Bear's Baptism

^Bear liked the food in Austria^

^He decided to be a goof ball^

^Tracy and Adam^

^Bear feeding me^

^Bear with some of the crew^

^The priest and myself^

^Bear started to have fun and dance toward the end^

^Candle lighting ceremony portion^

^Annointing with oil^

^Actual baptism part. I really like this photo. Good timing Ginna.^

^Bear was making sure the video was going to be good.^

^St. Andre Church of Bear's baptism^

^The crew^

^Bear led the way into the church^

^Family photo op^

^Hamming it up^

Well, our second day of being in Lienz Tom's mom and Ilona had set up a Catholic baptism for Bear. It was a wonderful, albiet chilly ceremony. We didn't understand much with it all being in German, but Ilona had translated everything into binders for us so we knew what was supposed to be said. The priest didn't help much by throwing poor Ilona's hard work out the window, but we appreciated having the basic guidline. It was a good time. We got to meet Ginna and Ilona's friends as well. We had a blast. I have to admit that if we lived there with that priest we just might have to attend a mass occationally. He was great with Bear, had a great sense of humor, and was wonderfully charismatic. We had Aunt Tracy and Uncle Adam stand in as godparents since our trips overlapped a day and a half. The only bummer was that we weren't able to have all the family and friends attend. Still, what a great story for Bear. Baptised in a beautiful Austrian church, in German, by an African priest. Pretty darn cool for a kid from Poe-dunk, Montana.

I didn't take photos of the baptism myself. I left that one up to Ginna and Ilona and they also had a friend video for us. I just kicked back and enjoyed the experience. So thanks to Ginna and Ilona for these photos and everything else as well. What a great start to a great vacation.

More to come with photos from Tom and I later...