Maddy's Baptism and a House Full of Family

Maddy was baptized on Saturday, May 23rd by her Papa Van, my dad. It was such an awesome day! Of course there was plenty of hours put in the week before getting the house cleaned, preparing and shopping for food, getting clothes ready and putting the finishing touches on every detail, but it was all so very worth it. We had a great program at the church and had a great turnout of people who came to show their love and support to Maddy. I am just so proud of her and her decision to be baptized to follow in the footsteps of her Savior, Jesus Christ. She is such a good girl and was just beaming all day long. After the baptism, we had over 40 family members (Brian's family and my family as well) and some friends over to the house for a taco bar dinner with lots of yummy side dishes, cookies, brownies and root beer floats for dessert. Maddy's favorite color right now anyway is turquoise and her favorite food is tacos. We just took her favorite stuff and came up with a party based on that. After we ate, the kids all went swimming and had so much fun hanging with their cousins. The adults had fun talking and catching up. This was the biggest crowd we've ever had at our house at one time and it was so much fun. Most of the guests had to leave that night, but my mom and dad, my sister, Vaunda and 2 of her kids, and my sister, Velvet and her 3 kids were able to stay the night. On Sunday we were able to go to Sacrament Meeting before my mom and dad and Vaunda had to head back home. Velvet was able to stay on Sunday night as well and didn't have to leave until Monday afternoon. The kids were able to spend more time in the pool. We also ate pizza poolside and had a marshmallow roast and made s'mores. I really wish she lived closer. My girls loved having her kids here and having a slumber party for 2 nights in a row. We just really enjoyed all the time we spent together. Even though the weekend was a busy one and we were going non-stop, the memories that were made will truly last a lifetime. I feel so blessed to have the family that I do. I am really looking forward to our next big get-together! It was really hard to limit the pics - we took so many over the weekend!