hungry so why would he be crying.  Wha?












Then Ben was annointed with the oils and again he was perfect, no bother at all.  Here both his parents cling onto his wee hand, just in case he needed a little support!

Jude was kind of busy in the chapel, he being the Da and all that jazz, so he had designated Riona as back up photographer during the ceremony.  Some of the pics she nailed were good, great even, but then some were eh ...... not so ....... like this one ........

....... and this one of Emma when she was called up to perform her Godmother duties.
















And then there was this one of Robert doing likewise (lighting the Baptismal candle) on behalf of Jude's brother Kevin.
















Ben was so excited today he slept most of the time!

Check out the gorgeous clothes Ben had on today.  So Marguerite's Aunt Mandy got all his clothes for today including the main item, the gown. 

And then there's the blanket.  Well actually today there were two white blankets used, so there were, so there were!  Why was that?  Well because family friend Karen Mezza knitted one and Mandy's mate knitted one too.  But which one would be used? Such a dilemma!  Answer later.









Jude and Marguerite are laughing with relief that they managed to complete this simple task without screwing it up.  Actually it was not that simple.  You see organising this gig was like organising a wedding, just on a smaller scale.  So lots of things had to be perfect, like the outfits, the chapel, the photos, the guests, the gown, the cake, the hairdos, etc, etc.  It was a hundred and one things to research and organise, but at this stage Ben was Baptised, and that was the main deal done. So smiles all round then.

Here the priest joins Jude, Marguerite and Ben for this nice pic.













Like I said it was like a wedding with all that was going on.  Take the pics for example, there were loads of them.

Here's the one with Robert and Emma joining in with the new Clarke family for this pic.









Then there was the one with Jude and Robert.

That's not a cigar or a pack of chopsticks in Roberto's hand there, it's the Baptismal candle which Jude and Marguerite get to keep.

Jude and Rob scrubbed up well for the special occasion. Wha?

And then there was the one with the Crossan ladies.

Here Ben is joined by his Mum, Marguerite Snr, Riona and Emma.

Marguerite Snr, Riona and Emma had made the long journey from home to be here for this special day and both Marguerite and Jude were very grateful for them doing so.  It really meant a lot both for the day itself and for the future to able to tell Ben that he was loved so much that people travelled that huge distance just to be at his Baptism / Christening.  To Marguerite snr, Emma and Riona ......... Marguerite and Jude would both like to say 'thank you so much for all you did for Ben'.





Marguerite Snr loves all her Grandchildren so much ........ well here's another one to be added to the list ........ Ben Michael Clarke.












Marguerite and Jude had invited many of their good friends from Boston to join in and celebrate Ben's big day. Here is Jude's boss, and recent Irish Presidential award winner for her work with Irish immigrants in America, Sister Lena Deevy.










Sister Lena has made a huge impact on Jude and Marguerite's life during this American adventure, and it was great to have Lena there for the day to join in the celebrations.











And here together are Godmother Emma, and Robert who stood in as proxy for Jude's brother Kevin. Robert is from Limerick and has been a great friend to Jude and Marguerite ever since they arrived in America.  Thanks to Emma and Kevin for being Ben's Godparents, and thanks so much to Roberto for standing up and helping Marguerite, Jude and Ben out on this special day.



  



Thanks also to Jude's cousins who traveled up from New Jersey to be there.  It was great for Jude to have some family there.  Thanks folks.  Here are back row L-R: Scott, Jude, Lori (holding Ben), Maddie (just behind Lori), Marguerite, Dave, Thomas (in front of Marguerite), and in the front row - Lynn, Jackie and James.    

Jude and Jackie.














Lynn and Ben.















Here is Ben showing off his beautiful Baptismal gown, doesn't he look great in it? Thanks for sending the outfit over Mandy.

Oh yeah, like I said before -

1. Ben was well behaved and
2. There were two blankets.

Here's Ben laying on blanket number 1 and ........






....... here he is on blanket number 2.  It was so nice of Karen and Mandy's mate to knit the beautiful blankets, thanks so much, but which would he wear today.  Well rather than choose one over the other a diplomatic solution was reached where Marguerite and Jude decided that both blankets would be used alternatively, so they would. Ben didn't seem to mind at all, so he didn't.  









You may as well have two beautiful blankets as one and while seemed like a big deal for Marguerite and Jude ......... to be honest Ben couldn't really have cared less ........ as you can clearly see here!!

