Family Traditions

Many families have traditions that are imperative to keep. They have traditions that they like, some that they hate, and some that they have no idea why they do them other than pleasing the matriarch of the family. Here are a few that many families have, but with little idea as to why:
Why do parents tell their kids about Santa Claus and where did this come from?
Why do families hide Easter eggs and force preschoolers to search for them?
Why do you HAVE to eat pork and sauerkraut on New Year's day?
There are many others, but I would like to talk about a family tradition that Lydia and I have begun for our family.

In the Reformed and Presbyterian churches infants have been baptized in gowns (dresses) for hundreds of years. These gowns are usually family heirlooms that are passed down from one generation to the next. We being a first generation Reformed family have no such gown. Owen was baptized in our gown that is part of our new family tradition that we hope will passed down to our grand-children and their grand-children as well.

The baptism gown that we have was made out of Lydia's wedding dress. Linda Lanning took her gown and used most of the train and the dress and removed the trim and the sleeves and used these on the gown. Both Owen and Anna have been baptized in this and, as I said, we hope that it is passed down.
Here is Reverend Lanning holding Owen. Owen cried when the water was sprinkled upon his head. It is always a great sight to behold the church growing in the normal covenantal way...Through the birth of children.
Here is Lydia, Owen, William Bonner, and his mother Heidi. The gown that William was baptized in was his great-great-grandfather's. It is well over 100 years old and was first used in the Netherlands in the Netherland Reformed Church. (They are obviously not first generation Reformed as we are!)
Here is our family with Reverend Lanning. I remember that when Anna was baptized she looked up at Reverned Lanning and smiled a huge smile.
Here is a close-up of the dress. Notice the detail.
Here is a picture of the whole thing. It is very long..About four feet in length. We are grateful that we have begun this tradition but we are more grateful for the tradition of baptism and the meaning that it holds for the church.