Well, so this blog is going to be about Alana, her birthday and her baptism anyway, even though I didn't take those pictures of her yet. I do have a few others to share.
Alana's birthday was on a Saturday this year, and I surprised her with pancakes for breakfast! :)
Daddy got some that said "Get up, I love you" and Brayden got some that said "Bubba Boy". Of course everyone was hungrier than what these provided for fulfillment, so I made regular ol' round ones too. :) Alana also woke to some of her presents from us (and a good friend) 
. This is the towel my friend embroidered Alana's name and her baptism date onto for her to use after being baptized, a bookmark, a small card with a picture of Jesus, a scripture marker, a picture frame and a necklace. Then there is a binder full of portraits taken of Alana ranging from birth to the last day of 2nd grade. That is a 1 1/2 inch binder and it is FULL!!! I think I like taking pictures of my kids! :) The rest of the day (if my memory serves me correctly) we just hung out and had a "normal" dinner at home.Sunday came and we attended church and came home and had a mellow day. Each Sunday we get together with Tim's family and have family dinner and it happened to be at our house, so we had Alana's choice for dinner (home made egg rolls and rice) that night since we were with family already and I made her a cake (DUH).
She's been on a blue kick lately so that is why its not purple and pink or even a character cake. I thought I'd keep it simple and just do an Ei8ht cake for her since that birthday is kinda important to members of the church. She loved it! 
Before dinner we let her open her other present from us and her presents from Grandma and Grandpa Porter. To say she was excited would be an understatement. 
Grandma and Grandpa Porter got her pictures of the prophet, the temple and of Jesus to put in her room (she asked for these specifically and to have them in frames) and 
a BLUE scripture tote to carry her..........
brand spankin' new scriptures in! (we got her the scriptures and had her name put on them) She could barely contain her excitement! I gave her a quick one over of them so she could see that ALL of them were there in ONE book. She loved looking at the pictures and maps in the back. We had dinner and dessert and the family took off.Thursday evening the family coming from Utah made their way to California for Alana's big day on Saturday. Saturday morning we started the day with Porter family pictures and could not have asked for more perfect weather. It was GORGEOUS!!! We came home after pictures and had lunch and then headed over to the church to set up and make sure the font was full and warm. Unfortunately the people that were using the font before us drained the water so we had to completely re-fill it instead of just top it off so the water wasn't cold for Alana and Tim. That made the room humid beyond belief!!! HOLY COW!!! I tried to keep cool in the foyer and hallway as long as possible before everything started.
Just before our big rush of guests I snapped a few pictures
this was the "sign in" table. I didn't realize until after everything got started how badly I really needed those tissues!!! I was a mess! :) 
She looked absolutely perfect that day! :) 
and I think Tim was trying to mask his emotions as much as possible because I was such a basket case! :)The room was SO incredibly full of people that love Alana that it was literally standing room only. The previous baptism had chairs set up already and we had to set up SO MANY MORE! It was so nice to see, but also very overwhelming. Alana's "Grandma Marty" and "Grandpa Jim" gave a talk together on Baptism, then she and I sang a song she loves "If The Savior Stood Beside Me" (bad idea for an already emotional mommy to sing), and then Alana's Uncle Jeff and Aunt Sarah spoke on the Holy Ghost. Afterward Alana was baptized and confirmed by her Grandpa Porter and then the bishop shared some thoughts. It was a WONDERFUL day.
I just hope I can make Brayden's baptism just as wonderful for him, although I might re-think the whole singing with my child thing. :)
Sunday we had dinner at Tim's folks with his two sisters and their families and Alana sat and sang along to the song she and I sang to at her baptism while her Aunt Wendy played on Grandma Porter's keyboard (its kinda hard to hear Alana, but you can tell she's singing)
Absolutely beautiful!
Thanks Aunt Wendy for sharing a special moment with Alana. I don't think she will ever forget it!Whew!!! More festivities followed, but they are being saved for future blogs...this one is already too long! :)
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