'Yeah whatever', he might have been dreaming.

Here are Marguerite and Jude's friends Clare and Ann Marie hugging and squeezing Ben.  Check out the length of the Baptismal gown there.

Riona loves her new wee cousin.














Here is a nice pic of Robert, Sister Lena and Robert's girlfriend Lindsey.













Looking dapper outside St Mary's of the Assumption chapel are Ben, Jude and Marguerite ....













....... before they were joined by Marguerite Snr and Emma.

So that was part one of the day over and soon the gang moved on to part two ..... that was the reception / after-party which was held at ..........

..... 6B on Beacon Hill.  6B is a great wee spot (it's next door to, and owned by, Jude's favourite watering hole Emmet's).  When picking the location for the after-party Marguerite and Jude weighed up many things, such as location, quality and choice of food, customer service standards, availability of private space for the party, decor and price.  6B won on all points and it turned out to be a great choice.

Here are Marguerite and Lori settling in.

And here is Lindsay holding Ben.














Olive, Yvonne, Claire C, Marguerite and Jude all must have been starving based on the amount of food they left on those plates there. Wha?

On the menu today was: Shepards Pie, Chicken/Pasta/Broccoli dish, Chicken Tenders, sandwiches, tea and ..............








...... Ben's fantastic cake.  Isn't that a cracker?  Actually, the wee blue boots now hang on Jude, Marguerite and Ben's Christmas tree.








  



'So how did you get the cake looking so nice Auntie Marguerite', asked Riona.

'Well Riona here's what I did, I just told the doll in the cake shop what the exact message was to be, I told her to write the message in blue icing, and I told her to stick nice wee blue boots on it', explained Marguerite.







Marguerite and Jude's life has changed in a big way, but two things remains the same .........














...... they still love cake and they still enjoy a good laugh.














Jackie did the honours and cut Ben's cake for everyone.














When Emma came over she brought a load of gifts for Ben, I mean loads and loads of gifts, a whole suitcase full of them actually ........ including some super cool bibs .....












....... like this one.

Again Ben is just about as excited as excited can be!












Jackie loved holding Ben.  And even though Jackie is so young herself Marguerite and Jude were more than confident in Jackie's ability to look after her wee cousin, she was a natural at it.



  







Riona enjoyed her day out.  Riona was a great help to Marguerite today with helping look after Ben.

In 6B are L-R: Christina, Melissa, Michelle (all work in InvestNI with Marguerite), Allie (used to work at InvestNI with Marguerite) and Clare (ehhhh .... who has never worked at InvestNI).

And just like in the days of the old Green Sox matches, the Irish International Immigrant squad were together at another table.  Here L-R are: Ann Marie, Lindsey, Robert, Kim and Sister Lena.











'Here Jude I need a new t-shirt, any chance of organising another Griswolds trip so I can win one on the tubing mountain? asked Pete.  That's Allie with Pete.













Looking all dolled up for the day are this Motley Crew, L-R: Jude, Robert, Lindsay, Adrian and Jason. 











'Here Jude, I haven't had a nice feed like that since I were back in Fermanagh', said Jason.

'Nor I since I were in Dooradoyle in Limerick', added Roberto.









   
'Hey Ben .....choocy choocy coooo, who loves you ..... we do, we do', said Melissa and Ann Marie.














Lindsay, Marguerite and Emma having a laugh in 6B.














............ and then Clare jumped in to join the fun.















Lori and James got to meet Margeurite and Jude's friends and really enjoyed their day .....















...... as did Thomas and Maddie.  Here they are all smiles.

As the evening in 6B drew to a close Ann Marie was telling loads of funny stories about her dead budgie being stored in her kitchen freezer (she did not have time to bury it on the day it died so she stuck it in the freezer but it ended up laying there for weeks before she found the time), hitching rides on trains in Longford and all sorts of crazy stuff .......... very funny indeed!

As if the craic in 6B was not enough, this bunch then shifted next door to Emmet's.  Here, L-R are Jude, Marguerite Snr, Jason, Lindsay, Emma, Adrian, Ann Marie and Melissa.  












The 'It's a Boy' balloon even made it's way up too.

Ben's Baptism / Christening day was a great day with lots of craic.  Here are the gang having a laugh as the evening neared it's conclusion. Thanks to everyone for helping make Ben's day such a memorable occasion.