Ella will not be going to hell OR My kid got baptized!

On Sunday, June 19th, 2009, Ella was baptised. My parents let us use their house for the party because we live in the boonies in a shoe-box sized townhouse. My mom's yard is normally gorgeous but it looked even better with all of the seating areas added. We had just over 50 people. My sister was the photographer and I love this shot of Buzz and I getting Ella ready.

Ella received this beautiful blue cross from my Godmother, Sue. It is over fifty years old. This is my immediate family. Unfortunately it's the only pic we have of all of us and it's blurry. Oh well, we'll have to wait until next year for until we're all together again. Here is Buzz's family sans Judie, Kirsten & Brent. Ella was supposed to wear my baptism gown but we ended up misplacing it. Instead she wore this dress and bonnet from Belgium circa 1960's - a gift from my dad's cousin Vicki. She did wear my booties though. Funny how we found my baptism gown the next day in the bottom of one of my mom's closets. No biggie, she looked adorable.

The Godparents. Why do men always have to change out of their party clothes so early?

My nephew Cole, the recovering alcoholic, couldn't keep away from the free beer. Oh, yeah. The bully strikes again!

BTW, this was my first big party I've thrown. I had lots of help and it was still totally stressful. Thanks to everyone who helped. I definitely could not have done it without you!