Sadie's Blessing and Easter Sunday

Sadie was blessed on Easter Sunday, March 23, 2008 by my Dad Ken Hildebrand. It was a wonderful and spiritual blessing. I'm so happy that we were able to go up north and have so many people able to come to participate. I feel like I've waited forever for this moment and it was truly worth it.

Above is Uncle Travis, Grandpa Hildebrand and Charlie Friden. He was the Bishop who married Mommy and Daddy and luckily he was there to be able to participate in the Blessing. (Not pictured Great Grandpa (Papa) Facey and Bishop McGonigal) It was a very special Sunday. Steve, Karina (Steve's Sister) and Niece Alyssa all came to share in the Blessing on Sunday. Then after she was blessed we were all able to visit and catch up with old friends. An extra special treat was my 2nd cousin Joanna was there and able to see Sadie and come to the lunch.

At the lunch we were able to get a five generation photo. (L to R) Aileen Facey-Hildebrand, Valeda Johnson-Facey, Marie Johnson, Sadie Eastlick, Tammy Hildebrand-Eastlick. Marie Johnson is the 1st generation, Valeda Johnson-Facey is the 2nd generation, Aileen Facey-Hildebrand is the 3rd generation, Tammy Hildebrand-Eastlick is the 4th generation, and Miss Sadie Eastlick is the 5th generation.

Before the lunch we did the Easter Egg and Basket hunt down at Uncle Ariel's yard. It was a lot of fun. Above is a picture of Sadie with her basket. Of course she slept the entire time so we just posed her for a quick picture. There were 41 people at the lunch which we had ham, potato casserole, roles, salad and cake. It was a lovely get together. Of course the day before we all went out to the Facey picnic and got to catch up with other family members and play some games with the kids, and of course the egg toss game. Steve was partnered with Shane and they tied with 4 other couples for 1st. Jill and I were team mates and unfortunately I got the busted egg, but it was a lot of fun. Especially having the kids searching for lizards and frogs and freaking Jill out!! Oh and then there was Suzanne showing us all how to hula-hoop. She is definitely a pro!!

I feel bad for Jill and Trav though, everytime they come out to Etna or Bakersfield something happens. This time they almost didn't make it. They barely made it to Elco Nevada before breaking down. (That is only 4 hours from home) But they were troopers and rented a van and drove the whole rest of the way on Friday to make sure they made it. It meant a lot to me to have all my brothers there. We were able to get some good family pictures of our immediate family and also with Papa and Grandma Facey and with Clayton and his family as well. I'll have to upload some photos later, they are on Steve's camera which he left at work.

Now this was just my side of the family trip we were able to have an Eastlick Reunion as well. Steve has three older sisters and they were all able to come out for Easter. This is the first time in 30 years everyone has been together and the first time I got to meet one of his sisters Sandy. Unfortunately with health issues she hasn't been able to come out to visit until this trip and due to our lack of funds we haven't been able to go back to Virginia to visit her.

Poor Melodie was in the process of moving to Hobbs, NM so her truck was loaded down, but she was able to make it for a couple of days before moving on. Karina, Alyssa and Jeff were able to come down from Portland for the weekend and we had a great visit. Of course everyone loved Sadie and they were all anxious to meet the newest member of the Eastlick Clan. We had fun going through everyone's baby photos and Karina spent most of her time scanning picture after picture. After she left I took over. We have some great pictures of all the kids when they were babies and Sadie is DEFINITELY an Eastlick. She looks identical to her father when he was a baby. We got some great pictures of the Eastlick family as well, but as with the other pictures I will have to upload them later.