The Christening Dress

Donna is held in this photo by Aunt Alice and standing behind her is Grandma Emma Schroeder.

The second generation to wear the dress were Ann and Erwin's granddaughters. There were four granddaughters. Linda, Amy, Jenny and Angie.

Linda is the daughter of Mary Beth, the first person to wear the dress. Jenny is the daughter of Donna, the second person to wear the dress. Amy and Angie are the daughters of Ann and Erwin's son John.

Linda, shown in this photo with her godparents, Norma, Mary and John, wore the dress at her baptism in 1971.

Here is Amy with her godmothers, Mary Beth and Julie. Mary Beth and Julie also wore the Christening Dress.

Jenny is Donna's daughter. I love this photo of her with the natural light from the window. You can see the beautiful lace on the hem of the dress.

On October 30th, 2003 Rachel Ray was born and a third generation had arrived to wear the Christening dress. The third generation would be the great grandchildren of Ann and Erwin Schroeder. At the present time there are three girls, all of them the granddaughters of Mary Beth, the first person to wear the dress. The first two Rachel and Ella are the daughters of Linda and the third, Mary Katherine is the daughter of Mary Beth and Ray's son John.

In this photo Rachel Ray is with her parents in the front of their church after her baptism in December of 2003.

This happy baby is Eleanor Ann (Ella). She wore the dress at her baptism in January of 2006.

It's hard to believe that this dark haired beauty now (at age 4) has a head full of pale blond curls.

My granddaughter Mary Katherine (Kate) wore the dress at her baptism on July 19th, 2009. She is the first child of my son, John.

Kate was born a month premature with a condition called biliary atresia. In addition she had a malrotation of the abdomen. In layman's terms her organs were turned around and her liver was not working properly. Kate had her first operation to try to correct her problems in June and everything seemed to be going well until late August when her liver began to fail. She was put on a transplant list and we prayed she would get a liver soon. In October our prayers were answered and Kate received a new liver. After 5 weeks in the hospital Kate was able to come home. She will be on anti-rejection drugs her entire life, but at 2 years she is now doing quite well. Kate is truly a miracle!

Emily Ann was baptized on May 8th, 2011. She is the daughter of John and Larisa and the granddaughter of Mary Beth. Emily is the 11th little girl to wear the christening dress.