England: Part 1, The Christening

So in case you are just joining us, I've recently (i.e. Monday) returned from England.

I was there because my friends, Sarah and James, asked me to be godmother to their daughter, the most adorable baby ever (well...if you called me out on it, you'd learn that I said the exact same thing about my cousin's daughter Penny and my friend Evy's son, Connor. So my definition of "most adorable baby ever" is very fluid) Amelie. A reminder in case you life in a bizarro cyber world that will not allow you to view any of my previous posts:


The christening went well. It was held at the village church. My friends live in a place called Wanborough in the county of Wiltshire, though I don't think they are actually called counties in England. The village has a little store that is also the post office, a park and a village hall and several inns with pubs. And that's about it. However it's only a few minutes from a bigger town that has a grocery store and a McDonald's and such.

Though I'm starting with the christening, it was actually one of the last things I did there. However, it is the primary reason I was there. The christening was pretty short and involved us all denouncing the devil and promising to pray for Amelie, etc. and there was some water and candles involved. Afterward we got little godparent certificates, which prove helpful the next time we're stopped for driving under the influence of juice boxes. Above are my friends with the vicar after the christening.

The reception was held at a nice seafood restaurant called The Crab at Chieveley.It was about 25 minutes from the church and there's not much else near it. Dear, little Amelie clearly knew the do was all for her because after waking up toward the end of the meal she really hammed it up for the cameras.

I have to say that I totally feel in love with this little baby. She and I got on quite nicely. I made her laugh and she chewed on my sunglasses. She was already asleep the night I arrived and when she woke up the next day and saw me for the first time, she acted like it was the most normally thing in the world that someone she had never seen before would be standing there in her pjs. She liked me immediately. I was heartbroken to leave her...covered in chocolate doughnut, which is what she had been eating in the car on the way to the airport. The next time I see her, she'll probably be making complete sentences (not just dada, mummum and cat) and walking. Oh, they grow up so fast!

So more photos below: