Amanda's Baptism

The first Saturday in February, Amanda was baptized. She wanted to have her Grandpa Allred baptize her, but that wasn't a very likely possibility--his knees hurt him too much to stand for any length of time. His cane helps, but it doesn't relieve the pain. So, she then wanted her daddy to baptize her.
It was a really nice day. All of the family that could come, did. I also invited Sheila to come. She holds a special place in our hearts, so I wanted her to know that she was thought of (besides, she is my long lost twin sister that I didn't even know was lost). I was pleasantly surprised when she told me that she and her husband would come. Yay! There was only one other kid that was baptized that day. Because I teach the 7-year-olds at church, he is in my class but he is also in the DI program at school so he is in Amanda's class there too. Our bishop said that it was the largest group that he had ever seen for a member baptism. And even though Sharon Kaye and family were in Alaska, Amanda was still able to have "The Baptism Talk" given. Our bishop was so impressed with the talk that Sharon Kaye gave at Mason's baptism that he asked for a copy so that it will become the talk that is given at our ward's baptisms.

Because it was so late in the day when the baptism took place and because everyone had traveled so far to get here, when it was over we went back to our house for a little dinner and some snacky foods. I had made some whole wheat apple bread and two kinds of zucchini bread. There was also some honeydew and cantaloupe and veggies to munch on. So while people ate those tasty treats, I made pizzas for everyone. I made five pizzas in total and whatever didn't get eaten that night, my kids ate the next day.

Everyone had a good time. The cousins had fun playing together and the adults enjoyed hanging out and talking to each other.

We are so proud of Amanda that she chose to take this important step in her life. We love her very much. =)